Monday, June 28, 2010
Tuesday was my birthday, and in celebration, we loaded the storage unit and left LaPlace for good. Not much of a birthday, but I chose it – I wanted to leave Tuesday evening for Atlanta and the birthday gathering, and in order to do that, we had to work all day to finish up.
Tuesday morning I got my last perm. Judy cried; I did not. I’m too happy to be going to be sad at leaving friends behind. Moving afternoon was hell. About 12:30, we picked up the truck and loaded the first truck with what we thought was most of the things, then moved them into the unit and began arranging things. When we went back for the final stuff, which we thought would be about a half-load, it entirely filled the truck again and the car as well! And as we left, we discovered the bicycles on the back porch, and we didn’t have room for them! We took that stuff down to the unit and evaluated the situation. I told Roger I thought that, if he took the love seat out (we already gave up the sofa because a spring escaped out the back of it), that we could get it all in. So Roger left to take the love seat back, pick up the bikes, then take the truck back. We were pushing 5:00 by this time. He had to leave some of the stuff sitting outside in the sun and lots more lining the hall. I took the cart back to the office just before 5:00 and alerted the manager there that we would be leaving some stuff temporarily both outside and in the hall while I ran over to pick up Roger. When she learned that I was only going to the U-Haul place, she said it would be no problem. We grabbed a drink from Sonic and came back. It took us another full hour to get the stuff in, but we made it. We even had a couple of square feet of floor space and several cubic feet of upper space!
Exhausted, we scored sandwiches and tea from Subway and returned to the house to eat on the patio, as it contained the only chairs in the house! We began packing the remaining stuff for Atlanta. Some of it we had already packed into suitcases, but lots of it was still loose, so we franticly stuffed things into baskets, suitcases, bags and whatever, and loaded the car. Part of the cargo was 8 pillows for Alicia. Roger used two of them to protect the flat-screen TV we are loaning Alicia and Peter. When the car was almost packed, we paused to shower and dress, then drove over to Slidell to spend the night with Pam and Ronald. We were almost too tired to be civil to them – not that we were uncivil, but we almost fell asleep on the couch before declaring bedtime.
Wednesday morning we got up and ate a lovely breakfast at Pam’s. Ronald had already left for work. They are so sweet to have opened their house to us for the night. Actually, we had planned to take them out for dinner Tuesday night, but we didn’t get to their house until 9:00 p.m. We badly underestimated the amount of time it would take us to pack the unit. But the victory is that we got it all in!
After coffee and English muffins with Pam, we left on the drive to Atlanta. Uneventful but long. Shelli and Ronnie were already there, as well as Christa, Aaron and Sarah from Grand Prairie. Eric drove in later, having had a 12-hour drive from Dallas.
The next several days are a blur. Thursday morning we went to see 3-year-old Evelyn and her mother Kim. Evelyn slept through the whole visit! But we got to see her really neat computer designed for her special needs. I think it must have really opened up her world because it allows her to communicate with the rest of the world when she couldn’t before. She has a rare condition called Aicardi Syndrome, a disorder in which the structure that connects the two sides of the brain is partly or completely missing. Bummer! Kim is really sweet and incredibly patient!
In the afternoon we relaxed and napped. I pulled my back in the moving/packing process and it left me really exhausted. That evening much of the group went to a bar to hear a band. Roger and I stayed home and baby-sat Sarah and Lillian. Lots of fun, but Sarah had a nap and didn’t want to go to sleep!
Friday night – iron pour. Interesting. I forwent a tile and got a massage instead. Made my back feel a bit better. We finally left the iron pour about 1:30 a.m. – didn’t get to bed until after 2:00.
Saturday – pool party at Ethan and Becky’s, with fabulous grilled stuffed tenderloin stuffed and cooked by Lillian’s parents, Caryn and Jon. Really, really good food. Great job, guys! Also Alicia’s roasted vegetables, sweet potato casserole, Irish potato casserole, birthday cake, delicious ice cream (chocolicious flavor), drinks. We old people took the young person back to the house about 4:00, as we were still short of sleep from the iron pour. I bought a two-pack of Therma Care and put one on my back about noon. I had to forego swimming, but it really made my back feel better. I put a second one on Sunday and by Monday, my back was almost well.
Sunday we purged my France wardrobe, made a list, and went shopping. I bought two pairs of jeans, a pair of black slacks, and got fitted for a bra. Bought only one. I can’t bring myself to spend $100 or more on a bra. One of the questions on the questionnaire was “do you think a bra can change your life?” My answer is a definitive and resounding “NO!” But I do understand that there are women out there for whom a well-fitting bra can change their lives. I am not that well-endowed! The change I am making is going bra-less a lot!!!!
Today we worked all day to sell the car. We had really hoped to get $6,500 for it, and settled for $6,000, but we were glad to have it done. Monday evening we had dinner at Taquero’s with Alicia, Peter and Eric. Nice time, good food. Then home and to bed. We are exhausted again – too much food, too little exercise, too many late nights, too few naps!
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
Getting closer
Monday, June 21, 2010
This afternoon we took a load down to the storage unit and assessed the amount of room we have left, and we are quite certain everything we have left to store will fit, including the table, six chairs, the mattress and box springs, the den lamp, two end tables, two night stands, the desk chair, the washer and dryer and the little pull-out thingy between them, the gas grill, the smoker, the lawn mower, the edger, and all our miscellaneous items. Tomorrow at 1:00 we get a truck one last time and we will be moving those things down.
Today we packed for France, weighing our luggage to check for the 50-pound limit. We seem to be okay there as well. Roger got all his stuff, summer and winter, into one suitcase!!!!!!!!!! Well, except for the shoes. That doesn't count any toiletries either. I’m trying to pack my summer clothes in one suitcase and winter clothes in another, and each will weigh close to 50 pounds. I know, I know, I’m taking too much clothing.
This afternoon we took a load down to the storage unit and assessed the amount of room we have left, and we are quite certain everything we have left to store will fit, including the table, six chairs, the mattress and box springs, the den lamp, two end tables, two night stands, the desk chair, the washer and dryer and the little pull-out thingy between them, the gas grill, the smoker, the lawn mower, the edger, and all our miscellaneous items. Tomorrow at 1:00 we get a truck one last time and we will be moving those things down.
Today we packed for France, weighing our luggage to check for the 50-pound limit. We seem to be okay there as well. Roger got all his stuff, summer and winter, into one suitcase!!!!!!!!!! Well, except for the shoes. That doesn't count any toiletries either. I’m trying to pack my summer clothes in one suitcase and winter clothes in another, and each will weigh close to 50 pounds. I know, I know, I’m taking too much clothing.
Monday, June 21, 2010
The end is coming
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Lunch today with the DuPont ladies – Judy, Sue and Emma. Thanks, gals, for the wonderful time and for treating me. I totally did not expect that, but I really do appreciate it. You are such sweet ladies and it’s been a pleasure knowing you – particularly Sue, who lived down the street for years and whose boys bracketed Eric in age and the three of them had such a good time, and also Judy, whom I met in the first couple of years I lived here as well. That’s not to slight Emma, but I really only met her a couple of times and those recently.
While I was out having lunch, Roger visited the storage unit once again, and did some running-around as well, picking up a prescription for me and some minor groceries.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
We picked up the truck at 8:30 and made the first run to the office, then to Frankie’s, who agreed to buy the desk, bookcase and rolling file if we would deliver them. Then we made two more runs between the house and the storage unit, finishing up just at 3:30, which is the time we had to have the truck back. We would have liked to make one more run but the time just wasn’t there. We will have to rent a truck once more on Tuesday to get the table, chairs, washer, dryer, bed, grill, file cabinet and a few miscellaneous things to the storage unit. I didn’t feel as tired as I felt after the first truck run last weekend. We ended the day eating at Italian Pie.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
The end is coming at us quickly – we leave LaPlace in two days!
The Moises came this morning to help us out. Jennifer and I cleaned out the pantry and the refrigerator and I gave her everything she would take.
When we were cleaning yesterday we came across some more shotgun shells and .22 bullets. We decided to give them to Chuck. Then when we were cleaning out the pantry, I came across all the powdered sugar I have (lots, thanks to Charlotte!) and I realized that Chuck’s wife Lisette does cake decorating and she might like it. Further, Jennifer didn’t want the five pounds of sugar I had in the freezer. There was lots more she didn’t want as well. So I called Chuck, and he said he was headed out to Walgreens and would drop by. I foisted LOTS of the remaining pantry food I had. Thanks, Chuck! It was great to hug him one more time and tell him goodbye.
While we were cleaning out the refrigerator, the guys went to the storage unit, where they took some more of our belongings and rearranged some of the stuff at the unit. Christian opined that we are doing well for space, and should be able to get everything else in just fine. We do hope!! It was great seeing them and hugging them goodbye as well.
After the Moises left, we worked more in the kitchen, bathroom, garage, etc. and made two more trips to the storage unit. We’re getting there. All the kitchen cabinets are empty except for a couple. Most of the bathroom cabinets are empty. The entire upstairs is empty except for a few pictures I need to finish packing. The den is empty except for the TV, the lamp, two end tables and the footstool. We will be taking the TV with us to Alicia’s. The dining room has only the table and chairs. The living room has a chair and a couple of miscellaneous items.
We went out to eat at New Orleans Hamburgers and Seafood for the last time!! Then we relaxed in front of the TV watching golf, of all things! There was a cup of cream in the refrigerator so I made pudding for the last time with a box I found in the pantry, and it was really thick and creamy.
Lunch today with the DuPont ladies – Judy, Sue and Emma. Thanks, gals, for the wonderful time and for treating me. I totally did not expect that, but I really do appreciate it. You are such sweet ladies and it’s been a pleasure knowing you – particularly Sue, who lived down the street for years and whose boys bracketed Eric in age and the three of them had such a good time, and also Judy, whom I met in the first couple of years I lived here as well. That’s not to slight Emma, but I really only met her a couple of times and those recently.
While I was out having lunch, Roger visited the storage unit once again, and did some running-around as well, picking up a prescription for me and some minor groceries.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
We picked up the truck at 8:30 and made the first run to the office, then to Frankie’s, who agreed to buy the desk, bookcase and rolling file if we would deliver them. Then we made two more runs between the house and the storage unit, finishing up just at 3:30, which is the time we had to have the truck back. We would have liked to make one more run but the time just wasn’t there. We will have to rent a truck once more on Tuesday to get the table, chairs, washer, dryer, bed, grill, file cabinet and a few miscellaneous things to the storage unit. I didn’t feel as tired as I felt after the first truck run last weekend. We ended the day eating at Italian Pie.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
The end is coming at us quickly – we leave LaPlace in two days!
The Moises came this morning to help us out. Jennifer and I cleaned out the pantry and the refrigerator and I gave her everything she would take.
When we were cleaning yesterday we came across some more shotgun shells and .22 bullets. We decided to give them to Chuck. Then when we were cleaning out the pantry, I came across all the powdered sugar I have (lots, thanks to Charlotte!) and I realized that Chuck’s wife Lisette does cake decorating and she might like it. Further, Jennifer didn’t want the five pounds of sugar I had in the freezer. There was lots more she didn’t want as well. So I called Chuck, and he said he was headed out to Walgreens and would drop by. I foisted LOTS of the remaining pantry food I had. Thanks, Chuck! It was great to hug him one more time and tell him goodbye.
While we were cleaning out the refrigerator, the guys went to the storage unit, where they took some more of our belongings and rearranged some of the stuff at the unit. Christian opined that we are doing well for space, and should be able to get everything else in just fine. We do hope!! It was great seeing them and hugging them goodbye as well.
After the Moises left, we worked more in the kitchen, bathroom, garage, etc. and made two more trips to the storage unit. We’re getting there. All the kitchen cabinets are empty except for a couple. Most of the bathroom cabinets are empty. The entire upstairs is empty except for a few pictures I need to finish packing. The den is empty except for the TV, the lamp, two end tables and the footstool. We will be taking the TV with us to Alicia’s. The dining room has only the table and chairs. The living room has a chair and a couple of miscellaneous items.
We went out to eat at New Orleans Hamburgers and Seafood for the last time!! Then we relaxed in front of the TV watching golf, of all things! There was a cup of cream in the refrigerator so I made pudding for the last time with a box I found in the pantry, and it was really thick and creamy.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Our last week in Louisiana
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Pam and Ronald gave a wonderful dinner party for us Sunday evening. She made some absolutely delicious etouffé, they grilled luscious steaks outdoors, and we ended the meal with a fabulous cheesecake. AHHHHH!!!! The Moiseseses were there, along with Pam’s brother, Gabe, and his wife, Marie. Delightful time, outstanding food, great company. Pam is so sweet.
Roger asked me this morning if what we are doing constitutes a midlife crisis. He was reading a piece on the internet today about not letting a midlife crisis blow one’s retirement nest egg. Hmmmm . . . .
I started an entry yesterday but I think it got wiped out. I opened a Flickr page for photos, and this is where I plan to post pictures from our trek. It is located at http://www.flickr.com/photos/11200925@N07/, or if you can’t find it like that, search Flickr for my user name, cspatrick.
Pam and Ronald gave a wonderful dinner party for us Sunday evening. She made some absolutely delicious etouffé, they grilled luscious steaks outdoors, and we ended the meal with a fabulous cheesecake. AHHHHH!!!! The Moiseseses were there, along with Pam’s brother, Gabe, and his wife, Marie. Delightful time, outstanding food, great company. Pam is so sweet.
Roger asked me this morning if what we are doing constitutes a midlife crisis. He was reading a piece on the internet today about not letting a midlife crisis blow one’s retirement nest egg. Hmmmm . . . .
I started an entry yesterday but I think it got wiped out. I opened a Flickr page for photos, and this is where I plan to post pictures from our trek. It is located at http://www.flickr.com/photos/11200925@N07/, or if you can’t find it like that, search Flickr for my user name, cspatrick.
Monday, June 14, 2010
wrapping up, wrapping up
Sunday, June 13, 2010
The Doonesbury comic strip today has a comment in it that is very appropriate to our situation: we are “at that stage of life where you start to let go of the things you once were.” We are certainly letting go: of our house, our cars, our stuff, our professional lives, our friends, neighbors. We really are turning life on its head, aren’t we?!
I broke my glasses the other day – one earpiece just decided to come apart; not detach from the main frame, but to actually break. I am debating how to handle it. I fell back on an old pair which I planned to take to France anyway as a backup, but now the question is whether I want to try to get the earpiece replaced, which will entail a trip into Metairie during office hours, or take the glasses to some place where they can duplicate the prescription and produce an entire new set of specs. The former is cheaper, but I am loathe to leave the house for that long, as I feel the need to keep working, and a trip into town is a big disruption. Sigh.
There is a final DuPont Ladies Luncheon on Thursday, sort of as a goodbye to me. I say that because it is not really about me – we have these lunches every couple of months or so. But Judy did want to schedule one last one before I leave, so we set it up for Thursday at Taste of Bavaria in Ponchatoula. I wasn’t sure Judy had the heart to set up another one, as the last one was a bomb for her. She offered Sara a ride, and thought they agreed to meet at a shopping center, but she and Sara evidently miscommunicated, and Judy waited for almost an hour for Sara to meet her. When we finally got in touch with her, Sara said “oh, she didn’t think she would go today,” clearly unaware that she had held Judy up for over 45 minutes. Judy was too dispirited to join the others of us (just Cheryl and myself) for lunch that day. That’s enough to sour one from planning such an event entirely! But Judy bravely called me again last week to set up this one last luncheon before I leave. Looks like we may have only three of us.
The Moiseseseses are not going to buy our car, so we will be driving it to Atlanta. Hopefully we can sell it before we go. We will be there for almost a week, so that should give us some time to market it. If not, Peter and Alicia have graciously agreed to continue to market it for us. I hope our experience will mirror that of Christa, who listed her car on Craigslist one morning and had it sold by 3:00 p.m. Roger pointed out that hers was a pretty desirable sports car, while ours is a 7-year-old Camry. Still, I think Toyota products are desirable. Qui sait?
The Doonesbury comic strip today has a comment in it that is very appropriate to our situation: we are “at that stage of life where you start to let go of the things you once were.” We are certainly letting go: of our house, our cars, our stuff, our professional lives, our friends, neighbors. We really are turning life on its head, aren’t we?!
I broke my glasses the other day – one earpiece just decided to come apart; not detach from the main frame, but to actually break. I am debating how to handle it. I fell back on an old pair which I planned to take to France anyway as a backup, but now the question is whether I want to try to get the earpiece replaced, which will entail a trip into Metairie during office hours, or take the glasses to some place where they can duplicate the prescription and produce an entire new set of specs. The former is cheaper, but I am loathe to leave the house for that long, as I feel the need to keep working, and a trip into town is a big disruption. Sigh.
There is a final DuPont Ladies Luncheon on Thursday, sort of as a goodbye to me. I say that because it is not really about me – we have these lunches every couple of months or so. But Judy did want to schedule one last one before I leave, so we set it up for Thursday at Taste of Bavaria in Ponchatoula. I wasn’t sure Judy had the heart to set up another one, as the last one was a bomb for her. She offered Sara a ride, and thought they agreed to meet at a shopping center, but she and Sara evidently miscommunicated, and Judy waited for almost an hour for Sara to meet her. When we finally got in touch with her, Sara said “oh, she didn’t think she would go today,” clearly unaware that she had held Judy up for over 45 minutes. Judy was too dispirited to join the others of us (just Cheryl and myself) for lunch that day. That’s enough to sour one from planning such an event entirely! But Judy bravely called me again last week to set up this one last luncheon before I leave. Looks like we may have only three of us.
The Moiseseseses are not going to buy our car, so we will be driving it to Atlanta. Hopefully we can sell it before we go. We will be there for almost a week, so that should give us some time to market it. If not, Peter and Alicia have graciously agreed to continue to market it for us. I hope our experience will mirror that of Christa, who listed her car on Craigslist one morning and had it sold by 3:00 p.m. Roger pointed out that hers was a pretty desirable sports car, while ours is a 7-year-old Camry. Still, I think Toyota products are desirable. Qui sait?
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Packing the storage unit
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Roger rented our storage unit on Tuesday and bought a lock. Wednesday we took our first load down – mostly boxes of books. These we stacked against the side wall, leaving the back wall for furniture, into which we intend to stash many of the books. While I was at my final French lesson, having éclairs and French wine, Roger started to move some of the smaller items down from upstairs, mainly the twin mattresses and box springs and two night stands. Thursday we emptied out some of the bookcases downstairs and moved the rest of the furniture from upstairs into the living room. This is when I suffered my first injury. Roger had to remove the railing from the upstairs hall in order for us to get the queen-sized mattress and box springs down (this is how we got them up there!). He handed down the queen headboard, and I wasn’t able to hold it. It dropped the last foot or so, barking both my shins rather badly and causing one to bleed, although not badly. I cursed and hopped around a bit, but within 5 minutes was ready to help ease the mattress and box springs down. Two big bumps with bruises.
Friday was our work day. Roger had called U-Haul to rent their 10-foot truck, but was told that the smallest they have is 14 feet. They were, however, willing to rent it to us for the same $19.95 as the 10-footer. He reserved it for Friday at 9:00. That morning I dropped him off at the rental center and came back to get things ready. Before he got home, Anna from the rental center called to say he had left his credit card there and he could pick it up when he returned the truck. He arrived shortly thereafter and backed into the driveway. (As we were preparing to leave an hour later, he discovered that he had backed the truck too close to the basketball goal and it was wedged against the truck. He was able to drive out without much additional damage either to the goal or the truck.)
We loaded on the mattresses, most of the furniture from upstairs, and a couple of bookcases. We had had the truck for an hour by this time, so decided to head for the storage unit. I went inside to lock the house and shut the overhead garage door, and as I exited the house, he was driving off! I guess he didn’t want my help unloading, huh? So I drove the car down there – a totally superfluous trip, as I could have ridden with him in the truck. Oh, well. We unloaded the stuff mostly without incident – well, one minor incident. The storage center has carts available for our use. I ran one of those into my already-bruised shin, setting it to bleeding again. We returned to the house for a second, smaller load consisting of three more bookcases and the drawers to a couple of the bureaus from upstairs. We were beginning to be exhausted by this time. We off-loaded the second load at the storage unit and Roger returned the truck. I stopped into the storage unit office to reserve the storage unit truck for next Saturday, chatted with the rental unit guy for a few moments, then took the car and headed home. I got almost all the way there and thought to myself that Roger should be along shortly, it shouldn’t take him too long to gas up the truck and drop it off. Then it occurred to me that the only way he could get home was for me to pick him up. Oops! So I went back to the rental center. I could have covered my ass completely, as he wasn’t through checking out yet, but I did admit that I had forgotten about him.
We went home and had a late lunch – it was around 1:00 by this time. We read and fiddled around on-line, and I found myself so tired I could barely keep my eyes open. At 3:00, I declared nap time and we fell onto the bed, exhausted. Roger slept until 4:00, I until 4:30. Good call. When bedtime rolled around, we still were really tired, but not as fatigued as we would have been otherwise. Besides, Roger has chess on Friday nights and he needed to be alert for that. He said he and Dudley split the games pretty evenly, and says that Dudley intends to spend the week studying up so he can shut Roger out next week, since that will be the last time they play.
This morning we spent two 30-minute sessions in the garage, trying to bring some semblance of order to it. It is already 80° when we get up in the mornings, so we work in the garage early, and take breaks often. Around 10:30 we loaded up the car with smaller stuff, including several drawers for some of the bureaus, and went to the storage unit for an hour or so of re-organization of the unit. When we left it yesterday, it appeared rather full already because we just dropped stuff off without any attempt at organization. We carried some bureau drawers to the unit, then began organizing, placing the first four pieces of furniture against the back wall. We noted that there were two or three empty drawers which we did not want to leave that way, so we planned to leave those accessible and work elsewhere. There was also one bureau drawer missing which needed to be placed early, so we planned to bring that the next time we come. Not long after we got started, Roger took a decorative 1x4 piece of wood and placed it between a couple of boxes, whereupon it fell and struck me on the head. When I put my hand to my head and found blood on it, I told Roger I felt the need to go home and deal with the issue. When he asked me if I was going to go by myself, I told him I wasn’t sure I would make it without passing out, so we headed home. So much for the morning’s reorganization! I guess I will be washing my hair this evening, huh?
At home, I cleaned my wound somewhat, and sulked a bit. We had lunch and sat around until about 2:00, when we loaded the missing bureau drawer into the car along with a couple of boxes of stuff to put into the empty drawers. We got in a good hour of organizing this time, and I am really pleased with how things went. We worked to make sure every drawer and space was filled, mostly with boxes, then put a second row of furniture in front of the row we had placed this morning. We filled every space with more boxes and tubs, then put a box spring and two mattresses across the back on top of all that stuff, almost to the ceiling. There is room to put three more twin mattresses/box springs perpendicular to the three we already placed, but we need to put in another bookcase or stack of boxes/tubs to support them, which we will do early next week.
We left feeling very good about the efficient use of the storage space. Roger estimates that we used about ¼ of the space in the unit so far. We are both pretty optimistic at this point that we have more than ¼ of our household goods in. The big question now is going to be: how much of our outside stuff can we get in? There are six Rubbermaid storage units in the garage, four of which are five feet tall, two of which are about half that. These are light, and can probably be lifted on top of some other stuff in the unit. But then there is all of the lawn care stuff – how much of that is going to fit? We certainly can’t lift a lawn mower on top of much of anything, although perhaps we could put it on top of the washer. How much do we want to keep?
I have discovered in this process of packing for our Grand Adventure that I am not particularly attached to any of our furniture. It is very easy to say “If we can’t get this in, I don’t mind leaving it behind.” I really feel that way about most of our furniture. I have said that about the love seat, a bookcase which was really nice until Alexis scratched it up one day when she decided to sharpen her claws on it, the entertainment center. I feel that way about much of the rest of the stuff. Almost all of it is 25-29 years old and, while still functional, is starting to show its age. By the time we get this stuff into storage, then out in a year, hauled to Texas, and unloaded at our new house in our third life, it will all be in considerably worse shape. We are not the most careful of movers, and much of it is getting scuffed up. Sometimes I think that if I hear “Oops!” one more time, I will scream! The main reason we want to keep the stuff is that we don’t want to have to spend money replacing the things when we get to our third life. I do have to admit that I love our dining room chairs, however. They are on rollers and are quite sturdy. I love being able to roll around in them. They could do with reupholstering, but they are some of the last things I would want to part with.
Still no nibbles on the house. There is an open house tomorrow from 2:30 – 4:00. Pam and Ronald, bless their hearts, are giving us a little party in Slidell tomorrow evening, so we may just leave early for that.
Roger rented our storage unit on Tuesday and bought a lock. Wednesday we took our first load down – mostly boxes of books. These we stacked against the side wall, leaving the back wall for furniture, into which we intend to stash many of the books. While I was at my final French lesson, having éclairs and French wine, Roger started to move some of the smaller items down from upstairs, mainly the twin mattresses and box springs and two night stands. Thursday we emptied out some of the bookcases downstairs and moved the rest of the furniture from upstairs into the living room. This is when I suffered my first injury. Roger had to remove the railing from the upstairs hall in order for us to get the queen-sized mattress and box springs down (this is how we got them up there!). He handed down the queen headboard, and I wasn’t able to hold it. It dropped the last foot or so, barking both my shins rather badly and causing one to bleed, although not badly. I cursed and hopped around a bit, but within 5 minutes was ready to help ease the mattress and box springs down. Two big bumps with bruises.
Friday was our work day. Roger had called U-Haul to rent their 10-foot truck, but was told that the smallest they have is 14 feet. They were, however, willing to rent it to us for the same $19.95 as the 10-footer. He reserved it for Friday at 9:00. That morning I dropped him off at the rental center and came back to get things ready. Before he got home, Anna from the rental center called to say he had left his credit card there and he could pick it up when he returned the truck. He arrived shortly thereafter and backed into the driveway. (As we were preparing to leave an hour later, he discovered that he had backed the truck too close to the basketball goal and it was wedged against the truck. He was able to drive out without much additional damage either to the goal or the truck.)
We loaded on the mattresses, most of the furniture from upstairs, and a couple of bookcases. We had had the truck for an hour by this time, so decided to head for the storage unit. I went inside to lock the house and shut the overhead garage door, and as I exited the house, he was driving off! I guess he didn’t want my help unloading, huh? So I drove the car down there – a totally superfluous trip, as I could have ridden with him in the truck. Oh, well. We unloaded the stuff mostly without incident – well, one minor incident. The storage center has carts available for our use. I ran one of those into my already-bruised shin, setting it to bleeding again. We returned to the house for a second, smaller load consisting of three more bookcases and the drawers to a couple of the bureaus from upstairs. We were beginning to be exhausted by this time. We off-loaded the second load at the storage unit and Roger returned the truck. I stopped into the storage unit office to reserve the storage unit truck for next Saturday, chatted with the rental unit guy for a few moments, then took the car and headed home. I got almost all the way there and thought to myself that Roger should be along shortly, it shouldn’t take him too long to gas up the truck and drop it off. Then it occurred to me that the only way he could get home was for me to pick him up. Oops! So I went back to the rental center. I could have covered my ass completely, as he wasn’t through checking out yet, but I did admit that I had forgotten about him.
We went home and had a late lunch – it was around 1:00 by this time. We read and fiddled around on-line, and I found myself so tired I could barely keep my eyes open. At 3:00, I declared nap time and we fell onto the bed, exhausted. Roger slept until 4:00, I until 4:30. Good call. When bedtime rolled around, we still were really tired, but not as fatigued as we would have been otherwise. Besides, Roger has chess on Friday nights and he needed to be alert for that. He said he and Dudley split the games pretty evenly, and says that Dudley intends to spend the week studying up so he can shut Roger out next week, since that will be the last time they play.
This morning we spent two 30-minute sessions in the garage, trying to bring some semblance of order to it. It is already 80° when we get up in the mornings, so we work in the garage early, and take breaks often. Around 10:30 we loaded up the car with smaller stuff, including several drawers for some of the bureaus, and went to the storage unit for an hour or so of re-organization of the unit. When we left it yesterday, it appeared rather full already because we just dropped stuff off without any attempt at organization. We carried some bureau drawers to the unit, then began organizing, placing the first four pieces of furniture against the back wall. We noted that there were two or three empty drawers which we did not want to leave that way, so we planned to leave those accessible and work elsewhere. There was also one bureau drawer missing which needed to be placed early, so we planned to bring that the next time we come. Not long after we got started, Roger took a decorative 1x4 piece of wood and placed it between a couple of boxes, whereupon it fell and struck me on the head. When I put my hand to my head and found blood on it, I told Roger I felt the need to go home and deal with the issue. When he asked me if I was going to go by myself, I told him I wasn’t sure I would make it without passing out, so we headed home. So much for the morning’s reorganization! I guess I will be washing my hair this evening, huh?
At home, I cleaned my wound somewhat, and sulked a bit. We had lunch and sat around until about 2:00, when we loaded the missing bureau drawer into the car along with a couple of boxes of stuff to put into the empty drawers. We got in a good hour of organizing this time, and I am really pleased with how things went. We worked to make sure every drawer and space was filled, mostly with boxes, then put a second row of furniture in front of the row we had placed this morning. We filled every space with more boxes and tubs, then put a box spring and two mattresses across the back on top of all that stuff, almost to the ceiling. There is room to put three more twin mattresses/box springs perpendicular to the three we already placed, but we need to put in another bookcase or stack of boxes/tubs to support them, which we will do early next week.
We left feeling very good about the efficient use of the storage space. Roger estimates that we used about ¼ of the space in the unit so far. We are both pretty optimistic at this point that we have more than ¼ of our household goods in. The big question now is going to be: how much of our outside stuff can we get in? There are six Rubbermaid storage units in the garage, four of which are five feet tall, two of which are about half that. These are light, and can probably be lifted on top of some other stuff in the unit. But then there is all of the lawn care stuff – how much of that is going to fit? We certainly can’t lift a lawn mower on top of much of anything, although perhaps we could put it on top of the washer. How much do we want to keep?
I have discovered in this process of packing for our Grand Adventure that I am not particularly attached to any of our furniture. It is very easy to say “If we can’t get this in, I don’t mind leaving it behind.” I really feel that way about most of our furniture. I have said that about the love seat, a bookcase which was really nice until Alexis scratched it up one day when she decided to sharpen her claws on it, the entertainment center. I feel that way about much of the rest of the stuff. Almost all of it is 25-29 years old and, while still functional, is starting to show its age. By the time we get this stuff into storage, then out in a year, hauled to Texas, and unloaded at our new house in our third life, it will all be in considerably worse shape. We are not the most careful of movers, and much of it is getting scuffed up. Sometimes I think that if I hear “Oops!” one more time, I will scream! The main reason we want to keep the stuff is that we don’t want to have to spend money replacing the things when we get to our third life. I do have to admit that I love our dining room chairs, however. They are on rollers and are quite sturdy. I love being able to roll around in them. They could do with reupholstering, but they are some of the last things I would want to part with.
Still no nibbles on the house. There is an open house tomorrow from 2:30 – 4:00. Pam and Ronald, bless their hearts, are giving us a little party in Slidell tomorrow evening, so we may just leave early for that.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Counting down
Monday, May 31, 2010
Wow! Only three weeks left before we leave!! Suddenly I can feel time telescoping on us!
This morning we worked in Eric’s room getting a great deal of the things up there packed away. We threw some more away, and set aside some more to give away. I think we were influenced by the cleaning-out of Mary Jean’s house to get rid of more stuff. I started going through old letters and greeting cards I have kept through the years, and I found a $50 in a birthday card to me from Mary Jean!
Only six French lessons left. It’s panic time – I have so much left to learn!! I have not worked as hard as I should have – I certainly didn’t spend 2 hours per week doing out-of-class work for every hour I spent in class. Although we are not graded, I would give myself a C+ for my classes – about what I have come to expect of myself.
Wow! Only three weeks left before we leave!! Suddenly I can feel time telescoping on us!
This morning we worked in Eric’s room getting a great deal of the things up there packed away. We threw some more away, and set aside some more to give away. I think we were influenced by the cleaning-out of Mary Jean’s house to get rid of more stuff. I started going through old letters and greeting cards I have kept through the years, and I found a $50 in a birthday card to me from Mary Jean!
Only six French lessons left. It’s panic time – I have so much left to learn!! I have not worked as hard as I should have – I certainly didn’t spend 2 hours per week doing out-of-class work for every hour I spent in class. Although we are not graded, I would give myself a C+ for my classes – about what I have come to expect of myself.
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