Come to pack, leave with a car
Dude, I was NOT KIDDING when I said if you come over and help me pack, you get to leave with fabulous prizes. Today Otto’s brother Wild Thing came over and did an amazing impression of the Tazmanian Devil in my basement; what I’d feared would take us well into the night to pack was DONE before dinner. His stipulation before coming over was that he get to leave with his pick of three things. We’d agreed, of course. He ended up with 6, I believe, or even more if you count that I made him take the remainder of the Easter mix candy I had floating around here.
A friend from church came (twice!) and left with a car packed to the gills with stuff for the church yard sale (twice!).
And then another friend from church came and we made him take my car. read more…
Final countdown
You know what would be a great idea, when you’re trying to pack up your remarkably clown-car-like house which is—despite appearing to be nearly empty, now—crammed full of stuff everywhere that needs to be packed and you only have like two days left to get it all done?
Why, have a party, of course!
Duh.
Not here, though. Of course not. Not unless you want everyone to split up the last case of Diet Coke with Lime and eat spaghetti sauce. (I stocked up during a sale. So sue me.) No, ideally you then go have a party over an hour away, taking you away from the house that needs to be packed. That would be superb.
We are brilliant. read more…
C’mon baby, light my fire
Things you cannot put on a moving truck: Detergents, aerosols, propane, live animals.
Things I can stuff into Otto’s car, should I so desire: Detergents and aerosols.
Things I would like to take to Georgia with me, because I PAID MONEY FOR THAT, DAMMIT, which are rather large to take in the car given everything else we have: The propane tank on my grill.
Solution: The propane tank has got to be nearly empty… let’s just leave the grill running until it’s empty, and then the movers will be willing to put it on the truck! read more…
So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, g’bye
It’s the last day of school (finally!), and the children are utterly crushed.
As evidenced by the skipping, prancing, whooping and hollering that accompanied the last trip to the bus stop.
I asked them if they were sad to be having their last day of school here, and they never stopped running around in circles long enough to answer. Because today is exciting; they still have business cards to give out (Otto made them business cards with their new address info) and gifts to bestow and THINGS to DO. They haven’t stopped moving long enough to be sad, yet.
Come to think of it… neither have I.
(photo courtesy of Otto)
Home is where we collide
We had no idea what time Otto was coming today, due to a confluence of events wherein he had to make several unplanned-for detours. (One of them was due to Audrey—the name Otto has decided to give the new GPS unit—failing to predict that there is traffic in New York City. GO FIGURE.) As of our last check-in call, we figured he wouldn’t arrive until after the kids were in bed.
So when he pulled up while the kids were still hanging up their towels and getting into their jammies and screeching and dancing and generally being spazzy, they didn’t even notice. read more…
Things to do with a half-numb face
I had the cavity the dentist found on Friday filled first thing this morning, because nothing starts the day off better than a cheek full of novocaine. The dentist’s office was positively mobbed this morning—I guess lots of people have suffered all weekend and ask to be seen ASAP on Monday—and my teeny little cavity was a low priority. I suspect the dentist knew he’d be running between me and several other patients, because he injected about a gallon of novocaine into my face and then LEFT for half an hour.
Laying prone on a dentist chair while you stare at the ceiling and poke your rapidly-numbing face isn’t actually all that much fun after the first two minutes, it turns out. read more…
I need another piece of pie
Last week I remembered that my deep freezer would need defrosting before the move. Actually, a frost-free deep freezer should be defrosted once a year or so. So naturally, the last time I defrosted it was sometime in 2002. I’m talking there was stuff on the top shelf that was frozen TO the shelf and then covered over in a frosty freezer- snowbank.
Defrosting the freezer means the freezer needs to be emptied out. Which means I needed to get over the fact that yes, it’s wasted money to throw away the burritos I bought on sale in 2004, but it needs to be done. Likewise with the bag of frozen corn that fell behind the petrified pork chops, and the BLUE ice cream that my ex-husband bought and I shoved to the back of the freezer. read more…
Call me if you need a microwave
We have entered the final week, and that means that by the end of this weekend, 95% of everything I own must be packed, given away, or trashed.
I sort of hate packing, so I’m mostly getting rid of stuff. Do you need anything? Air conditioner? Dining room set? Some toddler-sized clothing that I still have for reasons unclear even to me? How about some maternity clothes? (Why yes, I was last pregnant over seven years ago. What’s your point?)
Chris definitely started me on the right track and now if you stop by my house you will certainly leave with a carful of stuff. So. Come on over. read more…
Sometimes love doesn’t feel like it
I’m not sure how to write about this, and I’ll tell you right now that I have no idea how it ends.
This is about a dear friend of mine, someone who has seen me at my best and seen me at my worst. Someone who has been a part of my life for years and watched my kids and held my hand through my divorce and offered to kick Otto’s ass when he broke my heart years ago and was amongst the first to celebrate when we got back together.
This is about someone who is going to be very angry at me for a long time, most likely. read more…
My scanner is working again
This would’ve been better yesterday, but my timing is off. Oh well.
Nevertheless, some of you asked for evidence, so here it is.
Today I skipped directly to number 5, myself, so I’m pretty tired now.