I have been doing a huge amount of cleaning and paring down of the stuff that I have accumulated over the four (!) years I've lived in this beautiful bungalow. Parts of this have been amazing, like finding great mementos of childhood and years past. Other parts have been, well, let's say interesting. I'm amazed at how much random stuff I've kept over the years. Seriously random. Like my dance shoes from high school. Wha? Why keep those? Or the rose I was given by the quickie-mart guy on my twenty-first birthday in Stockton. That was sweet, but I remember it without the actual thing. I dunno...
It makes me feel like apologizing to those who have helped me move, especially in the 8 years prior to this house when I moved like 13 times. Sorry guys that I made you drag around these weighty boxes!
My hope is that my upcoming move, I will leave behind much of the "stuff" that is not so memorable. I am making a memory scrapbook to keep track of some of the more interesting scraps, and photos of some of the bulkier items which I don't want to forget.
One other thing... I have been going through all my old teaching baggage and finding that I saved a disproportionate amount of things from these years, and I don't just mean books (which I am selling, if you need kids' books, let me know!). I mean, I found a scrap of paper I must have picked up from the classroom floor that says "Harry Pothead" on it. Granted that seeing it brought back the face of the rascal who wrote it, and I did end up putting it in the scrapbook, but still. It gives you an idea of the amount of stuff I have.
All I can really say is that it's a good thing that my apartment has a garbage dumpster, because I have been filling it to the brim every other day it seems. Sigh.
So I gots it for me. Her name is Free Spirit, see:
She's a beauty. She has brand new tires and tubes and new brakes. And, even better, Sarah likes her, which is important, since Free Spirit is her present for letting me crash at her place for part of November before I fly the coop. So. Oh, and it is true, it is like riding a bike. I didn't fall or anything and I haven't been on a bike in at least 15 years. Wow, right?
I'm tired of stupid paperwork. I spent two hours at the office today trying to straighten out a glitch that happened a few years back. It was tedious and frustrating, and the worker that helped me was very helpful, even though the office had recently changed up their computer system and she had to keep getting up to go ask someone else questions about how to do things. Anyhow. I [thought I] got it all settled and fixed, only to get home and realize that I had accidentally omitted some information by not taking all the right papers with me. So guess what that means? I get to go back tomorrow and redo the whole process. Yippee! I guess going back is better than leaving it and having it come back on me later down the road. Whatevah.
I may have found a place to live already! I just spoke with a gal who has a room for rent in a two bedroom house that is in the area I want to move to, as well as in my price range. She sounds totally awesome (dude!) and she is a fellow knitter. There's even a washer and dryer in the house. And front and back yards. And she doesn't mind holding the room until December. I'm going to meet with her during my upcoming trip and see if we get along before anything is decided, but it sounds like it just might work! The only downside (this is huge) is that I will only be able to take Chloe. So. Anyone want a gorgeous spaz of a cat?
This is a kyoro-chan paint can, won by my brother in his stay in Japan. Neat, eh?
Lastly, a Jonah and the Whale cast-iron mechanical coin bank. It's not worth much, since it was made in Taiwan, but it's cute.
So? You likie anything?
All I can really say is that it's a good thing that my apartment has a garbage dumpster, because I have been filling it to the brim every other day it seems. Sigh.
Issue two: A warm, weather-proof jacket. I have a nice wool jacket, but when I visited last January and was in the rain, it soaked up quite a bit of water. I like this one:
It has a hood that doesn't show in the photo. It's one of those convertible coats, so I could take the fleece part out and play with the pieces depending on the weather. I also am in love with the concept of wearing a nice wool blazer like this one:
Ah, the fantasies. I'll probably need some socks, too. Hmm. Yeah.
