Patting Myself on the Back

I've pretty much got everything (other than packing -- that's another story) done for the shortest move ever (possibly 40' max). I've booked: (1) the movers; (2) the piano mover; (3) the oriental rug cleaner; and (4) arranged for change of phone service, upgraded internet, cell phone, and tv (new! and the whole schmear is a package costing about what I was paying before). I still need to change electricity and do change of address cards, but that's minor.

Packing's the bitch, but I'm throwing things away with random abandon, and Innana is helping me on Sunday. All clothes too small for DG are going to the Clock Tower Thrift Store. Any clothing I haven't worn in two years is, you guessed it, going to the Clock Tower Thrift Store. Any books that I won't read again that McKay's won't buy off me will go to the local public library book sale. Pieces of paper I saved with intent but will never pick up again? Trash. In the few weeks since this has been heading toward me, I've sold more than 7 boxes of books (don't worry, my bookcases are still full), given away five largish bags of clothing, and thrown out perhaps 20 bags of previously irreplaceable treasures.

Fortunately, my complex has a recycling bin where community members put out non-broken but unused items, and everything I just don't feel up to carting off to Clock Tower, I just put there. But still. I'm making progress every day. Just this last weekend, I got TG and DG to agree that they each only needed one skateboard each, so we recycled the third we had somehow acquired. DG's trike, which she didn't want to part with? Clock Tower while DG was at PdeFF's (don't worry, DG hurtles around the neighborhood on her BIG GIRL bike, with training wheels). Toys for the under three set? Gone from my home. And all the plastic covers without containers or containers without lids that no longer function for food storage? Thrown out. Now I just have to wash, rinse, and repeat at least 47 times between now and Monday.

The coat closet and the storage closet are clean and organized, and the pots and pans and miscellaneous shelves are organized too. And once I move out, I don't have to clean, since my current apartment is one of the last unupgraded units in my complex (why they gave me more for less, so they could rehab) and the landlord is ripping out the carpet and the kitchen and bathroom fixtures and tiling and redoing everything. Paint, carpet, tiles, electrical fixtures, appliances, etc. The landlord told me: Don't bother. We're redoing it, so don't spend your time. So I"m just organizing things for me, not for the great unpleasant cleaning chore of all time.