Last Night in Town

This is our last night in town. Tomorrow morning, we'll have coffee, turn in the modem, turn in our keys, and hit the road.

This morning I woke up before 6am but didn't know what time it was because my alarm clock is packed. After coffee with milk, we finished loading all but the last of the stuff in the Prowler. Tomorrow morning while I'm returning the modem, the Babaloo and the kids will load the mattresses, the TV, and our computers.

When I get back, we'll load the suitcases in the car.

Suitcases, camp chairs, first aid toolbox.

We also threw away a whole bunch of stuff today.

The socks I mentioned yesterday.

Broken backpacks, unused boxes, excess mops in the dining area.

I also finished scrubbing the kitchen.

Before sweeping/mopping.

We also took a load of donation stuff over on the way to my sister's house for lunch.

Everything but the table.

Then we had a lovely lunch that lasted five hours. The cousins played. The menfolk enjoyed beers and conversation. I'm really going to miss the frequency of visits with my sister and that's all I'm going to say about it right this moment because I hate crying.

We topped off the air pressure on the car tires on the way home. I've finished sweeping and vacuuming all the floors except the living room. The Babaloo says he'll vacuum and mop after he and the kids finish watching one last movie and dismantling his computer and the TV.

We have very little food in the fridge but nothing with which to cook it. I thought I was being smart by holding back the ingredients for tuna salad, but I forgot about a can opener, so we ordered and devoured a large pizza for dinner.

Right this minute, I'm waiting for my comforter to finish drying (it's been in for four cycles now, so it should be done soon) and then I'll go put fresh sheets on our bed and start one last load of laundry. 

Is that it? We've done so much today but I can't remember it all. I know I'm forgetting stuff, but it must not be important. I'm beat.

If you're reading this and know me personally, please remember that airplanes and telephones and video chats will be used often in the near future.

Two days to go

First, I forgot to mention that we got rid of the recliner and an old shelf yesterday. I'll try to do a better job of relating what we accomplished today.

The Babaloo woke up at about 4:30 this morning and couldn't get back to sleep. By the time I woke up, the coffee was cold and we were out of milk and the powdered creamer just kind of clumped up on top. I caught myself mid-hissy fit and ran up to Biscuitville for coffee and biscuits.

We finished packing the kitchen. I ran up to the dollar store and bought some rolls of anti-slip matting. We duct-taped two rolls onto the folded-out back seat of the Babaloo's crew cab and two onto the countertop of the trailer so stuff won't shift. The last one, we put on the not-box-springs on the dining area of the trailer so the mattress (hopefully) won't slide, either. Two boxes of kitchen stuff are on the trailer counter and the cabinets are packed with shelf-stable foodstuffs.

I bought milk so there's no chance of a coffee-related hissy tomorrow morning.

I filled two of my wooden produce baskets with stuff we want to access en route, including our kettle, the coffee press, sugar cubes, the aforementioned powdered creamer, pancake mix, peanut butter, honey, pop-top cans of pineapple rings, and a box of plastic flatware that I also picked up today. At the very least, we'll be able to make coffee, breakfast, and sandwiches. Those baskets will not be loaded until after coffee Monday morning.

I finished doing almost all the laundry, including the kids' bedding. I need to do one more load of clothing and our sheets & comforter, and then I'll be absolutely done. I have to confess that I gave up on the laundry basket full of unmatched kids' socks and just handed them each a new six-pack of socks yesterday. We did manage to match a half dozen pairs of their favorite old ones, but the rest are going straight into the garbage. That's slack. I know it's slack. I just don't have the time or energy, and sometimes you just have to concede defeat to move forward.

The Babaloo and I finished packing our suitcases, and they're queued up in the downstairs closet. The kids and I finished packing their suitcases. We've all picked out what to wear tomorrow and Monday, and we all picked grubby throw-away shirts to wear tomorrow so they'll go straight into the trash Sunday night. We are going to show up at my sister's for lunch tomorrow looking like bums but she will understand.

I went around the house today with my cordless drill and a crowbar, and removed every remaining nail and screw. The curtain rods are down. The calendar is down. The beloved markerboard is magically still sticking to the wall despite the removal of screws. The markerboard is going into the trash, though. It's been a good five years, but it's time to replace it.

We went through the freezer and refrigerator and threw out everything except a pot of Portuguese beans, the milk, butter, mayo/mustard/pickles (for making one last batch of tuna salad tomorrow), and a handful of frozen meats that we'll take to my sister tomorrow. That left plenty of room for me to shift things around and scrub the fridge thoroughly. I sternly told my family, "If you spill anything in the fridge, you will let me know so I can make sure it's cleaned." Also, maraschino cherries are henceforth forbidden.

I gave the kids backrubs. They've been a huge help throughout this process, particularly today. One kid gave me a backrub. We're all physically beat. I gave the Babaloo peace and quiet for a couple of hours so he could go stretch out after an intense morning of packing and hauling trash so he could catch up on those hours of missed sleep.

I removed the contact paper from the cabinets. The secret is to attach only a strip on the leading edge and leave the remaining portion flapping when you install it. Removal was a breeze.

We threw out all kinds of household cleansers. We only kept what we'll need to finish cleaning here.

I charged our three phones. I charged my Kindle. I charged the camera battery (hence, no photos today). I found the Babaloo's storage clipboard and wrote the roadside assistance number and our membership ID number on the first page of our travel itineraries. I wrote contact info and directions to the campgrounds we intend to use on the way across the country on a spiral notebook and put it inside the clipboard. I divided our Craigslist and flea market cash so each of us will have vending machine money.

I double-checked that our briefcase has our expired driver licences, copies of social security cards, birth certificates, contact info for potential landlords when we arrive, proofs of income from our rental properties and the accompanying leases, and shot records.

I confirmed with the next-door neighbor that she still wants our patio chairs when we leave.

I checked the mail. I put a check in the mail for a miscalculated copay for a doctor's visit. I signed off on a cancellation form for our renter's insurance and put that in the mail, too. I emailed back and forth with one of our tenants and called the other to let them know to hold off on August rents until we have a forwarding address. Tomorrow, I'll check the mail one last time and put a note in the box to remind the delivery person that today was the last day we're receiving mail at this address.

The plan for tomorrow is to finish loading all the nonessentials, wrap up laundry, dust/vacuum/mop, have a lovely lunch with my sister's family, and get a good night's rest.

At some point Monday, the internet will be disconnected. I'll drive across town to turn in the modem, we'll turn in keys, and then we'll hit the road.

Quick Friday Post

This is going to be a quick post, because I am exhausted. It's going to be hard to remember everything I did today, and it might not all be in order.

I was up early this morning. After toast and coffee, I purged/packed cosmetics and toiletries, removed the wall shelf and mirrors from the bathroom wall, and scrubbed the counter and commodes. I grabbed a quick shower and then headed out to run errands.

I dropped a load of stuff at The Scrap Exchange, including the last office chair, the bathroom shelf, and the organizers I'd used to sort soaps and makeup. Then I headed to BigLots and picked up three camp chairs so we have somewhere to sit both here and during the trip. Then I swung by Don Hill's Locksmith and had an extra set of keys made for the Prowler. On the way home, I stopped by the auto parts store and picked up a 32-oz bottle of Lucas Stop Leak for the power steering on the truck. (When we bought it, it had a major leak that we've gotten mostly under control but discovered a small puddle yesterday. Cross fingers for us.) I also stopped by the leasing office to pick up a final temporary parking tag for the trailer and to sign off on Intent To Vacate paperwork.

I purchased the RV Roadside Assistance membership we'd been discussing. The internet will be turned off some time Monday. I called to turn off the water on Tuesday, and the electricity on Tuesday.

While I was handling the bathroom and errands, the kids and the Babaloo finished vacuuming the kids' room and taking apart the bunk beds. He put the not-box-springs in place in the Prowler. I think we've decided that we've gotten rid of enough stuff that we'll have room to sleep in the trailer on the way, so we'll use KOA campsites instead of getting hotels.

One kid's mattress will go here over the dining area.

The other kid's mattress will go up above at the front.

Our mattress will have to fit in this space.

We also figured out what to put in the bed of the truck. The Babaloo took it to the gas station and filled up one last time, and we hooked the trailer up to it.

We finished packing most of the kitchen stuff, and stowed all our good bath towels in the chest freezer for travel. We'll use the not-so-good towels for our remaining days here and on the road; if they get tossed/lost/ruined, no big deal. Oh, and I took a load of donations over before dinner, including more clothing, shoes, kitchen wares, and a medium-sized but heavy TV.

Gone.

The Babaloo and I debated whether to purchase a hot pot or a hot plate for traveling. He convinced me the hot plate would be more versatile. After dinner, I headed over to Target and used gift cards to buy a hot plate, a six-pack of socks apiece for the kids, and a pair of nail clippers since all mine are already packed at the back of the trailer and my nails are driving me crazy.

Do I sound a bit frazzled? I'm kind of frazzled. But it's coming together.

Tomorrow, we'll work on laundry and purging the last of grocery stuff, and then we can start our final cleaning, I guess.

Lots of furniture gone!

We did just a little bit of packing today. We bundled up about five bags of trash and finally finished emptying the last dresser. Both kids have all their clothes packed, and the only things left in their room are the bunkbed and their suitcases. We planned to disassemble the beds today, but that will have to wait until tomorrow morning.

My cousin drove down from the rural part of the state this morning with her adorable son and we loaded up three bookshelves, a stereo, a corkboard, some bookends, and a small box of beverage stuff (drink mixes, tea bags, coffee creamers) for her to take to her school for the breakroom and her classroom. It was so good to see her, even though the visit was brief. She and I were two of the youngest cousins in the family, so even though I didn't grow up in NC, when we did travel home to visit family, she was one of the few cousins I spent any time with when I was a kid. Seeing what a wonderful and accomplished woman she has become reminded me how much we grow --not just physically, but completely-- in such a short space of time.

She took one of these... (BigLots' photo)

...and two of these. (BigLots' photo)

Then a guy from Craigslist showed up and took some bedroom furniture. This stuff was from the late 1960s and very heavy to haul down the stairs. I told the Babaloo that our next furniture will be nothing but beanbags and balsa-wood dressers. 

Gone.

Gone.

Gone.

Gone.

And then my mom made it to town. I had Breugger's Bagels waiting when she got here. We visited for a bit while she caught me up on everything going on in her hometown. Then we loaded five bookshelves onto her truck. One of them was the second tall one like my cousin took this morning. I think she said the two unfinished ones are going to store tools in her shed and the others she might be planning to donate to town hall. I know she'll put them to good use.

Gone.

Gone.

Two of these gone.

She also took some canning supplies of which I had too many, some canned goods for her town's food pantry which needs help more than my town does, and a couple of lamps. One was a ceramic green-and-cream lamp that her brother 'rescued' from Roses' department store when he was young (I think my grandfather and most of my uncles on that side all worked for the company at one point or another) and has been in the family forever. I've super-glued parts of it at least twice during the ten years I've had it, and was terrified it wouldn't make the trip. 

Then my sister and my niece visited for a little bit, and all nine of us went out to dinner at El Rodeo, which is one of my favorite restaurants in town. I was rather surprised when one of my kids ordered my favorite dish, the chicken enchiladas. I ignored the fact I'm allergic to hops and had a Blue Moon, which means I'll sleep well tonight, but also probably snore so the Babaloo won't. 

Then we came back here and said our goodbyes to my mom. There were hugs and tears and more hugs and why doesn't everyone videochat more? and I'm trying really hard to focus on all the things that make me giddy about the move and to convince everyone that there are these things called airplanes that fly from Arizona to RDU.

That's it for now. I think we have two more donation runs to make tomorrow and a load to take to the trash/recycling, and then all that will be left is to finish loading. Oh, yeah. I have to finish packing my suitcase and condense/purge all my toiletries. The point is: it's coming together. I'm starting to think we might actually meet our self-imposed deadline of Monday!

Pooh to Nostalgic Hoarding

I didn't take a lot of photos, but we did get a lot accomplished today.

This morning, I went to Home Depot and used the remaining balance on a gift card toward the purchase of a 12-volt mini-compressor. I also stopped on that side of town and got a dozen doughnuts and used my last free Redbox code for a movie tonight.

Only $10 and plugs into cigarette lighter.

We plugged it into my car and put air in the tires on one side of the Prowler, then waited an hour until neighbors had moved cars, pulled the trailer to the other side of the street and did the other two tires. Pressure on an empty trailer should be about 30PSI, but with the load, they should be between 45PSI and 65PSI. They are now at 50PSI, and look a lot better.

After that, the Babaloo and I went through five boxes of tools and miscellaneous hardware and condensed it down to three boxes.

Then we loaded up a bunch of stuff (including said hardware and tools) to take over to The Scrap Exchange. This time I was smart and looked to see if the back door was open! It was a lot easier than hauling stuff across the store. :) 

Two office chairs, sawhorses, yet another laptop, crafts, and tools/hardware.

The guys in the back seemed particularly thrilled with the sawhorses. The Babaloo figured they'd get some good use out of them, and that's one of those things that isn't large or heavy but cumbersome... and easy enough to replace on the other end.

OH! And while we were organizing tools, the Babaloo found his pop rivet tool, so he fixed the squeak that has been bugging me in the hatch of the car. I am SO thankful I won't have to listen to it for 2200 miles.

My hero.

We spent the afternoon working in the kids' room. We disassembled their computers and packed them in a tub with comforters to protect all the important parts. That will be one of the last things we load in the trailer. 

Their 'office' space.

Their bookshelves are cleared, the homemade work space has been taken apart, and pretty much all that's left are their dressers and bunkbeds. We'll finish emptying dressers take the beds apart tomorrow. We're sleeping on a mattress on the floor; it won't hurt them to do so for a couple days in order to have everything organized and ready to go.

One of my cousins just confirmed that she wants three of the eight bookshelves I have to get rid of, and my mom is coming down tomorrow to get at least some of the others. Except for my printer and the Babaloo's CPU, the shelves are cleared and ready to go.

Aha! I also found the Babaloo's graduation tassel when I was clearing the living room shelves. He didn't want it for his rear-view mirror, so it's on mine now. We graduated at the same time, but I didn't get all gussied up and walk across the stage; our respective programs were held late on Friday and early on Saturday, and I chose to be awake for his instead of attending mine. I made room for the tassel by throwing away the six years of parking tags I had accumulated. It is time to stop hanging onto things for the sake of nostalgia.  A photo will suffice.

Sufficient photo representing my BA and MA degrees.

Things we got rid of today

We got rid of a lot of things today.

We gave away our queen-size box springs. I talked the Babaloo into getting rid of it here and convinced him we need to just build a platform bed out of plywood when we get to the other end. I did not take a photo of the box springs; you've seen a mattress foundation before, right?

We also sold a dresser and a vanity and a mirror.

Gone.

Gone.

Gone.

We also finished (I think!) gathering all the loose change from various places around the house. We've had a couple of those gallon pickle jars since the Babaloo was once a bartender and would bring home pockets full of change each night. The one in the living room was by no means full, but its contents plus the coins the kids exchanged for folding money filled a quart zipper bag. Except for a few dollars in quarters, I took it to the bank today and ran it all through the CoinStar (discovering two safety pins and a Chuck E. Cheese token in the process) and deposited over a hundred dollars in the Babaloo's account.

Gone. Sort of. Digital money is a lot lighter, is the point.

I also got a free haircut today, and not from a student. I forgot that the place around the corner doesn't charge if you intend to donate your hair. I didn't know I had enough to donate until the beautician pulled it all back into a ponytail and measured 13 inches.

Gone!

I just couldn't deal with that thick mess any longer. She chopped and cut and combed and thinned and layered and snipped for quite a while. I did remember to tip nicely. I think I'm going to like it.

Inverted bob, kind of.

One week until I stop sharing my living space with bats

We have one week to go.

My friend, T, and her daughter came to visit this weekend. It was wonderful. She and my sister and I sat and chatted for a bit, the five kids got to play together all afternoon. We ordered food from the best Chinese restaurant (not just our opinion, but voted best in the Triangle for several years running). She snagged a hotel room not far away because the couch is gone and then we had breakfast at Rick's. She took some artwork off our hands and headed out of town mid-Sunday. I had to sit by myself on the porch until I had my emotions under control so I wouldn't trigger the kids' crying. I quickly asked the Babaloo to run to Aldi with me and to swing by the mall to use a gift card because we won't have Belk's where we're going. He got a lovely pair of quality flip-flops to replace the four-year-old ones he broke Friday trying to move stuff.

We got a lot done today. Most of the eight bookshelves are cleared. My cousin measured her classroom last week and is supposed to let me know which ones she can use. My mom is supposed to drop by some time this week to pick up some, too.

I called our internet service provider last night, because their website advertises that you can call any time and speak to a live person. After ten minutes of listening to a nasal, cheery automaton offering services I'll never use, I finally made my way to the right option only to hear a message telling me to call back during business hours, which they didn't state, and the system disconnected me. I waited until after coffee this morning to call back. They can't mail me a box to return my modem, because the box takes up to two weeks or something, and I don't have a forwarding address and have no desire to haul a modem across the country so I'll have to hand-deliver it to their office on Monday.

I finished my library book. I meant to take the books back tonight, but forgot. We took a load over to donate, and then hit the grocery store for bread and milk.

Clothes, books, dishes, etc.

We also packed a slew of stuff today. Three of four dressers are emptied. I think I'll have to make one more push with the laundry, and then we'll be through purging everything that is ugly or doesn't fit. In the meantime, I still have laundry baskets everywhere so that everyone can pick their favorite traveling clothes to put in suitcases.

We disassembled our bed today. The rails are in the trailer. The memory foam mattress is on the floor. (By the way, a memory foam mattress does not slide across the carpet when you push it with your foot. My landing was soft, though.) A nice young man is coming to pick up a free box spring mattress tomorrow night. One of the dressers made it downstairs and is also supposed to leave tomorrow night. 

We took an hour to plan our trip in 150- to 180-mile increments across the US, stopping for gas only at major truck stops. I was going to use GasBuddy but the Babaloo pointed out the convenience of wide turn-arounds with a trailer far outweighs saving $40 on a cross-country trip. Our directions are printed in duplicate and are waiting by the front door with the two road atlases. 

After a long day of accomplishing much, the Babaloo and I sat on the porch for a bit to enjoy some after-dinner wine until the mosquitoes began to devour us, despite the citronella candles. When we came inside, he stepped into the bathroom. I turned toward my corner of the living room and saw an odd-shaped object on the floor. This time I did not scream. This time I calmly waited until the Babaloo opened the bathroom door.

"Bring the mop bucket."

"What?"

"Bring. Me. The. Mop. Bucket."
"Where is it?"

"Inthebathroombringmethemopbucket. Bringthebucket!"

He succeeded in sneaking up on the BAT and popping the bucket over him without incident. We slid one of the few remaining pieces of large cardstock underneath and then the Babaloo released him outdoors. 

Not today's bat. This is the June 6th bat.

Some of you may recall that early last month I reached into my washing machine and touched a bat that had found its way indoors. I am so done with this place.

We will leave some time next Monday, probably late afternoon.

Friday!

No photos today, since my camera battery is charging.

The chest freezer is finally emptied, unplugged, defrosted, cleaned, and dried. It is ready to go.

I took a load of kitchen wares and toys and musical instruments and a whole box of shampoos and deodorants to donate today, and threw away five bags of trash/recycling.

I emptied our dressers and posted an ad on CL for them. Also ads for other miscellaneous stuff.

I disconnected the bedroom TV and wanted to post an ad for it, but that's when my camera quit on me.

I've queued up four more tubs of stuff to load into the trailer.

We have out-of-town guests visiting tomorrow. After they head out on Sunday, we'll empty the kids' dressers and post ads for them. Then we'll be living out of suitcases for a week or so.

I also applied for two more jobs. And did loads of laundry. And baked cookies. I even took some down time today to watch some junk TV and read a couple of chapters in a novel I'm trying to finish before we go. And finally got to talk with my sister.

And that's about it. Blogging is no fun without photos.

So, here. This is a photo of the mountain range I grew up seeing. I have missed mountains.

From the Wiki.

Productive Thursday

We pulled the Prowler forward today and started loading less-valuable stuff, as planned.

First, we queued stuff in the living room.

Kitchen tools, etc.

This stuff went to the back of the trailer. We're going to have to pack carefully to keep a balanced load.

In the trailer bathtub...

...and the bathroom closet.

The kids and I also spent some time purging/packing their room this morning. They were brutal with deciding what to toss or donate, and held on to very little. All I did was hold up stuff and let them point to their packing boxes or the trash bag or the donation boxes. 

Useful stuff that got donated today.

I'm most sad about the snow globes, but they were broken beyond repair.

The only thing I adamantly did not let them throw away were the dozen or so bookbags, which we'll fill and slide into smaller spaces as we pack.

Also, I totally flaked tonight and picked up take-away pizza for dinner. I am that beat. However, I did remember to stop by the ABC store for more boxes while I was over at the donation center, so the rest of the downsizing should go more quickly during the next few days.

Happy Hump Day

Today wasn't as productive as I'd hoped it would be, but I did get a few things accomplished.

I sold the dehydrator:

The lady called tonight and I was able to direct her to the website for the PDF manual.

And this:

HUGE mirror. The lady bought it for a restaurant bar.

And I took both the truck and the car up to get the oil changed. I sprung for the high-mileage oil on the truck because it is old. I opted for the regular oil on the car because I've never had a problem and even though it's eight years old, I still haven't hit 100,000 miles on it. Strangely, the auto techs found some random piece of PVC packaging under the air filter cover. We have no clue what it is, it doesn't serve a purpose, and I can only presume that my regular mechanic accidentally left it there when I had work done recently. It doesn't inspire confidence. On the other hand, this supports my theory that you should always switch back and forth between two auto professionals. They each find things the other forgot or didn't tell you. This is how I found out the mechanic I don't use any longer cross-threaded and stripped a lug nut on my rear wheel... which I had to pay about $100 to have drilled out and repaired. 

This evening, I hit the CVS for contact lens solution. I bought the single bottle instead of the twin pack, partially because the coupon kiosk gave me a $2 coupon which made it less per bottle if I only bought one and partially because one less thing to pack. I also swung by the grocery store for milk, bread, cereal, and a five-pound bag of potatoes. We are working diligently to eat what we have on hand but I am also only able to handle so many mornings of doleful-eyed children who just really want a bowl of cereal for breakfast. I caved. I'm okay with that.

I have also applied for five jobs in the last two days. I would have applied for more, except the state jobs website underwent routine maintenance over the weekend and they still haven't worked out whatever bugs they created and the jobs board hasn't made it back up again. It's kind of frustrating, because agencies are posting newly available positions and then direct you back to the state website... which isn't functioning. I will survive. 

It is a good thing I created a job application tracking list.

It's been hot and humid here today, but at least it's not raining. If it's cooler tomorrow morning we might pull the Prowler forward and start loading less-valuable boxes of stuff. I made the Babaloo promise we'll take our time loading, though, because I pulled a muscle in my shoulder somehow this week. I went to bed slathered in Ben-Gay, which I'd never used before. No one told me it's three times more menthalyptis-y than Vick's. My sinuses had completely cleared before the pain relief took effect, but it did finally kick in and helped tremendously. In fact, I think I'm going to pop an ibuprofen and use some again tonight so I'm slightly less worthless tomorrow for moving stuff.

Busy, busy

I have not been blogging responsibly because I have been busy doing.

I took some time over the last couple of days to look for housing and jobs. When I couldn't stand it any more, I went out and restored the headlights on the car using Pinterest recipes.

Before.

After. Not perfect, but much improved.

The Babaloo also took advantage of the dry weather and applied Rain-X treatment to the car and the truck. 

I also spent Sunday and Monday clearing the bookshelves in the living room, selling video games to Amazon, finding a new home for the couch, dealing with Craigslist people. Here's the takeaway from CL, by the way. If you post an ad and ask that people either call or email but not text, and someone insists on texting instead of just picking up the phone, even when you text back and ask that he or she call, it will be a PITA to deal with that person. You will have many back-and-forth messages limited to 150 characters and there will be miscommunications and you won't be able to gauge attitude and there's no context. I've come to the conclusion that people who can't just CALL are relying on text messaging because they are socially inept. That person will agree to meet at least twice and flake on you before he or she actually manages to show up. Maybe I've just had miserable experiences with texters.

The person who received this, on the other hand, was very nice, prompt, and appreciative.

Huzzah for camp chairs and ugly barstools! Our temporary seating for the next two weeks.

Yes, you do see something awesome in the foreground of the above photo. The Babaloo headed over to Lowe's and exchanged his over-purchased building materials for a handtruck. He was happy he got to draw a line through his to-do list item on the markerboard.

Made in the USA!

The kids filled a box with books to donate. I took two boxes of stuff to the car this morning to donate, but it won't actually go until tomorrow, when I have a larger batch to take. I also sold two of their unused toys on CL this morning; they were happy to have the cash in hand.

I boxed up, labeled, and triple-taped a shoebox full of games to UPS to Amazon, but that's waiting until tomorrow, too. I finished cooking the last of the chicken leg quarters from the cube freezer! It's ridiculous how excited I am about that. I've done a mountain of laundry and purged a lot of clothing. I think we've thrown out five bags of trash/recycling since my last post. I called my insurance company and had them email the form I need to cancel my renter's insurance at the end of the month. ...a whole bunch of piddly stuff that doesn't merit photos, but do get removed from the seemingly never-ending list on my markerboard. I can show you what happens when the list starts to disappear...

We have conversations with each other.

Kitchen

This morning, as I was reading with my coffee on the porch, my neighbor popped out and asked how much the Babaloo would charge to help her take a couple of loads over to her new duplex unit a couple of miles away. The Babaloo hadn't finished his coffee, and when I checked the weather, we were looking at ... more rain. I told her I'd be happy to help her make a few runs with the car. I folded the back seats completely forward and we managed to take all her downstairs stuff in only three trips and none of it got wet. I was highly appreciative of the functioning A/C by the time we were done.

I talked to my mom for over an hour, and somehow managed to forget to ask when she's coming to town so I can plan organizing/purging accordingly.

After lunch, I had the Babaloo sit in a camp chair in the middle of the dining area and we went through three cabinets and four drawers, deciding what to donate, what to toss, what to pack, and the bare essentials to keep available until the end of the month.

I packed two storage tubs full of pots, pans, utensils, and glassware.

I will not need cheesecloth before the move.

I used tablecloths and placemats to protect things like my teapot, mortar & pestle, and margarita glasses.

Two tubs of cast iron and kitchen wares, the good flatware, the juicer.

I fielded some emails on some stuff we have posted on Craigslist. I made iced tea. I convinced the Babaloo to head to La Vaquita to pick up some tilapia tacos. They were yummy.

After dinner, I took a very tiny load of stuff over to donate.

Kitchen stuff, a coat, and a jacket.

I also stopped by the ABC store to pick up empty liquor bottles. Someone beat me there, because there were only four decent-sized ones left. Usually there are a hundred.  I am not posting photos of liquor boxes, since you've probably seen at least one in your life and they are rather dull.

I spent a couple of hours uninstalling unnecessary programs on my computer. I charged my drill. The kids finished the first of two gigantic jars of kosher dills, and we finished the jug of maraschino cherries.

That's it for today. Tomorrow, I start on the living room shelves. Soon, we'll need to start thinking about loading storage containers in the Prowler, I guess.

Friday purge

I didn't post yesterday. The Babaloo and I had found a bottle jack on Craigslist but the seller had been out of town for two weeks and just returned Wednesday. Conveniently, he was only a few minutes away from the library branch where the kids had their last workshop yesterday. We headed that direction early and snagged this, new and unused in its original packaging, for only $20.

12-ton capacity, baby.

We also had time to pop over to an auto parts place.  Their 12-ton bottle jacks were $50. With our savings, we were able to pick up a tire iron and, since we were there, some Rain-X.

$18...

On sale for $4.

Then we dropped the car off with the mechanic to have him look at the A/C again. He called this morning and said all the valves/gaskets were fine, but that a different hose had dry-rotted (I'm not surprised, the car is a 2005) and that they'd replace it and recharge the freon and only charge for a half-hour of labor. I thought it was a decent compromise. When I picked it up today, I had him bring out a flashlight and show me exactly what had been replaced. I don't mind paying him $150 for the repair, but I'll be danged if I get to a new town and have some unknown mechanic snooker me for the same repair. The good news is: I have nice, frosty A/C again. :)

I rearranged the living room this morning so that I can start purging the bookshelves next week, but the big accomplishment today was tackling the dining area. We had four particle board shelves that I'd stacked and used as pantry space because our kitchen cabinets here are stupidly short (like, 10") and I needed somewhere larger to put boxes of cereal and bottles of olive oil. These shelves were given to my family in... 1991?... by another military family that was headed to Japan. They have been hauled from coast to coast and have survived at least seven moves. The humidity here has finally gotten to them, though, and they were dangerously falling apart. My mom had expressed interest in them but when I went to move one of them today, the back and the bottom stretcher fell off and left rusted, exposed nails, and the whole thing started to rack sideways. I couldn't convince the Babaloo they were worth saving. Truthfully, I'd feel miserable if anyone cut themselves and ended up with lockjaw, so they got tossed today. 

I also went through everything in my pantry and checked expiration dates. We had to toss all kinds of salad dressings and sauces. I'm probably more flexible on 'Best Before' dates than the Babaloo is, but even I had to agree that the marinades dated 2010 were sketchy. We took several bags of trash as well as drops of lumber from old projects.

Load one.

Load two. Tetanus shot, anyone?

Then I took dry goods that had been stored on the shelves and packed them into these utility buckets. The Babaloo fussed at me for making noise with a rubber mallet to tap the lids in place. I fussed at him right back, that I couldn't have pantry stuff strewn all over the kitchen when I'm trying to downsize and pack. It was that kind of morning.

Red Beans and Rice didn't miss her.

That's it. If you've been to visit in the last year, you'll appreciate that this is the wall in the dining room where the shelves had been. We'll work on eating down the food in the baskets and then use this wall as space to queue boxes for the move.

We will not eat the bears.