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.