packing, clearning, organizing, purging
I've just taken an entire day off of uni work. My first since May. Well, I did read my 1000 words of geologic literature, but while interesting and informative, and certainly uni related, it does not progress the thesis (though one could argue that doing this reading every day does improve the overall quality of the thesis).
So, what did I do? See the subject line! I've said it before, I love moving! Call me weird, if you must, but it is true. It was actually fun to work on areas of the house, clean them out, decide what to get rid of and what to keep, pack some stuff, and set others up to make packing easier later (since we are moving into a fully equipped home, I am *not* going to pack my kitchen until after Sunday, when we move our selves, such furniture as we are keeping (the bed, our computer desks and chairs, my file cabinet, and the small night stand thing we keep our toiletries in, and which is an important part of my computer work station (as is the file cabinet, which holds my second monitor)).
Unfortunately, to accomplish all of this I had to clean up some of the belongings that the tall apprentice *still* hasn't taken away. He was given the deadline of 1 November to move out and have his stuff gone and everything clean and spotless. However, the lad doesn't drive, so he has been coming up the hill at random intervals, usually with his mother, who does drive, and packing and loading a small amount and then going away again. While I've told him that it would be kind to the drivers if he'd do prep work in advance of their arrival and have everything packed and ready to go, he never did organize anything, just left his messes wherever they happened to be for the rest of us to stumble over. Sigh. The lad has a heart of gold, but... He simply doesn't understand why I consider his mess to be undesirable, I don't have to be out of the house for a week, why should I care if he still has things here? Nor do I think he will understand how much easier my life is now that his shelves in the pantry have been emptied (all bagged up and waiting for him to collect) and the contents of the fabric chest of drawers stacked neatly there, awaiting the great kitchen packing. (Why use paper for packing when one has a fabric stash? The fabric has to be shipped, the kitchen toys have to be shipped, why not do it together?)
So I've put in many hours of work, advertised a few more things for sale, and even more were posted to FreeCycle (thank you etfb for your post the other day alerting me to the fact that it exists in Australia--I'd checked for a Hobart Craig's list years ago and didn't find one, and never thought to look for any such thing again, figuring that they simply hadn't made it here). So the day involved work a bit, check the computer, reply to the folk wanting stuff, back to work, check back in, send more replies, go clean or organize, or pack something else. I'm very satisfied with the progress, particularly as clovis_t was just as busy packing and cleaning other stuff. Once we were finally done for the day, around 19:30, we decided to go for a bit of a jog, which felt *really* good--it has been raining lots lately, so the air was fresh and clean. And my exercise log for the month is looking good--clovis_t pointed out that all of the hard work I'm doing with the cleaning/packing/etc. must count as exercise, so I decided to credit it at 25% of the time is exercise. Funny, that puts my total for the past couple of days up where I want it! (You don't think that is "cheating", do you?)
I haven't yet played with the Hammer Dulcimer today, because I'd told myself that it would be a reward for doing uni work, but I did give it the final polish Harry recommended with very fine grade steel wool and oil (I used almond oil, which I had in the kitchen, rather than the suggested linseed oil, which would have required shopping). I should have taken a photo, but didn't get the camera, so you will have to wait another day.
Plan for tomorrow:
Check the various job listings which sounded interesting to see if I've missed any deadlines, and if any deadlines are looming, and if appropriate, apply.
Do some uni work.
Play the Hammer Dulcimer.
Work on the case for the Hammer Dulcimer.
Get some exercise.
Pass on some more of the stuff I'm getting rid of to their new people.
and, if there is still any time or energy left, pack some more.
Here's hoping I can manage it all!
So, what did I do? See the subject line! I've said it before, I love moving! Call me weird, if you must, but it is true. It was actually fun to work on areas of the house, clean them out, decide what to get rid of and what to keep, pack some stuff, and set others up to make packing easier later (since we are moving into a fully equipped home, I am *not* going to pack my kitchen until after Sunday, when we move our selves, such furniture as we are keeping (the bed, our computer desks and chairs, my file cabinet, and the small night stand thing we keep our toiletries in, and which is an important part of my computer work station (as is the file cabinet, which holds my second monitor)).
Unfortunately, to accomplish all of this I had to clean up some of the belongings that the tall apprentice *still* hasn't taken away. He was given the deadline of 1 November to move out and have his stuff gone and everything clean and spotless. However, the lad doesn't drive, so he has been coming up the hill at random intervals, usually with his mother, who does drive, and packing and loading a small amount and then going away again. While I've told him that it would be kind to the drivers if he'd do prep work in advance of their arrival and have everything packed and ready to go, he never did organize anything, just left his messes wherever they happened to be for the rest of us to stumble over. Sigh. The lad has a heart of gold, but... He simply doesn't understand why I consider his mess to be undesirable, I don't have to be out of the house for a week, why should I care if he still has things here? Nor do I think he will understand how much easier my life is now that his shelves in the pantry have been emptied (all bagged up and waiting for him to collect) and the contents of the fabric chest of drawers stacked neatly there, awaiting the great kitchen packing. (Why use paper for packing when one has a fabric stash? The fabric has to be shipped, the kitchen toys have to be shipped, why not do it together?)
So I've put in many hours of work, advertised a few more things for sale, and even more were posted to FreeCycle (thank you etfb for your post the other day alerting me to the fact that it exists in Australia--I'd checked for a Hobart Craig's list years ago and didn't find one, and never thought to look for any such thing again, figuring that they simply hadn't made it here). So the day involved work a bit, check the computer, reply to the folk wanting stuff, back to work, check back in, send more replies, go clean or organize, or pack something else. I'm very satisfied with the progress, particularly as clovis_t was just as busy packing and cleaning other stuff. Once we were finally done for the day, around 19:30, we decided to go for a bit of a jog, which felt *really* good--it has been raining lots lately, so the air was fresh and clean. And my exercise log for the month is looking good--clovis_t pointed out that all of the hard work I'm doing with the cleaning/packing/etc. must count as exercise, so I decided to credit it at 25% of the time is exercise. Funny, that puts my total for the past couple of days up where I want it! (You don't think that is "cheating", do you?)
I haven't yet played with the Hammer Dulcimer today, because I'd told myself that it would be a reward for doing uni work, but I did give it the final polish Harry recommended with very fine grade steel wool and oil (I used almond oil, which I had in the kitchen, rather than the suggested linseed oil, which would have required shopping). I should have taken a photo, but didn't get the camera, so you will have to wait another day.
Plan for tomorrow:
Check the various job listings which sounded interesting to see if I've missed any deadlines, and if any deadlines are looming, and if appropriate, apply.
Do some uni work.
Play the Hammer Dulcimer.
Work on the case for the Hammer Dulcimer.
Get some exercise.
Pass on some more of the stuff I'm getting rid of to their new people.
and, if there is still any time or energy left, pack some more.
Here's hoping I can manage it all!