Already Gone

The movers are finished! They headed out about thirty minutes ago. I've been touring the house to see what work is left for me to do. There's going to be a lot of stuff to sort and take to the dump... also a lot of groceries and cleaning supplies to parcel out to my friends. I've already started that process.

It is very strange to be here without our furniture or Marty or Ziggy. Just weird.

I still have lots more work to do in the next few days before I head off for the farewell tour. But what a RELIEF to have the furniture gone!

The Last Night

I just spent my last night here in my house in Hamden, CT. I can't believe it. When Marty and I moved in here three years ago (see August 17, 1999 entry) we thought we'd be staying a long time. I know we both thought we'd be in this house a lot longer than three years. We thought we'd be here long enough to redo both the bathrooms, the kitchen, the upstairs rooms. We thought we'd have a kid here.

Plans change. If this summer has been a lesson in anything, it's that. We never thought we'd be selling the house after three years. We certainly never thought we'd be selling the house to move to Germany.

But it's all good. We've had some great times here. So many fun visits with our families and friends, three happy Christmases, so much progress made on our various projects... I have done a lot of personal growing here, too. I wasn't exactly a different person three years ago, but I have certainly grown a lot here.

Last night I went over for dinner with Amanda and Frank. It was so good to see them both. And dinner was great! Then Amanda and I watched On the Line, which is one of my favorite guilty pleasures. (We were going to watch Amelie, which I really do want to see, but we figured, why watch an Oscar-nominated French film when you could be admiring how good Lance Bass looks in clothes?!)

And now the movers will be here an hour or so to finish loading my stuff for storage. Another chapter comes to a close...

I knew I'd been to Freiburg before...

The movers left around 3:45. They really got a lot done today. The downstairs, basement, attic and garage are mostly packed. Tomorrow should go well too -- as long as I can get a ton of work done tonight.

Sorting through my books, I ran across my diary/travelog from my church youth choir trip from 1984. I was in the youth choir of the First Baptist Church in Athens, Georgia, and we took a trip to Europe that summer. Thank goodness the itinerary is in the book. I remembered a very nice hotel we stayed at -- and I thought it was in Freiburg -- and sure enough, it is. I didn't recognize one single thing when we were in Freiburg last weekend, though, so I thought maybe I'd misremembered it.

Anyway this journal has me laughing aloud at my fifteen-year-old self. There are a lot of entries that go something like this:

June 11, 1984. We are FLYing! We took off at about 6:20 pm. It's okay. We're sitting in a row of 5. Margaret R, me, Phil, Doug, and Kathy H. We've only been flying 10 or 15 minutes. Doug's very Hyper. But it seems like it's going to be an okay flight. Supper's supposed to be later. I'll write more when there's more to tell. (My suitcase weighs 55 lbs!!!)

Later (11:35). We just saw the movie - GORKY PARK. Phil was feeling bad and the stewardess gave him some medicine to take called VOMEX. For supper we had Roladens!

June 20, 1984. We went to Florence and went sightseeing. Then we went shopping. I saw Michelangelo's "David." I bought a bunch of stuff.

June 26, 1984. Today we drove to the border between East & West Germany. It's bad.

The funniest thing about this journal is that it sounds just like Gracie's.

Movers and Shakers

Halfway through the first official day of packing, I say we are making a lot of progress. The moving company sent a team of four guys -- the biggest team I've ever had; usually we get three -- and they seem like the best movers we've ever had. I guess the true test will be when we unpack our stuff in Germany, and then get the rest of it out of storage in 2 years. But they seem like really good packers, and they are very professional as well. I was a little worried about being here alone today, but it seems to be going all right.

I got the downstairs, basement, and garage ready in time for today. I'll have the upstairs done for tomorrow. I have to sort through everything so the things that are going to storage are separate from the things that are going overseas, and the stuff that's in the air shipment is separate from what's going by boat. (Slow boat to Germany?) Also there's just a lot of crap to sort through. You know how it is. You don't know how much stuff you have until you try to move it all...

So I am feeling a little better. Yesterday was just a bad, bad day. So much work to do, and the hives started coming back, and Ziggy crapped in his cage in my car on the way over to Clarissa's... it was just one thing after another. But now half my downstairs is packed up in boxes, and Ziggy is calming down and settling in, and I am making progress upstairs, so I feel like I can breathe again. Thank goodness. I still have a ton of stuff to do, but mostly I'm feeling better.

Tomorrow it's more packing. Wednesday they'll load. Thursday I'll try to get all the rest of the junk out of the house (also I have lunch plans with some old coworkers). And Friday I have a team coming in to clean the house. By this weekend I should be able to head out on the big road trip!

Update

There's way too much to get done and I am operating on way too little sleep, here.

The movers are coming tomorrow, and there's just not really enough time anymore to get everything done that I need to do. There's so much to be gone through -- the books, the clothes, the kitchen -- to separate out what we want to store and what we want to take. That's not the kind of thing anyone can do but me. Or Marty, although of course he's in Germany already.

It doesn't help that there's an open house here today, which means instead of getting ready for the movers, I have to spend time getting ready for that. And I can't just pull everything out of the cabinets until it's over, because then there would be stuff all over the place for the open house, you know. Worse than there already is, I mean.

Then there's that inventory I need to make of everything in the house before it gets packed up tomorrow. Looks like that's going to be pretty darn general.

I've worked hard every day this week since I've been home, and I guess this was just too much for one person to finish alone.

Yesterday I tried to make a backup of my whole computer. It got halfway done and then hit some kind of error and cancelled the whole process. That was after burning 25 CDs. (I think total, it would've taken over 50.) I don't have time to do another one (and who's to say it wouldn't do the same thing again, anyway?) because I have to be there to switch them out every couple of minutes. I guess if I get a chance I will just back up my documents and hope for the best.

And last night my trusty Lexmark just started acting very, very strangely. One minute it was printing fine, and the next... well, I think it might be dead now. It had a good run, though. I've had it since 1998. And when I think how many CD covers I've printed on it -- probably thousands -- and how good they all looked, I don't feel too bad about it.

Well, I'd better go see about breakfast. I also have to get Ziggy out of here today -- he's going over to stay at Clarissa's now until time for him to leave for Germany. Or at least for the next week, and I may board him after that. Depends on how well he and Clarissa get along.

"Basically you could be stressful easily..."

Oh my goodness. Check this out. Ha!

Busy Times Ahead

It's good to be home. Even though Connecticut won't be home much longer -- it feels nice to be in familiar surroundings again. I slept well in my own bed last night.

This morning the moving company is coming to take an initial survey of our household goods. Next Monday through Wednesday they will come to pack and load. Between now and then I have a huge pile of things to take care of. I made list after list while I was in Munich, and I have them all in a little Engrish notebook that is indispensible to me now.

The biggest things on my mind now are getting ready for the movers (which involves separating what we want to take to Germany from what is going into storage), getting Ziggy ready to go (I don't even know everything this involves yet), and selling the house and car. But I'm putting off the car until after my big farewell driving tour of the East coast, which will be coming up in a couple of weeks.

So there's still plenty to stress about, but it's nice to be back this morning and to know that things are approaching the end now. In a week or so I will be out of this house, and things will really start happening. (As if they weren't happening enough already.)

I enjoyed Munich last week. It's a nice city, and I feel comfortable walking around there and taking the public transportation. I've never lived in a city before, but I think it will go all right, especially once I have my German back. I used it some last week, but I am very rusty. I plan to take an intensive language class at The Goethe Institute when I arrive in Munich. That should be plenty to get me started...

So, here are a couple of pictures I took while I was over there. On the right is a fountain in the Alt Stadt, close by the Hofbräuhaus and the Opera House. Below is a view of the Rathaus, which stands in Marienplatz and houses the famous Glockenspiel. It's not really the leaning Rathaus of Munich, it just looks like that in my picture for some reason. But you see how absolutely gorgeous the weather was, at least for a day or so. I expect summer is the nicest time of year there, so I'm glad I got to spend some time there now. By the time I go back, toward the end of August, I expect it will feel like fall is imminent.

Home

I'm home, jetlagged, and starving. Updates to follow soon (like, tomorrow). Thanks, everyone, for the good wishes.

Ziggy seems very happy to see me. And I am very happy to see my own keyboard...

Very Good News

We found an apartment! Actually we found two we liked a lot -- and one runner-up. This afternoon we left the car at the hotel and took public transportation out to the places we liked best, then walked around the neighborhoods to figure out whether we could really live there or not. Finally we were able to put our list in order of preference.

Then the question was, would the landlords want us? The rental market here in Munich is extremely tight, and apparently owners can pick and choose among applicants. We were lucky enough to get our first choice! I'm sure it worked in our favor that we are corporate-sponsored tenants.

The two places we liked best (out of the 10 or 13 we saw in the last few days) were both in nice established neighborhoods with lots of pedestrian traffic and good access to public transportation. The one we're ending up with is very close to the U-Bahn (the subway), which is what we both preferred. The other apartment we really liked was right on the S-Bahn (the streetcar line).

The place is on the second floor of a building that has businesses at the street level, and the apartment has lots of windows looking out over the street (although our bedroom is nice and quiet on the back of the place). There's a small balcony and a nice new bathroom, and a room for me to have my own study. Hardwood floors in every room (except the kitchen and bath, which are ceramic tile). It's on a main thoroughfare in Munich, and we are both happy about the neighborhood and the level of activity in the area. Lots of little restaurants and coffeeshops and a grocery store and a department store within easy walking distance.

We looked at bigger apartments than this -- and some fancier ones as well. Places with brand new kitchens, or more rooms, or bigger rooms (although the main bedroom is Very Large in this place), but in the end we liked the light and the location and the atmosphere better than any other place. The apartment is just a few blocks away from the English Garden (a huge Central Park-like garden in the middle of Munich); we walked over there tonight for dinner at the See Haus (a beer garden).

Now there is lots and lots of paperwork to do, a contract to negotiate and sign, and a kitchen to plan (yes, this is one of those places that comes with no kitchen cabinets or appliances!). But we have had a very productive week and I am greatly relieved. Tomorrow we are headed to Freiburg to visit a friend from college who got married there today. I am looking forward to a break from apartment hunting!

Success!

Well, success with the Internet, anyway. Found the EasyEverything and got my mail... heard from my realtor as well. No offers on the house yet, but some interest from people who attended the open house on Sunday.

I won't change the time on my webpage yet, but it is noon on Wednesday as I write this. Oh, funny, Placebo's "Teenage Angst" just came on the sound system as I started writing this. Hee!!!

I am feeling much better after having slept, oh, 12 hours or so. The bed is very, very comfortable. We are staying in one of the two nicest hotels in Munich. It is actually written up in most of the guidebooks as a place to go in and look at. The breakfast alone is worth writing home about, oh, god. And you know how much I love breakfast. Well, now you do.

This German keyboard is very different from my American one. I am doing a lot of hunting and pecking here.

This morning I struck out on my own in the city. At 11:00 I played the ultimate tourist and watched the Glockenspiel do its thing over in Marienplatz. Last time I was in Munich (with my pal Doug in 1988) we arrived in the afternoon and had a train to Amsterdam at 1:30 AM, so we weren't around at the right time to see the clock play. (Instead, we went to the English Garden and the Hofbräuhaus, also must-sees for tourists.)

I should get going back to the hotel and check messages, in case Marty has called to say we have more apartments to see.

Später!

Apartments and Sausages and Beer, Oh My!

Well! Munich is great. I arrived this morning around 8:00 and Marty met me at the airport. He brought me back to the hotel and I got some breakfast and a shower, then took a little nap while he went to work for awhile. Later we met up with Jutta, the relocation agent who is helping us find an apartment, among other tasks. We looked at two places here in Munich this afternoon.

The apartments were both nice, with hardwood floors throughout, and bigger rooms than I expected. They were typisch Deutsch in that the kitchens were unfurnished (no, not even any cabinets, much less appliances! just empty rooms!) and there were no closets. We could fix that closet problem at Ikea, of course.

Tomorrow we go to see three others, maybe more if Jutta can line them up. But Marty is going to work in the morning and I intend to do a little sightseeing. And find an Internet cafe. I can't access any of my e-mail accounts on this computer due to the firewall (I'm using Marty's work laptop). But at least I could get to Blogger, right? I hear there is an EasyEverything Internet place by the train station, and I think there's a different one even closer to the hotel. I'll head over there in the morning, maybe.

I read a book of short stories on the plane, Speaking with the Angel, edited by Nick Hornby (who wrote About a Boy, Fever Pitch, High Fidelity and other novels...) I really enjoyed the stories. And there was one by Colin Firth! It was good, too! Lots of other good young writers, like Helen Fielding (Bridget Jones's Diary), Irvine Welsh (Trainspotting) and Dave Eggers (A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius). Unlike with a lot of anthologies, I just started at the beginning and read to the end. I thought it was great. My favorite story, I think, was "Peter Shelley," by Patrick Marber. It was just... really sexy.

Now I'm reading High Fidelity.

The food's been great so far. Just a late breakfast and an early dinner, but I've already had many wonderful different kinds of sausage. And tonight I had a beer with dinner, which is probably why I'm falling asleep on the keys right now.

Well, write me if you want, at hotmail, and I will get it tomorrow from the Internet cafe.

Later!

Begin Radio Silence

It's going to be quiet around here for the next little while. I'm leaving for an apartment-hunting trip soon. I may have Internet access while I'm gone, but I may not...

Back soon with all the updates from Munchen.

Can anyone tell me the keystroke code for the umlauted u? I'm definitely going to be needing that...

All Done

One final wallpaper update, then I'll shut up about it forever. I'm sure I'm sicker of talking about it than you are reading about it.

I'm glad I went out for that last roll. It made a huge difference. Still, when I got down to the end, I was so tired I made a stupid mistake and had to cut the last piece twice (not realizing I had made a mistake until I'd waited for it to soak and cure), so that added an extra twenty minutes or so to the project. As it was, I went to bed at 5:45 this morning. Right now (I just woke up), I feel like Lance with a hangover. Thrashed. And I have this weird pain as if someone clubbed me in the middle of the back.

I don't believe I've pulled an honest-to-god all-nighter since grad school. I was drinking Diet Coke like a fiend all night and I'm still jumpy from caffiene. And I was up for 25 hours straight. I guess I'm just training for when I fly to Germany Monday, since I always end up not sleeping on the plane and staying up for two days.

But! The wallpaper looks great this morning! Really, really good. So I feel a sense of accomplishment. And I will take some pictures once I get the remains of the project all cleaned up. And I hope this wallpaper sells this house! I really really do!

Mission (Somewhat) Accomplished

One more roll of wallpaper: check.
Klondike bars: check.
NSYNC rarities on the stereo (loud!): check.

Now I just need to hang it. Hang it! Hang it!

Guess what? K-Mart is open 24/7 here. Which is a really good thing, because I need just one more roll of wallpaper...

The house is being shown to a potential buyer for the first time today at noon. I'm not really ready. I still have another day's worth of wallpaper to hang, and the upstairs hasn't been cleaned a bit. However, downstairs looks gorgeous, thanks to my wonderful in-laws. I'll get the wallpaper done before the open house tomorrow. That much is certain.

This morning I've been up since 4:45 working on the bedrooms and the studies. I'll just work right up to time for the showing, I guess, and then skedaddle for 30 minutes or so...

I'll tell you what, next time someone offers to hang this much wallpaper for me for $750, I'm taking them up on it. Honestly. If the guy could have done it in July rather than not until August, I would have said yes. (Sorry, Marty, but it's true.)

Oh, this is amusing. Hee!

Curious George Hangs Wallpaper

Here's how I spent my morning.



We are hanging the long pieces beside the stairs right now. The first strip was 15 feet long. I am standing up on a ladder over the staircase so I can reach the ceiling, and my father-in-law is standing below to do the lower sections.

I was skeptical when Marty told me about rigging this ladder up on the stairs like this, but it really does work. You can see how it's put together better in this picture, which also shows my father-in-law, Gene.



Last night after Anna and Gene went to bed, I painted the risers on the stairs. Even with just one coat, it's a huge improvement. A second coat will make it look gorgeous. I'll do it tonight after people turn in.

Anyway, the wallpapering seems to be going better today than yesterday. I wore my Space Monkey shirt for good luck. So far it seems to be working. We are making good time with the paper beside the stairs, and I feel like I'm really getting the hang of it now.

I also listened to a new mix today, for inspiration, "For Girls Who Choose to Move."

Hm, I guess that would be me.

Just an update



I'm still working in the upstairs hall, but this is what the wallpaper looks like. I am almost to the long drop beside the stairs, which means I'll have to make some more decisions soon.

This project has a very steep learning curve for me. But I am hoping that by the time I get downstairs I will really have the hang of it. I want the front hall to look really good. First impressions and all that.

Here's a little section of the upstairs hall, between the study and the linen closet, with before and after pics:

My Anti-Linear Brain
(apologies to Laura)

Not thinking too straight just now, so here are my impressions.

Wallpaper is a dirty job. Stressful. Can't say I like it. But the walls are looking good. Today I'll get to the long wall by the stairs.

Driving home last night under a lavender sky with dark purple clouds, I played "Big Gay Heart" by The Lemonheads ten times in a row. I love "repeat."

The VH1 show "Driven: NSYNC" was one of the highlights of my week. It just made me love them so much more.

Trish has an interview tomorrow for my old job, or one very similar to it at the same place.

My in-laws are back for a few days to help some more. Every time I thank them, they say, "This is what families are for." But I know that not everyone is lucky enough to have families who would help them like this. Or friends, either, for that matter. Trish worked with me here for two days from 8 AM to 5 PM. We were very productive, got a lot accomplished.

I have spoken to Marty every day since he's been gone. I miss him very much. But even worse is the mild hysteria that sweeps over me from time to time when I think about this chapter of our lives coming to a close. I got all choked up in Home Depot yesterday thinking about how not only wouldn't we be going there together, but we wouldn't even own a house anymore. Sheesh. I'll be glad when my life is all settled down again, and we're back together.

The house will be shown on Saturday at noon. Then there's an open house scheduled for Sunday. I had better get moving on this wallpaper.

That's all for now.

What I'm Reading

This site has a lot of useful information about wallpapering. I mean, it's pretty basic, but then, my project is pretty basic!

Trish and I got so much done today. We haven't actually started hanging the wallpaper, but we did a bunch of prep and crossed a ton of stuff off the list of things to do. What, you ask? Okay...

• painted downstairs hall ceiling
  
• painted primer/sizing on upstairs and downstairs hallway walls
  
• replaced 5 baseboards (we used Marty's mitre saw and nail gun)
  
• touched up paint in downstairs bathroom
  
• installed piece of trim in front of bathroom closet
  
• polyurethaned new threshold at front door

And oh, there was more. But you know... the list of things that still have to be done is over twice as long.

Still! Progress is being made! Right here in River City!

Joey in Rent

Apparently Joey Fatone may be joining the cast of Rent. He'll play Mark (the narrator). This is harder for me to imagine than JC playing Roger. But I'm not saying Joey won't do a good job. And goodness knows he needs a project, what with Lance in space, Wonderboy recording his solo album, JC busy shopping at the MAC store, and Chris trying to save Fuman Skeeto.

I think I'll be out of the country, though...

Leaving Home

Marty just headed out for the last time. Can you believe it? If all goes according to plan, he won't ever be back in this house.

I have a bunch to do today. Actually, this whole week. I'm going to get started on the wallpaper project directly -- I have to go out and pick up whatever I need for it. This morning I've been painting in the bathroom to try and get that project finished.

I guess it's all about me, now. Although I do have help coming from a few different sources. Thank you all...

Oh my god oh my god oh my GOD!!!!!!

Pamie is back!!! Kinda. Sorta.

A little Pamie is sooooooooo much better than none at all! And she has a book coming out next summer!

And now, for your patience, you can buy Pamela Ribon’s Why Girls Are Weird in July, 2003.

Holy crap. Look at that. It really hasn’t hit me yet. I think I’ll have to see something on actual paper first before I really understand that there’s going to be a book out there with my name on it that potentially I could see people reading while I’m at the airport. And yes, it does have the Tiny Wooden Hand entry.

The tiny wooden hand! Oh my god, I missed Squishy so much!

Mixed Feelings

It's official: we listed our house today. I am excited and nervous and a little sad to be selling it. We bought it less than three years ago, in August of 1999, but we've certainly poured a lot of time and work and love into it since then. It's had some major improvements, and with only two exceptions (the floors and the heating system), Marty and I have done them all ourselves.

The house was built in 1765. Marty and I love old homes and had wanted one for several years. This house turned out to be just right for us.

I wish it always looked as good as it does in the pictures here. The living room, above, was the first room we redid, in 2000. We painted it in the spring, and Marty built bookcases along one wall that summer. It's such a beautiful room. I love it.



The dining room was our project for spring of 2001. It turned out great, too. Later that summer Marty began completely renovating the downstairs bathroom. One year later, I can say it's very nearly finished. He and Jim will finish the linen closet and the trim tomorrow, and I will paint the rest of the woodwork next week. (I promise I'll post some pictures soon, too.)

Marty is leaving for Germany on Monday, for good. I will go a week later for a househunting trip, then move permanently within a month or so.

But before I go, there are a few more projects to finish. Next week I'll hang wallpaper in the front hallway, and every time I think to myself that Marty will never see that wallpaper, I just feel so strange. I can't believe our life together here in this house is nearly done. I am excited about the new adventure, but it's hard to leave the house behind.

I am reminded of Katynka's journal entry about leaving her house in Pennsylvania, and like her, I look to the future with that same blend of sadness and curiosity. And, of course, we are taking Ziggy with us as well. So I am certain that wherever we end up, even if it's a small apartment in Munich, it will feel like home.

Still. I will miss this glorious old place.

Riding out tonight to case the promised land...

Everyone needs to go hop in their cars and crank Thunder Road... it is the perfect song for today! But maybe that's just me.

The sale continues. It's been a successful day so far, especially considering this is the slow day (Friday). I need to spend some time bringing down more stuff for it, I think. The weather heated up, finally, but it's nice under the tree out there, and a lot of people are stopping. We've sold a bunch of stuff.

Still, there's gotta be more we could get rid of...

FREEDOM!

The tag sale is under way. I took the picture last night; my brother-in-law Scot made the great sign!

It's going well, and the weather today is absolutely amazing. The best I have seen all summer. It's gorgeous, and not so blazing hot like it's been the last few weeks.

So! Back to the sale! If you want any of my crap, just stop by...

Why the hell not?

I've heard of worse ideas: Cusack for President.

Tree Crazy

Yesterday I went to the dentist to have a small filling replaced. I like my dentist very much. He has a funny name -- it brings to mind a silly nickname that I always think of but never call him out loud, or at least, not to his face. Also, he has very small hands. Normally I find that somewhat disconcerting in a man, but I think it's an absolute necessity for a dentist.

Anyway, yesterday I was in the chair and he pointed out a tree outside the window, directly in my line of sight. It was a sycamore, and he was telling me that someone had told him that if there were two balls (I corrected him, buttonballs) on the same twig, it was a London something tree (again, I corrected him, London plane tree). He wanted to know if that was true, about the two buttonballs indicating a London plane. I told him I didn't know, but that I knew someone who would. Then I told him about the very famous sycamore up in Simsbury and he started getting really excited.

He asked me how I knew so much about sycamores, and I said I had a friend who was an expert.

I hope he will get the answers about that tree in front of his office. He was very curious about it.

Big Decision

Looks like we are going to try to sell the house. We met with a realtor today and it seems like the best thing to do. The housing market is very hot in Connecticut right now. If that doesn't work out, we will just have to revisit the issue. But I hope it'll work. It feels good to have the decision made, at any rate.

Selling the house means we finish the projects we've started, but we don't start any new ones. So we'll finish the downstairs bathroom, hang the wallpaper in the hallway, and do the baseboards in several rooms, but we won't paint the exterior of the house or do any of the other things we'd thought of starting. Marty's brother and his friend are coming to help us with the work (they are arriving at midnight tonight!) and the guys are going to work all weekend on the projects. I will do the wallpaper myself next week after Marty leaves. My friend Trish is coming to help. I imagine I might also have to put in a few calls to the expert in Columbus, OHIO, for assistance.

Things for the tag sale are coming together. We are pricing to sell. I just want to get the stuff OUT of the house. Anna has been working very hard on this stuff. And Amanda is coming tomorrow to help too.

Today I got my international driver's license. Hee!

My computer is still internet-less. We have some ideas but not much time to try anything out. I suppose if worst comes to worst, I will deal with it after Marty leaves and I am here alone.

Hmm, we're going to have six people sleeping here tonight. I think that may be the most we've ever had spend the night in this house at once!

Misery

The computer horror continues. Cable internet service is restored (thanks to a new cable modem as of yesterday), but now is only available on Marty's computer. AOL seems to have done something to my settings and now my computer can't recognize the network (here in the house) or get on the internet.

Not that I have a lot of time to be fooling around with it. There is so much to do elsewhere. It's just that it becomes very inconvenient to run back and forth between my computer and Marty's when I am trying to do this research and get things accomplished. I'm always putting something on a floppy and taking it one way or the other.

Preparations for the tag sale continue. Anna has been working very hard, and I am so grateful to her for it. Marty and I are also keeping tons of appointments and doing a bunch of work around the house. I am trying to push out of my mind that Marty is leaving in just a few days -- I don't know that it's the best thing to do, but I'm not sure I can handle really thinking about the situation, either. Just need to take things one at a time.

Okay. I guess that's all for now.

I Love Change!

Well, not really. Just trying to keep a positive attitude.

So, I'm no longer going to Germany on July 8 with Marty (next Monday), but the following Monday (July 15). Still staying a week for apartment hunting, then coming back home to have the movers, etc. Just hang around for a little while and I'm sure the whole schedule will change again...

Freak me, baby

I am freakin'. And no, not in that good way, either.

It is so hot here right now; the sun is just blazing down and I've been out doing errands and grocery shopping. Marty is on his way home from Virginia with Anna and Gene (his mom and stepdad). They should be here within the next hour or so.

I can't even explain all the things that are stressing me today. I was in the grocery store just a little while ago buying bagels, and I got two bags, then realized that Marty will be gone to Germany -- for good -- before the second bag is finished. The milk has a date of July 15 on it; that's the day I come back home from Munich and start working on getting the movers in and the stuff out. I got home and as I was unloading the car I kept worrying about when I'm going to get the body work done on it and how I'm going to sell it. Then, walking to the front door I was looking at the lawn and thinking I would need to cut it soon, which is generally not one of my chores, although I do know how to work the lawn mower.

Then my mother-in-law is coming (which I am very, VERY glad of) but I haven't managed to clean up the house the way I usually would, and that is stressing me too. I realize how stupid that sounds, in light of all the rest of the things I have to do, but it is very difficult to prioritize things right now.

We are thinking of having our tag sale this weekend, since Anna is great at organizing and will help me get everything together for it and also run it. But now you can add to the list me looking around the place and trying to decide what I want to get rid of, as well as what needs to go to Germany and what will go into storage.

And no, we still don't know whether we're going to sell the house or keep it. So you see I really am freakin'.

My advice to you, dear reader, is to take a vacation from RW for a couple of months until I get over there... life is not going to be pretty 'round these parts for the next little while...

She's Back! Sorta.

Shelley has updated for the first time in a few months. I enjoyed her new entry, but I'm sorry her archives are gone. All of us who keep journals and personal sites online have to deal with this question -- what to do when someone you know finds your site, reads your archives, and doesn't like what they see. And everyone has to respond to that situation in the way that makes the most sense for them. I'm just sorry it happened to Shelley on top of all the pressure she's facing planning the wedding. And I'll miss her archives, oh yes I will.

There was a picture of Linus in the entry (down at the end of the page). I love Linus. I think I would almost make a special trip to California just to meet Linus.

Anyway, I'm glad Shelley's back.