Relative Something

One of the things that feeds my hesitation to get underway with projects –like the most prominent one before me right now– is a lack of a clear plan. I don’t like to just jump in and get under way without enough forethought to avoid unnecessary inefficiencies, like moving furniture multiple times, or missing a step that should have occurred earlier in a process.

I don’t have a firm grasp on either the big picture, or the individual details of the process we will be going through to sell our house and move. I have what I would describe as a rudimentary vision of preparing our house for sale, while also shopping for a new property, and figuring out what to do with our belongings if the timing doesn’t seamlessly align.

Most immediately, we intend to spruce up our current living quarters. I’m told we will replace some carpet, remove some wallpaper, and paint some rooms. The first thing I was planning to do was take down everything hanging on our walls. One thing that has delayed my start with that project was my not being able to visualize what to do with everything I take down.

I started to collect some boxes and packing material, but quickly realized it will be unlikely that many of our items will fit into boxes. The items that could fit are going to require a lot more boxes than I have so far. I researched how moving companies suggest preparing framed pictures. We are going to need a LOT of bubble wrap, too.

Yesterday, in order to make some progress, I decided to just stack pictures for the time being. I ended up with multiple stacks in about 5 different rooms.

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Then I went throughout the entire house removing nails and picture hangers from the walls. The person who hangs most of the items on the walls in our family (not me) tends to use a wide variety of nails, screws, and hooks.

Once I got started, I decided to give some of the old wallpaper in our bedroom a little tug. Most of it came free without even needing to get the old glue wet. On one wall, there was older wallpaper underneath, but the other 3 walls had none.

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It looks a little crazy, but at least I finally got the first task underway. Unfortunately, I’ve still got a LOT of work to do, protecting all the picture frames I took down. And after I accomplish that, I’ve got to figure out where I’m going to stash them!

I’d sure like to avoid having to move them more times than is absolutely necessary.

Honestly, I really am thrilled to the core with anticipation for our adventure in Portugal. But I am not fond of anything to do with packing or deciding what to bring, and most of all, keeping track of where the heck I ended up packing the things I finally decided to include.

I would like to show up at my destination with nothing but a modest sized bag that contains everything I could possibly want or need for any and all weather conditions, and know exactly where to find any little thing I brought along.

My habit is to discover a wonderful pocket somewhere in some bag that works just perfect for something I want to bring along, and then never again be able to remember or find where that place was. That becomes exacerbated by the security routines and airline regulations that force me to pack in specific ways that have nothing to do with the way I want to use items, nor how or where I want them to be when I reach my destination.

I am going to have a wonderful trip, regardless the travel hassles, but every time I go through the packing process, I am reminded why it is I am just as happy staying home when offered options to travel, or not.

As they say in Minnesota, either option is not too bad. Whatever. Bring on the airports!

Sorry, to time to post… Busy packing. Wait, I mean, busy doing laundry so that I can pack. Wait, I meant, going through the mail to get bills paid so that when the laundry is done, I can sort and fold into piles to pack.

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It’s a quiet day in Relative Something today. I’m guessing it might be related to the fact that at the end of the busy work day on Friday, I had put things in order, I hope, to allow my absence for a week. I’m on vacation! There hasn’t been much in the way of packing anxiety, primarily because the trip planned is pretty low risk. Cyndie and I are headed to Florida to visit her parents. I’ve noticed some temps in the 80′s, so a couple of t-shirts and shorts, a swim suit, nice shirt for dining out, walking shoes, raincoat and I’m good to go.

Other than that, my mind is quiet in the inbetween of hustling to get work issues addressed and releasing into relaxation of taking a week off. We’ll see what a little travel and relaxation unleash in the days to come. Stay tuned…

It’s not as if there isn’t a lot to write about, what with everything going to hell in a hand basket and death and disaster everywhere we turn all at the same time that everything is coming up roses and love is all around, but there is hardly enough time between periods of Stanley Cup playoff games on nights when I should be setting up my tent to see if everything is present and accounted for, or giving my bike a deserving once-over inspection and superficial clean and lube in preparation for the week-long trip. Not to mention that I need to prepare things tonight for my early departure in the morning for soccer at the health club, and in the interest of best health it behooves me to get myself to sleep before that notable 11 o’clock hour.

Next week, I’ll have all sorts of time. But I won’t have my internet connection. It’ll be back to the hand-written journal. That’s ok. I know how to make that work. I gotta go [watch hockey] do some packing. Yeah, that’s it, I’m working on packing…