T-2 Days

We're moving Wednesday, which means all this accumulated junk we've got has to be either recycled, packed or given away by tomorrow <gulp>, and I've barely begun packing because...I work better under pressure? I feel lonely without clutter? I live to piss Jeff off???

I'm so excited about leaving and touring the Appalachians on our way down south that now my stomach hurts and I've kind of gotten ridiculously neurotic, more so than normal, and for anyone who knows me well, knows that's a heap of crazy. Do y'all ever get that way, kind of like when you know you have to go to the dentist and the days just drag on until you can go and then you're all like damn, I just want this over with! Yeah, that's how I am now, only it's certainly not the dentist and I really am looking forward to seeing the changing of the leaves on those mountains and I really am excited that The Minions will soon be able to run, run, run in their own backyard and damn! did I mention my new kitchen will be roomy so that I can go back to baking bread like I used to do and try new culinary concoctions full of garlic and onion and cheese which are my three very favorite veggies and protein in the world and that we'll be kinda sorta near a couple of rivers or tributaries or streams or sumthin that I haven't quite figured out yet 'cause we're not down there yet so I don't know what in the hell those bodies of water are called but water! Bike rides! Sightseeing! What's not to love?

Two days, y'all! Now I gotta go pack. For realz~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Tryin to Move

My husband, Jeff, informed me way back in August that he was being transferred to Huntsville, Alabama, and I had to go with him. I thought, Huntsville? Alabama? What the hell? 'cause I swore I'd never, ever return to Alabama. As in never. Oh, life, what a hoot and a holler you are.

So I immediately googled things that are important to me, like organic foods and my beauty suppliers (I'm a licensed esthetician and make up artist, along with being a certified aromatherapist and herbalist. Organic's a must, beauty supplies at wholesale prices, a must). Much to my delight, Huntsvull's got both my supply stores and an organic grocery store and a ton of local farmers. Well, duh. It is the Deep South after all, where agriculture's a way of life for many.

Anyway, I was really excited 'bout my fabulous luck. So then I was like, hmmm, but what about housing? So I googled homes for rent. Oh oh oh, look at all the homes for rent at really affordable prices! Since we've been in the Washington, DC, area for 14 years now, I can assure you that ain't nuthin up here affordable nor often available, so alrighty then, Huntsvull's got another plus.

Moving date: when's the move? Jeff hemmed and hawed and I cussed and insisted we needed a firm date 'cause I had shit to do, like tell the post office and tell the utility companies and tell the IRS so they don't think we'll be leavin' 'em high and dry tax-wise and tellin' the insurance company 'cause they make a lot of money off of us and I didn't want them to worry, either. Jeff announced he'd make a trip to Huntsvull and let me know. So he did, and he found us a beautiful home with a fenced-in yard for the Minions and plenty of space for me to get my creative bent goin and a fabulous untouched backyard where I can plant herbs and veggies and a rose bush or two and the rent will be $1,000 a month less than what we're payin right now for a tiny 2-bedroom apartment, so I quit cussin.

Now it's two weeks before movin day, and we just got a quote each from two moving companies, both of whom work closely with Jeff's company so we know they're reliable and trustworthy and will actually deliver our furniture when they say they will and won't hold it hostage - 'cause I've been readin horror stories 'bout movers holding furniture hostage. The first company quoted us what we thought was an extraordinarily high sum. The second company was $2400 cheaper. So I started thinkin, why the huge disparity between those companies' quotes? and then it hit me: the first company also does a lot of business movin around military families and gets paid by the federal government - they have zero incentive to negotiate a reasonable, fair price. The second company moves all the rest of us who aren't soldiering and thus is far more affordable. So we chose the second company but of course and now I'm starin at all the crap I gotta pack up. And prograstinatin 'cause who wants to pack when there's the internet in which to google and bookmark Huntsvull's local farmers and craft stores and quilt shops and Lowe's and appliance stores and furniture stores 'cause I never know when I'll need 'em. And hey! I already signed us up for electricity and gas and water in Huntsvull and scheduled the cable guys, so honestly my work's kinda/sorta mostly over anyway, right?