Already Done (aka the “UnToDo” List)

Already Done:

• pay painters (painted basement, 2nd floor, basement stairs, bathroom)
• wait for stairs to dry before walking on them
• packed up most ‘extra’ kitchen things – now in boxes
• donate unused clothes/shoes/electronics, etc.
• get a donation slip for next year’s taxes
• install large shelf onto freshly painted basement wall
• put furniture back where it came from all around basement
• pack up therapy/work materials
• box up books
• move bookshelves down to basement to make additional room on main floor
• declutter and reorgainze craft/utility room
• vacuum/hoover basement… again.  and again.  and once again.
• post ad on craigslist.org re: free items to give away to someone who wants them (2″ wood flooring, sink base cabinet, freestanding cabinets, light fixtures, bathroom vanity, wood drawers/doors from old kitchen cabinet, used sink disposal, etc.)
• respond to 47 messages in response to the above ad online
• meet 4 people to pick up most items – assist taking items to his/her car
• put packed boxes on bookshelves or stack neatly in corner of basement
• make sure to NOT pack b-day gifts for upcoming niece/nephew birthdays
• take out trash (several times)
• recycle unused boxes/recyclables
• make mental lists of all the other things i need to accomplish in a very short period of time
• switch out energy efficient light bulbs with regular bulbs – it’s better light for showing the house, and that way i can keep my $$ bulbs for my new place, wherever that may be!
• meet with real estate agent, discuss all the $ i’ve put into the house & discussed the current housing market (and was told not to get my hopes up for breaking even…)
• have dinner with my former boss – have a marvelous time
• keep phone appointment (when i’ve been incredibly forgetful recently)
• take framed pictures/art down to basement
• patch walls on main floor
• touch up basement stair paint (because the painter didn’t fully remove the carpet pieces… thus a big problem — easily fixed with more paint)
• hire someone to do yard work – pick up all leaves & gumballs in front/back yard & under deck & in stairwell (definitely worth the $$ to have it done)
• sort things to take to work, give to coworkers, give to students, leave for next therapist (who takes my place) and put it in my car

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

the current list of things to do includes (but is not limited to) the following:

1. vacuum upstairs
2. “stage” furniture on 2nd floor
3. clean sink/vanity upstairs
4. bring down extra unnecessary items upstairs
5. LAUNDRY – haven’t done any in weeks… need some freshly laundered socks & stuff
6. fold laundry that’s currently in clean pile
7. vacuum everywhere
8. dust everything
9. declutter everthing – even closets and cabinets (which drives me crazy b/c I’m such a private person and I don’t want strangers LOOKING in my cabinets/closets)
10. did I mention laundry?
11. make a list – go to grocery store…so i can eat real food – enough of these left overs!!!!!
12. tackle my bedroom (laundry, dust, declutter, sort into keep/donate, rearrange furniture)
13. go to sleep and recoup/rest for tomorrow.

while I was there

things have been quiet here for a while – sorry, i’m not trying to keep you out of the loop.  Just trying to keep my head from spinning off my body (as it turns rapidly in 37 different directions – all at the same time).

I need to be quiet on a favorite-social-networking-site about my plans to relocate, which is kind of like putting duct tape across my mouth – because i can’t say “whew!  just finished packing 3 boxes – only 73 more!” or indicate just how thrilled I am with the men I hired to help paint my house (because they’re also going to do two additional jobs while they’re here – fully compensated, of course – but it’s just so nice to know the painting-of-basement-stairs and fixing the caulk & paint problems in the bathroom will be taken care of).  Because most people in my current city don’t know my plans – they will soon, but for now I need to focus.  It’s my goal to have the house photo-ready by next weekend… and think I need to stay home a day or two this week to help in that effort – let’s see how much I can accomplish today. (?!)

In other news, two supervisors have given me a letter of recommendation (for me to take to job interviews – i may consider binding them together with an introduction/cover letter explaining who/what/when/contact info for each letter.  And of course, in this day/age, potential employers pick up the phone or send an email – so it may all be mute.  However, once I leave this job i’ve been in for a decade, i’ll be gone – done.  Over.  and it’ll be nice to have some documentation of their impressions of me while I was here.

And please accept my apology for getting behind on everyone’s news & posts… just  a bit more time, a lot more work, additional tape/boxes, and i should be able to be a normal person once again.  well, as much as I ever was.

pleasant surprise?

you know, i just wanted to say that i’ve been pleasantly surprised recently with the people in my life.  i’ve recently shared my plans to relocate with coworkers, friends, and family, and overwhelmingly, everyone has been supportive.  it helps me know how they’ve seen me/our relationship, and helps identify that our relationship has been of value to them in some way/shape/form.  it’s also been encouraging – because several of them have said they wished they had made a similar life change earlier, and now have some regrets… ah – there’s the key.  i don’t want to have regrets!  this is my life.  i only get one.  it’s time to go after what i want!

my boss’ boss said that i was always welcome back to the department – there would always be a place for me.  how lovely.  and my direct boss was supportive, and very willing to provide a letter of recommendation.  everyone i’ve asked so far has said yes.  i hope to have about 10 letters from people i’ve worked with…which is a blessing.  i’ll share them during an interview.  hopefully these references will help me get a job offer.  we shall see.

it’s bittersweet.  to leave a place where i know where things are, know how to do my job, know where to find what i need at the grocery store… to move to a new city were everything is new.  and still need to find a job.  and a house.  and sell my own!  (well, i’ve hired some people to help me with my house – they’re starting tomorrow morning…hopefully this will really motivate me to keep plugging away and tackle tough projects).  lots to do, but somehow it doesn’t seem so difficult anymore.

thanks for reading, dear reader.  take care and have a good weekend.

~rain.

it’s the little things…

i made my bed… after stripping it, not having the energy to put fresh sheets on, and sleeping on top of the mattress underneath a blanket… it’s all made.  and now i get to mess it all up – because it’s time for bed.

there’s a song from Sesame Street (well, it’s from a Jim Henson cassette tape –remember those?– I received about 16 years ago) that i’d like to share with you...this song touches me, so here – now you can listen…

I believe in (Little Things)

I believe in little things

That you can hardly see

Like honeycomb and spider webs

And starfish in the sea

I believe in little things

Like icy drops of rain

That melt into the morning mist

When winds are warm again

I believe in little things

Like colors in the sky

And noticing the waves roll in

And how the flowers die

Knowing they’ll be back again

Whenever it’s July

I believe in little things

Like you and me

And just how big

Little things can be

sandpaper ‘n acrobatics

How is it that I can wake up in the morning, have plans to accomplish a reasonable amount of tasks during the day… and yet it’s 9:25pm and the bed isn’t made with fresh sheets?  The bed has been stripped… new sheets are next to the bed.  And yet, somehow, I think it’s too late – and would rather just throw my blankets on top of the bed and sleep with no sheets tonight.  (doesn’t help that my bed is very high, in the corner of the bedroom, so I have to do a bit of acrobatics to actually change the sheets – never mind.  It’s a long story).

Had two painters come give me estimates for painting 1/2 the basement and the wood panneling on the 2nd floor… needless to say, they came, looked, measured, and will call me ‘in a few days’ with an estimate for the work.  Ummmmm, methinks it’s going to be very $$.  and I may as well go ahead and do the work myself.  Which is fine, except I am a perfectionist… and I’d need to get all the things done before I could actually paint (including using sandpaper on the walls – which I feel would trigger my asthma, and would make me tired, thus making it almost impossible to complete the painting project).  Ugh.  I was doing pretty well with the whole get-house-ready-to-sell-and-apply-for-new-job-and-relocate-to-new-city-and-work-full-time-and-don’t-forget-to-do-all-the-regular-stuff-you-need-to-do-too…until the whole paining thing.  Blech.

Hope we’ll get a snow day this week – then maybe I could start painting and packing and organizing and sorting and tossing and donating and… oh no.  Now I’m getting overwhelmed.  Maybe I should just go to sleep…goodnight.

take care – be well, whenever you are.

~rain.

just took a deep breath

because the times, they are a-changin’

A friend recently told me that before you can make any changes, you need to put the X,Y,Z “into existence”.

So what does that mean? Putting-something-into-existence means this: before you can tackle a problem, you need to name it. Before you can achieve your goal, you need to identify it.

So before I can get a job in a new city & relocate, I need to make a list and start crossing things off my list.

So today that’s what I did… spent the day on the telephone, making calls, writing things down, writing notes, putting them in a more digital form by typing notes into Word documents inside a ‘job stuff’ folder… and asked my 2nd person for a letter of recommendation.  (also have a plan for the others – I think it’ll work!)

Things are rolling, and my time frame seems to have crept up rather quickly – much more fast than I originally thought. but it must be the right thing, because at this point I seem to be ok with things… just getting the few answers I needed today was a huge help in the right direction.  And President Obama’s stimulus package with the 8K housing credit for first-time buyers helps too (which is over @ end of April)

In other news, it’s 12:15am, my feet are freezing cold, and I cannot sleep. didn’t even nap today…so what’s up with my circadian rhythm? maybe I’m just excited. or relieved. or, perhaps, i just want to arrive at work totally dazed and confused..which will happen if i don’t get off this computer. I’m fully aware of sleepy hygiene recommendations: don’t turn on lights, don’t watch TV or use computer 1/2 hour before bedtime, go to sleep before 10pm so you don’t catch a second wind, tell your brain to stop thinking so you can get some shut eye…

I’ll work on it.

Until then, sleep well and enjoy your day/evening ahead!

p.s. why do boys/men sometimes lose brain cells and cease communications when it comes to me? they make me tired. and want to become a nun! (although i look dreadful in black. maybe i could start a new order of nuns…sporting greens & browns – and red!)

developments and …a list? yes, i *do* believe this could be considered a list!

An update on developments -

So as of today, I have planned to take off Wed from work so that I can begin making phone calls during the workday… phone calls to potential employers…for a new job sometime late summer/early fall?

Am waiting to get an update on the real estate market from an agent here – hope to gather information so that I can make a good decision about selling my current home.

Have  a list of whom I’ll request letters of recommendation.

Am mentally doing a great deal of thinking about things… am working on decluttering my  house (yes – still!) so that I can free some brain space… which will help me make lists and stay organized.

Need to schedule a trash-haul day when they’ll pick up big items (which will help me get rid of debris from my kitchen rehab project last year… there is a lot of stuff – like broken cabinets and drawers – in my garage…)

Am thankful to Facebook for reconnecting me with some special people from years ago…

Resume is complete – now need to get the cover letters written, contact potential employers, and begin filling out their online applications.  Or is it too early?  Yes, these questions need to be answered.

Also need to look at some of the storage options – how secure are they? temperature controlled?  I want to stay away from mildew and mold and yucky stuff like that… so that the only drama/trauma is the actual moving…not damage to my belongings while stored in storage.

Where will I live for short-term?  Need to look at apartments and options… and locations.

~~~~~~~~~~~Oooo – just because I was motivated, I just called a different real estate person and asked some questions (just now! while writing this post!) and she’s going to send some information over to me about the real estate activity… whew~~~~~~~~~~~

Ok, well… now it’s time to go finish up in the kitchen.  Declutter.  So that my mind can declutter… who was it? Either Dith? or Lemly? or Burntsienna? said one time that clutter is an indication of a creative mind.

boy, am I creative.

oh – and as of yesterday…

yes, as of yesterday i had a wave of anxiety that rattled in my stomach as i realized just how much would change (and all there is to do) in such a short time frame.  but i really can’t stay – as there’s not much for me here.  and if i’m going to be alone, i may as well be in a city where i  have some history, right?  and it’s fun to re-invent one’s self and do something completely different… well, i could stay here and become a hermit.  actually, that sounds nice.  although it makes daily living tasks difficult were i to become a hermit (or at least that’s how i imagine it)

today?

…the plan du jour is this:

pack up boxes & furniture, hire a moving company (or rent a truck and drive myself), move into a storage unit many miles away, come back home, shine things up & paint & touch up and make things sparkly,put house on market, schedule job interviews, and then leave permanently… hope my house sells in a reasonable time, get a new job, start a new life, be happy with these decisions, and just look forward.

made a list of people whom i’ll ask for job recommendations.  now need to decide where i’ll apply, and start asking people for their support.  need to start keeping lists, too… need to find out when i need to let my current employer know, too.

in other news – my need to have a ‘plan’ is feeling radically out of control and i have no idea if i can/will let go of the wall and trust that it’s all going to work out… time will tell.  maybe it’s time to fly? (see below)

maybe things will seem easier tomorrow.  time for bed.  thanks for reading. . .  goodnight, whenever you are.

COME TO THE EDGE

Come to the edge.

We might fall.

Come to the edge.

It’s too high!

Come to the edge.

And they came,

and we pushed,

And they flew.

—  Christopher Logue

more time

Yesterday’s workday was filled with ups and downs – intensity and levity… and I think this last part is pretty funny.  After arriving home at 4-ish I decided to take a wee nap (then wake up and do the 100 tasks that needed to be accomplished).  And, um, well… I woke up and the clock said 6:00.  I thought “great!  just need to make some dinner and then viola – can tackle my To Do list”

…unfortunately it’s 6:00 AM.

the next day has begun.

…and I haven’t yet finished the day before.

time is a funny thing.  so are naps.