T minus 10

Well, it's September 1st... which means I am a mere ten days away from moving. Ten short days...

I am struck by how much I've done and much I've yet to do. All I've packed, for instance, have been books, cds, and dvds. Mind you, I've not much else because that's almost my entire living room. Meanwhile, I've also donated one table, two lamps, and nearly one dozen shopping bags full of, well, shit to Goodwill. In fact, it astounds me just how much shit I had in my apartment. How much shit I could live without. And it was once shit I loved - it was good shit - but now I can part with it without breaking a sweat.

If someone could develop a "shit value scale" or a "shit depreciation table", showing how long it will take me before I can rid myself of the rest of my shit, I'd really appreciate it. Of course, if I were to die, I could part with all of my shit... but that seems a rather extreme method to keep from having to pack...

The boys are already giving me strange looks. They've seen this kind of turmoil before and their short-term memories keep forgetting to ask their long-term memories, "What's the deal?" So, they sit. They talk amongst themselves. And they wait for the inevitable, not especially certain what is so inevitable, anyway...

My kitchen remains intact. Next week, I'll be boxing that up and... not eating. I expect Vicky will be feeding me for a while... and then we'll go out... a lot.

I'm leaving so much behind, it's not funny. So, let's not joke about it. I'm leaving a sofa, a table, a cat box, an alarm clock, along with various bric and brac... My hope is that someone will those things (along with the refrigerator I keep vainly trying to give away - not sell - give away!). If that doesn't happen, the dumpster awaits!

Ten more days of normality.

Only ten days of my previous life remain.

At various times, I've referred to that apartment as my cell, my prison. It's smelled of cats, cigarettes, pot, and, hopefully more often than not, scented candles. I can't believe I actually think I might miss it.