I put on my big girl britches on moving day.
Embracing my nervousness, I hopped into my Honda Fit and drove over to pick up the moving truck. I’d planned nearly everything except the route to get the truck to the apartment complex. I took the scenic route to the complex since that behemoth couldn’t make a U-turn.
My biggest reward was backing that monstrosity into a parking space.
Added bonus: the adjacent parking spaces were empty as well. Not that I needed the extra room. Made me feel better though.
No moving job’s complete without at least one friend.
Technically, I hired him months prior to the move. I’ve always been an organized person, but this particular move, partly because it was during a pandemic and partly because I was being priced out, seemed extra stressful. I’d started packing a little every day, beginning on March 1st just to keep the anxiety at bay. When the official day arrived, I’d already taken four Honda Fit loads of stuff over to the new place. The rest conveniently packed away in the truck.
One of the benefits of the new place was a wonderful fur baby, Buddy.
“Baby” was more a term of endearment since this little ol’ man is 13. Still energetic and curious, but without all the extra puppy energy. We met months prior to me moving in. He immediately took to me.
Moving day was a flurry of activity.
As the day progressed, I knew the next time I moved, I’d hire at least two friends to do all the heavy lifting. I’d done that years ago when I’d first moved back to the States and had more money saved under my belt. As a matter of fact, the move itself isn’t what cost the most. The overlap in rent between the old place and the new place turned out to be the biggest expense.
I was dog tired at the end of the day.
Down to the bone. Even before sunset, all I wanted to do was unpack enough to take a shower then eat. In that order because once I sat down to eat and drink, there was no getting up to do much else.
Everything took much longer, so it seemed.
I went to a recommended location of my usual grocery store. That place was so “sexy,” I felt like Pigpen walking around there. Nonetheless, all the employees greeted me as if my deodorant hadn’t expired. At one point, I chose a checkout line since, with my usual luck, any line I entered would turn into the slowest one. Yet, one employee spoke into a walkie-talkie to another to find me a shorter line and then directed me to that line. As if I didn’t stink.
I was so excited to shower, eat then sleep.
I had everything except the decorations unpacked by the time I logged onto work on Monday. Somehow, unpacking all the dizzying array of accumulated emails in my absence would take much longer.