Here We Go Again

I am looking at this move as bedrooms and "Rounds." Round One is basically going through everything. Packing, choosing whether to keep or remove, sorting my brains out in addition to removing stuff, and I feel a little bit proud that there are 13-15 boxes for the yard sale and 9 boxes of stuff to move. Considering that the boxes for the yard sale are really stuffed and the boxes for the move are not packed too heavily, I am really glad.

Current count is 7/9 rooms gone through, and I have 3 boxes of kitchen stuff so far. Having just tackled the all-purpose utili-drawer of gadgets, and having gone through the knives and spoons and such, and tupperware, or the wanna-be tupperware, I am really glad how it's going. There were 5 sets of measuring spoons in there, for instance. Goodness! I think that most of the people who have left never remembered about a lot of things that they were leaving behind, or else I just ended up with the dump-ed off ends. Although all of the other bedrooms are cleaned out, I am cleaning out the rest of the apartment minus the landlord's stuff that is randomly down here also. So that means that for the kitchen, it's been a "full sweep." I even organized my rolling Rubbermaid spice drawers today. I had so many spices that the friend who was here helping me organize it all left with a half-box of them, and I got down to no duplicates (excepting for almond oil and things that I KNOW that I would use) and I am out of onion powder. Never thought that would happen.

But yeah, SD and NK stopped by and while SD helped get through the first four or five rooms, NK helped me tackle the kitchen and should be coming by tomorrow morning. Will probably tackle the bathroom then, and (maybe) start on the bedroom. I expect the bedroom to be the absolute hardest. If everything else is done, then the whole project may not seem quite so over-whelming. As it is, NK helped me pare down the items by looking at a few at a time, and we went through them quickly.

Round 2 is what gets packed right before I leave, and the last details of cleaning and cleaning and...cleaning. I want to do a hard-core deep clean of this place so that the upstairs neighbor will be appeased. She's not menacing or whatnot, but I think that I will be leaving this place better than I found it if I have my druthers about me.

After finishing up Round 1 of the kitchen, NK and I had glorious salads- I figured out a way of making a really good raspberry balsamic vinaigrette from raspberry preserves (jam?), balsamic vinegar and some olive oil with kosher salt. Drizzled on top of a fabulous green leaf lettuce, red cabbage, red tomato, red bell pepper, carrot, sliced almond, celery, and chow mien noodle salad, along with some sort of tropical red punch thing, it totally hit the spot. I'm a fan of huge salads. They're veggies for the most part with either the addition or nuts or beans for the protein component usually occupied by meat, and SOOOOOOO good! Mm! You don't "drop" within an hour like with a fast food burger, and they don't tire you out afterwards. No siesta needed, yummy, and probably glycemically good for you, too. No sharp spikes in blood sugar or protein metabolism. I'm not diabetic, but both grandpas were, so I have to be careful anyway.

I can't help feeling accomplished today. Not done by any means, but thoroughly accomplished. Have tagged a ton of stuff, have sorted a whole lot, and the rest (should) be able to get done between tomorrow and Thursday, ready for getting over to the yard sale location for Friday. Also glad that I have clean clothes, that I was able to watch Auntie Mame with NK after finishing the kitchen, and that this move isn't killing me (knock on wood or other natural, porous surfaces.)

Somehow I thought that moving would be so sad. The saddest thing so far was opening up the one box that had been shut tight that held my family's documents and not remembering what was in there. It's my report cards, kid pictures, items from my father's life, pictures of my sister in school, things like that. There are even pictures from when my parents were at the regional Institute conference where they met. That made me rather teary. I'm the genealogist, and I'm the one that has to keep things up. Maybe other people do care about my existence, but normally a Mom or another previous relative would keep all of this stuff. My grandparents are all dead and my Mom as well. My father is not sentimental concerning documentation (pictures, other things like that). My sister cares but mainly if it's in front of her. Otherwise, not. It's me that has to prove my own existence and the family legacy. I'm the one that has to do it. No one else will in the end.

I'm the one that people ask if they want to know about the family history, when they do, and that's rare. It's something that most people I know don't care about at all, or they don't like it, or they think that someone else is doing it. Although incredibly frustrating, I've taken the stance that not everyone can do it all at once or by themselves, and when it's the right time for things to help as much as people are willing to learn. If they're not willing, NEVER to force it upon anyone. Help the most that you can, but not to overwhelm people if it's possible.

So that was the saddest thing, knowing that there isn't anyone else to care about it all. However, I do care and I hope that that counts for something. So, the front room, pantry, L's room, laundry room, R's room, and T's rooms are done. Kitchen is about as done as it can get with a week to go before pack-up, but three days before the Great and Terrible Yard Sale.

However, good thing was that as I advertised on FB, craigslist, and KSL, I got the first bite of someone who is interested in buying the books and CDs. I just can't call her back until I get them sorted out. That would be in-bedroom stuff.

Also got a visit from EC, and her daughter, B. It's been a long time since I've seen her, and she seems happy to be a Mom. Good for her. So far the move has been good. Nearly enjoyable, and although I'm not ready to take on the world, it's getting a whole lot easier right now. I hope that I can make it to Friday, and then somehow figure out Wed.

Best for a late night,
The Genealogy Doctor

PS. Lately, my jokes seem to all concern alcohol. Although I've never had the stuff, I think that I need to curb it so it's not going through my head in influential matters.

Also, I had a dream last night where I could remember what I'd already lived, and then after the move in Chicago, but I couldn't remember what actually happened in the move. My memory was literally black-blank about it. Odd. Also other thoughts of a personal nature. 

Some Form of Happiness

It's been the strangest day in a long while. Got up, scrips and PMG, thank heavens, and then got on my normal email and FB. So far, not horrible, but I also woke up having sent my original apology at 1 AM. Wasn't written badly for having been written at 1 AM, and I was originally nervous about the reply. Considering things, I think that everything will work out. I further wrote a deeply groveling apology after the reply, which may have been overkill, but considering things, I thought that it was fair for the situation.

But I was still stressed, and the next thing you know, another crew gal friend of mine, MS, called me with the message that's in the last blog. She may as well be another sister for me in many ways, although she's an only child. I actually get along really well with only children. Well, I needed it. It deflated me a lot, and then I needed to get over to the library and finish scanning for my top client. Considering the move, I have scanned all of their documents (as far as I know, minus one book.) Okay, I should probably scan that book. I don't think that it has anything important now, but that means nothing about later. Accessibility is the issue here.

I checked how many gigs of memory were involved in the scanned documents, and um, Wow- 10 Gigs! I need to burn this info onto maybe 3 DVDs or so for them. Today I scanned some documents that were of letters that were copied by hand onto a scrapbook in addition to a bunch of old articles glued into this book. Scanners save my life. Considering that the client recently lost their hard drive, I think that it's good to have off-site back ups in addition to on-site. And when I give them back their source documents before I leave, I will also be giving them the DVDs and a copy of their file. It's really unfortunate about their drive, but I hope that there wasn't anything irreplaceable.

So I passed on the info about Comms to the new chair, and that seemed to work out. From there, finished scanning the docs (have one book left) and then met up with SD for frozen yogurt at the Spoon It Up place. It's like a local baby Farr's. GOOD flavors. Amazing mango with fruit, raspberries, and New York style Praline happiness. I'm going to miss chilling with SD. My life in Chicago is not yet materializing, but I have only driven through it once, well, twice, and flown in/through it once.

After this, just chilled at home for a few minutes and had the oddest feeling to bring my knitting to FHE. So, I did. No worries. I've done it before and it's been a while. I was sitting there and working on the fingerless gloves for the FB "Pay it Forward" craft thing, and yard sale friend came in and chose his seat nearby. He seemed either impressed or just... I dunno. Consider it trivia, perhaps, but at one point when I was working on a glove, and there was a laptop passed over it. I thought it was nice of him that I didn't have to put down my work. That's all.

Then we had this fun lesson on Italian, and it included how to make Carbonara. That was cool. And the guy who was teaching was seriously entertaining. After that was done, went to the track and did the half hour walk. Most recent former roommate would be proud. I went, did the recommended half hour, stretched and felt surprisingly good. Even did some driving after because I didn't want to go home yet, but there was no where to go, so ...went home and now have been blogging, watched the relatively insipid show, Josie and the Pussycats. Just a resume thing for a lot of talent that went on to other things, and it worked out. Here's to American Pickers and Pawn Stars. Thank you!

Tomorrow I will be working on packing and sorting and labeling and green dotting until I drop, and then some. Here's to helpers. May they all be crowned with laurels and medals, I hope. :)

Till then, I remain

The Genealogy Doctor

Learning A New Language

Yesterday felt shot out of a cannon, so to speak, and by the end of the day, watching the end of Pirates 3 with a friend, was literally shot out of a cannon. So what happened?

Well, went to bed late. Follow that up by waking up ten-fifteen minutes before my first meeting, and I was just grateful that my clothes were ready and I'd taken a shower right before my temple shift. I did make the meeting, however. That may have been where things went wrong or crazy. Maybe not, though. At the meeting, I was trying to simply let people know about the impending yard sale at the end of the week. It was planned for a certain location and time, and the next thing you know, it's as if everyone else is getting into it and re-planning the thing. I was highly concerned, especially since they acted like there had been no planning done. This wasn't really a ward council matter other than for calendaring. It wasn't meant to be a ward thing, and the more it was talked about the more concerned that I became and I kept asking if the people had talked about it to my yard sale partner and I could feel it becoming an escalated event instead of just a simple yard sale.

Ended up making an announcement where I didn't have a chance to talk to the other person in question in charge of the yard sale, and have been feeling dumb about it ever since. The guy whose house it will be at is one of the smartest, most competent people that I've ever met. He's a self-made guy and so intelligent it's intimidating yet exhilarating at the same time. A little competitive, you have to have your stuff together or else ... he seems a little hard to please, but maybe that's just me. I always feel like he's looking for a way to catch me up on something, but not for bad reasons, per se. He's got just his stuff together, and doing something like that without asking him, and without coordinating was bad. It's been a rule in my family to always consult the other people in question before planning something or committing to anything, so ...this wasn't just "me"-bad. This felt like something out of China where I was dishonoring my heritage in addition to just dishonoring myself. erg. Very bad juju! 

So, mess occurred and I have tried to apologize and currently feel utterly dumb. It won't be the first time or last time for feeling dumb, but it is what it is and I can do very little about it further other than trying to get things back to how they were before the minor fiasco.

Otherwise, there was a BBQ at this guy's house, too, and the set up was a bit strange, but in the end it worked out. Later that night was a games night, and after one rather horrible move I ended up winning a game, but I left feeling a little bit unsatisfied and wondered why I had stayed there for three hours. Didn't make any sense compared to the investment of going somewhere other than my house. However, during "down" time, I got more than an inch done on the fingerless gloves. Yeah, I had a feeling to bring my knitting, even. That doesn't happen often anymore. Not dogging on the idea and on the effort at all. Just... I kept thinking that had we started off Games Night with a prayer, it would have felt much more satisfactory. As it was, it felt hollow.

But, came home and my newly moved in across the street neighbor who's a friend of mine (NK) was just coming home as well and she came over to see the end of Pirates. I'm going to miss her. She's known me through both of my off-campus post-mission wards, and she's just a good person overall. She DOESN'T JUDGE! That is so important for me right now. I'm kind of fantastic at judging myself harshly, and she just accepts me as I am with gentle leading in positive directions instead of blunt force trauma to my psyche. She will be helping to pack and sort me out along with some others on Tuesday.

I consider her "crew." Crew are people who accept you as you are, and want the best for you, but let you have your agency no matter how silly or dumb you get. They also are available to help with projects and events, such as moving, and are there for you when the chips go down, so to speak. Crew are your best friends, the people who aren't your friends when it's simply convenient for them but when you need it. The term comes from a cross between baby-gangs in L.A. and rowing crews where you have to stroke together or you go no where. So yeah, she's crew, and I'm grateful that she's around. I was honestly praying for someone like her to help me move since she originally helped me move into this place a little more than three years ago. And now, with 9 days left, and severe crunch mode where I'm worrying some friends over how stressed I've been, she is truly a help versus a hindrance to the efforts.

The reason for the title of this blog is that I'm stressed out as if I was learning a new language. Same fear, same "I have no idea what I'm doing" and as has been my current experience with learning German, no teacher, all me. So yeah, I'm trying to calm down but we shall see how it goes. Off to scanning. 

If anyone is worried, I am okay. God, through an old friend told me to "quit stressing; things will work out as they need to; you're going where you're supposed to." I should be good at faith, and sometimes better than others, but my last time moving was when I cleaned out the house to get back to BYU, and then after that to leave a ward where I had over-stayed my welcome. All of my memories of moving tend to be very sad at the outset, and then they get better once I enter the new scene. It's like death. You leave one state, and then enter a different one where hopefully the circumstances are a little better.

Also have to somehow finish and get copied the ward newsletter. Heaven help me, please? To that the quote from 1776, Benjamin Franklin, "He will, John. He will." I am so John Adams mixed with Merrweather (from Sleeping Beauty) meets Glimmer from Shee-Ra. Yeah, I'm strange. I'm over it. :)