Moving quick takes

Friday already. It’s easy to remember First Friday when it is July 1. One week left in Mississippi. The storage company movers just left. A lesson learned: ask questions before they load all your packed up stuff onto a truck. And ask the right guy. Two guys were putting the last boxes on the truck when I asked where they were taking everything. Unfortunately, the storage facility is not north of I-10, which means it is at greater risk of getting wiped out by a hurricane. But there won’t be another Katrina in the next three years, right? One guy said they didn’t get any hurricane damage; another guy said only one wall had to be removed and replaced because of water damage up about 30 inches. When I asked if the facility was climate controlled, one guy said yes, and the other guy said no. But then the no guy clarified, “Once they shut the door it’s climate controlled!” Then he said he usually tells people not to wipe their furniture down with furniture polish, because they wrap it in paper and sometimes the paper sticks to the polish and leaves wavy lines.


Great. I used furniture polish this morning for the first time in about a year. 15 or 20 photo albums are going into a storage unit without a dehumidifier. My sets of Harvard Classics and Great Books are already feeling the pain of intemperate treatment; they’ll probably crumble to dust when I open them again in a few years. My old dolls that I forgot I had in a closet until yesterday will be melted goo.

I keep trying to remind myself that it’s only stuff. Only stuff. Only stuff. It is probably safer in storage than riding on a ship across the ocean and then being crammed into a place that is too small to accommodate the extra books and dining room furniture where a typhoon might wipe out everything. It’s only stuff, right? And a few memories. Maybe if all this stuff gets ruined in storage, my kids will thank me because they won’t have to deal with my old mementoes – and their old school work-- when I die.

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To take my mind off potential loss and disaster, here are the highlights of the week, besides our date night Tuesday. Yesterday the five year old asked who God’s mom is, which set the six year old to wondering who made Heaven, and if God made Heaven where was He before He made Heaven. And if he’s everywhere, where is Heaven. I had a hard time trying to explain timelessness, incorporality, and infinity. Time to brush up on my metaphysics.

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When discussing what local foods we’ll miss when we leave the South, crawfish (which we called crawdads when I was growing up, and we didn’t eat them) came up. My eleven year old commented “You don’t get full of crawfish, you just get tired” And messy. What I’ll miss: beans and rice. Especially the cans of Cajun red beans that come in the blue and white cans. If I had one left I’d tell you what brand they were. I think I better take some with me. I also will probably try to sneak some packets of gumbo roux in some box before we go. My husband will miss Lazy Magnolia beer.

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I will also miss my dog. He is going to stay with family until we get settled, which will probably be when we move back from Guam. We went to the vet one last time together yesterday. There were several other dogs there for check-ups, too, but I have to brag that my dog was the best behaved, although he whined a little and drooled a lot out of desire to play. I will not miss having to pick up his incontinence medicine.

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From Melanie, I saw the post at bearing’s blog about empty cupboard meals. Tonight my husband made enchiladas with refried beans and corn. The kids gobbled them up. Then they asked for more, but there the cupboard is empty of tortillas. We’ve eaten all the frozen meat. What’s left? Wheat pancake mix, cereal, oatmeal, grits, cream of wheat. We’re either going to be eating breakfast for dinner the next few days or we’ll have to make one last run to the store. Oh, we also have 4 containers of peanut butter and 5 cans of green beans and a can of pumpkin. Can I make some kind of Thai soup with that?

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Another good quote: "Solvitur ambulando," which is “It is solved by walking.” Running and walking have been my sanity lately. I love the Nike GPS app. Finally an app I use. And finally a running tracker with fairly accurate mileage.  I think I am going to try to run 1000 miles in a year.

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If moving doesn’t wipe out our finances, car repairs will. Both cars just had work done that cost over $1000 each. I hate car repairs. I’m trying to console myself with the thought that we’re doing something good for the environment by keeping these cars out of the landfills, but I’m secretly hoping that our black car slips off the back of the ship and sinks into the Pacific Ocean.

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One good thing about moving: I have removed a lot of little doodads from our life. I’ve sorted out all the dying markers and scraps of fabric and stained t-shirts. I walked into St. Vincent de Paul yesterday and before I got to the warehouse, I had given away 2 tarps and a blanket. One of the workers said they would take any food we had left, even open containers, because the food pantry is so low. Reminded me that we abundantly blessed even if we lose all our photos.

Thanks, Jen, for hosting. Hilarious photoshop work.