Packing :-(

[liv]

I hatehatehate packing. SA and a colleague came over yesterday and helped a bit, but I still haven't quite finished, and tomorrow is an absolute deadline (cos that's when the driver is coming to collect all my stuff). All my books and personal items are packed, now I need to do clothes and figure out if I have any space left over for kitchen things. Also need to clean before I box up my vacuum cleaner!

I've been tidying up at work too, obviously, and it's a bit depressing how I keep coming across my notes from early on when I had such grand plans for this project. Bah. I left early today and went to buy some plastic storage boxes because I wasn't sure I'd have quite enough cardboard boxes. Ended up with a giant suitcase as it was considerably cheaper than the equivalent volume of boxes and may be useful in its own right.

Of course I have been procrastinating from evil packing by writing emergency FAQs and a journal-tweaking guide for Dreamwidth. This is why I should not get involved with volunteering! But Dreamwidth firefighting leads to adoration, whereas packing just leads to big piles of boxes and depressing reminders that I am about to leave my beloved little flat for an uncertain future. Guess which is more gratifying?

Plz snd hugs?

In more cheerful news, Screwy is coming here tomorrow, for a flying visit at a slightly awkward time. I have carrot and lentil soup. Thursday I am going out with all my colleagues, to the lovely veggie restaurant, Hermans, and even a few ex-colleagues, like RS, are joining us. And although leaving is going to be very sad, the result of leaving is that I get to see jack and possibly some other Cambridge folk, and a week on Thursday I'm going to New York and seeing hatam_soferet, and once in north America I shall get to see rysmiel and if things go well, darcydodo and compilerbitch.

Comments

[403]

And now you do too.

[liv]

Aww, cuddly lolcat! Thank you so much, that really helped when I needed it.

[forestofglory]

Ugh. I'm also avoiding packing (though I have more time and only a roomful of stuff) living in a packing project is not fun. May the rest of it go quickly and easily with no award shapes. *Hugs*

[liv]

That's a very lovely wish, thank you. And yeah, we're both going through similar life transitions in parallel, which is extra good for sympathy. I need to make proper plans to meet up with you next week. Are you coming to jack's party?

[emperor]

*hugs* I loathe and despise packing, too. Last time we moved, I paid someone else to do it for me!

[liv]

Thanks! I think the trouble with paying people to do these things is that you can only really pay people to do the least unpleasant bit. I don't have a problem with physically picking stuff up and putting it into boxes, the bit I hate is going through all my things and working out what to throw out. Same with cleaning; I don't at all mind the act of going over a room with a duster and vacuum cleaner, I just hate having to get everything sorted out so I'm in a position to do that. Also, just the transport is probably more than the financial value of the stuff, so although I should cost my time as well, I am not sure that the major price hike for a packing service would actually save me enough pain to be worth it.

[jack]

*hugs*

[llennhoff]

Every time I have to pack, I contemplate simply burning it all instead. But alas I never do.

[liv]

I've actually got rid of a fair amount this time. I threw out clothes that were too ragged to keep wearing (although I love them) and triaged my kitchen stuff severely because I am not paying money to transport generic Ikea crockery across the continent. And I think in future I am going to stop carting around all the paper correspondence from my teenage years!

[redbird]

Do you have my phone numbers?

[liv]

No, no I don't. Thanks for reminding me; I do need to firm up some plans for my New York trip, but my head has been so caught up in sorting out this packing and moving that I haven't thought of it at all. The prospect of getting to see you is a cheering thought, though.

[redbird]

212-942-1710 is the landline; 646-721-4041 is the mobile. (If you lose this comment, I'm in the Manhattan telephone directory under my real name, and tend to check email multiple times a day when I'm in town.)

[syllopsium]

*PURR*

[hatam_soferet]

teahugs

[simont]

*hugs*

I hate packing too. In fact, the last time I had to do it, I posted a giant rant about how much I hated it and why. (I don't know if that helps or not; on the one hand, it might help you feel less alone, but on the other, a long list of reasons why packing is unpleasant might make you hate it even more!)

[simont]

(Gosh, I didn't know OpenID-based commenters weren't allowed to post unmangled URLs. Ah well.)

[liv]

Oh, good rant. Yes, a big part of why it's miserable is that it's unmaking your home. And you're completely right about not noticing how much stuff you have when it's just there.

(Sorry about the URL mangling; apparently OpenID is considered insecure enough to be a possible source of spam, which I think is taking it a bit far when you're on my access list anyway, but there you go.)

[naath]

Argh, packing. It is horrid. Always makes me want to sort stuff and throw most of it out except I never leave enough time for that so somehow I never get around to it. ARGH> must chuck out stuff!

[liv]

Yeah, that's part of the problem. If I didn't hate it so much, I wouldn't have procrastinated on it until the last minute. And then I would have time to do it properly and it could be a really useful, cathartic sorting out of my life. But of course what happens is that I leave it as late as I possibly can and end up transporting junk which just sits around until I next have to box it all up in far too little time.

[verazea]

*hug* also *tea*

I too am procrastinating about packing and I just have bedding stuff to pack for a bit of cat sitting so it's not even remotely comparable!

[liv]

Hugs and tea help, thank you. And good luck with your minor packing. I'm finding it's not so much the putting stuff in boxes which is hateful, though it takes a long time and is not very intellectually stimulating, it's the accompanying emotions of packing away my life when I want to just go on living it.

[verazea]

Thank you :)
Packing done and I've moved to be cat-staff. I usually don't find the packing itself bad - my head often turns it into a big tetris-like game. It's everything around it that's the problem.

[khalinche]

Oh, hugs hugs hugs! You are going to have a fabulous and invigorating few months and then go on to good times in the UK closer to your loved ones. Just get through with the Abominable Packing and remember every box you do brings you closer home.

[liv]

Aww, this is a really sweet comment, thanks for being so supportive. And yes, packing is a means to an end of having a very fun summer and seeing people I desperately want to see. Thank you.

[forestofglory]

I will be at Jack's party and am very much looking forward to seeing you there.