Personality-Less Shell

The packing continues. Our former fabulous (no modesty here) home is now a giant mess of boxes, empty floor space and walls bereft of personality and warmth. It's actually pretty sad. Friend Jeff was kind enough to take a few days to come provide us moral support and physical support in our packing process. He arrived on Sunday, and left this morning. We got a great deal done; utilities turned off (after we leave), my talent agent called, a cover for our truck bed installed, artwork wrapped, many boxes taped up and called "done". Both Jeff and the other half are convinced we didn't have much left as Jeff pulled away this morning. I'm not so sure. It's always the last bits of crap that end up taking so much time. Thank Christ we had done so much of our packing back in September @ the conclusion of our major purge and garage sale. Jeff also took a carload of stuff back to his (and partner Chris's) home in Michigan. We also will be getting rid of our big, comfy chair to friend Michael, getting many of our plants off to new destinies; and a few more items on their way to the Brown Elephant as donations. So much left to do; and four days to do it. The offer has been accepted (as far as I know) by our bank. We have some adt'l paperwork to complete before we leave; and I'm assuming some documents must be pre-signed before we leave; since we will not be here for the closing. I CAN'T TELL YOU HOW READY I AM TO HAVE ALL OF THIS BEHIND US. Enough already. The good thing about the sale; is that we have met and chatted w/ the young couple taking over our homestead. Great people; giving me confidence that my home will be cared for and appreciated. They not only loved it (obviously), but were happy to give us a wad of cash for many of the items we were debating about selling anyway. Also, while Jeff was here; we took advantage of his architectural background and had him make a detailed drawing of how we will fit our items into the two "pods" we have rented to store our goods. The great thing; we will be able to keep our large red hutch/shelving unit; our sofa; and our two "psuedo" couches (the benches I've been dragging around w/ me for over 10 years). That made me happy.

However, I'm just so stinkin' stressed right now. I really am ready to be done w/ all of this rigamarole. I thank the heavens that we were able to sell our place...I don't deny that we're lucky; especially in this lame-ass real estate market. But man, I am friggin' tired.

Today I did 8 loads of laundry; so that we may begin packing both the boxes to be stored, the boxes to be shipped to AZ and the luggage we will be taking w/ us on the road.

Speaking of our trip, we will now be taking 14 days to finally get to AZ. We're staying for free; using casino credits and points from Hyatt and Hilton cards that the other half has been building for many years. Trip highlights? Memphis, Little Rock, Oklahoma City, Flagstaff/Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, San Diego and Laughlin, NV; before we settle into our new life. We figure we are both starting new jobs when we arrive, thus we won't be getting any vacation time; anytime soon. I'm looking forward to all of this, but frankly, I've been battling some sort of sickness for a few days; it won't let up; and I am exhausted. Stressed, sick; and exhausted. Leaves me sooo much energy to complete the mountain of tasks before me.

Last night was the going-away party we planned for ourselves. Mostly we just wanted to see as many people as possible; in one venue; cuz we just don't have the time to get out and see everyone individually. Actually, I thought we would be on easy street this close to the move; but indeed; that is not the case. We had about 25 folks show up to see us off; and it really warmed my heart. Many folks I haven't seen in literally years; but they still showed up. And many friends I've become close to only recently. It was a great cross-section of the various parts of our lives. Very strange to bring people together from so many different places. Some emotions, lots of drink; and T's patented garlic mayo cheese fries. Nice.

Tomorrow; much more work. We are going to get our new tires; buy a mattress cover, do some banking, get some adt'l paperwork to our closing attorney; and I'm sure at least 50 other pressing items. Why does this process suck so very much?

Finally, on a different subject...the winners of the contest for George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead were finally announced (two days late). We did not win. Frankly, I was not overwhelmed by the choices. Deader Living Through Chemistry was one of the chosen; which I would have expected; it was very well done. Very deserving. The grand prize winner was The Final Day...hmm. I don't see how that was the end-all/be-all of all the folks chosen. It was another one of those "let's chase our hero/heroine through a field w/ zombies giving chase". It seemed to have some good production values, but I didn't see anything special about it. Also, the film, & Teller (yes, w/ Teller of Penn & Teller); was great, but seemed a bit strange to choose an obviously professionally made film; w/ the filmmakers having a decent budget; a name and access to (probably) high-tech equipment. Again, it was good; and of course there was no rule against something like this, but you've already got a name for yourself; let someone else have 15 minutes. This is not said out of bitterness; cuz I'm happy to move ahead on my director's cut; I'm just throwing my two cents out there.

I need to take a shower.