This morning I got two large boxes out of the garage -- long ones, though they were each only about a foot deep (I need much deeper ones) -- and fully cleaned out my closet up here in the Man Cave, as well as cleaning out everything on and in my DVD rack/bookcase I have up here. The only things left in my closet are the clothing that I will wear between now and the move. The only things left on top of the long bookcase are the things I'll use between now and the move (my wallet, checkbook, incense burner, clock, lamp, etc).
Those two boxes alone took about 90 minutes to pack. Based on 45 minutes per box, roughly, with the amount of boxes I have left now (fifteen), it'll take me 675 minutes to pack all of the boxes I have already -- or eleven hours and fifteen minutes. And those fifteen boxes I have remaining isn't nearly enough to pack up this whole house.
Sigh.
This afternoon -- in about half an hour, actually -- I will clean out the rest of the garage as much as possible, mostly the storage room. Then I will shower, eat, and watch another disc of Scrubs, because fuck it, I've worked a lot on this shit already this weekend and I need a bit of a break. I'll do more tomorrow, of course.
Last night, I graded through all of my students' projects and workshop copies, and made sure I had lesson plans for what I was doing this week in my classes. This took no less than five hours, as I sat down and did it all straight through -- no food, no getting up for breaks, no music or dancing. Just grading and student work. While the 210 projects signify the last assignments I'll have to grade for that class, I do have the two other courses which the work continues for. There are three more sessions of my 102 class before I give their final (so, really, four sessions) and the same applies to my 011s. Most of the 011s are doing well -- the ones who keep showing up and doing the work, anyhow. The last one who could've failed for absences did so during this week's class, so the ones who are there now are the students doing the work and taking care of every little thing I ask of them. Only one other student may fail my course due to absences alone, but I found out that he's in 013 anyway, so that class is what he needs to be in anyhow -- not mine. That's the enrollment system's fault; he shouldn't have been allowed to double-enroll in two courses that offer the same credit.
Anyway. The grading session was tiring, and I went through more than half a pen's worth of ink marking up everything. I'm not a bastard, but if something needs to be marked, I mark it -- especially for the 210 students who should know how to, say, format in-text citations and a works cited page, since they've theoretically done all of that before in English 101 and 102 (or their equivalents at other universities/colleges), not to mention that I've beaten it into their heads to go to Purdue OWL if they have questions about any of that. They don't have a handbook for MLA formatting in English 210 because they should already know all of it. The 101s and 102s at least have the excuse of not being fully acquainted with MLA rules yet.
It's warm and overcast again today, about 80 degrees. It's supposed to storm for the next three days, though, starting tonight. The ten-day forecast, however, is wonderful temperature-wise -- high temperatures in the mid-70s to 80s for the foreseeable future. I might be able to finally fully put away my pants, socks, and shoes for the rest of the semester, and migrate fully to the t-shirts/button-ups and shorts with sandals that I desperately want to migrate to at this time of the year.
Of course, I'm still wearing pants/socks/shoes and a long-sleeved shirt today with my gloves on for when I clean out the garage, because spiders. But I'm hoping this is the last time I have to fully clothe myself for a while.
Wait, that came out wrong.
Ahem.
Daisy did some research on one of the paintings I have in my garage, and apparently it's a famous painting. It's not an original, of course, but a print -- but the prints are going for $80 or something like that. I have no clue what it is and I've never heard of it -- at some point my ex must've picked it up at a yard sale, because I wouldn't have bought it myself. I salvaged another few pretty paintings from the garage and closets that have just been gathering dust; if any of them are worth anything, I may attempt to eBay them or something like that. Anything would be good for extra money, right?
"You just watch," I told her this afternoon, "watch the yard sale on May 3 get completely rained out after all of this planning and boxing of things I've put into it. Watch it happen."
"Well, if it does...will they reschedule it?" she asked.
"Nope. The city won't, anyway."
That doesn't mean I won't set up the stuff again during the next weekend and sell all of it I can then, weather permitting.
"Almost anything I don't sell at the yard sale is basically going directly into the trash and recycling," I told her. "Most of it's being sold just to get it out of here. Yeah, there's some stuff that I will keep, but the reason I'm trying to sell it is because I'd rather have money for it than find a place for it."
This is true. I know I'm not going to sell all of the books, CDs, DVDs, or Xbox/Playstation games, but I'd so much rather have the money for selling them than trying to find another box to stuff them into where they will go unused for another five years. I looked into places like Hastings to get rid of the ones I can't sell, but the nearest one to Daisy is an hour from her house. If I could find a good, independent used games store somewhere in Omaha who would actually give me a decent price for what I have, I might just box it up and make that be an afternoon's visit once I'm moved up there. Anything I can get money out of would help, honestly.
"I might try to sell the lawnmower if we won't have a use for it or have a place for it," I told her.
Her parents don't really need it, and we don't have a yard at the new place; it's a second-floor apartment. It's a good lawnmower, and has served me really well for the past five years...but if I don't have somewhere to put it or someone to use it, I can't keep it. I just can't. Again, we only have room for so much stuff, and what isn't absolutely essential must be sold, trashed, or given away. I plan to sell the electric weed-eater at the yard sale too, including a massive extension cord for it. I think $10 would be a fair price for that. Probably $20 for the lawnmower.
Please pay me and take my shit away. Please.
As for the weight bench set and weights I have but have never used? My friend Ryan (who wanted it before) can't take it, as he graduates and will be leaving Wichita, but another friend may bring up her boyfriend's truck and get it from me. Again, I just want it gone. I cannot take it with me no matter what.
There's not a whole lot else of value in and around the house, and not much else I want or need to keep. Anyone who actually comes to said yard sale will be getting good deals (and/or lots of "if you want it, it's free, please take it away" phrases) from me.
I keep forgetting that apparently it's Easter weekend. I didn't even remember until I got an Easter card (because, apparently, that's a thing) from my parents yesterday in the mail, and was reminded again today when one of my friends on Facebook said that she dreaded going out shopping this afternoon because people would be everywhere. Easter (and/or most other religious holidays) are way, way off my radar. It's not that I don't acknowledge they exist, but that I absolutely do not pay attention to them in the least. I don't care. If I have to go out shopping this weekend (and I don't think I will) I'll do it tomorrow night or Monday, and will possibly get discounted candy, but I so don't care one way or the other.
Though it did make for a funny joke this week in my class -- one of my students who was absent last week was there on Wednesday night, and I said "He lives!" which is my go-to phrase when a student has been gone but has now returned to class. He looked at me and said "Of all weeks of the year to say that, you really can't say that this week."
And I had to think about it for a moment before I got his reference.
For good measure, I did circle a section on his paper and write "Good Lord" next to it. Because I do love me some blasphemy, mmhmm.
Call it an atheist's subtle payback.
Ahem.
So that's what's going on in my life right now. Now...I clean the rest of the garage.
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