The Moving, Part III

Countdown to fall semester: seven days

This afternoon and evening I've been helping the former girlfriend pack and ready for her move to Wichita. Despite my inherent sloth-like nature, I can get a lot done working with my hands once I get into the groove of it. Because of that, I've helped to pack two boxes worth of kitchen stuff, and have helped to clear off all the counters/drawers of stuff she's taking with her. I've also done the dishes, washing the parts of her blender that she'll be taking, as well as do a few other things around the top floor of the house.

This morning, I took out the two end tables my former student gave me last week, sprayed them down with Pledge, and polished them/cleaned them up as much as possible. They look great, and I'm hoping they look good in the living room in a few days.

I know I must sound like a broken record at this point about the "moving stuff," but there isn't much else going on. The former girlfriend will be picking up the truck on Tuesday morning, and we'll be loading the stuff into it ourselves -- me and her -- because, well, I'm here, and nobody else is available. I'm also not heartless or unfeeling, so I will be doing everything I can to help. The original plan was for me to follow to Wichita in the Monte Carlo and help unload it again down there as well before going home, but as she's been successful in getting a few of our mutual friends to help her move into the place, I don't know if my presence will still be necessary or requested. I have, however, volunteered to do so if needed, so whatever works. After that, all of the moving will be done.

As mentioned here before, this coming week is going to be crazy-filled with work and other work-like things on multiple levels. There's the packing and moving first, then on Wednesday I need to go to Walmart to start picking up the essentials to replace around the house -- as well as possibly any appliances or furniture I can afford and can fit into the car, before bringing them home and assembling them (what needs assembling, of course), and rearranging/cleaning the house as much as possible after the move. Thursday and Friday, obviously, are our required "orientation days" for the new semester. I've then got a short weekend before classes start back up and I'm stuck teaching/attending them until mid-December. Again. The start of my second year is going to be crazy and hectic, and I have a feeling that being out of the daily routine of work and school since May is going to take its toll on me within the first few weeks -- especially as I came to the realization that I am on campus Wednesday nights until 10PM, and then must drive home and sleep fast so that I can teach on Thursday mornings again at 9:30....and be there until 10 again on Thursday night as well.

I am lucky, however, in the sense that I do nothing but teach on Tuesdays, and can theoretically schedule my office hours/writing center hour on Wednesday/Thursday so that, if needed, I can just go home on Tuesdays after I finish teaching, or otherwise find ways to use my time in a more productive fashion than I have in the past. Living alone will find me with a lot of free, quiet time to myself in the house, and as I told my friend Zedral last night, it also means that I can get a lot more done for my classes, and faster.

I mean, I had a lot of free, quiet time this summer, and I wrote/compiled a book. This should mean, theoretically, that I'll have plenty of time to make lesson plans, read/grade papers, read/write papers, and still take care of all of the around-the-house stuff, right?

Well, we all think that before every semester, don't we?

With the breakup/moving saga soon coming to an end, I've been entertaining offers from friends to come visit for long weekends and the like, an offer that I'll be extending to my parents as well if they'd like to do so. I need to be able to get all of the furniture purchased and set up first, of course, including getting a couch or futon for visitors (or myself) to sleep on while people are here. Some of my friends are actually able to make the visit out here, since (like me) they are grown-ups now -- imagine that -- and if they're not in school, they actually do have vacation days from their respective jobs. So far, October 14-18 is free, as that is the "fall break" we have every year around midterms. The actual "break days" are the 17th and 18th of October, but as I don't have classes/teaching on Friday or Monday, that extends the actual break to five days off -- the 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, and 18th. By then, obviously, whether I get it in person or shipped to me via Amazon, I should have more than enough furniture to make the house hospitable to guests.

Perhaps I will make a big focus of my new "livin' solo" lifestyle revolve around visiting guests and friends. After all, the vast majority of my friends I've not seen since I was living in West Virginia. Not that many of them would really want to see the flat, uninspired black hole of culture that is Kansas. Still. I won't have anything to do (aside from schoolwork) or anywhere to go/money to get there/ability to actually leave town over Thanksgiving week either; maybe I can do some sort of holiday gathering here at the house with some of those out-of-state friends.

The former girlfriend thinks I'm getting the furniture to "fill space" left by stuff she's taking, as evidenced by the fact that most of the time I'm at home, I'm in the Man Cave. While that may be partially true (in the case of getting a second living room chair of some sort, it kind of is), but getting things like a couch or futon for the living room are sort of important, as you might have guessed, if I want to actually have a living room. As is the coffee table Andrea got for me (which, I expect, will arrive tomorrow).

Also, as expected, I got an email yesterday afternoon from the school, telling me that my one student loan had been processed through my account, and what didn't go to student fees and the like (which they take out automatically, otherwise I get billed for them) is finally in the process of getting dropped into my bank account, though it could take up to five days. Usually it takes a maximum of two or three, if that. Regardless, it'll be the first real, new money I've seen since May, and as I do have a need for it, it couldn't come soon enough. To "celebrate" of sorts, I bought the handheld Dirt Devil I need to vacuum the stairs, as well as the flat antenna I'll need to get better TV reception. They were two of the cheaper items on my list that I need. I'll still have to get a full-size vacuum and another converter box to go along with them, but I'll wait a bit longer on those things to see what I'll be able to work with. Keep in mind I still have bills to pay this month, food to buy, and gas to put in the car before I get my first actual teaching paycheck from the school in about 2-3 weeks. Either way, I'll get by fine, but that doesn't mean those few weeks are going to be pleasant money-wise. After all, I have to get the car worked on eventually as well.