Moved in

So Paul (my ex-fiancé) helped me move, thank the Universe, because I have no idea how I would have done it alone. Seriously. I got a terrible chest cold the day before I had to move. I was up packing until 2am the night before, sweat my brains out throughout the night, tossed and turned, had recurring nightmares, and then spent all.day.long. moving. From 11am to 12 midnight.


As luck would have it, the people in the unit beside me were moving at the exact same time, so we had to fight over parking spaces for U-hauls, and the elevator, etc. But it all worked out. Then unloading into the new apartment - in hot weather - with no elevator, we had to climb 20 steps per box, and per piece of furniture...it nearly killed me. Have I mentioned I hate moving? :)


I have moved a lot in my lifetime, and it was this move that I learned 4 very important things:

1. You get what you pay for. If you want nicer, you have to pay for nicer.
2. Paying someone to clean my old apartment after I moved out was the best money I have ever spent in my entire life (I could barely move and I was sick as hell)
3. Next time I move, I am paying movers to do this shit for me. Seriously. 
4. That I can live without a whole lot of stuff. (More on this below.) 

As I was packing (and especially as I was lifting what I was packing lol), I caught myself saying things like, "I never use this. I don't ever plan to read this book again. I never listen to this. What's in this box? I haven't gone in it since my last move. I've never worn this and don't plan to." This tells me that it is time to purge.


I worked in interior design for a little while. It's a passion of mine. Over the years, I've purchased little accessories and pieces of furniture to make the place look nice, or things that I "had" to have. What works for me now is open space. Clean, clear, open space. I want to get rid of the clutter, the needless items that just collect dust. Even, yes, the things that were given to me. I hold no attachment to them anymore. They're all just things.


I don't even want money for any of it - I just want to donate it and be done with it. I bought this adorable repurposed, red wooden "gossip bench". It's so cute! But I never ever use it! Bookshelves - just bought a brand new pair from Pier One because I finally wanted a nice pair of bookshelves - even better - they fold! How wonderful for moving! Wrong! They are the heaviest piece of furniture I own! And you know what they hold? Books - a whole bunch of super-heavy books, most of which I will never read or have read and will never read again. (That's my other passion - books, ugh.) So the next few weeks will be spent on purging - getting rid of un-necessary items that are taking up space.


The other thing I absolutely must do - which has nothing to do with moving, per se - is get my NC driver's license. I'm embarrassed to admit that I've put it off for 3 years!!! And almost had my license suspended this year because of it. Very close call. Thing is, here in NC you have to take the stupid written test again, and I've heard it's actually pretty hard (the test questions are ones you wouldn't think to study for). But I have to just do it.