Transition Thanksgiving

Alison says: 

I really should be unpacking right now as Kurt hangs a new reading light for me and a closet light for tomorrow morning. But now that the panic from yesterday has worn off a bit, the procrastination has set in. So the good and funny things must be recorded right now.

Last night I crashed on the boat after a very busy Thanksgiving weekend. Move out of the suburbs will be complete tomorrow after I pick up the last two piles from my soon to be former home. Sigh. One remaining pile got left behind when loading the truck and the other pile is just going to have to get stored/used at school. There is not enough room in my car or Kurt’s boat for stuff that isn’t needed.

Speaking of needed, this has been an exercise in all of that. From coats to socks, which ones are most necessary? Which ones have I never worn because I really don’t like them? I finally tossed the unwrapped 3-pack of panty hose that I pulled from my mother’s house after she died in 2005. I have never worn them. I will never wear them. It’s okay to put them in the bag for give away. It wasn’t easy, but it was no longer hard. I guess that's what I got from most of the purging. Being a teacher is hazardous and creates pack rats. I admit it. But it’s also true that you never know when you are going to need something. So often there are moments when having that box of 100 Popsicle sticks from years ago saves the lame turkey project and makes it into an awesome puppet project. Happened just last week with our first grade reading buddies. Good thing I didn’t pitch those sticks. So all that stuff at the house just isn’t ready to be released. It’s not yet easy AND is too hard to ponder life without. Besides, there’s tons of room in my brother’s garage.

Between rain showers today we managed to get all my essential hanging clothes into the closet. They fit with a bit of room for Kurt to hang some of his stuff! I found the bag with all my underwear and socks. Some one somewhere on one of the blogs I am following suggested putting all that in magazine files wedged in the skinny shelving along the vee berth (boat word!). We found just the right size at Staples, on clearance and buy 2 get 1 free! Total cost: $4.00. And now Kurt can have two of his drawers back.

All in all, the move was low key. My daughter was home for the Thanksgiving weekend and with her help, my nephew’s help and the very wonderful men-hired-through-U-Haul’s help, the move out to storage was not nearly as painful as I had predicted. The weather was amazing all weekend, sunny and mid-60’s. My brother’s garage was plenty roomy. He promised that if Kurt and I decide to escape to the Caribbean on the boat, he will share the proceeds from auctioning my things off with my three children. Total cost: about $500.00

           

Right now my precious daughter is stuck in I-95S traffic, but has invited us down to her place for Christmas.“Unless you want me to experience Christmas on the boat.” It’ll be a Carolina Christmas! So for the rest of today I need to figure out how to make my phone into a data hot spot. Or maybe just connect to Kurt’s till he runs out of data. Then the three suitcases on the vee berth (!) will be unpacked, organized and stowed somewhere before it gets dark on this rainy, chilly Sunday. I am a live aboard, for now!

Kurt says:

Moving from Arlington was surprisingly easy. Alison did well to reduce her possessions. That is not easy, especially when you have some life at your back. the boat easily absorbed those things that were essential and my worries of tripping over things was clearly unfounded. 

We now have the opportunity to rearrange and redesign the interior space to suit or needs which will help when we go sailing. I never bothered to make the boat a home.  I've never had a home just places where I went to get out of the cold, considering the world my home. I am looking forward to turtleing with Alison. So now I have both sweeties, wife and cat, living with me. All is good in the world.