Getting ready for The Big Move

And time is flying.

I knew it would come to this. I knew we'd get to the point that the volunteer year would be about to end, our time in Chicago would be about to end, our time with the Claretians would be about to end... and here we are. As we got closer and closer to The Big Move, my anxiety level rose higher and higher, until last week I stopped sleeping altogether. Which is, of course, an exaggeration. But I wasn't sleeping well.

Which means it is time to Get Things Done.

So I've started packing. I've sealed up two big boxes of books for my parents' attic. My god, do we have a lot of books! And we're always accumulating more. We came to Chicago with like, 10. Now we've got about 7 shelves full. I dream of a time in the future when we have our own place and one room is wallpapered with bookshelves. But that will be another four years on, once I've got my degree and we're heading back to the mainland. Until then, my parents keep them for us. They act like it's the least they could do. But it's a lot. We love our books.

I separated out my clothes even further in the What I Wear realm. Now, I have a suitcase halfway packed with things I don't need to wear in the next month, and the rest is in my dresser. Just over a week's worth of clothes, on repeat. Maybe it's anal to be packing so soon, but it made me feel better. And again let me reiterate how many clothes I have! Many.

And Michael took over renting a car to get us to TN and back before the closing retreat. And he's also been shopping DSL, which we'll probably need since we'll both be in college, and internet access at home is now the standard and not the exception. And he'll be in charge of changing over our money from the local bank to a national one, so that we can access our funds in Hawaii.

For my part, I'm finding us a place to stay once we move. I have to take the little of what I know of Honolulu's geography, balance it with rent, hope we can find a good place that meets our needs. It does make me nervous. I'll feel a lot better once that's settled.

And in the meantime I try to tie up all my loose ends at work. And with the Claretians. Lucky for me, the Claretian Assembly is this week, so on Wednesday night I'll get to have dinner with every Claretian in the Eastern Province. So I'll get to say goodbye. And I know that after that, that there are many of them that I will never see again in this lifetime. But maybe we'll cross paths with a few at some later date.

This is a big goodbye.

But I do expect to sleep better this week, with us working so hard on the process of moving, with us Getting Things Done. So I don't have to worry that the day will come and we won't be ready. Physically. As for the rest, well. Come What May.