The culprit... packing. Actually that's not completely true, the majority of the packing has been trouble free and easy on the old brain. No, in truth it was the last 15% of the packing, which was mostly kitchen stuff, or large and oddly shaped, or just generally fragile or otherwise delicate in some way. That's really what has done my head in today.
Plus the fact I essentially ran out of newspaper, bubble wrap, small cardboard boxes and the will to continue shoving things in boxes wrapped and cushioned in an inordinate amount of butchers paper/newsprint.
I really, really wish I knew how the hell I managed to cram quite as much stuff into such a small apartment. I know the whole "seventeen years" thing comes into effect here, I've had a lot of time to find every possible nook and cranny in which to shove all manner of items, but even so...
Oh, and I realised that while my brain might be capable of saying "fire bad", I currently don't have the ability to make fire or cook anything using said fire. We packed the matches I was using, along with all the pans and whatnot... so yeah, I can no longer make flame.
But bar a few odds and ends and the contents of the fridge (and the laptop obviously), everything I own is pretty much in boxes.
So many boxes.
Today has essentially been a mixture of our regular Saturday and a lot of time shoving things into boxes. I put together a couple of boxes first thing this morning and attempted to not so much tidy up as just to straighten a few things up so we had room to do things.
Then when Ma came down we headed off to do a severely truncated shopping adventure... I didn't buy very much stuff... there didn't seem a lot of point since we'd only have to pack it up and then move it, so it makes more sense to do a second shopping trip after I've moved.
As there wasn't much to put away once we got back, we pretty much dived straight into packing. I swear that in the large moving boxes I ended up using like three newspapers... there is going to be SO much paper to recycle once I unpack.
I was even more obsessive about all the paper since we were packing all my glassware and crockery from the kitchen... it would be fine if we were moving the boxes ourselves (well other than the actual "having to move them" part), but letting other people do it, even if they're professional movers is a little more nervewracking.
I'm sure it will all be fine... and if not, well, it's a good excuse to buy shiny new stuff. Not that there's not going to be a lot of that anyway given what I am and am not taking with me, and the amount of room in the new place.
Anyway, we got to a certain point in the morning where we pretty much only had a few oddly shaped or difficult to pack items, we were running low on bubblewrap and paper and there were only giant moving boxes left. So we decided to head down to Bunnings (a different one from the one I went to on Friday) to potentially steal some of the boxes they have for loading up purchases.
What we ended up doing was buying a new toolbox (the one I had was a crappy wooden one that I made in high school and never fit everything I had in it), some bubblewrap (that wasn't as good quality as the stuff we bought from The Reject Shop, weirdly), some rope (and other than adding it to my "toy box" after the move, I forgot why we actually bought it, but it may come in handy) and a mini wheely bin that I'm going to use as a new laundry hamper (it's bright red and has wheels... very cute). I also saw a really nice "portable bench counter" which will work really well in the kitchen between the stove and the fridge. Not that I think I'm going to be that short of either counter space or shelves, but I'd prefer some space between the stove and the fridge.
We also grabbed a few boxes, although there weren't as many of a decent shape/size/quality as I would have liked. After stopping off for a sausage sizzle we headed back here and attempted to make the best of the boxes we did get... plus I cleared out my old toolbox and managed to get everything in the new one.
Eventually we got to the point where there just wasn't anything else we could do, so Ma ended up suggesting that she head home, drop off some stuff that I didn't want anymore or just wanted out of the way until the move and grabbing some more boxes and bubblewrap and heading back. That's my Mum, always going the extra mile and whatnot... she really is a superstar.
While she was gone I had a bit of a rest and then attacked the wardobe, loading as much of my clothing as I possibly could into the gigantic mobile robe from the moving company. I was originally going to do that tomorrow night, but I thought it would be a better idea to know how much stuff I could actually get in there and work out how much other stuff I still needed to find room for.
I packed the mobile robe to within an inch of it's tiny life, but I couldn't fit some of my stuff in there, if only because some of the coathangers I have are too damn wide for the box... but even so I got two thirds of the wardrobe sorted out. I'm going to resort to the jury-rigged solution of garbage bag coveralls for the rest of it I think.
By the time Ma got back I was wrestling with my somewhat recalcitrant netbook but put that to one side while we finished up the last of the packing. To be honest I have no idea what the hell is in the last few boxes as Ma was packing them while I was sorting out other bits and pieces, I just know they're all kitchen related.
That'll make the unpacking process entertaining!
Anyway, we got to the point where everything that really could be safely packed had been, so all that was left to do was shift things around in preparation for the movers on Monday.
That entailed dragging the couch outside since I'm not taking it with me (and all the charity places that I would have called to come and get it were closed over the Christmas/New Years break)... I may leave a "free to a good home" notice on it on Monday, but given the way that stuff has been disappearing from outside, there could be a knock on my door before Monday from someone interested in it.
If not I may call one of the charity places on Monday if I remember.
Then there was much schlepping of boxes as I dragged all the boxes I'm entrusting to the movers out into the space previously occupied by the couch and formed a giant wall of boxes that blocks out half the window in the living room (and it's a really big window).
From there it was just a matter of moving everything else around so that I could get from one side of the apartment to the other and we called it a day. Then Ma toddled off home and left me to look around at a sea of cardboard boxes.
And then once Ma was on her way home I realise that I no longer had the ability to make fire...
I also had to rewrite this whole end section of the post since my browser decided to stop working properly and eat the last few paragraphs. I think I got it all though.
Now all I need to do is survive tomorrow with all my worldly possession entombed in cardboard and then it's moving day!
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