Hey everyone, welcome back to the saga of Dave’s impending move! This week has been a whirlwind of packing, stress, and the looming realization that life is about to get *very* different around here. Buckle up, because the rollercoaster is reaching its peak!
Dave went into hyperdrive on Thursday, channeling his inner packing ninja while I diligently punched the clock at work. Unfortunately, my reward for a hard day’s labor was a solid bout of insomnia. Seriously, 2 AM wake-up calls are not my idea of a good time. Then, just as I was drifting back to sleep, the fridge decided to stage a 5 AM protest, blaring its alarm because someone (ahem, Jared) hadn’t closed it properly. Let’s just say my day started with a jolt – and a strong cup of coffee!
While my day at work flew by (thank goodness for TGIF!), Dave was battling a mechanical monster. The RV jack decided to stage a full-blown rebellion, refusing to cooperate and making it impossible to hitch the RV to the truck. This was a HUGE problem, considering the countdown to departure was ticking away faster than a “Deal or No Deal” episode. Dave reached out to summon a repair wizard, so fingers crossed that gets sorted before the big day.
Dave’s stress levels were reaching DEFCON 1. I kept reassuring him that everything would magically fall into place (as one does), but he was basically a walking, talking stress ball by Saturday. To add to the chaos, I had a pre-arranged rendezvous with my friend Jason to rehome some of our worldly possessions, and we were meeting at a Harvest Festival. The timing wasn’t ideal, but hey, sometimes you just gotta roll with the punches, right? Besides, let’s be honest, my lifting capacity is currently that of a particularly weak kitten, so I figured I’d be more helpful out of the way.
The good news is, I had an amazing time at the Harvest Festival! I even witnessed some seriously impressive costume contest entries, including a spot-on Zoltar the fortune-telling machine from the movie “Big.” Talk about a blast from the past! When I finally made it home, Dave was snoring louder than a chainsaw convention on the couch, having crashed hard after a day of packing. The rest of the evening was spent with him packing and me trying to avoid becoming collateral damage in the Great Packing Frenzy of 2023.
Sunday. Oh, Sunday. The day my compartmentalization skills were put to the ultimate test. It all hit me at once: living alone in the boonies, moving to a foreign country, the Albus situation, leaving my friends and family, and the whole Dave-being-gone-for-weeks thing. And to top it all off, my house looked like a packing explosion had occurred. Seriously, it was a disaster zone.
Thankfully, my amazing friend Jenn, sensing my impending meltdown, was ready to talk me off the ledge. We agreed that a nervous breakdown was simply not on the schedule. Once Dave’s gone, I can assess the damage and formulate a plan. Until then, it’s all about Vulcan-like focus and scheduling “feelings time” for later. Because let’s face it, ain’t nobody got time for feelings right now!
Thankfully, Chuck arrived as backup, and my stepdaughter and her husband were en route with a moving truck to haul away their “new” treasures (aka our trash). I had also enlisted the help of my housekeeper for some serious packing assistance.
Chuck did a fantastic job of keeping Dave focused, and they managed to load most of our belongings into the POD. My housekeeper, unfortunately, suffered a flat tire and couldn’t make it, but even without her, they accomplished a ton. Dave was, of course, freaking out about leaving so much for me to handle, but I’m confident that with a little help, I’ll survive. In his frantic state, he managed to lose at least three items and spent a good chunk of time hunting them down. But hey, at least we got to bed early, because sleep will be a rare commodity tonight.
So, that’s where we stand, folks. We’re in the final stretch. The stress levels are high, the house is a disaster, and my emotions are threatening to stage a full-blown coup. But we’re almost there! Stay tuned for the next chapter, where we’ll hopefully witness a successful RV departure and the beginning of a new adventure (for both of us!). Wish us luck!