I know I’m one of like a billion Americans that hate their job, and people hate to read whiny shit about how unhappy someone else is, so in contrast: I hate my job, and it’s really humorous. It’s more that I suffer from boredom at work instead of hatred anyway. And boredom, similar to my short stint in unemployment (the good ole days), makes me do some really weird things.

Unemployment made me talk to the cats too much, become obsessed with my step class teachers life, know the rotation of workers at the post office (and who I didn’t want to deal with), and get overly excited about getting to wear pants somewhere. Looking back on it I realize a lot of things like; talking to the cats was not that weird, I was in really good shape from step class, and how did James deal with me while I was in this stage?

Work on the other hand has made me do other weird things:

1. I REALLY enjoy checking the junk mail in my inbox: When I’m sitting at my desk with nothing to do, receiving an email is about the only thing I have to look forward to while the hours drag on. But I don’t really receive that many emails a day (especially not work related ones) so I take joy in checking the junk folder to see what I can find. I’ve since purchased a lot of very unnecessary things, and probably also given my computer a few viruses.

2. I plan months in advance: I have so much free time to sit and plan I already have my Halloween costume ordered, I have a list of who I am sending my Christmas cards to, and I know what I’m writing in my Christmas letter. I’m basically just waiting for the next 2 months to pass by so I can update the C-Mas card.

It’s not that no one told me real life was hard, it’s just that I thought it didn’t apply to me.

J and I have found ourselves in an all too familiar scene; living around boxes. The decorations are taken off the walls and carefully wrapped, things you don’t think you’ll need (like stamps) but then of course have to find have become impossible to locate, and we’re almost to the stage of digging in boxes for clothes in the morning. We’re in transition with our move between our “little house” and our “big house”. Currently we’re living in the little home while finishing up painting rooms in the big home. So far we’ve painted the master bedroom, master bathroom, master closet, J’s office, my office, the guest room, and the upstairs bathroom. Those were the rooms we planned on painting before we moved in anyway, in addition to the kitchen, (which is currently green). Then we were hoping to take a Friday off and have a long weekend to move over our bed and kitchen stuff and get it all set up how we wanted it. But with all good plans, they change.

We anticipated having 1 house guest this weekend for the upcoming Sudsfest at the local museum, but yesterday we were informed we’ll have 5 additional people and 1 dog coming to stay. With only 1 bathroom in the little house, and no fenced in back yard, there’s no way we can make that work. This makes the end of our week crunch time on moving. So today we’re packing up as many necessities as we can and loading it up in the back of the cars to move.

Hopefully we can get most things unpacked and in some order before our guests arrive. It’d really be best if we all didn’t have to camp on the floor on air mattresses, but then again, who doesn’t want to relive a little bit of their childhood and pull all-nighters in the living room ‘forts’? I think this might even work out for the best; for one, it’s forcing J and I to move. Otherwise we’d drag out bringing the boxes over and going through the hassle since we already have somewhere to live that isn’t going anywhere. No one is kicking us out, and the little house isn’t even up for sale yet. There’s a few more projects left on that house anyway, and it’ll be easier to complete when it’s not full of our stuff. Plus I’m extremely excited to have some guests come stay with us. Sometimes I feel like a huge introvert because I don’t want to be around people, and other times I’m dying for someone to come see me. Recently we haven’t had any new faces show up, so this weekend should be super fun!

I have married a man who trades objects quickly. If you don’t like something; sell it, trade it, scrap it, and get a new one. It’s a great theory when your old computer breaks and you want to use the money towards a new one… or you don’t like the lawn mower you purchased (used) so you trade it for a different one. This especially applies to our cars. J is always saying “Everything I own is for sale”, (with the exception of his wife’s stuff). Vehicles, and items, are always rotating quickly through our home.

Our current sale item is the red/black/green pickup, which I’ve dubbed “LadyBug”. LadyBug moved me from Kentucky to Alabama, with only two calls to a tow truck. LadyBug and I have a very love/hate relationship, where I’m normally hating the truck. It seems to have left us stranded often. Including a trip we made with a ton of rocks in the bed where we had to walk a mile home to get the spare tire. It’s also left J and his dad stranded late at night, while J was also suffering from a recent concussion.

Although I will be glad to see LadyBug go, I will be sad to be losing GaterBait’s favorite vehicle. Like all things “GB” she showed her love in a weird way… like puking in the cab of the truck while J made one of the many trips from Alabama to Kentucky. But she must have loved the truck, because any time the doors were left open, she’d crawl up inside and sleep on the bench seat. Her adorable little fuzzy tail leaving hairs all over J’s seat, which he’d complain about on his pants later.

It is a sad thing but this week we are saying goodbye. Goodbye LadyBug- The truck that although left us often stranded, bonded our marriage so that we can survive any car catastrophe. Goodbye LadyBug- GaterBait’s often outside bed, in which she loved to curl up on in the sunshine. I hope you are replaced with a more (reliable) memorable truck, although your legacy will be hard to live up to.

I’ve packed up exactly two boxes, and I remember how much I hate moving. I haven’t even had to move that many times in my life, but each time, it’s a huge pain. Mostly I’m worried all the little glass pieces are going to crumble from one house to another. I start out meticulously wrapping each piece and taping it together, and near the end they’re just rolled up in a rag that I hope I don’t drop when I open.

The weirdest part is packing up boxes full of things you know you can live without. Having boxes that can remain packed for weeks before you wonder where something is located. Why do we even have these things in the first place? Makes me think I could become a minimalist and live with only the things I haven’t packed up in boxes yet.

But then why did we buy such a big house? 🙂

We look podunk; we have a 3 legged truck in the yard, more cars than people, and a filing cabinet on the front porch. Our grass ends up being half cut most of the time, and hardly ever edged. In fact I took to just killing off the grass around the edge of our house with roundup to save from weed-eating it. The back yard is a sandpit where we took out a pool and is constantly littered with wrenches and kudzu.

Inside, all the ‘white’ doors have a hint of pink to them, the floor stops in the middle of the hallway where it hasn’t been finished and you can’t pull the light cord attached to the fan in the master bedroom or it’ll break off and snap back in your face.

These are the things I tell myself while we pack up two years of memories and move.