Pages

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Multitasking

Things have been kind of crazy as of late so I have to apologize to my dozen or so followers for slacking. The blog had to take a backseat for a little while, but I'm back and in full swing. Because my calendar has been so chock full o' stuff, I've had to get a little creative in order to fit everything in.

Last weekend a close friend of mine and I had a yard sale. As everyone knows I'm moving in a few short weeks and the leftover college dorm craptastic stuff I've been using as a supplement to actual adult furnishings just won't fit into the Vibe. And even if it did, I don't like any of it enough to bring it 3,000 miles with me. As the saying goes, one man's trash is another man's treasure and both my friend and I had a fairly large number of the other man's treasures just waiting to be carried away. A lot of people argue that having a yard sale is a waste of a perfectly good Saturday morning. Here's what I learned from the exercise. 1. It's way less miserable to pack up boxes of stuff you don't want and carry them out of your home when the activity is not immediately followed by carrying all the stuff out of your home that you DO want. AKA, moving day becomes significantly less miserable when preceded by a yard sale. 2. You get an excellent workout carrying those boxes up and down stairs which means that's an hour on Saturday afternoon you gain back by not having to go to the gym (2 if you count the commute). 3. If you do said yard sale with a good friend the majority of the time translates into hanging out with someone you care about, which you'd probably be doing on a Saturday anyway. 4. You MAKE money as opposed to paying the garbage man to haul it away or giving it away for free. By my calculations I invested all of 1 extra hour (spent setting up) of my valuable time and I made some sweet moolah. So, to recap this particular multitasking event allowed me to check a dreaded chore off my list, fit in an excellent cardio workout , spend some quality time with a close friend, and make some fast cash. All in about 5 hours. Multitasking, I love you.

Monday, July 12, 2010

If You’re Out on the Road…

In a few short weeks I’ll be making the drive west and a teensy little part of me is starting to feel a little anxious about, as Carole puts it “feeling lonely and so cold”. Though I don’t know about the cold part, the lonely, I am sure will come. And while I am oh-so-excited to ditch the wind and the snow, the friends and family I’m leaving behind are not so easily dismissed. For seven years, this town has been my home and choosing this cross-country endeavor was not something I entered into lightly.

This weekend I started packing and with each passing box I had to pause and take notice as I sifted through the memories of college and my first few “grownup” years. The parties, birthdays, graduations and weddings have passed all too quickly. I feel like it’s been a lifetime since I moved here. I grew up here. I found a second family here. I’ve built a life here. And now I’m starting from scratch again, or nearly so.

I know that moving doesn’t mean I’ll never see anyone on the east coast again but it will mean some bonds will be broken and some will be weakened. Weekly phone calls and emails will turn into monthly. Visits will wane as time marches on and eventually so many of the relationships I value now will be reduced to a name on a Christmas card. I would be a fool to believe otherwise. That’s okay though, because the bonds that do stand the test of time and distance will be the stronger for it. Parties and birthdays and graduations and weddings will still mean something. And when I say “an old friend of mine” I’ll mean someone I’m picking up from the airport or just wrote a letter to, not just a person I used to know. In time I’ll come to know those friends as the ones I share my successes and failures with, and the ones I offer my congratulations and condolences to. For those friends, thank you in advance. My great adventure west will have its ups and downs and I know you’ll be the ones who share the good times and help me through the bad. And in return, I’ll be ready with a shoulder to lean on or a glass to toast. All you have to do is call my name and I’ll be there.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Update on the Automobile

So, I don't have pictures of my actual car as it is currently sitting in my family's driveway far far away from the streets of South Boston where cars get banged, dented, broken into and generally eaten by the pothole infested terrain and hooliganery (not a word? it is now) of the neighborhood. But this is what it looks like. She's cute right? Definitely not the BMW I was hoping for but I had to make something about this move responsible and practical.


Just this morning on the Today show there was a segment about living "below your means". Something Americans aren't particularly good at. Frugal families were polled and one of the common budgetary restrictions was purchasing vehicles with manual transmissions. Apparently you can save approximately $30,000 over the lifespan of the vehicle in both fuel economy and reduced cost in repairs. Whatever stress I had regarding learning how to drive stick has been washed away with visions of European trips, designer handbags and four star meals I'm going to be able to afford all because of a few manipulable gears.



I have not as yet come up with a name for my car. Suggestions anyone???