Legal

Mum drove me out to Lebanon today so I could get legal again.  My driving license expired last May, but since I hadn't been back in the States, it hadn't been renewed (they wouldn't let me renew it without a new photo, since my last one was taken in 2000).  So we waited there for a while, and got it done (quicker than I expected, to be fair). 

Well-Organised... So Far

I have dishes and such on the shelves (risky, perhaps, but I'm doing it), holiday decorations and kitchenware and housegoods in front of that, keepsake-type stuff in the tubs to the back corner, and then books.  And more books.  And, what's that? Even more books. 

Looks good, though, doesn't it?  Well-ordered. 

Going, Going...

soon to be gone!

These are my boxes and bags of stuff to give away... so far.  It's a pretty good lot of stuff, to be fair.  Now to get it Goodwill, and make a list to deduct it from my taxes next year...

Some Done

This is the utility closet off the garage, where I'm putting the things that are truly keepsakes and won't need to be unpacked if and when I move.  Things like old Barbies and Strawberry Shortcake dolls, baby clothes and stuffed animals. 

There are a few things on the ends, like Christmas decorations, that I can get to easily.  And the stuff on the very outside ends belong to mum.  But I'm really letting my J-ness go wild here, and organising like mad.  It's a refreshing feeling. 

Work in Progress

I have a lot of stuff. 

I guess it depends on what you're judging by.  I just unloaded and unpacked some of all the bunches and bunches and bunches of stuff my sister and her family have, and was totally overwhelmed by it all.  Too. Much.  Stuff!  So here at mom's, I have a lot of stuff.  Not that much, compared to Jen, but still.  Boxes and boxes and boxes.  I'm trying to sort it and repack to keep or give away and just see what I've really got-- mostly it's books, surprise, surprise. 

Here's a look at it in action-- I take a box or three from the garage, and open it.  Then I sort the contents into other boxes:  Christmas, same genre books, kitchen goods, Goodwill.  It's a big project, but I'm a J.  I like to be organised.  And I want to know what I've got when I grab a box, so I'm making lists of what is in every single one.  That way, if I ever get to move somewhere into my own place again, I'll know what to take first, and what all I have. 

Plus, it's good busy-work to keep my mind off other things. 

And Lots of It

I've started going through my boxes of stuff that have been, unopened, in mom's garage for six years or more now.  It is an interesting job.  I've found things I had forgotten I had, both for good and for 'why in the world do I have this?', which means I'm accumulating a big pile of stuff to give away.  Or throw away, in some cases.  I've also found lots of laundry-- baby clothes made for me by my grandmothers, for instance.  And blankets and duvets and linens.  And summer clothes. 

So I've got my work cut out for me now...

Jen's Idea of Unpacking, Part 2

Sitting in her comfy, heated, massaging recliner, looking at books and telling me where to put them.  Naturally. 

Did I mention that it was me who brought all the boxes and bins over for her to go through?  And me who had to move them when they were done?  And me that had to put the stuff inside wherever it was supposed to go, or repack it?  And that is was me who had to put them up in the attic if they were being stored?  Yeah.  That was me. 

Jen's Idea of Unpacking

That would be sitting around, telling Saum what to do while she plays online on her iPhone.  Obviously. 

Move-In Day

I felt bad for the movers, having to haul the big lorry and the smaller moving truck full of stuff into the huge two story house... so I did my bit to make it easier by clearing the front walk. 

The only problem was the snow shovel was packed, and the ones the people had left Jen had decided they didn't need (and the people who collected most of their left stuff took away last night).  Smart call, sis.  So I had to use a broom.  Not easy. 

I hope those movers appreciated it. 

Junk

We went to the closing on the house today, and were not impressed with how much junk the former owners left... especially since they were already on the road, moving to Florida.  We spent the whole day collecting and moving all the rubbish out to the garage: 

It was seriously annoying, to have to move someone else's stuff out just in order to be able to get our own stuff in.  Thankfully there were three of us to do it, and 'their' realtor eventually got in touch with a relative to haul the stuff away. 

(They took a lot, but not all.  I think the rest is still in the garage....)

Starting Point

This is what my room looks like, after a few weeks of neglecting everything but corrections:

Well, guess I'd better tackle it.

Good Day

Any day that has rugby on is a good day, especially when I have to be in and doing corrections anyway. 

I watched the two live matches (no northern hemisphere wins) and the highlights from the other.  While doing that, I multitasked correcting my typos.  Or rather, going through and dismissing many of them as NOT typos. 

For instance:  Theologicans.  In my acknowledgements.  He marked it as a typo.  Well, heck yeah it is.  Intentionally.  I'm not just thanking every theologian ever.  Sheesh. 

And my punctuation.  I'm not using the American conventional style, in which every comma and full stop goes inside the quotation marks, no matter what.  I'm using the British logical style, where the comma or full stop only goes inside the quotes when it's actually a part of the quote.  Which doesn't happen often.  And he marked every. single. time.  Those aren't getting changed;  I'll just be including a note as to why I did it that way.  I'm consistent in it, and it's not wrong, and I use british spelling, sooo... what's the problem?  Shouldn't be one. 

Anyway.  The rugby made it bearable.  The next three weeks Scotland will be playing.  Woot. 

Yo, Brother A-to-Z... What Time Is It?

Ha, ha... (says Jason Mraz)... it's LAUNDRY day!  (doot doot doot, doot doot doot doooo doodle-oodle-oo-doot...) 

I love that song. And I love that singer.  And if you don't know what I'm talking about, you should.  =D

If I Weren't a Good Person...

I would totally have kicked that damn cat.  I came out of my room this morning to find this:

Oh my life.  That is just not on, Dill.  No more packets of gooey food for you.  Nope, dry food and water.  That's it. 

Ugh.  I gagged cleaning this up.  It's a good thing I hadn't had my breakfast yet, but ugh.  Ugh.  Gross. 

Aleph- Bet

Yes, I am a very solid J. 

I spent a good chunk of the day reorganising my dvds.  I like them in alphabetical order, so I can find what I want quickly.  With dvds, I just put them ALL in order, with no sub-categories.  Unlike with my books.  Those are a different story all together.  But since I had bought/been given quite a few more dvds since the last time I had alphabatised them, I decided it was more than due.  Ahhhhhh.  Makes me feel more right with the world, when everything is in order. 

Moving Day

Not for me, but for my friend Aleithia and her flatmate.  They were moving about about 10 blocks, and had three people to help--but no cars.  We made two trips up and down King Street, as well as up and down two flights on either end at the flats, with boxes and suitcases.  I am banged up and my muscles are stretched nearly to breaking, but I've moved enough in my lifetime that I know how impossible it would be without friends to help out-- so I repay my friends for helping me by helping others. 

The intrepid movers.

The New Set-Up

This is what my under-loft now looks like, and I'm thrilled with it.  I can still use my old lappy-as-desktop, or watch stuff on my computer monitor, or sit and read or write or whatever.  But it's not so crowded.  Yippee! 

I realise it still looks a bit of a mess, but it is so much more open and has more space than before.  All the kinks will be soon worked out, and everything will have a home. Soon. 

Surplus

As I've been cleaning and organising, I've also been trying to make a pile of stuff to give away or sell.  This is the pile so far (plus one bit of stuff to send back home to people, when I can afford the postage):

It will also include my desk, but that's currently in pieces leaning against the far wall.  I actually find it hard to give things away, especially if they are things that are from or remind me of other people.  I think that's because my love language is giving gifts, so things are important reminders to me of those I care about.  At least, that's what I'll tell myself.  ;)

The Desk

Tackling the desk has been the hardest part of the Big Organise so far...

Yikes.

Spring Cleaning...

or more appropriately, thesis-finished cleaning. 

My J-ness has been giving me problems for a while now, at the state of my room.  I have lots of stuff after six years here, and very little space, so I had been dying to have a good clear out and organise.  Now is that time, since I don't have anything else I have to do (woot).  I am taking everything out of the boxes they've been thrown into along the way and putting like with like--boxes of books, of kitchen goodies, of keepsakes.  Not a boxes with all kinds of things in.  And I'll take down my desk, reorganise my space, get sorted.  Partly it's in case I have to leave the UK and ship things home--I'll already have them sorted and know what's what.  Mostly it's just so I can appease my inner J and not feel quite so out-of-control.