Burn It Down

Several coworkers and I joke about burning the house down behind us when we move. It will be easier than packing. Just buy new stuff and move on. If only it were that simple. There are things we want to keep because they mean something to us. Most other things we keep because it doesn’t make any sense to buy a new bed or a new washing machine. And other things we can safely toss out. The problem is it takes time to go through everything. And room. It takes room to create a “keep” and “toss” pile. I’m making somewhat steady progress. The living room is pretty much done. The next, most daunting task is the pantry. That may take weeks to figure out. Unfortunately, we don’t have weeks. I’ll take some Tylenol and hit it as soon as I’m done writing.

Lion has been snoozing a lot. It didn’t bother me until this morning, as I was packing, and he was still in bed. The other day, I tried to make a kennel reservation for the dog for a few days during the move. She’s an escape artist who loves nothing more than outwitting me by sneaking out the door if I leave it unguarded for a split second. Obviously, the movers need the door open. She’d be underfoot anyway. It turned out one of the dates for the kennel was unavailable. Lion said it was because I waited too long. I then had the task of finding a new kennel. Why? I mean, I know we need to board her. But why do I have to do it? I’m working and packing, and Lion isn’t. Granted, he’s been doing the logistics of utilities and movers. This morning, I was just feeling like I had enough on my plate, and I wanted to tell him to get his lazy ass out of bed. I didn’t, of course. His ass was perfectly fine where it was. He wasn’t in the way. What could he be doing anyway?

Then I sat down to have a drink before I tackle the pantry. Lion asked me to look for a kennel. Grumble, grumble, grumble. Why am I looking? But I didn’t say it. I looked and found one close to the new house. I was looking at the dates we needed, and something didn’t seem right. I was off by a day. We need Monday night through Friday morning. I was looking for Tuesday through Saturday. Friday night was the problem with the regular kennel. I just did the new reservation and I’m hoping they’ll confirm it once they get back in the office later today.

Lion hates when I blame things on him sleeping, but I haven’t snuggled next to him lately because as soon as I get over there, he falls asleep. (Sometimes I do too.) And it’s such a process to get over there and back. I sleep with a weighted blanket and there’s a gap between the beds. My shoulder has been hurting so I can’t really snuggle in the way I used to. It winds up just being me sort of closer to him. But I need to put all that aside and get as close as I can get more often. We’re both a little (maybe Lion more so than me) freaked out about the move and we need to be closer.