This time next week, I’ll be in America. But now, I’m still all-in
here.
Hopefully, next week is a bit less hectic, but holy smokes,
I am glad the penultimate week ended. Honestly, I’m not even sure what the biggest
highlight was, because I just had one project after the other.
Probably, though, the packout was No. 1. It was Thursday,
and followed by the second outreach event of the week. I’d like to say I was
relieved when it was over because that was it, but Friday was a daylong event
in my department that I had to help plan.
Packout itself went just fine. I barely have anything –
about 850 pounds and 25 boxes. Someone who packed out the next day, by
comparison, had 86 boxes and 3,000 pounds. I tried; I really did. My air
shipment, though, came in at only one box and it weighed less than I do. I’m
allotted up to 250 pounds of that, plus 7000 pounds of the boat stuff, which
was what the 850 was.
Now I’m really living skeletally, which isn’t so bad since
my apartment came fully furnished. But it’s completely devoid of personality,
not that it had much in the first place.
And I’m, of course, finding stuff I forgot to pack. In the
follow-up landlord inventory, we opened a drawer I don’t remember ever opening
before but obviously had, because there were two cookie cutters from Australia in
there. Luckily, I had planned on mailing a sleeve of DVDs to myself at my new
office, so I’ve already added them to the box.
Yesterday, we had a spring party (can’t call it Easter) and
I remembered to hold out the brownie mix, but, in rationing next week’s oil for
breakfast (I had to pack the PAM, as I can’t put it on a plane), I completely
forget to reserve 1/3 a cup for that. And I also packed up the measuring cups,
so basically I had to completely guess at that and just hope I still have
enough oil to make hash browns for the next few mornings.
I am just so glad the week is over, though. Tuesday night, I
coordinated a Peace Corps presentation. When I signed up, I offered to do it
March 1 or 3, since that’s Peace Corps week. The person said sure, but when the
schedule came out I was down for the 22nd. And even though it’s not
that hard – I had a panel of six, including one couple that had met in service
in Mali
– it was just one more thing added onto the big week.
Friday was the nightmare, because it was this team-building
day for my department. I got tagged to be on the planning committee and it was
just stressful for many reasons, but fortunately, it, too, ended. Sadly, it
ended with a HUGE waste of paper and plastic, because one of the “games” we did
was to put together these packets or cut out stuff from paper. It just killed
me; I was ankle-deep in paper.
But it’s over, and now I’m staring down my last week.
Fortunately, it’s not quite as packed as the last week, but I do have book club
on Tuesday over and above work.
And people are crawling out of the woodwork to ask me to
lunch or dinner. And, while I appreciate it, I’m just not able to take everyone
up on it, and since I can’t, it doesn’t seem fair to accept some and not
others. I’m really torn.
We did do a happy hour after the teamwork-building day, so I
hope that stands for something. We’re also having a party or something at work,
but people are pressuring me to do more. I’m an introvert; I’m OK just saying
thanks or you’re welcome, depending on the situation.
Whatever happens, it’ll be an emotionally wracking week.
Anyway, I think I mentioned that I planned on taking a few
photos with my old stuffed dog, so here are some photos of my now-empty
apartment and its complex.
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