I woke up at 8:00am and immediately called Eric. I always feel better after I hear his voice. I talked to him for a few minutes and then went back to sleep for a while. When I got up again I had breakfast and took my allergy pill, because – once again – my nose was really running.
I got a call from my masseuse in the late morning, asking if I could come at 3:00pm, instead of 2:00pm. No problem.
I worked on the computer, made some calls, packed, organized, cleaned, and then drove to Hillcrest for the last time. I had a wonderful massage. Leah is really fabulous. It was so relaxing, and so therapeutic. I hated for it to end, but it was over before I knew it!
I drove right back to the apartment, even though I did feel like driving around. I wanted to go to Pacific Beach, for the last time. I resisted, and just drove home. I did have a lot I wanted to accomplish this afternoon, so I figured I’d better get back to work.
I had bought two rolls of plastic wrap and I wrapped two vintage suitcases containing display pieces (for jewelry). It actually worked out great. After they were covered with the saran wrap I could use the packing tape to wrap them securely. This way there wouldn’t be any sticky tape directly on the suitcase, but they couldn’t be opened and they wouldn’t get dirty.
I proceeded to wrap two of my free-standing sets of drawers on wheels. I have 6 separate sets of drawers. I have them all filled, and will then wrap them all, so they will stay securely closed and will stay clean while being transported. These are the drawers that I first used to get organized in my craft room in the house in Whitestone. Then, when I opened the shop, I moved them all there. When I closed the shop, I brought them home and we shipped them all to San Diego. I have since used three of them as dressers in the bedroom and three of them as desk organizers in the living room, behind the desk Eric built me.
That desk was made of wood and we had upholstered it with green fabric and then covered the top with purple velvet with glass bead trim. It always looked really pretty. Between me and Eric, we really made a lot of furniture out of wood, boxes and fabric. He's so handy and I do the designing and it cost nothing and looks great! I took off the velvet with the glass bead trim that covered the top of the desk, shook it out on the balcony and folded it to ship. I took the green fabric off (it had been stapled on) and put it in the wash. I will be able to use it to pack, if I need to wrap something delicate!
I am now sitting at a bare wooden frame of a desk. The apartment is less and less like home and more and more like a storage unit that I’m living in. I have a few small boxes of chocolate soy milk, a few sugar-free 60 calorie chocolate puddings, and some condiments left in the fridge.
The kitchen cabinets are empty, except for all the breakables I have stored in there for the packers on Friday.
I got a call this morning from the guy who will be driving the truck. He interviewed me about the move. I told him there’s a flight of stairs here, but just a few in New York, and it’s not a doorman building or anything, so they’ll be able to unload me whenever they get there. In some fancy buildings they have all kinds of rules about when you can move in or out and about use of the elevators, etc. Thank goodness Eric’s building is a very simple one and he lives on the first floor!
I told him that most of the stuff is going into storage, and some of the stuff is going to the apartment. I also told him that I have every box marked “STORAGE” or “APT.” so it will be very easy for them. He said they’d pack all the stuff for the apartment first, and then put the storage stuff in the front, so they’ll unpack at the storage facility first, and then bring the rest to the apartment.
He told me he’d probably have my stuff in New York by next Saturday and said something about dropping off someone else’s stuff in Kentucky first. Anyway, he seemed very efficient and he was very nice. It’s good to know they’re all getting everything organized and ready. I talked to the guy in charge of my move and told him that I just wanted to be sure everyone knew that I was flying out that night and needed to leave the apartment by 6:00pm. He said there would be no problem with that.
The truth is, my flight is not until 10:15pm, but Rosemary offered to drive me to the airport and I told her I’d take her out to dinner first, so I’d like her to pick me up by 6:00pm. I figure the worst case scenario will be that I can’t go to dinner and Rosemary will drop me off right at the airport. As long as I make my flight, I don’t really care about the rest.
I worked the rest of the afternoon and into the evening, packing, cleaning, and packing some more. You might ask, “How much stuff does this girl have?” Well, let me tell you that I already have about 90 boxes and there will probably be more. I just have a lot of stuff. That’s all there is to it!
Tomorrow I have to return the car in the afternoon. I may take a last drive around San Diego, to some of my favorite spots, since I have more than a half a tank of gas and I don’t have to have more than 1/8th of tank when I return it. I’ll just take a drive through some of the neighborhoods in the afternoon and wind up on Balboa at ENTERPRISE. They’ll drop me back off at home.
When I went to STARBUCKS this afternoon (after my massage) I told the girl at the window that this might be my last trip, as I might not get a chance tomorrow. She told me she was trying to think up a trophy to give me, because I was one of their favorite customers. She’s so sweet. I told her I’d really try to come by tomorrow.
I feel a little sad, when I think about leaving, because I have enjoyed San Diego a lot, but I know I have so much to look forward to back in New York. I can’t believe I’ll be with Eric again, after six months apart. Sometimes I still can’t believe that we have been apart for this long. In 26 years we were never apart for more than a week and now it has been almost seven months since he left, and four months since we were last together.
It will be a sweet reunion, and I’ve told everybody that I’m going to spend the first couple of days alone with Eric. We need to reconnect and get to know each other again. I want to be alone with him, spend some quality time with him, and then after I have a chance to settle down a bit, I can’t wait to see all my friends and family. I’ve missed you all so much!