Moving update...

I had a great Christmas with the family and it was nice to take a break from packing, but yesterday after Christmas dinner and a short nap I picked it back up again around 5pm and packed until well after midnight.

When you live in a place for eight years, you accumulate a lot of stuff. I'm proud of myself for the "editing" I've done in the past few weeks - three trips with full carloads to the thrift store and giving away lots of stuff to friends and family. But every time I turn around there's another closet full of stuff, things that need to be washed before they're packed, and for some reason, more books. I had probably 400 books on three bookshelves and stashed away in closets and in stacks on tables and nightstands.

I know I'm going to be happy once I get to Austin and unpack and have a lighter load, but the culling has been crazy-making.

Today is the day we move the large furniture items into the UNITS Storage container and a bunch of friends are showing up in a couple of hours. I'm drinking coffee and have already been to the store this morning to buy water and energy drinks for everyone. I went to bed last night around 2am, woke up at 5:30 and couldn't go back to sleep, so I'm running on caffeine.

I'm hitting the road for Austin on January 3rd and will spend the next week living out of my guest room with my laptop and the TV I'm not taking with me. Lots of errands to do next week too - taking the car in for an oil change and checkup, cleaning the house, change of address, paying bills, wrapping up some work projects, and probably a dozen other things that I can't remember right now.

If I can get through today, it should be cake from here. I'm anxious to get on the road and get settled into my new place in Austin, but I haven't even left yet and already miss Charleston. I took a nap on the couch yesterday afternoon and realized it would be the last time I napped on my comfy couch in my lovely living room with the TV on low in the background and the dog curled up on my feet. The next couch nap I have will be in Austin. Weird to think that I'll be gone in 8 days!

Wish me luck and energy to get through today on 3 and a half hours of sleep (I tend to cry when I'm tired, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I don't burst into tears at some point).

And I'm already missing everyone here. If I haven't sent you an update, my new email address is kellylovejohnson[AT]gmail.com (no more Mindspring!), my cell number is the same, and if you want my address in Austin, send me an email. You can also find me on Facebook (link to the right).