(written on the 23rd)
Massively underprepared.
That would be a couple of words that could easily describe how I felt today.
My stuff in the house was nearly all packed up and ready to go–but I came up short on at least two counts.
#1 I was short probably three bins (27-gallon size), having more binless odds and ends than I thought. And
#2 I never properly labeled the bins after putting stuff in them, which means I get to have an exploratory experience opening every single bin in order to know A: What’s inside, and B: What to do with it.
😅
Oops.
Comparatively, if I do end up living out of my van for a while, very little of what’s in all those bins will actually go in the van. Most of my possessions aren’t used very often.
I still don’t know exactly what I’m going to do, though.
😶
It was a madhouse today. Lots of people came to help, for which I am very grateful. They got done so much. Thank you, everyone!!! 🙏🙏🙏
Rover was our best moving vehicle, so we did several trips back and forth in that one (there were other vehicles and even a box truck that Ramona and Gary very kindly and generously rented for us. I just mean that Rover is the best moving vehicle out of the vehicles Thomas, my mom, and I own.
Since it was on moving duty, I had all of my stuff moved out of my room just onto the front lawn, because it would all be going into Rover once we were done moving everything else.
So why would I say that I was massively underprepared?
The garage.
😶
Holy freaking crap.
😶😶😶
The vast majority of the stuff that was in there was from the days when my stepdad was still alive.
Building materials and project materials and tools coming out of tools.
So much stuff. I told my mom I would take care of it. She was only going to keep probably 5% of what was in the garage, maybe less than that. 15% of what was in the garage was probably mine, that left 80+% of the stuff left.
It’d be really easy to just go through and throw everything out. That would have been the least stressful, But my brain says, if this can be useful to someone else, if it’s still good, then I should donate it. And if it’s worth a decent amount of money, then I should sell it.
There wasn’t really much in the way of trash in the garage. It’s mostly all useful stuff–just not stuff my mom will really ever use, and I already have my own tools and don’t need or want those.
But I don’t want to just throw them away. So I started going through things, shelf by shelf. Sorting things into piles of my own things, a little bit of trash, and then the huge pile of stuff to present to my Haven Hill family as to whether or not they want it. If so, then it gets donated to them and the hill. If not, then I’ll probably throw it in the back of a pickup truck, possibly multiple loads of truck 😅, And I’ll drive to an AutoZone parking lot, or something, with a sign that says free stuff. And I’ll sit there and tell people take everything that they want.
While other people were running back and forth from one house to the next, loading and unloading, I moved all my stuff out of my room (with a lot of help from other people), vacuumed it, and fought mightily with the contents of the garage.
I was soaking wet from probably the first 30 minutes on, temperature in the ’90s, humid, nasty.
The bad news about my genes is that I sweat profusely, and I mean like a freaking dripping faucet. The good news about my genes is that BO really isn’t an issue somehow.
I worked and worked and worked.
And I worked and worked and worked some more.
I started somewhere around 8:00 something in the morning, And I think I stopped for the day about 10:30 p.m.
14 plus hours, lots of lifting using my, uh… not-so-great back. 😅
32,000+ steps, more than 14 miles of cumulative walking.
Holy. Freaking. Crap.
And there’s still a lot left to do. 😕
Gratefully, my mom brought me both lunch and dinner as I worked and worked and worked. I tried to keep hydrated with a bottle of water that I filled up, and some disposable bottles of water as well.
I also took a break probably around 6:00 When I brought some stuff to Liz, hanging around a bit chatting with her.
Man I’m worn out. Thoroughly done.
…But the job isn’t yet.
(sigh)
😕
I’m an emotional wreck, flooded, overwhelmed to my max, fighting to keep going through a life that I hate.
😞
Oh well, back at it tomorrow. Likely all day again. Hope things start looking up.
Tonight I’m down at the greenhouse, mattresses set up on top of my storage bins.
Grateful my cell phone has at least functional reception down here. 🎉
Grateful for my wonderful Haven Hill family. I ran into Jim and Steph on one of my walks back from the greenhouse as I shuttled three Vans down at the end of the day. I was making my last walk just as they were pulling in, and Steph begged and pleaded for me to stay the night at their house, sleep in a bed, use a shower, etc.
But it’s just too much right now. I need space. I’m grateful for their love.
Lift the world.
~ stephen
Lift the World 