Today I packed. And did laundry. And purged. And oh yeah packed some more. And I am still not done. Hopefully by this time tomorrow you will be able to see my bedroom floor and my desk. But no promises.
Packing is My New Pet Hate
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Tag Archives: packing
And the packing nightmare continues…
As I have mentioned before I hate packing. I stress about what to take for a long weekend let alone how to pack up my life. And today is no exception. My room looks like a bomb has gone off. There is enough space for me to sit cross-legged on the floor and you can’t even see the bed. But it is actually progress and I knew it was going to get worse before it gets better.
Seeing as I leave in 5 days (and early in the morning) and my mother has been pressuring me for days, I went ahead and packed a bag today. Only to have panic truly set in. I still have my giant rolling duffle bags from college. They have served me well over countless cross continental adventures and two transatlantic moves. I don’t know if its the fact that I am older or I just have more stuff but I am seriously starting to doubt that two suitcases is going to be enough.
Mid-way through packing my first bag I realized that it was going to be an overweight bag and that 50 lbs wasn’t going to cut it. So I grabbed my computer and did my research. I am already going to pay for checking a second bag – I might as well just compound the hurt and pay for the extra weight. So I checked – all three airlines (although I should only have to pay twice) and now my bag is weighing in just shy of the 70 pound cut off.
But what really has me worried is that I feel like I have barely made a dent. Granted the suitcase I did pack has multiple pairs of shoes and a large portion of my toiletries. And we all know those are the heaviest items. But still… I haven’t event begun to pack up my clothing. I guess I will just have to overstuff my carry-ons.
How did I ever manage this in college? I don’t ever remember it being this hard. And I went to school in Boston. I had to pack all of my heavy winter clothing so I didn’t freeze to death. But then again my parents always made the fall trek out to Boston with me. And when I graduated my grandmother carried an extra bag back to California as well. But when I went to London for the year I did it alone. Granted I did manage to score free overweight bags on the way home when I got to the desk at Heathrow. Maybe the nice people at American airlines will take pity on me on Tuesday morning. I’ll try not to hold out too much hope for a miracle.
Basically the moral of this is: I have too many clothes. And shoes. And stuff. And I might have to pay for two overweight bags.
On that note I am going downstairs for a glass of wine – ok maybe my own bottle and a straw.
T-1 Week
Today marks one week until departure and an ever growing task list. I spent the majority of the holiday weekend marking my imminent cross-continental move. My last day at Sones Cellars, a last day of wine tasting and a pre-birthday dinner with my parents and the massive closet clean-out. I have also had my hair cut, have gone to the dry cleaners and have run other essential last minute errands. And yet the week ahead doesn’t seem enough to accomplish everything.
I will confess – partly out a strong desire not to stress out the dog and partly out of pure avoidance – I haven’t actually started putting things in suitcases. But I have started collecting items and planing what will get packed. Although I’m not entirely sure that the pup-dog is comfortable with the mass movement of items in my bedroom. So my not-so-altruistic delay tactics aren’t necessarily working. 😛
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But despite my procrastination, important things are actually getting done and this adventure seems ever more real. Today I confirmed an interview for September 17 with a potential employer. For those of you who aren’t in the know: I have to intern a significant portion of the year as part of my degree program. About a month ago I was contacted by un caviste (a wine shop) with locations in both Bordeaux and New York City that is looking for a digital marketing intern. Somehow this opportunity seems too good to be true. But none-the-less I have an interview scheduled shortly after my arrival.
In addition, I exchanged an email thread with my soon-to-be housemate. She seems to be a lovely 2nd year masters student at the same university. In the course of our emails I had asked a few questions about cell phone providers and banks. Her very detailed response included a lovely, generous offer to visit a local mobile shop and do a little reconnaissance.
I also today had a lovely email exchange with my soon-to-be landlady. Who it turns out is a genuinely awesome human being. She is letting me move in a couple days early and even offered to pick me up at the airport upon my arrival. My overabundance of supposed luggage is actually a deterrent to said airport pick-up as she drives a typical European mini-car. But the thought was enough to make her my new hero.
Clearly the women in France are delightful human beings and are willing to go the extra mile for the student coming in from the United States to make her feel welcome. This gives me hope that the next two years will be filled with good friends and even better company. And that my first few hectic weeks – trying to get settled in – won’t be too overwhelming.
On that note – I’m off to bed so that I can wake up tomorrow morning ready to face the next round of departure tasks. Bonne nuit!
Cuvee Appeal 