Part of the reason I couldn’t get going yesterday is because I am just overwhelmed with the sheer amount of things that need to be done in order to move across the entire country. Pair this with planning a crazy fun three-week roadtrip/tour of the country adventure, my obsession with researching a zillion guidebooks and learning about EVERYTHING before we go see it, and you have Ceej going nuts.

Here’s the schedule for the next few days:

• Tuesday: delete files off my old laptop, de-authorize itunes, pick up trial contacts, pick up ordered contact lenses, do laundry, clean apartment so it is not gross for tenant and computer tech coming over, meet computer tech who is installing/preparing my new laptop at 4:30, swing dance, meet tenant to sign sublet and give keys, respond to emails, confirm going away party at Carlyle, install new printer to new computer and E’s computer.
• Wednesday – 12:15 hair appointment to get my roots done and haircut, 3:00 meet Lauralea for our “last” matinée at Lincoln Center and martinis at Vince & Eddies (ie- our final girltime hangout in NYC!)
• Thursday - pack! Also have friends from Miami who may be crashing with us (haven’t run this by E yet)
• Friday - pack! Go out to dinner with our friends from Miami
• Saturday- Linus’s Herding Aptitude Test on a sheep farm in New Jersey. We are THRILLED about this! I don’t care how busy we are, I wouldn’t miss it for the world. It’s two hours away, and he goes on at 9:30am. We’ll probably want to stick around and watch all the other corgis have their herding tryouts as well.
• Sunday - finish packing?? 1-3:00, Dog Park Halloween Howl at Carl Schurz Park. I have mentioned before, I have something really special planned for this year’s Halloween, so I am completely psyched for this. Then Sunday night we are meeting my brother in law and sister who insist on taking us out to dinner “one last time” and “sending us off in style” at my bro-in-law’s brother’s restaurant, the Redding Roadhouse. It will be great seeing them and honestly I have been very sad about leaving my nieces and nephew on the right coast, so I turn into a basketcase thinking this will be the last time I see them for a while. When we get back from dinner, probably drunk knowing them but most likely will be pulling an all-nighter finishing packing because the movers are coming first thing Monday morning!
• Monday- Movers coming first thing in the morning! We have to get all our posessions into two 5×7x8 crates which will be shipped across the country. I have to say, using Door to Door has been a great experience thus far. They are helpful and responsive and hopefully this moving debacle will continue to be painless. Also packing up the Jeep for our roadtrip. Then Monday evening we have our NYC-based going away party at Bemelman’s Bar in Carlyle Hotel. It’s dressy and we have to look smashing, which will be a bit of a task after feeling disgusting and moving boxes all morning!
• Tuesday- we’re out of here! Heading to DC on the first leg of our roadtrip, with Linus and Lucy in the car. Lucy will be being dropped off in DC and then flying out to meet us in SF when we’re done with the trip.

And here’s the “To Do” List of items which haven’t been added to the schedule yet:

• change of address form online
• change address with the bank
• join triple A
• print out all the directions for the roadtrip
• confirm all of our places to stay during the roadtrip
• get absentee ballots
• vote
• finish reading all the roadtrip books and planning the roadtrip route
• take photos of all the furniture we are not taking and post them in the FREE section of craigslist

So, tonight, when Earl and I realized we have a shit-ton of stuff to get done, I asked him if he wanted to skip dance. This is how it went:

earl: agh

fucking printer is huge

Sent at 10:10 AM on Tuesday

me: oh yeah?

YAY! printer!

do you need help getting it home?

why don’t we skip dance tonight? since we are just so busy?

earl: no

me: i will call margaret and tell her

earl: I want to go dancing

no

dance dance dance

dance dance dance

dance dance dance

dance dance dance

dance dance dance

dance dance dance

dance dance dance

dance dance dance

me: okay okay okay

Sent at 10:13 AM on Tuesday

Taking a page from Gala, I’m going to start doing a weekly entry of Things I Love Thursdays. There are just so many wonderful things going on now, why not give them all a little shout?

Things I Love Thursday

• The NYC Season Change — You can almost pinpoint it to the exact day. It seems as though, year after year, there is a certain time of year when summer’s wrapping up, it’s humid, it’s humid, and then WHAM- just like that, it’s fall. Two nights ago we put an extra blanket on the bed, and while lounging after a shower today I swapped my silk robe for the jersey one. Break out the boots and sheerling because it is finally here!
• “The Turn” – Along the same lines, this was summed up in a post over on TGR, that “the Turn” is the moment when you feel winter approaching and start to get amped for ski season. Almost like you have a shortness in breath because you know soon snow will be falling and shortly thereafter you will be heading up north and strapping on your boots. That feeling.
• Corgi slobber — Love a toothless wonderdog, love his slobber.
• Swing Dance Lessons — Our new series of classes start next Tuesday and I couldn’t be more excited. We’re up to “Intermediate” level now, which means triple time steps and faster spins and turns. I had a little “prep” lesson with our instructor, Margaret Batiuchok, today when I stopped by to pay her for the next series of lessons. It was sort of funny because she showed me some of the new turns in the lobby of her building, and I had Linus with me because we just dropped by while I was walking him. So her and I are swinging around as she is showing me a double turn, and people are coming and going because it is close to rush hour, with Linus sitting there tied up to a luggage trolley. I was amazed at how easily I remember some of the steps from our first series of lessons!
• Contemplating moving, and not freaking out — Years ago, my former self would flip out at the mere prospect of moving a dozen blocks (yes, one of them was a 5th floor walkup, but still). Now, facing the prospect of relocating to San Francisco, I am surprisingly mellow about it. I’m proud of myself. There’s a lot of things here that would need to be squared away (like aforementioned months of swing dance lessons which we just paid for!), but I’m taking it in stride. We’d get it all done. And moving could be really cool. Now it’s just a matter of bunkering down and waiting to see what offers end up on the table, which could really make the decision for us anyways.
• My Dragon Mask!- I ordered this beautiful dragon mask custom made on Etsy, and received it last week. I have something really special up my sleeve for Halloween, and this is just a small part of it, but WOW what craftsmanship. It’s an exquisite piece.