2: June 2002 Archives
1. ...sent a handwritten letter?
I hand-wrote my end-of-lease move-out notice. I wonder if that counts. Before that? It's been a long time. I've been a big fan of e-mail since I first got an internet account at home that I could use to check it regularly. When I was in high school, though, I sent letters to a boyfriend of mine, enclosed in envelopes that were elaborately decorated with squiggles and designs.
2. ...baked something from scratch or made something by hand?
I don't cook very often, but I have a great recipe for mushroom soup made with portabella mushrooms and creme fraiche.
3. ...camped in a tent?
The ex and I used to take trips to California most years and camp in the mountains with his family. I don't think I've been camping since our last trip together, but it's something I enjoy in moderation.
4. ...volunteered your time to church, school, or community?
I foster cats, which to me feels like volunteering my time to my community.
5. ...helped a stranger?
This one's hard. I try to be a helpful person. I hold doors for people, I leave some room between my car and the car in front of me when I'm in an intersection so that people can turn left, and I try to do my part to help people in my localized community. But when was the last time I helped -- truly helped -- a stranger? I don't know. Obviously, it's been too long.
So I'm moving next weekend, which means it's chaos in my little apartment this weekend. I would be a happy girl indeed if I could snap my fingers and it would all be boxed up and ready to go. So far, however, I haven't perfected that kind of kinetic power, so I'm stuck doing it by hand. What tedious work it is to pack stuff. Hate hate hate.
Because, really. How much stuff does a 25-year-old girl really need? I need a bed to sleep on, a computer to play on, and a chair to sit on. I could use a few clothes, maybe, so that people don't laugh at me as I walk down the hall. A television is nice so I can watch one channel. And heaven forbid I ever socialized, I might need a couch or two for people to sit on. Oh, dishes. I can't forget the dishes. And then... see? Stuff starts adding up. I don't know how to be a mobile girl.
But I'm boxing stuff up, trying to put like things together, like Claudia suggested. And I'm trying to wash dishes, do laundry, de-fur my furniture... (Heh. Thank Bay and Hux for putting the "fur" in my "furniture".)
Really. I hate moving. All I want is a little place that's not -too- little, with some storage, in a nice neighborhood. I'm hoping the new place is all of these things. I'm hoping really hard.
This week's Friday Five is about moving, ironically enough.
1. Do you live in a house, an apartment or a condo? I ve in a tiny apartmment right now, but I'll be moving to a two-bedroom duplex in about a week.
2. Do you rent or own? I rent.
3. Does anyone else live with you? It's just me and two cats right now: Bailey and Huxley.
4. How many times have you moved in your life? Something like nine times, but the move next week will be my fourth in five years. It's all very Sagittarian, I hear.
5. What are your plans for this weekend? Mostly packing, I imagine. I need to buy some paint to touch up some scratched spots on the walls and get all my utilities switched over to the new place. This is -not- the part of moving I like. In fact, the only part of moving that I like is being able to finally wake up one morning in a new place.
I always find the Friday Five questions to be fun, if not always intellectually complex. (Sometimes, they're that, too.)
This week: Laundry.
1. How often do you do laundry? Once a week, if I'm feeling inspired.
2. What's in a typical wash load? Usually, it's jeans, t-shirts, and underwear, but I try to wash my towels and bedding every week or so as well.
3. Front or top loader? Powder or liquid detergent? Usually, I use a top loader, but if I make a special trip to the laundromat (to wash bedspreads that the cats have hurked on, or whatever), it's a front loader.
4. Do you use fabric softener in the rinse cycle? My mom used to use Downy when I was a kid. I'll probably start that habit again when I get a washer and dryer of my own.
5. Dryer or clothesline? I love dryers. I'm not nearly patient enough to let all my clothes line dry. Of course, there are exceptions, for sweaters and bras. (Random Hedwig quote: "Did you put a bra in the dryer?! How many times do I have to tell you, you don't put a bra in the dryer! It warps!")
Um, yeah. So anyway.
