So much stuff...

I look around our apartment and wonder how we're going to be able to purge enough to move comfortably. I look around my mom's house and see things I'm going to inherit. It's overwhelming. There are things I want and am happy to take off her hands, but when we're still living in 800 square feet and can't afford a storage space realistically, it's a tad daunting. I'm only looking for houses to rent in Columbia; I'm over the concept of an apartment and then some.

About 2/3rd of the aloe has been gifted, which is a large relief. Mom and I planted a border of aloe and herbs in front of her shrubs last weekend, and one big plant went to Mom J. as well. That leaves the Big Boys (who are reaching "holy shit" proportions), and a large pot with about 3 plants, some babies, and a weed that I'm curious about and planning to transplant to its own pot. In a remarkable turn of events, the complex is actually building our porch this week, so I may get to do some planting after all. Going to skim my Garden Primer for ideas on later-spring planting...

Made a reservation at Sesquiscentennial (sp?) State Park in Columbia for 3 weeks from now. We'll spend a day with his folks, and then go over and camp. Should be exhausting, but fun; we've only really camped twice(?), but we both enjoy it.

So the next couple of weeks will be spent cataloging what we do own and purging more, to make room for things we may inherit. Reclaiming our porch. Figuring out how to move the computer desk from Mom's place to ours. Purging some more. Getting some more stuff boxed (like winter clothes). Did I mention purging?

Neat ideas under wraps

Not that anyone will notice it's gone, but I unpublished the last entry in the interest of fairness. Copyright infringement isn't something I take lightly, and Elements in Time isn't just a blog; it's a website for a 501(c)3, and the last thing I want is to end up in court just because I thought someone's ideas were cool. While that's certainly a worst case scenario, her husband does work in the legal field, and I've watched enough L&O epis to know that Internet copyrighting is finally getting its due. That's not a dig on her husband; it's recognition of the fairness issue in taking other people's ideas...no matter how well you document where they came from, they're still not yours to play with in public.

So I invite you to check out Elements in Time for yourself; their ideas on sustainability are interesting.

There are no words

Well, yeah, right, I'm a writer, there's plenty of words...it just dawned on me that it's only been a year since we were trying to move to SC, not two...our plans fell through last April, and Dad passed away in May, and I remember thanking the gods that SC fell through, because I couldn't imagine not being in Jacksonville when that went down. It feels like yesterday, and at the same time, so much has happened (mainly inside me...so much has changed, or feels like it has)...realizing that it really has only been a year since we last tried to move to SC is a reality that'll take some getting used to.

Not that it means anything in the grand scheme...just shocking is all. I mean, not much has changed actually...we're still pretty screwed financially and it'll take at least this next year to get us anywhere near ready to move out of state. But I really thought it'd been 2 years since we'd last tried, since I'd gotten so close, only to have housing fall through. How can it be that last year, right at this time, I was finding out that we weren't going to be able to pull off the move?

My god, but it's maddening the way the grief sneaks up on you...I was just editing a website that services the Androscoggin county area of Maine, and the tears moved to the front of my eyes...there's papermills in that area, Dad used to travel up there. When's it going to stop socking me in the gut like that?

Wanderlust

Man, has it kicked in! Maybe it's because we haven't been anywhere since Christmas, but geez, I'm ready to get out of this town for a bit. We're planning to go up to SC next weekend; it's going to be nice to get the hell out of Dodge.

Since I'm back in Columbia mode, it only makes sense that when we go camping next month (for Dad's anniversary), we go to Sesquiscentennial State Park. It's right up the street from Husby's Lil Sis, and this way, when we're not traipsing around the wilds of central SC, we can be exploring the city a little more. Looking forward to it!

This weekend I hope to go over to Mom's on Saturday and plant that blankety-blank aloe (and do laundry)...otherwise, will try to spend time outdoors, and get some planning/dreaming/listing in...still on the mend from this blasted flu, so not making huge amounts of plans...would just be setting myself up for disappointment, and I'm disappointed enough that it's taking me so long to heal.