Quite Moving, Really

So Wednesday was the Big Moving Day. Chris heroically handled the movers so I wouldn't have to blow any vacation time that I'll need for my maternity leave. All went pretty well, except for the apparent 2.5 hours that it took the movers to drive from Rockville to DC--which we had to foot the bill for. Chris questioned it and they made some crap excuse about traffic. I complained that we could have flown to Tahoe for Thanksgiving for the cost of that 30-mile drive. It was then pointed out to me that "what's done is done." True enough. Argh. The apartment is chaotic. For some reason, this move has been significantly more difficult than past moves I've endured. (And there have been A LOT in the past 10 years.) I think it's because our stuff is now merged and I don't have the authority to get rid of Chris's things--obviously. The problem is, I'm a HUGE believer in never, ever getting bogged down by STUFF. If it's a burden to own something, I'd rather not own it. Case in point: Chris's bike trainer that he has not used almost 3 years but takes up almost the entire hallway closet. Or 3/4 of our pots and pans. (Why we have 19 skillets, I don't know. Okay, I exaggerate, but still . . .) I'm sure Chris feels the same way about my table linen fetish (truly, I'm addicted) and my wrapping paper collection. Not to mention the ribbon box. Oh, how I love ribbon . . . . . One problem is that our kitchen stuff doesn't fit in the kitchen--literally. There are only two drawers or so to begin with and the flatware tray doesn't fit in them--the drawers are like 10 inches wide. STUPID design. Ditto for the "gadgets" drawer. Another problem is that despite my super organized packing, I'm opening boxes and finding the most miscellaneous array of crap you can imagine--a discovery that is usually followed by: "Chris, did YOU pack this box?" It takes an eternity to unpack such a box. But how can I get mad at a guy who has absolutely worked his tail off for a solid week? Griping about a box is, well, stupid. Furniture is another challenge. We have too much of it, especially with the new queen bed. Yesterday it became very clear that we have to ditch one of our bookshelves. The living room was just STUFFED with too much furniture. I had, of course, floated this idea BEFORE paying someone to move it, but I was overrruled at the time. (That's code for "See? I was right all along.") Public service announcement: Free bookcase in Bethesda--bring your own truck and take it by Sunday, or look for it in the dumpster area. As for the condo, settlement occurs today so we scrubbed the place clean last night. My hands were so sore and tired from days and days of packing/cleaning/moving/unpacking that it took two hands to squeeze the Windex onto the mirrors--and it was still difficult. We got to bed a little before 1:00 a.m. and still have a mountain of work to do with the apartment. It's actually a relief to get to work and SIT at a computer all day. On a separate note, our good friend Meghan is arriving this afternoon from Northern California. Poor thing has to endure the current disaster area that constitutes our apartment. When she booked her flight, I told her that the condo closing wouldn't take place until 10/28--we could walk to all the DC sights right from our home! Alas, as you know, closing was moved up to TODAY. We'll show her a good time, though! As for me, I can't wait to sit back in some DC restaurant tonight with a fake cocktail and good company--and forget about packing, moving, or cleaning!