Ooh, so it's been an eventful week. Very eventful. Definitely not boring.
I spent all weekend/week packing. And by "packing" I mean "trying to pack, but getting frustrated or distracted and not really getting a whole lot done." Because that's how I do things.
I talked to Ashley ahead of time, and she said that her and Alan and Krow would be able to help me move Thursday, not Friday. So, I reserved the U-Haul for Thursday. I figured, that'll give me plenty of time to pack, and it gives me a whole day with the help of my friends, since I didn't have anyone to help me Friday. Mike also said that he'd help out, so long as he could find someone to watch the kids he normally babysits.
With this information in mind, I packed slowly for the first few days, figuring I didn't have to move until Thursday, so I had plenty of time to get stuff done.
PROCRASTINATORS OF THE WORLD - TAKE IT FROM ME...THIS IS NOT TRUE. YOU WILL NEED EVERY SECOND YOU CAN GET TO PACK.
Tuesday, I suddenly realized that the clock was ticking, and decided to step up the packing efforts. I didn't fall asleep until 6:30am (P.S. the suns comes UP by then...), but got a good bit done, and finished up what I thought was the majority of my packing on Wednesday. I was just waiting for Ashley to bring up the boxes Crystal promised me, and I was gonna be done.
When Ashley and Alan and Krow got to the house Wednesday night, my living room was almost completely packed, my kitchen was half packed and half waiting for boxes, my dining room was stacked with boxes and things that needed to be put into the storage unit, my bathroom was practically untouched, and the bedroom looked like it had thrown up everything I ever owned.
Ashley convinced me that I'd worked hard enough all day, and that they rented Tropic Thunder, and we should watch it. With a "dessert" of The Ultimate Fighter. Besides, the boys were going to be the ones loading the truck, and that would leave plenty of time for Ashley and I to finish packing in the morning.
Thursday, Krow and I woke up early-ish, and just spent a couple hours talking and laughing, enjoying what we knew was going to be our last early-morning brother/sister completely candid talk for many months, if not the last. Ashley woke up a couple hours later, and Alan got up an hour or so after that.
We finally got out the door around noon, but made a couple pit stops to buy ferret food and cash a couple checks. We got to the U-Haul place at about 12:45, and I assured them that the truck would be back that night, as we were just packing it, driving to the storage unit, and unpacking it. Because I paid with cash, they made me leave a $150 deposit, from which they would subtrack my bill when I returned the truck, and refund the remainder.
Krow and I drove the truck home, while Ashley and Alan went to get some donuts and coffee to get us fueled for the move. We met Mike back at the apartment, and after eating quickly, the boys started carrying the big furniture to the truck while Ashley and I started packing the rest of the house.
It was a crazy, chaotic, hectic, overwhelming day. There were several points when I ran back and forth between the kitchen and living room and bedroom and bathroom and back again. And again. Ashley was quite the trooper, and made trips to the store for me...to get garbage bags...to get packaging tape. They boys also decided they were thirsty and, between packing the furniture and the smaller boxes, decided not to bother us girls and just walked to the store to pick up a couple bottles of soda.
Ashley and I spent an hour or so (probably much longer, but it didn't feel like it) finishing packing up my room, going through my clothes and shoes and books and personal items, deciding what I was going to take with me and what I was going to leave. And then cramming everything I'm taking into a suitcase and a much-too-small backpack.
At 5, I suddenly realized that I really needed to have the truck back to the rental place by 7 in order to get my refund back that night. So we ran out the door, locked up the truck, and drove to the storage unit. On the way (which took a bit longer than expected, thanks to Alan's slightly confused directions), Alan called 411 and tried to figure out which storage unit I had reserved, so that we could let them know we were on our way. (P.S. There are about 238947321476 Public Storage units in Tampa, and they were ALL clueless. It didn't help that I'd forgotten my reservation number at the house, though...)
Anyway...Alan finally got through to the right place, and the guy spent five minutes telling Alan that they couldn't give me the unit then, because they were going to close in 15 minutes, and it would take at least 30 to get me all set. I took the phone and begged the guy to please work with me here.
Please. I'm already in your parking lot. I don't have anywhere else to go. I wasn't told I had to be there half an hour ahead of time. I have to return this truck empty in an hour and a half. PLEASE.
He finally (very grudgingly) gave in, saying "I guess I'm working for free tonight." And then he hung up on me.
Ashley and I quickly ducked into the office, where the grumpy clerk almost literally ran us to the storage unit and then back to the office to get the paperwork filled out. At this point, I remembered the fees that would be required, and Ashley ran out to the truck to get my money and borrow $10 from Alan.
When she returned, we were *oh so kindly* informed that we would need $41 on the spot, $49 if we wanted insurance.
Problem: I had $25 on me. Nothing more. At all. Not even in the bank. *Thank you, deposit at U-Haul.*
*Commence Kim freaking out.*
No joke.
Ashley and I went back to the truck to let the guys know what happened.
Well...Ashley told the guys what happened.
I fell to the ground on my knees, face buried in my hands, murmuring... What am I going to do? I can't handle this right now...I do not have the emotional strength needed to handle this. I need to have this unit. NOW. I need to have this truck unloaded and returned in an hour...OH GOD...THE TRUCK...They're gonna charge me for an extra day now...WHAT THE HELL AM I GONNA DO???
Thankfully, it didn't take me long to realize that it didn't matter if I cried and screamed, robbed a bank, went home and forgot about it, or burned down the Home Depot next door...there was nothing I could do Thursday night. And I needed to get home so that everyone else could do what they needed to do.
So..we shut the boys in the back of the truck, and Ashley and I climbed into the cab to start the drive home. (YES, I KNOW it's not safe to have three 17- and 19-year-old boys in the back of a moving truck with all my stuff, but YOU try telling them no, and then YOU sit in the stuffy cab with the three boys, complete with their new sweaty odors, thanks to a long day's work...I thought you'd see it my way.)
On the drive home, Ashley agreed to lend me the remaining $20 I'd need to pay for the storage unit and (hopefully) put all the gas I'd need into the truck before returning it. She also tried to find out when she was working, in hopes that she and Alan and Krow could stay to help me unload the truck on Friday. No luck. And I didn't know about Mike, because he was in the back of the truck. And I knew Crystal and Joe couldn't help, cuz of school and work.
So I called Gary. I'll admit it...I was freaking out, just a little bit... I asked him to please, either help me and be there for me when I needed him, or to pull an amazing idea out of his ass, because my brain was just NOT working right.
He promised to be at the storage unit first thing in the morning.
But let's not forget that, on the way home, I completely missed the turnoff of the highway, partly because I was so flustered, and partly because the people next to me were complete douchebags and wouldn't let me over...
So I pulled into the first parking lot I saw (which happened to be for a Japanese restaurant, and attracted quite a few stares), hopped out of the truck, flung open the back of the truck so the boys could get out, and just walked away.
I was just too close to a complete meltdown already...and missing that turn just pushed me over the edge.
I finally walked back to the truck, and stood next to the back, trying to catch my breath and calm down. At one point, I just stood there and put my hands over my face, trying to tune out my other senses, and just focus on breathing and calming down. Alan and Ashley were talking to each other about how/why they couldn't come up to help the next day, and trying to come up with other friends to come over and help. Krow was just sitting in the back of the truck, thinking. And Mike came over and just held me.
It's funny how much a simple hug from a friend can make things seem tolerable again...
We got back to the apartment, and Mike promised to be at my house when I woke up. Crystal called, and I vented about my day, and then slowly realized that just maybe I'd been a tad bit dramatic, and everything was going to be OK.
Krow, Alan, and Ashley left. Mike stuck around, insisting on helping me clean up the apartment, and then painting the fingernails on my left hand. I felt about 10 years old when he left, with all my nails painted different colors (badly painted, just for the record), but I also felt better. Like it really wasn't that bad.
After Mike left, I spent more time cleaning the apartment and talking to Mom and organizing what was going to the storage unit and what was going to Crystal's. Then I just watched videos on Youtube and relaxed.
And...this is long enough for now.
I'll post about Friday later.
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