Hodge Podge

 The fence is finished! All of the recommended fixes around the house have been completed. Back to tool inventory! Yesterday, I started packing the kitchen.

I am five boxes (medium heavy duty) in to the project and thinking, “How did we accumulate this much stuff!”  It feels like I didn’t even make a dent. I suspect it’s one of those projects that looks bigger than it really is because of all of the careful wrapping I am doing of glass items. Wait until I get to the cookware and baking stuff! I can just carefully toss it into a box without multiple layers of bubble wrap.

Yesterday, we also finished packing up all of our artwork. Our walls are bare. Well, except for all of the nail holes…

Today I took a break from packing to have coffee with a friend in Davis. It was heartwarming to catch up with him and hear about all of the volunteer work he has engaged in since his retirement in late 2020. He had a long and successful career in law enforcement and one of the most inclusive, kindest people I have had the fortune to know. What a blessing it was to be in his space today.

After my coffee, I went by Moving with Grace – a local moving company we have used for small moving jobs (2 moves for Megan, a move for my uncle, a move for Joe’s tools) to pick up some packing supplies. Moving with Grace does not go to Minnesota, or I would have used them in a heartbeat. Anyway, Kristine the office manager was busy doing interviews but made a point to have my order ready for me and to help us out with some extra dish pack supplies they had that were partials because they had broken kits for other moves. Last year, the owner of Moving with Grace, Justin Dote came out to the house and helped us determine what kind of supplies we would need for this move and to talk us through the moving process. He also introduced me to Marissa Berry at Yolo Transfer to help us with the Minnesota move.

Like Justin, Marissa has been amazing at collaborating with us. I feel confident that our move will be handled professionally, and our worldly goods will make it safely to Minnesota. And even if something is broken – it IS just stuff.  Stuff I have packed.

I do not have a set of matching coffee mugs. I have about 6 mismatched mugs. While packing them today, I realized three of them were gifts from my long time - and one of my two closest friends – Ginger Burden. I think she brought them to me over the years after she had been on trips. I stopped and took a photo of the three mugs because they mean so much to me and they make me smile every morning when I open my cabinet. Now they are packed away so the photos are so I can memorialize the mugs should I need a happy fix on the mornings before we leave. I am sharing them with you because maybe they will make you smile, also.