Building Up Steam

Things are beginning to get a little momentum now that the time to leave is creeping up on me. Only four more weeks of work.

My appointment on Thursday went well. I decided to stay on the Lamictal until we’re settled out there and I have a new doctor. We both agreed that trying to deal with this situation while being off medication for the first time in five years would be a poor choice. She gave me a prescription for a 90-day supply. Together with the one refill I still have on this script, I’ll get through the move with medication to spare. I’ve already signed the information-sharing consent form so my new doctor can just request my records and they’ll fax them. We talked about the process of going off the meds. It’s not a matter of withdrawal, just one of watching for any mood changes, and if I wanted I could do it in as little as two weeks. Stopping cold-turkey would make me more likely to have a reaction when I started taking it again. And I really only have to be off it during the first trimester.

I started painting this apartment yesterday. Honestly, I’d never realized how un-white the walls in the living room were. Well, they’re white now. LOL… I did two of the walls, and I’ll have to touch up the top third of them today. Standing on a step stool means I have less leverage to get a good even coat of paint. The lower two thirds look great.  So I’ll get those patchy spots and do the third wall. The living room is just two small for me to do all three at once. This one will be a challenge because it’s the wall with the TV and DVD towers. That means emptying all the DVD’s from the shelves and pulling all the drawers out of the dresser the TV sits on, and hoping that I can push the dresser aside with the TV on it just enough to get to the baseboards. I’m also going to start on a couple of the easier bedroom walls. The ones with no furniture or just relatively small furniture. I got nice big drop cloths to cover the stuff I can’t move out of the room like the bed. Then next weekend I can finish the bedroom. Then the painting will be done and I just have to do a good, thorough scrubbing everywhere. I’m vacuuming and dusting as I go, of course, but the place still needs to be ready to show to prospective tenants, which means serious cleaning and decluttering. I’ll probably even move some of the less necessary stuff down to the basement. I already packed up a box of books. ::sigh:: Fortunately, Gina said she can get me lots of boxes of varying sizes for free. Her boyfriend gets tons of them through work. That will definitely help a lot.

I did skip the Spring Fling in favor of painting yesterday. It really came down to timing. I just don’t think I have enough weekend to go around. I’ll probably end up doing a lot of cleaning and organizing in the evenings when I get home from work. I figure if I organize one area every night, I’ll be ready to go in no time. I’ve already sorted through the boxes of art supplies that live under the futon. And I got rid of ton of clothes last week. Right now I’m half-heartedly going through the hall closet and sorting through coats. Alan is completely unwilling to help me out with it long distance, so I can only get rid of my stuff, despite the fact that he has three winter coats in there, a jacket from Sears, and half a dozen fleeces, none of which he wears. I could see keeping one winter coat and a fleece or two, but it’s not like he needs them for work now.

I’ve also been really good about going to the gym. I went 4 times last week. I only skipped Friday because I wasn’t feeling well, and I made up for it by going for a run/walk on the trail by my house. I can’t run the whole way, so I broke it up into sections. I did a lot better with the running parts than I used to. Frankly, my body has never particularly liked running.

Today, other than the painting, I have to do the laundry. Not so bad. My parents are going to be in Connecticut tomorrow and Tuesday so we’re going out to dinner. I asked my mom if there was any way she could get my records from Dr. Wong, but I doubt it. I’ll have to make a trip down there. While I’m there I might as well go to Dr. Green’s office as well. I feel guilty that I haven’t seen him or any other dentist in a few years, but I seem to have inherited my dad’s very hard teeth. One cavity in 27 years and that was a baby tooth. I’ll also have to get my records from Planned Parenthood and Dr. Stone. Do you suppose I’ll need to get them from Dr. Marconi? She was my pediatrician after Dr. Appleby retired so she’d have all my vaccination information. ::sigh:: There’s just a whole lot to do.

Last weekend I bought a medium sized kennel and set it up in the kitchen with a towel over it so that kitties could get used to it. They seem to really like their little cave. It’s how they’re getting to Colorado, so it’s kind of important that they feel comfortable in it. I also got them collars and harnesses. The collars they don’t care about, but I’ll have to get them used to the harnesses. I just don’t want to risk losing them on the trip. I’m also going to be taking them for short car rides to get them used to that. And I have to take them to the vet and get their records and see about getting them microchipped. So much to get done in such a short amount of time.

And did I mention conferences? I honestly hope that most of my parents say they don’t want to do them. I think a couple of them will decline them, but I know a couple will definitely want to do them. Kim has had one interview, despite the fact that she says she wants to have someone in the room with me for at least a week before I leave so the kids can get used to her and she can get to know the kids and what works and what doesn’t. So she’d better get moving on it.

Alas, it is time for me to get the laundry going. I don’t want to go out. It’s beautifully sunny, but the summery temperatures have given way to chilliness again and it’s very windy. Still, the laundry must get done. Please give me in-unit laundry in my next apartment. Please, please, please!

~Lizzie