The sad truth of it is that I am probably happier and better at managing my life when I am over-scheduled than when I am under-scheduled.
My lease isn't up until the end of next month. My new lease doesn't start for weeks. I have been chipping away at the massive amount of planning required to move my cats and all my stuff (did you know that many airlines have an animal limit on how many animals can go in the cabin? And that the number is not two?? argh.) and yet I still have plenty of time. Time to freak out. Time to not be able to sleep. Time to have my stomach go all crazy on me.
My books are all packed --- except for the ones I am in various stages of reading right now, which is not an inconsiderable number --- and all my winter and teaching type clothes are packed up too. I think all the clothing except my schlobby summer Ts and shorts are packed up. So are the decorations. Most of the files, and the desk still needs organizing and packing up. As does most of the kitchen, but I'm using that stuff, you know?
Even if I were to make all the nerve-wracking decisions I needed to at once, it would only take about a day, leaving me far too much time and no ability to concentrate. I have no desire to watch movies or tv, and can only manage about 20 minutes on a book or magazine.
So I have been exploring my new town via the internet and doing lots of online window shopping. (Also, walks. Today's walk was almost disastrously cut short by a summer rainstorm. All this water falling down and lightning warnings has put a cramp in my tourist-style goodbye to Postdoc City. But I have also been too anxious to really get into traveling and vacationing.)
I even, dog help me, made pinterest boards. Now, I am not spending all my money wildly and indiscriminately, just making various idea books and wishlists. I am trying to figure out how to reconcile several clashing styles and about a million loud bright colors into one cohesive style. It is supposed to be cohesive throughout the whole house, right? Eh. I was also tagging many shiny things just because they were shiny, at one moment, and at another was tagging everything cat related because I can't find an acceptable looking cat tower type thingy. Why do they all have to be covered in ugly dingy carpet?
I know that many of you do not approve of my obsessive decorating-worrying (really, just a symptom of how I tend to approach everything anxiously and obsessively) so I won't say any more about it, just note that one of the benefits of pinterest-ing things is that it seems to work certain rooms and ideas out of my system and make me stop wanting the things that I pin, which is good. The other benefit is that I am so scattered and anxious and emailing back and forth with annoying family members and the leasing office and the chair of the new department, and then waiting for a response which will dictate the next phase of arguing and/or worrying, and that random internet shopping and pinning fits very well in the level of attention that I can currently muster.
Maybe I will compile a post of the weirdest and ugliest things I have found while interneting. Though it is a bit more work to post up a bunch of pics on the blog than it is to pin them. We shall see tomorrow night, when my ability to contemplate this whole moving debacle is exhausted again.
3 comments:
Do you have research or course prep or something that will make your life easier next year if you get started on it now?
I don't like the binge purge aspect of time-- I had a month like that last summer because everybody thought the baby was going to be born any minute for a month (she wasn't) and wouldn't do stuff I needed or give me stuff to do. I did get all my referee reports done, but there was far too much wheel spinning for my tastes.
^^N&M have a good idea there.
But really, it sounds like using pinterest to control your anxiety is a great idea. And with all the moving stuff, it's normal to be anxious!
But yay for a new job!
There are very responsible animal groups which will ferry animals even cross country. Ask at humane Soc or even the shelters may know of them. Good luck to you in the move.
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