Loaded And Locked

The van, that is. The latest batch of stuff is packed and I'll head upstate after church tomorrow. I'm not looking forward to the drive, but I'm looking forward to being there and getting the apartment more put together.

Good Stuff:
- The story I started plotting next weekend came together so easily it freaked me out a little.
- I've got a little over 5,000 words in so far, which is good because I likely won't get any tomorrow.
- I'm looking forward to exploring a little more of my new neighborhood. Not sure how much ground I'll cover, between unpacking and writing, but I hope to get out for some walks while Eric is at work.
- The plan is to go to Ikea Monday evening to buy book cases. I'm kind of excited about that because I've never been to Ikea, and I've heard it's really great. We shall see.
- Eric is going to check out a church for us tomorrow. I don't think there is a Methodist church in walking distance, but there is a Presbyterian close by, and they're practically siblings, doctrine-wise.
- Justin (Vicky's boyfriend) brought some of their things over today. He wanted to store some of it in the garage, which was a disaster area. I say 'was' because he reorganized it to make space for his stuff. While he was doing his thing, I enlisted the help of his friends to move the chaise from my bedroom to the van. It will be our living room couch, solving the problem of whether to try to move the 7' long one in the living room or buy a new, apartment-sized one. I have a picture in my head of how the living room will look with the chaise and the bookshelves we're going to buy. I hope reality matches.
- I got to go tell stories this morning! For a change, not all of my audience was 80+. I had a 12-year-old girl hanging on every story. Made my day, and it certainly made up for the fact that I didn't get as many words today as I wanted.
- I found more stuff to donate. Did not make it to Good Will as planned.

Not So Good Stuff:
- The cats are getting neurotic. When Ryan isn't being Velcro Kitty (which has been a lot lately because we've had rain and wind the last few days), he's chasing Tess. Earlier this evening, Chloe was picking on her, too. They miss Eric, and I keep disappearing on them, so from their perspective, neurotic is understandable, but I don't know what to do to chill them out. The Rescue Remedy didn't seem to help a whole lot. Not sure if I need to look for some chill-out diffusers or what.
- Still so much to do, and The Boys have started counting down to Thanksgiving on Facebook already. They will be here 3 weeks from today, and I only have one more trip upstate after this one. Eric will be back after that and can take stuff back, but not the amount of stuff I can cram into the van.
- Justin and Vicky want to have most of their stuff moved back here by Thanksgiving, which is making me feel a little pressured to get out sooner, even though we've all agreed that we're having Christmas here. It comes down to the cats, really. I don't want to move them any sooner than necessary, and while I could, in theory, move up there and be out of the house before Christmas, what do I do with them when we come back here? It's simpler all around if we stick to the plan. Thanks for letting me talk that out, and welcome to my brain. This is more or less what it's been like for, oh, the last several weeks. Eric's calming influence isn't around. Maybe I need to move the whiskey to a lower shelf in the pantry.

So that's about it here. Hope y'all are having a good week, and don't forget time change!