Call me Ishmael and why 'Garbage Day' is the best day

Here's our lovely rental minivan, Moby Dick. So called because it is a big, white whale. How creative are we? We are allowed 5 70-lb suitcases (Eric is allowed 1 more than I am since he has many more frequent flyer miles than I) and we are definitely going to need all 5. We will also have our carry-on pieces. All that will surely be enough to fill the belly of this beast. Eric, surprisingly, loves the minivan. He has been talking of getting one someday and doing some crazy 'Pimp my Ride' nonsense in the back, like wood paneling. Maybe a sauna and a fireplace.

We are finishing packing (or more accurately, 'me' and 'cramming') our suitcases. I would say that we are 97% packed. We have 2 large suitcases finished (each weighting about 68 lb). Right now I am working on finishing filling 2 more, both currently at around 55 lb each.

I don't know what it is about cats and containers. It seems if there is an open container or a cupboard, the cat will be in there. Somehow he is able to sense if he is supposed to be there, because then, he is absolutely not interested. An open suitcase is an obvious feline temptation, even if it filled with sharp-cornered objects, as this one was. I'm nearing the point of packing where all that's left are odd bits and pieces that you don't really wish to dispose of, yet there's no logical way to pack them (as if my packing process is logical). Mostly, I suppose, is that I am nearing the end of my patience (plus I am really tired today -- we got a 1am call from Shanghai), so I don't really care about a packing system anymore.

Today was 'Maid Day' and 'Garbage Day', both holidays in my household. I am not by nature a very tidy person, nor am I a very organized person. I tend to collect odd bits of paper on which I have scribbled myself little notes (ask Eric about the receipt from the late 1990's on which I had written a list of the top recommended sports bras from some now-defunct women's health publication -- he thought it so funny, he mailed it to his mother). So, being the kind of person that I am, junk tends to accumulate. That, in addition to the movers packing, me packing, Eric packing, me painting, and a partridge in a pear tree, meant that the house looked like a Category 5 storm had passed through.

I had no idea that dust kittens proliferate like Tribbles. Without the bed to hide under, they sat there on the open floor with a seeming sneer. I am so happy to see them gone. The garbage people have just gone through the neighborhood. Lately, I've taken to peeping at them from behind the curtains to see if they'll really take all the crap we put on the curb. So far, the answer has been 'yes'. We are pretty much finished with disposing of junk. I brought a last load to Goodwill a couple of days ago and we managed to make the most of this garbage day.

I think that tomorrow will actually be a free day. No appointments, no schedules. I can't wait.