I am not complaining. I am not complaining. I may be almost complaining though. I am so tired. Every day I have to remind myself that this is what I wanted and the only way to get from here to there is to pack the things I want to keep. Believe it or not, we have gotten rid of a lot of stuff but there’s still a lot. I told Vince yesterday that the more I pack, the more I add to the “not keeping” piles
One day last week a friend and I were chatting on Facebook about kidney stones. She’s had them . . someone else had them recently and that’s what got us to talking about it. The very next day she posted that she had gone to the ER “last night” with kidney stones. A friend here in town recently had surgery for kidney stones. It’s been six years since I’ve had one. My record is 10 years but other than that, six years is a long time for me to go without a kidney stone. Night before last I woke up during the night with a pain in my side. After the recent discussions about kidney stones, that was my first thought. Then, I thought . . at least that would get me out of packing for a few days. That’s pretty bad when a kidney stone sounds better than packing. I think the pain was just from too much packing and lifting because it was one pain and it was gone but that gives you an indication of how tired I am of packing!
Vince came in yesterday from packing in the sewing room and there were two lines of dried blood on the back of his leg. The blood had dripped down from just below his knee to a few inches above his ankle so it was not just a scratch. I said “Why have you been bleeding?” He told me Boots had enough of us being in there, grabbed Vince around his leg and bit him on the back of the leg! I’m hoping that once we get in the house, he’ll have places he can go to get away from us and he doesn’t decide to chase us out when he’s tired of being around people. He’s such a sweet cat . . til he isn’t. I know he’s frustrated because first, we were gone gone and a stranger came and cared for him; now we’re moving everything, have boxes everywhere; nothing is familiar any more. For so long when I would be sitting and knitting with him and he’d start biting, I’d just leave and I think he learned that he gets rid of us by biting. I’ll start spritzing him with a water bottle when he bites and hope we can stop that bad behavior.
danielle says
We went the opposite way of you. Moved into a house that is about 1/2 the size of the old one. We got rid of A LOT of things BEFORE we moved and a year+ later we are still getting rid of things…. I am learning about whether or not things bring “joy” to me or are useful!
Judy Laquidara says
When we moved to Texas, we moved into a house less than half the size of our previous home and it hasn’t worked out so well for us. We do have too much stuff but I’m tired of feeling cramped. One thing we need to remember though – don’t add anything else because the next move, and I’m sure there will be one at some point, will no doubt be to a smaller house.
Elle says
Sending you strength and resolve to GET ‘ER DONE! Hey Boots! Be nice to Vince and Judy :-)l
kathleen says
Hi Judy – I have moved cross country three times with cats. They can only deal with so much stress and change at one time. And if they get loose, they will bolt. If you can, decrease Boots stimulation – even put him in a small room, a kennel or a dog crate and cover it with a blanket while you are packing stuff up. When they are scared, cats do better in a small space. And keep an eye on him and make sure he pees. Male cats can stop peeing when stressed. If he doesn’t pee for more than 36 hours, call your vet. Hang in there.
Judy Laquidara says
Thanks! I didn’t know any of that. I’ve noticed that he likes hanging out in the closet. Maybe that’s why Cat is acting so weird – we’re getting rid of things outside and it’s looking different.
Nelle Coursey says
WOW I hope Vince is ok. Animal bites can be bad if you don’t clean them thoroughly. But I know Vince knows that. I would love to come help you pack, but I also know you would never find anything you really need! Praying you don’t ever get the kidney stones again! One of the most painful experiences I have ever had. I think I sweated out a gallon of water! Hope your friend is ok now.
Karen says
Judy, are y’all allowing yourselves a day off with all of this? It sounds like it might help.
Judy Laquidara says
We have movers scheduled and we have to have enough ready to go to fill the truck. This will be the first of two loads but there’s no use sending a half full truck. There will be time or rest once this is done. Having said that, I took a quick trip to MO to take a car load of things I didn’t want the movers to pack so that was a good break for me.