Marching toward summer

I’ve had a good weekend.  Starting with Friday, really.  Got my last observation done on one of my interns, then headed up to a U-haul to get a towing hitch installed so I can rent a dolly from them to tow my car.  It took longer that I expected–like, ALL afternoon–but it’s done.  And I got a bit of grading done while waiting–not much, but every bit helps.

So, all set to be independent about getting both vehicles to a place when I need to.

Stayed the night with a good friend I haven’t seen seen since last summer (Iris).  Well, sort of–I actually slept in the van.  I must say, the cot is not only smaller than that twin air bed, but also more comfortable.  Iris commented that it felt strange to have me staying with her but not staying with her, but if all goes as hoped, people will be getting used to that.  The next day, which was beautiful, we walked the dogs in Garin (one of the East Bay regional parks) and then had pizza, beer,  and salad at a very nice place in downtown Hayward that she knows.  It was perfect, and I was home by 5:00, which was also perfect.

So, today:  I’ve done two loads of laundry, packed up some more stuff, sorted out some things to take to Goodwill, delivered a pretty good load of stuff to Goodwill (including about two and a half boxes of books–good for me!), threw some stuff away, had lunch, and bought groceries–all by 1:00 PM.

I can tell that I’m making inroads, if only small ones, on the accumulated junk of the years.  See what you think.  Here’s a picture I took last December when I was taking clearing things off the area rug so I could take it up to Oregon.  It’s a bit blurry because I cropped it out of the original.

Here’s a picture of the same set of shelves taken just minutes ago, after packing up, discarding, and Goodwilling some of the stuff from them.

What do you think?  Can you tell the difference?

Here’s where a lot of the stuff is packed.

The dresser itself is destined for the downstairs bedroom.  Since the bedroom isn’t all that large, and I plan to put in a CA king bed to accommodate visiting couples, the dresser should be just right.

I’m beginning to get a fairly clear idea of what all I’ll try to take up this summer.  I think next weekend I’ll be ready to convert the van from a camper to a moving van and begin loading stuff.  We’ll see.