At the brink of having everything under control

We haven’t even left for Nicaragua yet, and already I am letting the blog slip. Will try to recap. Over the weekend we went to P-town to see my parents. These trips home always go so fast. I did pretty well for most of the time, but towards the end I lost it and had to cry a bit. So much for being tough.

Since then, we’ve gotten some more things taken care of that had been stressing me out. There are only about 4 or 5 things I’m worried about now, which is a vast improvement. Several weeks ago, S.L. (he’s my real dissertation advisor, even though I sometimes claim Pablo) told me, “You know what your problem is, Melissa? You worry about things you cannot control. Just worry about the things you can do something about and don’t freak out about the rest.” Well, S.L. isn’t always right about everything, but that one was an astute observation. I’ve just about done all I can to make sure that the things I can control go smoothly, the rest will just have to fall into place.

Today John came over with the trailer and helped Rob move out the rest of our furniture. I took some photos of them loading up our mattress, box springs, and sofa. It was over 90 degrees out and I heard the heat index was around 110. Not the best conditions to be lifting heavy furniture, but they got it done. The photos below are of Rob and John loading up the trailer and then driving away. Now we’ve got all the big stuff out of our house, so the remainder of the move should go fairly smoothly. We ate dinner sitting on the floor, which was kind of fun, and we have an air mattress to sleep on for the rest of the time we’re here.




The last 2 days I’ve taken a few loads of stuff over to the recycling center. On both occasions, several people have come up to talk to me about Iris, my 2002 hybrid Honda Insight. Now, there have been lots of times when people stop to comment about my car, but it seemed like the other recyclers were ultra interested in my super-ultra-low-emission vehicle. One guy even came up to me and said emotionally, “Thank you for driving an Insight.” Wow. Sometimes I think that Honda should pay me royalties or something because I do tons of free advertising for them. “Yeah, I get about 60 mph and have never had any problems. This is a great car; you should buy one!”

Tonight I went to running club to see everybody one last time. The heat was so intense that only a small crowd of people showed up. Everyone wished me well and promised to keep in touch. I remember when I was in Nicaragua last time, how much I missed running with other people from the club. I’m not good at saying goodbye, so I just said “see you later,” even though some people will be moving on by the time I get back and I might not really see them again. I’ve got plenty of good memories though.

Well, I’m sitting on the floor with my back against the wall, so blogging is beginning to feel a bit uncomfortable. Think I will try some of that meditation Frida suggested and see if I can get some sleep on the air mattress.