There's Always Something To Do

No small part of my week has been taken up with helping Debbi move.

No, not in with me (though plenty of people have asked - mostly her acquaintances rather than mine, it seems), but to a larger apartment. It's somewhat closer to my workplace, but only marginally closer to my home. But mainly she just wanted to change of venue, and to take advantage of the soft rental market to get a larger place.

So last Tuesday I went up to help her finish packing for her move the next day. I didn't actually join her for her move on Wednesday, since she was hiring professionals and thought it would all go smoothly.

Well, it didn't really go very smoothly. The movers were a little late, which was the least of it. It seems that there was confusion and floundering on the part of both apartments, but in particular her apartment was not quite ready to go and she didn't actually have keys in hand Wednesday morning. Gah. She did eventually get it straightened out, but the move took longer than planned, which not only cost her more but meant she didn't have as much time to run some planned errands afterwards. Shee.

So I went up Wednesday evening and we went to a nice dinner at a little grill near her new place, and walked around the very nice shopping center she lives near (it's not your average strip mall, really). Then I helped her set up her bed and some other key components so she was minimally settled in.

Saturday, Lisa and Michel met us at my place, and we moved my old bureau up to Debbi's place in Michel's truck.

This bureau was a $50 special that I bought from my then-girlfriend Colleen, about 9 years ago. It's actually pretty nice, and if some of the running beams for the drawers were replaced and the top got refinished, it would be quite nice indeed. You certainly can't beat it for free. Since all of my clothes now reside in my closet, I decided to give it to Debbi, who could use it in her new place. It turned out to be a lot lighter than expected, and was quite easy to move.

Then the four of us - joined later by Deb's friend Diane - did some more unpacking, including mounting a TV swivel in her bedroom for her old (smaller) TV. It made me think that if I ever upgrade my TV, I could mount my old one on the wall of my bedroom...

So that's where a big part of my week has gone.

Thursday was our final Ultimate game of the season, which was played mostly in mud. This was actually not bad, because it slows down some of the fast runners, and also helps my endurance keep up with everyone else. I had a pretty good day defensively, and it was a pretty good close to the season.

The final tournament took place today. It's a "hat" tournament, which means (as you might guess) that teams are chosen by drawing names out of a hat. Alas, at the last minute it was also announced that people had to bring and wear hats at the tournament, and that if one's hat falls off while handling the disk, then it's a turnover. I personally think this is a really stupid rule, really detracting from the fun of playing Ultimate. So I wrote some irate e-mail to some of the folks organizing the tournament and decided not to go. (Instead, Debbi and I went to a comic book sale, and then went for a lengthy bike ride.)

So that could have gone better. But I'll sign up next year anyway.

And Friday, to round out the week, we went to Becky's where I played Bridge and Debbi hung out. (Becky's husband also doesn't play Bridge, so she wasn't alone. Besides, there were brownies and ice cream and port!) Before the games, we went to a British pub in Cupertino (I think, it's hard to tell where Cupertino, Sunnyvale and Santa Clara meet in that area) which was very yummy. Mmm, cornish pasty. I even tried a scotch egg, which was more sausage than egg (it was pretty good, but would have been better with more breading and spicier sausage, I think). We'll have to go back there.

I've been beating myself up a bit over not writing in my journal as much anymore. I think it's partly because I've been busier over the last two years than I was back when I started it, but also because after five-and-a-half years a lot of the basic things to say about myself and my life have been said, and I don't have a lot of substance to say about them beyond that. Plus, I keep having urges to focus my energies elsewhere.

I'm thinking that I need to stop beating myself up over this, but also go to some regimented and attainable goal of writing, like 2 times a week. Maybe 3 if I feel motivated.

Of course, it's not like this would be a big change from what I've been doing lately. But for me the main thing is to feel less like I need to be writing. I'm always pretty amazed at people who can writing lengthy entries 5 or so times a week. Though probably I shouldn't be, since I used to do so. I guess it all depends on whether you make time for it or not.

And lately I just haven't been making time. Which probably means it's time to accept that I need to look at the journal differently.

Anyway, that's what's been on my mind lately.