Don't Be So Rammy

Gerald and Kelly were engaged in October last year. Wedding plans were made, preparations began, and time moved along. Today we are two weeks away from the wedding. Things are coming together and the house is well enough along that what doesn't happen before the wedding can be done afterward.

Until we reached this point I thought I would get emotional at seeing the last one leave. But Gerald gently eased us into being empty nesters and I think I can handle it after all. He bought a house in January and started moving in February. At first he was here about half the time but gradually started staying at his house more and more. A couple weeks ago he got a washer and dryer. Now he doesn't even bring his laundry home anymore and we agreed he has officially moved out.

Last week he moved his roll top desk, a chest of drawers, and about four boxes of things to his house. He said he'll get the rest of it later. With the amount of time that is left and all there is to do yet, I could see "later" being much later until he had time to pack anything. The room badly needed cleaning but I wasn't going to attempt to clean around all the stuff. So this week I started packing for him. Here's the pile of boxes that's ready to go.

And here's what is still waiting for him to pack. It's his reloading bench. I'm not touching it with a ten foot pole!

Put those two piles together, add a bed, nightstand, dresser, chest of drawers, and roll top desk. See why I was only cleaning a path around the bed? Stuff collects. I've seen with the other sons that by the time they are in their late 20s they have outgrown a bedroom and need a house for their stuff.

At any rate, I woke up at 3 this morning and couldn't go back to sleep. Around 4 I got the grand idea that with all those boxes packed and Leroy here to help move furniture, this would be the perfect day to clean the room. It sounded like a wonderful plan and I tore into it. By 11 my energy was running out and I was asking myself whose dumb idea this was. But I was too deep into it to quit.

It's a good feeling to have that room clean and ready to be used as a guest room. But next time I get a brainy idea at 4 a.m. remind me to take a deep breath first and not be so rammy.