Packing, Lifting, & Hauling...It Just Never Ends

MP1 and I took a couple roomfuls of her stuff over to the new apartment (which is really an old apartment near the university—the entire complex of which is undergoing a pretty impressive renovation). Check out the granite counters and new cabinets below. I’d be really jealous if we hadn’t already redone our own kitchen.

Most of the moving-in took place on Monday, when the stuff belonging to all three roommates came out of public storage, but LUCKY ME, I was teaching all day and in a meeting in the afternoon, so I missed most of that fun. Not to worry, though, our house was still chock-a-block with all of the stuff she hauled home from her old apartment in June, before leaving for Europe. This morning, since I had to go to campus anyway, we each took a carload. It’s beginning to look a lot like a house, here now, instead of a storage locker. I enjoyed having her around, as well as one of her roommates, who stayed here for a week and performed the role of the perfect-house-guest to a tee (both of you are welcome back anytime), but...we are about to finally find out what an empty nest actually feels like. Let's see, that will be, ummm, on Monday. While our new bed was delivered right on time (the old one moved here with us 15 years ago—no wonder our backs and our allergies were killing us), MP1’s did not arrive as scheduled. But, it’s due for delivery tomorrow. Let’s hope they can find the apartment complex this time.

After unloading all her gear, I went in to the museum for 5 hours, where I hauled yet more crap up, down, and around in prep for the new show. Of course, I had to call himself to come in and help for a while, since some of the exhibit furniture weighs a TON. This year, I have only 1/5 of my time assigned to the museum, but the same work load and expectations as with 2/5s time. This is not making me happy. I have two students writing me from another museum in my university system asking how I manage my staff, public relations, etc. Crack me up!! (Of course, at their museum, they have a fulltime staff-assigned curator and two faculty who share what is called directorship in my job description--i.e. collections management, curation, housekeeping, exhibit design and installation, PR, outreach, etc.). Such absurdity. Anyway--I also spray-mounted, trimmed, and installed some overdue labels in one of the hallway cases. It still needs a map and one errant bit of label copy that didn’t make it onto my cart when I installed the others.

But, hey, there’s always Monday! And now I think I’ll answer my own rhetorical question about whether or not there is more time for life after tenure. NO. Absolutely not.