March 26, 2026
The packing is slow going.
I now have a good bit of every room packed (except for the kitchen and I have to start on that today). The problem with having a little of everything packed is that the stuff that’s not packed is scattered everywhere! It’s crazy-making and makes me super anxious.
And after next week, after I work the first week of the new job, I’ll be back in this chaos for three more weeks before I make my actual move!! AND I’ll be working full time in this mess.
It’s really messing with my sleep. I find myself waking up in the middle of the night, every night, thinking about things that should not be keeping me awake.
Last night, for example, I started thinking about a water filtration system for the loft I’ll be moving into next month. The building is 116 years old…and I’m guessing the pipes are that old, too. Ugh. I’ll be moving from a new apartment with a built-in water filter situation on the refrigerator door to an older fridge appliance that has no ice/water dispenser. Yes, it does have an icemaker, but no dispenser apparatus on the outside of the door.
So I need filtered water! And I woke up, almost with a start, thinking about what I’m going to do when I move in there! It led to hours of middle-of-the-night research: charcoal filter pitchers vs. ceramic gravity dispensers vs. reverse osmosis machines, etc. etc. Did you know there’s even a tiktok account that seems to be dedicated to water quality and all of the nuances of different waters - what’s good, what’s bad, what’s fake, what we actually need and don’t…or maybe we do…it’s all so confusing! And I’m trying to figure that shit out. Today! Last night! Why am I freaking out about this right now when I need to be packing?!
I’m trying to work everything out in my brain and it’s getting all jumbled up.
By the way, I’ve named my new place! I’ve lovingly named my new loft Cornerlight Studio since it’s situated on the Southwest corner of the giant old building, and I’ll have natural light from sunrise to sunset. Beautiful. Doesn’t Cornerlight Studio sound so romantic? And yet artistic? With a hint of business mixed in there? Maybe something of a movie production company?
Oh, the things we’ll create at Cornerlight Studio!
Anyway, this morning started out in such a lovely way - with a text from an old girlfriend who is a former work colleague…who’s about to become a new work colleague at The Glitter Factory✨!! My friend Irms! Her text said, “5 more days!”
And then she called me so we could discuss wardrobe options, ha!!
She told me that everyone dresses business casual in a way that’s creative (because, you know, creative company), and to make sure to wear comfortable shoes for obvious reasons: we’ll be moving around a lot, dealing with samples, working on retail store layouts in a mock store, lifting boxes of samples, etc. It’s essentially the same as what it used to be and what I was used to when I was there before, only maybe slightly more casual. I got a good picture of what I need to pack - though I do need to go back through the pile of possible outfits now that I have 75% of my wardrobe packed and make sure that I still like what I’ve put together.
Decisions, decisions!
We also talked about having lunch together next week. We’re on the same team!! Squee! Back together again 💗
And then…my new boss has booked me a hotel and they are paying for all of my expenses next week. Just like a biz trip, which, I guess it is, but it’s a biz trip to my new office and it’s really cool that the company is paying for that for the first week and then letting me work remotely until my move. It’s a really nice hotel too! And they’ll pay for my mileage and everything (with these gas prices, it’s going to be $$$$! Just looked: 72.5 cents per mile..I’ve only been charging 70 to my consulting client!). Not too shabby.
I’m sure they could have just said, “Your first day is Monday - YOU figure out where you’re gonna stay and how you’re gonna get here.” A lot of companies would have said that. I’ve seen it. Marce even offered to let me come stay at her house during this in-between time. In fact, she offered to let me stay for the whole month! And maybe I’ll take her up on it for a few days over the next couple of weeks - just show up in person for an important meeting or something?? Ha.
But then, maybe not. The way my packing is going, I’m going to need this time back here.
And also, I shouldn’t throw too much praise on the company for putting me up for a week - after all, I’m paying for my whole move out of my own pocket. But I’d already disclosed that I was moving before I even started interviewing, so that was expected. I didn’t ask for a relo. I simply asked for temporary housing between Day 1 and my actual move. And if it’s a week of staying in a nice hotel, then 3 weeks of remote work, then so be it!
With that, I’m getting back at it. I’ve only packed two full boxes today.
But that’s after I networked a bit with another former colleague (for an hour), and then took part in a paid 1.5 hour professional interview, which consisted of beta testing a new AI feature for a product development application I’ve used previously in my work. For that, I’ll receive a $200 gift card. Maybe I’ll buy my new water filtration system with that?
So, packing some more and then hopefully, a decent night’s sleep tonight. Tomorrow’s my last FREE WEEKDAY before I become gainfully fully employed and insanely busy again!
xox,
GS
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