Stuff

Twenty eight days to go. I'm going to sit here and let that sink in for a moment. Less than one month. Slow inhale. Slow exhale. Relax. It's all going to be OK.

We decided to take five weeks off of work before we leave for Romania, so we've been off for a week now. For both of us it was the bittersweet ending of great jobs. But we haven't missed work once. I'm sure that part of the reason we haven't missed work is the insanity of getting ready for our garage sale and selling things on craigslist. On Saturday,we sold everything we can't carry on our backs. (This is not entirely true. Family and friends will be kindly babysitting a few choice items such as our flat screen TV, Dean road bike, Bowers & Wilkins loudspeakers, and a few other things we couldn't bear to permanently part with.) We've made enough money to pay for a used MacBook and all of our new gear (e.g. long underwear, backpacks, more long underwear....).

We've met people from all over town, and all over the world, through craigslist including a guy who bought (and subsequently returned) our kitchen table and chairs. He had lived in eastern Europe for fifteen years and returned to the U.S. about a year ago. He told me, "We're trading places in the world." He also mentioned that he hasn't owned a kitchen table in over a decade. What a concept! I wonder what's changed so that he feels as though he needs to own one now.

Most of the people who have bought stuff from us this week have wondered why we're cutting so deeply with this sale. This is a move unlike any we've experienced. We're selling items that people simply don't sell in a "normal" move. It isn't even normal for most people entering the Peace Corps. Many are either just starting their careers or just finishing them. They either don't have a life's worth of stuff to get rid of or they will likely come back to their home when they're done with their service. We're shedding our stuff so that we can be open to anything this life changing experience brings. After all the questions about selling our stuff, I'm wondering if one of the biggest reasons people don't do what we're doing is their stuff. Stuff can be a comfort, but it also feeds into our culture of consumerism. Buying and selling stuff keeps the economy growing. Owning stuff keeps people from getting bored. The amount of stuff a person has is a way of keeping score. Maybe we are nuts for selling everything, but at this, point being nuts is just fine with me.

Dreams

At one point today (46 days to go, but who's counting?), I remembered a couple of dreams I have had in the past few nights. In one, I was wearing my new ice cleats, but they gave me no traction whatsoever. I couldn't stay on my feet no matter how hard I tried. In the other dream, Sarah and I were trying to finalize all of our plans before leaving for Romania and I suddenly remembered the brand new sports car that we just purchased. How could I have forgotten something so huge and how were we going to sell it so quickly?

Whatever could these dreams mean? Usually dreams are so easy to interpret but these are completely mysterious to me.

It's really hard to believe that we're getting so close to departure. Sarah and I are both in the process of finishing up our jobs. We planned ahead, saved some money and are taking about a month off of work before we leave for Romania. We only have 6 work days left. It's a mad rush to finalize everything, and say goodbye to friends and colleagues. Even though we're leaving for something so exciting, there is still a ton of stress in handing off the projects we've cared about and worked very hard to make successful.

Invited!

Well this is old news but I've finally gotten together the photographic evidence of our Peace Corps invitation. My excuse is that our computer's hard drive crashed the day we took this photo. But if you do the math, you'll realize that this was nearly two months ago! Time flies these days.

Happy Birthday Peace Corps!

50 years ago today President John F. Kennedy signed legislation that created the Peace Corps. It's going to be an honor to serve during the golden anniversary year. Here's a picture of the law being signed, courtesy of the Peace Corps.

Sold!!!

We signed a contract for our house this afternoon! We're please with the price we agreed to and we won't lose a cent. In this market, we feel like that is a success. Hopefully everything will go smoothly from here. Now it's time to start off-loading stuff...need anything?