Sweatin' Like an Oldie

It was Sunday around 11 am. I lay on my back on the couch in that lovely drowsy state halfway between sleep and awake. I was cool. I was clean. I was dry. That was the only time in the daylight hours of this past weekend that I had been all of those things at one time. It felt great. Then the phone rang.


It was Cara. When was I coming over? We had work to do. We had that dining room table to assemble. Did I have any boxes packed and ready to go? Oh well, so much for cool, dry, clean Kelly. It was time to get back to the job of moving.


This weekend passed in a hot sweaty fog. My hair was almost constantly drenched under my lavender bandana, my scalp starting to itch. The collars of my tshirt dark with perspiration. My "weekend" bra heavy with sweat, even with that supposedly wonderful Ultimair lining. No point in makeup, it would just slide off. Constantly looking for a papertowel or tissue to soak up the moisture. I am old, it seems, and I guess I should expect to get a little sweaty doing this much physical labor. Still...


Friday I packed and sweated and this was in an air-conditioned apartment. I also did three loads of laundry. Saturday we moved boxes and some smaller furniture into the new apartment. The kitchen stuff was put away. The mattress given to me by a friend was re-Febrezed again in an attempt to get rid of the awful tobacco smell that permeated it. The girls organized the bathroom. Saturday night we went to SuperWalmart and bought a table and chairs.


Panic has clearly started to set in, I said to myself, as I sat in bed on Sunday morning. I had awakened at 2 am, after only 3 hours of sleep. Several thoughts sped across my mind. I will never be done with this move! I will never be ready for Thursday's major furniture move. I should call Goodwill and ask them to come take everything still in my old apartment away. Maybe make a big pile and start a bonfire instead. I need to remember to call the electric company, the truck rental place, and the cable company on Monday. Also need to go to library and post office that day. Did I pay my rent? How much money was left in my checking account? I got up out of bed and began to pack some things. By 3 am I was tired from all the worrying and lay back down to sleep.


Sunday we moved some boxes over. I put the giant and heavy box from Walmart on my back and made like a mule. Cara helped and steered from behind. We put the whole thing together. Who invented hex screws? What happened to good ol' flatheads and phillips heads? And what's the deal with giving us one tiny little hex wrench with which to assemble? And the Chinese factory worker who labeled the legs clearly has a few left/right issues. What was I thinking getting chairs with light colored, suede-like seat cushions? They are going to get filthy and soon. What was I thinking getting a venti iced nonfat latte with an extra shot? Too much caffeine for heat and hard work. The table and chairs turned out nice though. Worth the sweat.

Anyway, I am looking forward to Monday and regular work at the office. No sweat and hardly any physical labor.