I promised my employer that I would stay to the end of a project, and after working 12 hours on Saturday, the cut-over has been accomplished, and now it's just a matter of tying up loose ends. I am working the rest of the week, but I certainly will be concentrating on other things.

My first concern is getting moved out of my home. I have been culling and sorting and boxing, but it still looks like I have made no progress. I live pretty simply, but I am amazed at the amount of stuff I have collected over the years. My goal it to get rid of as much stuff as possible. I need to fit everything into one U-haul trailer and a small pickup bed. I want to throw off all vestiges of my former life and start completely over.

I am not entirely forsaking the memories of my past. I like to keep one or two small things in rememberance of significant people or events from my past. I have a small collection of rocks that I have picked up in my travels over the years. I pick out one rock, and I hold it in my hand, and I remember, "Oh yes, this was from my trip to the Oregon coast. It was cloudy and cool as I walked with lovely Addy, and we watched the waves breaking on the sand."

Some people have chided me about my rock collection. During a past move a person picked up a box and exclaimed, "What do you have in here, ROCKS?" I said yes, and she looked back with shocked surprise, and then burst out laughing. I have to ask why is that worse than packing knick-knacks, or bobble-heads, or any of the millions of other things that people collect? My rocks contain memories, and they connect me with the earth. Each person has their own values and priorities.