She wants her cup of stars.

So yesterday, my birthday package from my parents came (Muppet Show Season Two, baby!), and in addition to it being a birthday present it was also mail, which meant I could get a library card (more on that later), so it was a double birthday present.

And then today Hodge and I got home from getting free furniture from the side of the road, and there was a whole pile of boxes from drawgirl (some of it stuff we left in the Portland house, but some of it also my birthday box! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!). AND, in the mailbox, the missing part for my desk, so I can put together my desk. I did a little kung-fu breakdance on the front porch.

So all in all the last 48 hours of Postal Service in my life have been totally stellar. It's almost enough to make me forgive them for the Reagan stamp. ;)

I have the same trouble blogging as I do keeping my hand-written journal; when something big has occurred, it's more or less impossible to create a narrative from it until long after the fact. And since I'm a little OCD, it's hard for me to let that go. Since I'm still embroiled in the chaos of the move, it's hard for me to write about it in any but the most piecemeal manner. I'm sure no one reading this minds this fact; it's only my desire for continuity that suffers. But then, maybe it's good for me to break my own rules every now and then.

Driving was relatively uneventful. The cats were mostly fine. They slept a lot. I did get an opportunity to add to the list of things they do not like: the car, Freddy Mercury, the car, the Decemberists, the car, Lady Sovereign, the car, the Beatles, New Order, Depeche Mode, Regina Spektor, music in general, and the car. The list of things that the cats do like now includes Jim Dale, the totally wonderful narrator of the Harry Potter series. Consequently, I listened to a lot of Harry Potter. Any time Jim Dale was on they settled right in and took a nap. Any time I changed it to music, they started meowing and beating on each other.

I drove very near to some of my long-distance friends, and was a little sad I hadn't arranged for visits, but given that the logistics of the drive were already a nightmare I suppose it was for the best. We alternated between gorgeous scenery and barren wastelands. That pretty much describes our American west in the twenty-first century, though, doesn't it?

Now we're in Austin. We're working on feathering the nest from scratch, and I think we're doing all right (a combination of Goodwill, craigslist, Ikea, and Target). The house is nice, but there's not as much good stuff to walk to as we had in Portland (we were spoiled!). I miss our old neighborhood and have moments where I regret the move. But as the house starts to look more homey, I start to feel a bit better. Jack spent four days hiding in a cupboard and is finally starting to come out and explore. Hodge is already making calls about employment. All I need is a desk and some bookshelves and I think I'll feel comfortably tethered down here. I just want to get back to writing. Things will settle into comfortable melancholy instead of spastic madness then.

After a decade in Portland the thing I understood most was how to find resources. I realized I had an excitingly nerdy opportunity for education from this move. I just need a utility bill and I can go to the library. I have to figure out where I am and how I fit here. In a way it's wonderful to have a puzzle like that to occupy myself.

Wednesday we leave. If any of you want postcards and haven't already sent me addresses in the past, and you want some mail, add your address here (comments will be screened).

hplovescats and I are in fact moving to Austin together (we'd previously thought he might have to stay here for a few months to finish some freelance work). Now we're working on the logistics.

We have two cars, so we're caravaning. I'll have the cats in my car. He was going to pull a trailer, one of the small U-Haul trailers, but recently we've been trying to investigate shipping options. The U-Haul is $300; if we can ship for not much more than that, it might be worth it just to not have the headache (in fact I'd go up to $450 just to get it taken care of). We don't have tons and tons of stuff, but Hodge has some expensive equipment that is bulky.

I'm shipping all my books and DVDs media rate, so there's that. But does anyone else have alternative shipping experience? We looked into doing some stuff through Amtrak but our boxes might be too bulky for them (they want 3X3X3 packages). Have any of you shipped major belongings for a move before? Advise, please!

Essentially, it's going to be a hard enough move with the cats. We're looking to reduce the stress level if possible.

The good news is we have a house!