…… ewwwww!?

I found this today, underneath the shelves in my closet:

Now, I know that this little can of Nutri System Chicken and Barley Stew, isn’t that awful looking.

Unless you look at the dust bunnies on the lid:

And then check the “best used by” date:

Yes, you read that right. Best by May 2009.
Ewwwwww!

Although I have to say, this little can is pretty tame and boring compared to what Jim and I found in our first house down here in TX the day we moved in:
A pair of fuzzy handcuffs on the top shelf in my closet.
I kid you not.
I thought about leaving a pair for the next couple.
And then chickened out.

So chicken and barley stew is pretty blase.
But I have to wonder, why the heck would you keep a can of that in your bedroom closet?
Maybe the husband had been put on the Nutri System diet by his wife, and he tried to hide the boring food.
What?! It’s plausible.

Today I started packing at 9:30 this morning. My wonderful friend, Vicki (Texas Vicki, not Oklahoma Vicki) came over this morning and jumped right in to the packing. She also came over on Tuesday, along with three other friends, to pack.
Vicki is the first friend that I made when we moved down here. She’s very special to me.
People who are named Vicki tend to be pretty wonderful friends. 🙂

I’m so grateful to all of the friends who volunteered to come over and help. I didn’t have to ask, they just came.
That’s what friends do.
And that’s pretty wonderful.

We packed until around 2:30 or 3:00.
I’m trying not to feel overwhelmed, but dang, there’s a lot of stuff to pack up. Tuesday we packed most of the day and it felt like we hadn’t even made a dent.
Today it seemed that we made a small dent.
But there’s still so much left to do.
And not enough boxes available.
And my back won’t shut up.
And yes, I may be whining.
But I’m allowed.
My back hurts and my heart hurts.
I expected that.
The heart …… not the back.

This was supposed to be our “forever home”.
So much for “forever”.
I don’t think I’ll ever think someplace is “forever” again.

Today’s emotional bomb hit when Vicki and I were packing up the game room.
I had climbed up on a counter to reach a very high cabinet, and found things I’d never known were there.
Evidently Jim made huge accordion files of every vacation we went on, and stashed them in that cabinet.
I never knew.
And while I knew that he was a bit anal (he was an accountant, after all) and kept files of everything, I didn’t know that he kept ticket stubs, flight tickets, brochures, etc. from everywhere we’d been. He didn’t tend to save things like that.
Or so I thought.
And now the tears flow.

God, I miss him.

In other news, my friend Anne came over and helped me pick some colors for the walls. I have no ability to come up with something like that. But she did a fabulous job and now I’m pretty excited. I’m going to pain the family room and my bedroom and bath.
Well, “I’m” not painting it, but you know what I mean.
It’s going to be wonderful and colorful.
Whoop!

I’m building up quite a stash of things that I’m getting rid of. I plan to have a “moving sale” in a couple of weeks. To hopefully get rid of all of the stuff I can’t move over.
Stuff that none of the kids want.
Things like a leather sofa with a queen hide-a-bed, a pool table/air hockey table that I wish I had room for, a lovely bedroom set with a king head & foot board, a 50″ flat screen TV, a receiver, exercise equipment, a GE french door stainless fridge, an older fridge that makes a great second fridge, a stand up freezer, and all kinds of kitchen stuff, games, videos, etc.
I could probably outfit two houses with all of the stuff in that house.
🙂

I think I’ve given myself a headache.
So I’m going to watch the football draft now.
Now that the Texans had the first pick.
Whoop!