25: packing

I've been packing for our move to France since May.

No, I'm not that obsessed with it, though those that know me wouldn't be surprised. It's just how my life is moving at this point. I was coming back to live with my parents, so it made sense to separate my three lives: that needed at my parents, that needed when I'm married and that going to France.

Each time I look around my room and find something I no longer need for the summer, I add it to the France stack in the attic.

This means that each time I look at the France stack, I find something that makes me wonder: How much do I really think I can take over there? How much do I not realize I need to go without?

For example.

The top portion is my practical packing:

1. a guided tour map of Paris (with great pictures)
2. an American calendar (from The Wilderness Society, gotten for free)
3. rechargeable batteries (to make sure we can keep stocked)
4. an alarm clock (so we don't have to rely on a cell phone we may not have)
5. a reusable shopping bag (which can double as a carry-on if we back too much)

Sounds good, right? Then I look around my room and think of what I really want:

1. kits to make Christmas ornaments (from Mom, to feel like home)
2. a sewing kit (put in a Twinings tin, to fix my clothes–I say this is actually rather practical)
3. my Holga (because I love it and want to document Nancy with it)
4. wildflower seeds (for our window box, on the off chance that we have one)

Then, there's the book list. Joe originally limited be to four. I've come to terms with the fact that out of my eleven cookbooks, a fat zero are coming alone. TGFI (Thank God for Internet)... and a good excuse for buying a French one. I've realized that I can't go without my Good Housewife's Encyclopedia. I'm not counting that as one. Nor am I counting my Sainte Bible. How can you lump God in with the rest of your literature? This is what's left:

That's seven. And I don't know what to do. These are my options: Take the skinnies and leave War and Peace... and say that's a fair trade. Six books, but I already lost a pound. Or do I leave all of my French books home, since I'll be living in a world of them? I could learn how to get a library card and spend ours in French cafés with French library books.

I think the decision will come after Joe picks his four books (read: I help him find four books that we'd both like to read). We know one: a collection of Hemingway. Boom! 5 for the–err price?–of one!

Feeling better about this already. Now... what to do about shoes.