shimmying toward the finish line

Oddly, this is the last night I'll be sleeping in my bed in the room in which I've lived for nearly a year. It's not my last night in this room, as the new flat isn't free until Sunday (just in the nick of time!) but tomorrow we'll be moving all the big things, and most of our stuff, into the basement.

I'm pleased to report that I don't have so much stuff. Nearly everything ended up fitting into three large boxes, three small boxes, one crate, and about 5 partially-filled bags with fragile kitchen things. I carried it all down to my own basement tonight to make moving easier in the morning. Either from lack of sleep or poor fitness habits, my legs are so tired that they're shaking. Which is why I'm now ready for bed and under the covers, although it's not even 9 PM. It's not a bad idea, anyhow, as I need to disassemble this bed tomorrow morning before I go to pick up the van we've rented. Some Mercedes thing, Vito? Automatic, apparently. I should hope so, ha.

Rrrr.

I've got my eye on the prize, here. Or, prizes, as it were; finally settling in to the new flat is followed quickly (fewer than 12 hours later) by my departure for California. Thrilled, thrilled, thrilled to be on my way to the Golden State. We haven't had bad weather here recently, it's been sunny and in the high 30s, but I'm looking forward to no pants-under-pants. I'm not even going to bring my pants-under-pants. Take that, Switzerland.

Here's a preview of the new place, just from the outside. The window on the left is the kitchen; on the right is my bedroom. They face roughly west. Pictures from inside to follow.

Heyyy, California! Can't wait to see you.