Friends

Both EJ and our son work four 10-hour shifts at their companies. EJ works Friday through Monday and JJ works Monday through Thursday. Mondays are the only days when they are both at work and I have the day to myself. I still accomplish tasks on Mondays, but they aren’t as busy as other days. This means it’s quieter so I can think and write without so many interruptions.

Yesterday I went with JJ to his trailer to load up his few remaining possessions and do final cleaning before he turns over his keys to management. No more exhausting trips to the trailer! No more pickup truck loads to load, transport, and unload. Yay!

A guy JJ knows invited him to stay with him temporarily while he gets established in Alaska. JJ plans to fly to Alaska on Christmas Eve (he already bought his ticket) and look for a job and permanent housing. I actually think that’s a pretty good idea: If he decides he hates Alaska, he can just buy a return ticket. We will store JJ’s things for him until he can return for them. Since he would be driving back to Alaska in his pickup, he is going to have to be selective about what he takes. In the next few weeks, I will help him sort through what he wants to take. Some things he is giving to us–like the new loveseat he bought a few months ago–and the other stuff he will donate, recycle, or discard. JJ promised he wouldn’t stick us with a bunch of stuff that we will have to figure out how to get rid of. We are trying to downsize ourselves, working around our schedules and EJ’s health issues. The last thing we need is more things to discard.

I’ve been working really hard over the last few weeks to find places for JJ’s things. Depending on how durable/valuable the items are, we put them in the garage (which is stuffed to the rafters), the pantry/storage room (which is a bit crowded), or the house. The pantry/storage room is technically part of the house, but it’s an unheated room located off an unheated hallway that connects the garage with the house so it’s not in the main living portion of the house. I’ve been doing my best to arrange things in the house so it looks neat, comfy, and inviting rather than like a cluttered old resale shop. The more things JJ brought here, the more of a challenge it became, but I think I’ve been quite successful.

One of the good things about JJ moving here is that Clara finally has a friend. We adopted Clara last year when she was a kitten. Over the months, Clara has tried very hard–and very unsuccessfully–to make friends with the other animals. Our cat Timmy is old and has no use for a playful, mischievous kitten’s nonsense. Our dog Hannah isn’t particularly fond of cats and barely tolerates her. JJ adopted Astrid last year. We took care of her whenever he was gone on his boat. Astrid likes us but hisses at Clara and the other animals. When JJ brought Astrid here for the first time, she made a place for herself on the top shelf in the pantry/storage room (redecorating by pushing things off the shelf) and she’s content to stay there in her fortress of solitude. A few months ago, JJ adopted a second cat–a kitten he named Solveig. Clara and Solveig, both young cats, have become good friends, sleeping together, bird watching together, and chasing each other around the house. I joked that JJ needed to permanently give Solveig to us because she and Clara would miss each other if he took her away. He wasn’t too receptive to the idea.

Video: Friends