Packing

So I finally bit the bullet and started packing today. I bought big Rubbermaid-type bins to use instead of cardboard boxes. It's an expensive alternative, but cardboard boxes are a great place for bugs to hide and I didn't want to take any chances. I'm thinking I can sell whatever ones I don't want after the move.

I was all psyched up to start earlier today, but then I became overwhelmed with how much there is to do and the tough decisions I have to make about what furniture is safe to keep and what is too risky and needs to be thrown out. It's really difficult to decide. I'm thinking the dresser is too risky because it's next to the bed, which was the main area of bedbug infestation. But I'm considering taking the bookcase because it's in the living room. Realistically, though, there's only a foot between them as they're on opposite sides of the same wall. So what makes one okay, but not the other? When you live in a 400ish square foot apartment does it really make sense to try to decide the fate of furniture based on what room it's in? The thing is, my furniture is less than a year old and it's very hard to think of throwing it out and having to replace it. On the other hand I'm desperate to ensure that I don't bring any bugs with me. This is also complicated by the fact that I haven't noticed any bedbugs or bedbug bites for about two months now so maybe they're all dead/gone.

Thanks to Jenn I was able to break free from my paralysis and at least start packing the things I knew for sure I was going to take. Thanks, Jenn! I guess I have about two weeks to mull over the furniture. I'd love any opinions others may have about what to do with it.

poor face

Just when the scars from my falling-bed episode were starting to fade, I did another number on my poor abused face. Well, it's not like I had much choice. I got up Monday morning, walked into the bathroom and blacked out, falling and hitting my face on the cast iron tub. Sound familiar Jenn? Yes, it's the same kind of fainting epsiode that I suffered when you were visiting two years ago. I was hoping that was a one-time thing, but no luck.

I lay on the bathroom floor fading in and out of consciousness and bleeding from the nose and forehead for about 20 minutes. Finally I was able to come to long enough to get to the phone and call Arej to take me to the hospital. Apparently I'm suffering from something called Vasovagal Syncope. It's quite common, especially with young people. Your body reacts to some trigger by slowing your heart rate way down so that not enough oxygen gets to your brain and poof, you're out cold. There's only a second or two, if any, warning before you faint. I just hope that if it happens again I'm somewhere soft and safe. This is when it doesn't seem wise to live alone.

So I got a very good knock on the head. I'm suffering from an ever-present headache as a result. I thought I might have broken my nose because it seemed to have a bit of a curve in it, but now I think it's just swollen. I'm starting to get rather black eyes, especially on the right. Plus I have a cut on my forehead and a swollen, bruised chin. That said, I'm told I don't look too bad. I think my face is so angular and shadowed anyway that people can't really notice the bruising.