Tomorrow night we are leaving for Washington DC for a week-long Fulbright orientation. We will meet our partners for the first time (in the flesh, at least) and I will get to meet the other grantees who were not in Denver. When we leave tomorrow night, we need to basically be "out" of our place because we will return on the 8th with Sophie. I am excited to spend a few days showing her around the school and helping her to settle in. However, the panic is setting in. I've been running around our condo like a chicken with its head cut off, trying to figure out what I must bring with me, what can stay, what I can give away...I've cleaned cabinets and drawers, checked expiration dates on canned goods... Isn't it a shame that often, the time our home looks the best is when we are leaving?
I remember when we moved out of our last place, we scrubbed, organized, and repainted. The place had never looked so good! Why can't I ever find the time in my regular life to keep my place in tip-top shape? *sigh* I guess that's just life. There are always better, more important things to do than reorganize the spice and utensil drawers. That's right - I did both today! It was quite satisfying. I can at least rest assured that we will make a good first impression with our place.
Every time we tell someone that we are "swapping," they almost inevitable say "Oh! I could never do that. I wouldn't want a stranger to live in my home. What about your stuff?" Well, our stuff is just stuff. Yes, a lot of it holds sentimental value, but the world will not fall off its axle if my favorite Shrek collectible glass from McDonald's breaks. It's a huge amount of trust that makes the program work. We blindly trust that our partners will be good people, hopefully life-long friends. It's a balancing act where we promise to take care of their things as if they were our own and we leave our stuff in their hands as well. We hope and we trust.
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