I've got to find out when my ten year high school reunion will be this fall. The holidays this year are mine-Thanksgiving and Shannon's-Christmas. However, Shannon does not think she will able to travel for Thanksgiving due to exams and such. I can either go by myself or stay here with her. Now the latter choice might provoke a conflict with my mother that I'd have to consider. I get tired of the holidays being all about travel, never just about celebrating or resting. Conveniently for avoiding conflict and having fun, if reunion is near, I will seriously consider maybe even taking more than just that weekend off. I have vacation time piling up, and I would enjoy being in St. Louis for longer than three or four days. I enjoy St. Louis far more than my parents, but they are inescapable. Plus a little time by myself might be nice too, just to mix it up. If Shannon took care of all the pets while I was gone, I would have to reciprocate. I wonder where she'd want to go.
I was half-heartedly working on the remaining boxes from moving (I can't seem to put the books on the shelves...) and I realized that we had piles of crap in the second bedroom for over a year that I've already put away in the big hall closet. So although the amount of stuff I own resists reduction, I've at least gotten better at stashing it away.
I watched "Under the Tuscan Sun" last night, mainly because Sandra Oh is so hot, and I was struck in the movie by the main character, Frances played by Diane Lane, who had only three boxes of books and some clothing to move out of her house after her divorce. Her husband wanted the house so she choose to leave everything in it except what was definately hers. She was all sad and morose and blah blah blah, but I was in awe of that bold move. Actually leaving everything behind, letting go on such a massive scale of the things that surrounded you on a daily basis. I imagined picking up and moving to Italy and thought about how hard but satisfying it would be to whittle one's possesions down to a few boxes. I hope that I get a chance to do that some day.
