34 hours...

just about 2 hours ago, I realized that I had exactly 36 hours to finish packing the apartment before the movers show up to help us load up our rental truck (9 a.m., Wednesday morning). I have packed about 15 boxes. 7 of those are books. (In my defence, I used to regularly have 10-12 boxes of books when I'd move!) One is the contents of my filing cabinet. Other boxes' contents include: miscellaneous stationery, photo albums, sewing materials and a sewing machine, pictures, vases, items picked up while traveling (masks, statuettes, etc.), a jewelry box, bed linens, etc.

Left still to pack:
- clothing and shoes which I am not bringing to Japan
- computer items (minus laptop, which I am of course bringing with me)
- all bathroom items
- all my dishes (and anyone who's been to my kitchen knows that, for a gal who doesn't really cook, that's a LOT of dishes)
- tools
- small lamps and other decorative items
- pillows, cushions, etc.
- all those small annoying things that you forgot to itemize at the time but that will, invariably, rear their ugly heads at the last possible second (estimated time of occurrence: Tuesday, 11:30 p.m., until Wednesday, 2:37 a.m.)

Which perhaps begs the question, dear reader: Why am I posting rather than packing?

I feel bad about not having posted about the Vancouver-Winnipeg-Toronto cross-country tour. I have all Randal's pics on CD and mine will be ready to pick up from Black's, having been scanned (by them, not me!) to CD as well, tomorrow. However, I doubt that chapter will be forthcoming anytime soon. In a nutshell: It was a good trip - I love Vancouver! - Rion is settling down (entirely too) well in his new quarters with his new doggy pals - the rumours that Winnipeg does get very hot in the summer are true - and the most dangerous thing about Toronto, I have discovered, is Mountain Equipment Coop.

Internet will be shut down Wednesday morning - I will try to blog again before then. Otherwise, perhaps our hotel here in Ottawa (we're staying at the Novotel in the Market for our last three nights) will have access - otherwise you will have to wait until I hit an Internet cafe, either here or in Japan! Whee!!!