My plans for the weekend were in disarray upon waking on Saturday morning with a sore throat. While I initially thought this could be a result of my work farewell beverages on Friday night, the amount of sleep I had yesterday and that I still sounded like I could make a living from working a sex-line meant this reason was highly unlikely. It was also a very civilised evening so it was unlikely anyway.

How I woke up on today confirmed it.

The couch and I are now a little too familiar with the other’s contours. I like how the couch has obligingly moulded itself around me as though it had missed me over the past few weeks. It’s mutual, though I’m a little less demonstrative.

I think I’ve been awake for roughly eight hours this weekend and perhaps one hour has been productive. It’s quite an achievement for the weekend.

There are a number of downsides to being unwell at the moment in terms of timing.

Saturday night, I missed what the hosts referred to as their 12th Annual Veuvefest. Aside from the obvious reason, it’s likely to be the last time that I would see this couple before I leave for Japan. I also know a few of the other guests and it’s the same situation with not seeing them again soon too. They are a very entertaining group with all manner of stories and whenever I’ve spent time with any of them, I also seem to learn something. Very disappointed to miss this.

Another downside is I’m meant to be working on my assignment this weekend.

Right now, I have the attention span of a gnat. That I’m writing this post is a labour of love. I have written in over roughly 45 stages with many breaks, mainly to nap. I can’t remember when last it has taken me this long to write something (the hours spent procrastinating on my assignment don’t count). Trying to do an assignment under these conditions would be like trying to build a snowman in the desert. (Unless I’m in China and have one of those machines that they will use during the Winter Olympics in 2022 for the town that generally has 20-70 centimetres of snow. Apparently this will use roughly 1% of  the water supply in Beijing. Beijing is currently in drought. Perhaps they’ll turn the entire area into a snow dome. You never know.)

I will adjust my plans to fit it in without worrying about it (the assignment that is, not the 2022 Winter Olympics – I have no plans for fitting that in at this stage). It will be over the course of this week. At least a first draft.

My main downside right now is practical given my upcoming move. I have no energy to clear out the excess stuff in my apartment.

In one of my awake stages, I decided to pull things out of cupboards that I could go through while sitting on the couch. Lucky I’ve been getting rid of stuff for the past few years anyway so there’s a lot less than what there could have been.

I decided to get rid of all my photos that aren’t in albums.

Someone please give my Mum a call immediately as she’s probably just fallen over with disappointment in reading this and may need to be given a hand up. 

Don’t worry Mum, there’s a plan.

That shouldn’t be a surprise.

At the same time as finding a considerable cache of photos, I also found a stash of birthday, Christmas, anniversary, farewell, Valentine’s and congratulations cards. As well as a few letters received over my school and uni days. I unearthed some silly poetry (I’m very consistent) including a couple written with friends, and some English assignments.

I read everything.

I’ve culled some and the rest will be scanned. They have traveled more than a lot of people – from the Gold Coast, to Armidale, Sydney and Hong Kong and various moves within those locations. The oldest card has moved 14 times. I see no need to further their travels except to the recycling bin.

I had no idea I was so sentimental.

It is more likely I would look at my photos, cards, letters etc online than I did with them staying in their various Kodak, Pentax etc envelopes. It also takes up considerably less room and is neater too.

Now I’m a right-sized sentimentalist.

I would like to thank everyone that’s written to me over the years. Reading some of those letters gave me a good giggle and reminded me it’s good to make an effort to stay in contact with people. It also made me thankful the internet wasn’t available to students. Not because I enjoyed the manual research process, learning the dewey decimal system and tracking down the sort after journal through various floors of a library. Actually, I did enjoy this. I’m such a nerd.

I think we can bring back the art of letter writing over email now that there are various gadgets that let you electronically handwrite and draw. It would follow the letter format, still have doodles and be personalised plus be more environmentally-friendly and cheaper than sending conventional mail. I won’t need to get these scanned either. It’s a win all around.

At least there are a few less things relocating with me and I have a slight feeling of being productive this weekend.

My outdoor couch and fan left on Saturday too.

Not long to go for me though this still doesn’t seem quite real.

* Thanks to Tame Impala for the title to this post. Vote for this and / or whatever other song that’s your favourite from 2015 at Triple J’s Hottest 100. Countdown is on Australia Day. Not sure if I can get that day off work for a barbecue.