I find its not so much the packing of the things I’m going to take with me as much as it is the throwing away of the shit I don’t want anymore.

     Today alone, I got rid of five garbage bags full of crap. This crap includes, but is not limited to, the following:

     A red purse from Aeropostale that I’ve had since 2002

     Four scarves that I never once used this winter

     Countless number of pens I stole from Presby

     Every Pittsburgh Post Gazette from the weeks I was in orientation class with all crossword puzzles completed or mostly completed

     Empty boxes and gift bags I’ve been saving from every birthday and Christmas for the past four years

     Three pairs of Old Navy flip flops from three summers ago

     Glasses that I wore in 2003

     Four empty binders

     One black Doc Martin-esque shoe

     One black strappy sandal I wore to a wedding two summers ago

     Three pairs of pantyhose that are not able to be worn

     I have yet to actually pack anything worth moving. Everything that has gone into a bag today went directly to the curb to be picked up by the fabulous municipal waste truck tomorrow to be hauled to North Versailles.

     Since I have chosen to camp out in the living room and therefore am no tusing my room for anything other than a place to do my hair and throw my dirty clothes on the ground, I piled everything I need to actually pack onto my bed. Mostly because I didn’t feel like sorting and wrapping and packaging everything today once I had five garbage bags full of crap to lug down two flights of stairs and throw out the front door.

     It is going to be really difficult to squeeze everything from my attic bedroom into my closet sized bedroom at Fro’s place. Especially since I have been told I am not allowed to hang anything on the walls in my room there. BOO!

     That’s ok, though, since I’m going to be paying him next to nothing to live there. My brother is saving my sanity if not my credit by allowing me to do this, and of all the members of my family, although I love him, I think I am the least close to him. So this should be a bonding experience as we get to know each other better outside of the confines of my mother’s advice and bouncing between us, relaying misinterpreted messages.

     I found a debt calculator online today and figured out how long it will take me to get out of the debt I’ve gotten into and, let’s just say 2011 is looking like it’s going to be my year. Ha ha.

     I’ve also changed my life plan for the moment and am going to focus on getting out of debt and studying for my PCCRN (pediatric critical care nurse) in the next three years instead of jumping right back into school. The pay will actually be a little bit more with a CCRN than a BSN. And even though I am planning on getting my Master’s, I don’t know what direction I want to go yet, so jumping into school right now is not the best idea financially. And, since I need 7500 hours at the bedside to take the exam, it will take me a good three years to get prepared. In that time, I’ll be working my ass off as much as I can and paying down my credit cards and loans.

     This living with my brother thing may work out well, but ideally, it will only be for a year. Unless he moves to New York, in which case, I’ll be living there for a long time.

     I guess it’ll all pan out in the end.

     It always does.