Jess doesn't live here anymore...

...but his stuff does.

This was, formerly, a bedroom -- now, it is a storage unit, the most affordable kind.

And all of Jess' stuff is in it, except for his clothes and such necessities. After living in Federal Way since last June, he commuted to Olympia, living there during the week, for the first 2 months of 2012. For the past 2 months, he has been commuting from Federal Way to Bellevue as his office moved there. Now free of his lease, he is intending to move to Bellevue as soon as he finds an affordable place.

I'm not sure there are any of those in Bellevue...

He has not found one yet -- but God provides! He is spending the next month house-sitting for relatives who live much closer to his workplace...One more month to find the needle in the haystack. (Thanks so much Uncle Tom & Aunt Marcia!!)

So yesterday, The Farmer, Caitlin, Olive and I trekked down to Federal Way, U-haul trailer in tow, to move the bulk of his earthly possessions back home...and clean the apartment in Dutch lady fashion, the better to get his deposit back.

Olive went along, you say? Yes -- poor Daisie watched us all leave for what I am sure she assumed was a day of intense fun and excitement without her. I felt bad for her...and she made us pay by putting on her most pathetic look as we went out the door. However, she was caught when I ran back in for something I forgot and she was happily eating the rest of her breakfast, not looking too sad anymore. I quit feeling guilty.

But Olive can't be left alone for that long a period of time, because, frankly, she can't hold it, and because she would likely chew her crate into pieces out of spite. Our schedule didn't work out for the kennel's day-boarding schedule, so Olive (and her crate) came along.

Besides, it became clear soon after out departure that The Farmer just wanted her along to stand on his lap and look out his window. He loves it as much as she does...and then when she came and sat between us on the console, I have to admit it was rather nice, and even better when she sat with me to look out my window.  If she needed to nap, she went to the back seat and snuggled near Caitlin. Her nervousness over the unknown made her a delightful companion. Oh, what a little intimidation will do!

We keep hoping that someday this docility will be the norm...

However, as soon as she returned home, she went back to her chasing, barking, fighting, wildly playing ways -- which I think made Daisie grateful to have spent the day alone...

Anyway, we arrived at the apartment and went right to work. Caitlin & I began to pack and clean, while the guys stood around and tried to decide which item should go in the trailer first. Apparently this is a very difficult decision to make, as it took a while, but steadily after that the puzzle began to come together...And the apartment got sprayed and wiped down and vacuumed and scrubbed and febrezed for good measure.

We left it empty and sparkling fresh. It was quite rewarding...

...and exhausting.

At this point in the day, we had hoped to accompany Jess to his new digs, and say hello to Aunt Marcia, but time was too short...because,  you see, we had to UNLOAD everything when we got home...we were not sure where...oh boy...

So we parted ways, feeling just a little sad that we had the stuff, but not the boy coming to live with us...

Two hours, and a lot of dozing on my part, later, we were home. We made the uncharacteristicly quick decision to turn one bedroom into a storage unit rather than clutter every room with more furniture, and Caitlin just started setting stuff out of the trailer.

God bless her! She kept us going, and forced (yes-FORCED) me to carry only the lightweight boxes. She organized and directed, and we were glad to follow her lead. (Or, in my case, sit on the step and watch her work...) In one short hour, all the stuff was packed away in our new Storage Bedroom.

And we all went to our respective easy chairs and sat in them...

...until we were watching TV with our eyes closed. And then we went to bed, satisfied in the knowledge that we had helped the boy, and that we won't have to move that stuff again...

...for at least a couple months.