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The Soundtrack of Moving and…Eggs?

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Luggage at the airport

The large ones all weighed approximately 23 KG-the limit before it gets really expensive...

 

I go through periods of listening to the same song over and over until it becomes the soundtrack to that part of my life. Years later, I can hear that song and be transported right back to that time.

As I tear my hair out, trying to pack everything into one suitcase and two duffel bags, I am compulsively playing “Set Fire to the Rain” by Adele. (Hey, I didn’t say I was cutting edge…I usually am a little behind the curve, musically. Plus, when a singer is suddenly and immensely popular, I am highly suspicious and it takes me longer to “discover” them.)

I am just viscerally attracted to some songs. It’s not necessarily the lyrics, more it’s the feeling or energy the song inhabits. “Set Fire to the Rain” captures perfectly my feelings right now as I try to get ready to move to Sweden. Actually, the lyrics so work here because even though it’s about breaking up a romantic relationship, it is also about missing someone and I am going to miss a lot of friends and family.

I have no explanation for why packing is so difficult. I have to do it in what I call a “concentric circle” method. I have piles of stuff that I want to take with me but every day I take some stuff out, slowing paring down to a manageable load. There simply isn’t enough room. Plus, I seem to have a sort of schizophrenic problem in which an item that I believe on Monday that I really need to pack, seems ridiculous and unwanted on Tuesday.

Then there are the items that seem like a good idea to pack but I know I really shouldn’t. Let me give you an example. I try to eat protein at breakfast and usually have Greek yogurt or eggs. I like the eggs to be soft-boiled. To get them just right, I use this inexpensive nifty little egg-shaped hunk of plastic called an “Eggsact Eggtimer.” You throw it in with your eggs and it tells you visually when the eggs are soft, hard, etc. Easy-peasy.

The Eggsact egg timer

Do I really need to pack the Eggsact egg timer?

 

They might not have this product in Sweden (and maybe they do) but they surely have a way to know when your eggs are done (yes I know I could just time them, but I’m telling you, the “Eggsakt” is pure genius.)

“We’re not exactly a third world country,” my Swedish friend keeps telling me. “You can buy stuff here, too.”

I know. I know. But if I already own the product and it’s gonna cost me twice as much in Sweden…

In the end, the egg timer was left out. I had to draw the line somewhere!

I swear I won’t write any more about packing. The next post you read will be written from Sweden. :)

Kristin Lund - Work

November 20, 2011