Physical feats

You know the potential feline/human crushing piece of furniture I mentioned? After a trip to the hardware aisle at Lowe's and some very determined screwdriver work by yours truly, it is now firmly anchored to the wall. Hopefully Harry and I are good to go with our daily activities that involve walking past the 134 pound behemoth. Actually, I suppose it weighs quite a bit more now that it's loaded down with glassware. Thank you, helpful Ikea boxes, for telling me exactly how much you weigh as I heave you into my vehicle and proceed to figure out the most practical way to get you up to the apartment without damage to self and/or surroundings. Oh, and if you're curious, 18-pound glass doors came up one at a time in their own boxes. Cardboard containing 88-pound shelving unit was ripped apart in vehicle, and pieces were carried up (thank you, elevator!) in varying weight loads. I think that took three trips. Possibly four. The sides are extraordinarily tall and awkward to handle.

Take that, little kitchen! I will assemble furniture and create my own shelving space!

Assembling that thing and shifting it into place did take a little muscle power. I wouldn't say that I've been working out in the sense of logging miles on the treadmill or busting out triceps curls, but I have been dealing with moving. My beast of a couch didn't end up quite where I wanted it, so I decided I could scoot it down about two feet or so. Ha. Scoot. Scoot mammoth couch on carpet. It doesn't appear that menacing, but this thing is hiding a sofa-bed. Are you aware that sofa-beds add a rather immense amount of weight to an otherwise innocent-looking couch? After some ineffective shoves and expletives, an infomercial from years past happened to pop into my head. Moving men furniture sliders!! Since better judgment had a good hold on me whenever I'd channel-flipped past this one, I didn't actually have any of these little doo-dads on hand. However, a couple of large pieces of cardboard will do in a pinch, provided you have the strength and foot dexterity to lift the couch while kicking the cardboard into place under said sofa's wooden feet. The couch is now where it belongs...phew.

There have been a few other physically demanding tasks over the last week or so. Due to my remarkable indeciciveness and inability to decide where to put things, I move the same heavy box/object over and over and over again. Just make up your mind, Erin. A laptop also gets a little heavy when carried to and from work on a 0.8 mile journey. That one's not terrible, mind you, but I'm afraid I might need to become a backpacker in order to prevent the right side of my body from developing a slight droop. Several Metro stops have deceptively long escalator/stair trips. You find yourself at the top of one...only to go up another. And possibly another. I'm trying to engage my heart in some healthy activity by taking the stairs or actually walking up the escalators (stand to the right, people!) instead of placidly standing, but in one instance I had to pull myself over and take a breather. Dang. Oh, I walked to the grocery store the other night! Didn't buy too much, really, and did put one of those cute Central Market bags to use, and it's only about a ten minute walk, but again...worried about the right side of my body. Must learn to put things on left shoulder. Did I mention the size of my cat? Actually, he may have slimmed down a little bit in the past couple of weeks, but he's still a bit of a chunk to pick up.

I'm aware that I could ask for help with some of these things. There's something prideful and somewhat foolish in doing it all myself, though. I can do this, I know I can! Obviously I can carry my laptop and groceries and make my legs take the stairs, but this furniture business...sometimes I wish Harrison was a slightly more helpful roommate. Hey, at least I'm engaging my body in something physical! Better than sitting like a blob in front of the TV! Which I'm also quite capable of, I should mention...there's this DVR business going on...yeah, more to come on that. Maybe I should get to know the treadmill a little bit better.