Supposed To Be Packing

I’m supposed to be packing but I had to make dinner and I had to ride the bike to the Quiet Gardens to take pictures of ibis and sandhill cranes, I had to drink tea, I had to read a book I borrowed from my sister. I’m supposed to be packing but I got a lot of clothes yesterday because Manya has good shopping karma and I think I should wash them first and take off the tags before I put them in my bag. I’m supposed to be packing but I can’t find all the nail polish my cousin gave me when I left Seattle. I’m supposed to be packing but I just wanted to check my email real quick.

I wanted to go have sushi. I wanted to go to the zoo. I wanted to talk about the gendered nature of various types of low-paid, high-responsibility jobs like teaching and social work. I wanted to stay up all night looking at pictures of cute baby animals on the internet. I wanted to read this other book I got from the library. I wanted to appreciate as fully as possible my last days of Pandora and Netflix

I had to embroider a tea towel. I had to decide what shoes go with the dress I’m wearing to a wedding on Saturday. I had to get a new pair of shades because this morning when I went to put my old ones on, the ones I got at the Bartell’s on Queen Anne in July, they were inexplicably broken. I had to throw the baby kitty off me when he leapt up at the underside of my arm and just hung there from his teeth.I had to decide what to do with the leftover Euros from over the summer. I had to find the SD card for my new camera.

I should really mop the floor of this room. I should really send those thank you notes I meant to send in November. I should really print out that email from New Zealand Immigration. I should really go to Target. I should really hem that tank top I got from Old Navy that fell apart after five washings. I should really find my waterbottle from the Kathmandu in Queenstown onto which I put a Cupcake Royale sticker. I should really decide which of the eight pairs of black shoes I’m giving away and which I’m keeping.

I can’t do any of those things right now, though, because I’m leaving Miami on Wednesday night, for at least a year if not longer, and I’m supposed to be packing, right now, right as I’m writing this, right as I’m wishing I could just teleport myself and all my stuff directly to Wellington, right as I’m thinking of all the things I’d rather be doing instead.