Jeff seemed a bit on edge yesterday, but he finally came out with the reason why. He asked me if I would have time to go over the list of household possessions so we could split things up. I thought it was a bit soon, but September really isn't all that far away, so I agreed to go over the list with him. We spent a little over an hour going over all of the household possessions, many of which we had acquired during our relationship.
I'm glad we waited until now to do it, because we could keep our emotions out of it. I didn't have to get sentimental about the time we picked out those chairs or when he came across some gorgeous curtains or when we put together all of those bookshelves from IKEA. We could fairly dispassionately go down the list and split things up. All in all, I think it was amicable and fair. Each of us are going to be in pretty good shape when we go our separate ways.
The one thing that we could not really divide up fairly was the washer and dryer. It seems like we could (one takes the washer, the other takes the dryer, but they were bought as a matched set and in our peculiar gay minds, we wanted to leave them as a matched set) but in the end, I let him keep them. That's going to really be the only big expense I'll have. Jeff will have to get bedroom furniture, but I think that's his only big expense.
Otherwise, I'll have an entire apartment of furniture. Jeff's mom has the sofa I bought about ten years ago when my first long term relationship broke up, and it's still in excellent shape. She also has a tapestry chair of mine that was not only one of my favorites, but a favorite of everyone who has ever sat in it. If I had a dollar for every time I heard, "When you get rid of this chair, think of me," I could open up that Swiss bank account I've been thinking about. She no longer wants these items because Jeff and I have split up, so if I don't take them back, she'll either put them out at the curb or give them to charity. Frankly, I'd rather have them back, and to save the trouble of awkwardness with the rest of Jeff's family, I think she's going to bring them out to me. I'm getting the bedroom furniture, and Jeff's getting the more recent living room furniture we had picked out. I'm also getting all of our bathroom stuff (towels, accessories, etc.). As far as the kitchen goes, Jeff shared the pots and pans with me, so I will have to get just a set of dishes and cooking utensils. I will also have to get a vacuum cleaner.
Still, even though it was a pleasant conversation and it didn't get overly sentimental or sad, it is still the end of an era in some ways. I'm sure it will be more sad when the moving day finally comes. I don't know how often I'll see Jeff or Leah, but I hope we can stay in touch. I don't know if I'll be moving in with someone else (depends on what's going on with the dating situation) or moving into a place on my own, but either option will be fine. If I am moving on my own, I'm starting to think that I may not move back to Fort Worth after all. I may stay somewhere centrally located, such as the Valley Ranch area of Irving, where it's relatively easy to get to Fort Worth or Dallas.
Speaking of future events, I'm thinking about continuing my graduate studies after graduation. I'm going to look into Library Science. With the economy as it is, I think it would be prudent for me to add as many feathers to my cap as I can. I'd like to start the Library Science program in the Spring. That would give me two master's degrees. When corporate budgets get tight, one of the first things to go is the training department. There are not as many training jobs going around as they once were. Heck, there aren't as many jobs going around period. The job market here is extremely competitive. It's quite scary when you think about it. But there's no point in worrying about it until you have to.
