Moved!

I've been waiting to find the time to write some epic post about my new apartment -- but if we keep waiting for that, it'll never happen. Yes. I moved out of the helll hole I lived in. Part of me wanted to be sad that I was leaving my first home -- the very first place I had all to myself. And as I turned off the lights for the last time and shut the door for the last time, I said a prayer not just to thank God for blessing me with that apartment -- but for the next tenants as well.

Then it was no longer my home.

Its weird -- I've had no mind transition to "I live here now." I suppose I mentally moved out of my old apartment months ago. I just had to wait to move the stuff. And move the stuff we did. I expected a nightmare. I had So. Much. Stuff. And the Uhaul I rented looked so tiny. First lets hit the bad points so I can end on a super happy note:

I had to pay a lot more for the uhaul truck than I expected. I got insurance. I didn't need it -- but what if I had? If I had turned down the insurance, I'd have freaked out about it all day. So I opted for the topmost tier of insurance. I could have ran that thing directly into a building an been covered. And that peace of mind was awesome. So awesome in fact that I drove the truck all day myself. And yes, my friends did have a "you!?" reaction when I said I would be driving it.

And we lost the uhaul keys. Packed it up, everyones in the convoy of cars to move -- and we can't find the keys. We almost started unloading the truck (knowing that the last place the keys were seen was in the truck bed) when Michael discovered them in his pocket. Smart one, Michael ;) And I lost one of the keys to the new apartment too -- but I had given mom one -- Ha! And I lost 300 bucks too. Literally lost it. I was supposed to deposit a wad of cash on Friday but forgot. And while I did not feel comfortable carrying large amounts of cash around, I could not have it spend 4 days in the night deposit box. I had a lot of checks to wrote that weekend and needed that money accessible. So I sealed it in an envelope and kept it in my purse. I spent lots of it, obviously. And when I went to count it before I deposited it on my Monday lunch break... it was gone. There should have been approximately 300 dollars cash left in the envelope. It might have been stolen, or I might have dropped it somewhere... where it was then stolen by whoever found it. I called everywhere I had been all weekend -- no one turned in an envelope of money (yes there was writing on the front which would have been an identifying mark). I beat myself up over it for a few hours -- 300 dollars is so much money -- especially when I was short on money for the move. Ugh. So I've been living this week super cheap -- and I'll be living next week super cheap too. I can't afford anything right now. But god bless pay day is only a week-and-a-half away! Woot!

There were other not-so-great things too. But lets move onto the awesome.

God has blessed me richly with a wonderful bunch of friends. not including myself, my mother and my sister, 11 people came to help me move. Eleven! My friends were wonderful -- they showed up on time and worked their asses off. And one of them must be a witch because somehow we got everything in ONE LOAD. It was physically impossible, hence my witch assumption. Not that I'm complaining. We had the uahul, 2 pick-up trucks, 2 SUVs and a large assortment of cars. And we got it all in 1 load. A fucking miracle.

And we unloaded it all and feasted on 7 pizzas. It was good company all around -- we joked and told stories and caught up with each other. I think we might have actually had fun. I cannot express how humbled I am to have such wonderful friends. I've taken them for granted lately -- but somehow the people I spend most of my time with weren't there... but my true friends really came through -- and came through amazingly. Thank you all. I'm sorry I've not written my thank you cards yet, but they'll be sent out next week, I promise.

And the new apartment is wonderful. I'm so happy here. It's not perfect (in fact when I get home in the evening its like walking into an attic) but its AWESOME. I have tons of space -- its 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. I love the arrangement -- I have a beautiful balcony -- and I love my indoor steps and half-wall in the living room. And I feel so much safer here -- its amazing. And the kids dont vandalize things. Saturday morning I woke up and sat on the balcony for a cup of tea and watched all the kids gather for a baseball game on the playground. It was amazing.

And 4 days after the move, I had almost all of my boxes unpacked. I've still got a few paintings to hang but I've got pictures!

http://s267.photobucket.com/albums/ii290/karenalexa/New%20Apartment%202008/

They're not great pictures, but I wanted to get some out there for those of you who havn't been able to come see it yet.

The cats were pretty spastic and unhappy for a week, but they're settling in. They arent even growling at each other anymore :)

Speaking of cats, I had the pleasure to volunteer to adopt out cats at Bridgestreet Saturday. It was wonderfully fulfilling. Even if I did scold anyone who even mentioned declawing. Ginger was a little shocked at my confrontations about it (I try to keep my best face forward at work). We talked about it today and want to get the word about Softpaws out there. So next adoption day, Captain Jack himself shall be in attendance wearing a fresh set of Softpaws. I hope we'll be able to get the word out there -- that there is an alternative to the evils of cutting off an animals fingers to save your fucking couch. Ehem. Not the time for that soapbox.