Home...

Hi Kids! I haven't abandoned you! I moved back into my apartment on April 1st! I cannot tell you what it feels like to have a home. I don't think you really know what it's like until you don't have one. It's wonderful! I'm nearly organized, and doing a very good job at maintaining it. The kittens are happy as clams. The drama is ALMOST over! I'll get to that in a second...

First let me tell you about my move... I probably had the most number of people involved of any really small move ever. I had prepared as well as I could on Thursday night for my move, I didn't sleep one wink! I worked all through the night trying to make sure I had my meager belongings collected. At 11am on Friday three very dear friends came over to help with the balance, including two pieces of the hotel furniture I have to purchase because some furbabies left scratch marks on the vinyl, no use getting worked up about it. It took us a tad bit longer to vacate the hotel room than planned, mostly due to my own lack of organization and exhaustion. Instead of hitting my parent's house for the things I had there first, we ended up meeting my Landlord at my apartment. In all the drama all she wanted was the check, and then she was polite about it even! I swear she's bipolar.

All at once my bedroom set arrived from the cleaners (btw if you have fire or flood damage and need a local referral let me know..these guys were amazing), and then my new mattress. Dad and I worked on a different lay out for my bedroom set, I didn't want it to be the same as before... too many memories of passing by my bedroom door seeing my previous cats lounging on my dresser. We came up with an AWESOME alternative! I actually like it much better than it was before! Unfortunately the few things I did have cleaned in addition to my bedroom set, still carry the smell of the fire. So I will not be able to use them. Also, because my bedroom set has unfinished interiors on the drawers, it too has a slight stench. I am saving that though by sealing the wood. The set is beautiful solid oak, in a rustic California country style by Blackhawk Furniture, I've loved it since I picked it out when I was 18.

As soon as the move was finished I asked my friends to join me at a local Mexican restaurant so I could treat them to lunch as a thank you for doing all the real manual labor for me. These helpers definitely deserved more than the customary Pizza and Beer payment for a move.  It was raining and they had to put up with a very tired and somewhat indecisive me. :-)

We parted ways at around 4pm, with plans to meet up for one of their b-day parties in the city that evening. I met another friend who was kind enough to donate a full service of 12 dishes, flatware, and glasses at my apartment and gave her the grand tour. Have I mentioned that I know the best people on the planet?? Once she headed on her way all I knew was that I needed a nap, and a nap I took... I don't think I have been that tired ever in my whole life. I had PLANNED to be up around 7:30 or 8 to get ready for this party, instead I woke up to text messages at 10pm asking if I was coming.
OH NO!

I scrambled around, getting myself together, which I have to say takes worlds longer when your stuff is still in boxes. and made it to celebrate at around 11:30. Had another great time with friends, and then made it back to my apartment by 3am. Ahhh but it does feel good to walk in my own place.

The next day I was up and out getting some things I didn't consider needing immediately, like a shower rod, and real vacuum cleaner, I had to be back by a pretty early time to make sure I didn't miss the cable guy, I need my real TV!

In addition to that my whole family came over and helped me unpack, (thanks family!) my mom, forever the professional mommy put homemade food in my fridge and made sure I had the starter pots and pans for when I start my own cooking again, and my dad hooked me up with some starter tools, and ran a home improvement errand for me. Oh, he also vacuumed after putting my vacuum cleaner together ;-).

Once my family left it was off to meet some of the girls to watch NCAA basketball. I'm not a huge fan, in fact I forgot to watch the final, but I can get into a game if it's put in front of me. I was still so tired though! I was home nice and early and got in some TV time with my new TV, I also needed to make a plan for Internet. The cable company raised their fee on the modem they provide, so I just decided to go out and get my own. (That's what took so long for me to post, I had to find the right deal on a modem).

Now that I'm settled in, I'm still a bit unsettled. I can't seem to shake the feeling that it's not over. I mean it's technically over, but I can't seem to accept it. I guess that once you've gone through a turbulent life event it takes more than 4 days to get over it. I suppose that will come with time. The other part is that I have my lease renewal hanging over my head. My lease is up in June and I have heard from 2 completely separate entities that my Landlord has stated I'm going to be out once my lease is up. She has no grounds to evict me, nor does she have any idea what my financial situation is. So I have no idea why she thinks this is so. I have made attempts to contact her to see why it is she seems to believe this and the response I get is that she is responsible for several leases and hasn't had the opportunity to look at mine. Which, given her previous statements to me about my rent increasing because my apt is new, and telling others that I won't be here for long, gives me a very uneasy feeling regarding her levels of honesty. All I want is as it was before, a quiet existence where we don't talk to each other as long as I'm paying my rent. In any case, I'm out there researching my rights as a lease abiding tenant, and in the meantime I have a place to lay my head and get on with life right? I'm doing my best.

Speaking of getting back to life, and more importantly getting back to increasing the dance in my life (I'm also considering foregoing a kitchen table so I have more kitchen practice space) did you know that your Cable's "On Command/Demand" service has some great workouts for FREE?? I found one 10 minute dance based workout that's great for when I wake up too late to get in a full work out that has Salsa, Samba, Cha Cha, and even some Paso Doble elements!

I'll have to investigate that some more!

Well the internet is back up at home so you'll be hearing more from me!!