Well, all my stuff is moved in, anyway. Whether or not I am actually all settled is a whole different question!
The kitchen is unpacked. The bedroom and bathroom are pretty much set up… except there is some outstanding stuff that I need to figure out what to do with it. Will probably be in Aidan’s/guest room for the time being. The office stuff/desktop computer will be the most challenging, I think. But I’ll get through it.
Today, Adam called just as I was getting into packing up clothing and singing Les Miserables. I asked him if I was panicking about packing, and he told me that I was. I mean, I DO have two weeks to get it together, but I really don’t want to be rushing around at the last minute, throwing things wherever, making a mess. I want to be organized.
With that said, I have my high school graduation and my college graduation gowns still. Caps, too. For some reason, I can’t bring myself to get rid of them! I’ll see if they make the cut this time around. I guess if they fit into the knickknack bin, they can stick around for a bit longer. And hey, if I go to grad school, I’ll already have a cap and gown for it. (My college cap and gown is black, the high school one is gold).
The hardest thing has been the OFFICE SUPPLIES. I had a lot of knickknacks on my desk when I worked at Nationwide. I need to get ruthless. I also found a stack of letters. I can never resist letters. Hmm, knickknack bin, I suppose. Oh, and I found my BoysIIMen CD with Motownphilly on it, plus a bunch of other CDs I’d “lost.” Good times.
Anyway, this was a pretty pointless post, but the fact remains that two weeks from now, I’m going to be finalizing things for my move to Chicago. HOLY CRAP. Three weeks from now, I’ll actually be living there. *gulp*
Even though I should be up to my ears packing right now, I’m posting here. I will do some packing this afternoon. All my office and desk stuff, and all the clothes that are not in season, and my decorations is what I hope to have done by Tuesday of this week.
It really is not much longer ’til I’ll be heading west for the next adventure of my life. OK, it’s only about 400 miles west, but it’s still west!
Am I nervous?
Heck yes! This is the biggest move of my life! The only other big move I did was coming to college. Even then, it was only from Cleveland to Columbus, Ohio. This is two states, a 6–7 hour drive. But people do much bigger moves than I do all the time. I know I can do it.
What am I nervous about?
1. Not having my place all packed up in time! I have a lot of stuff, and although I am planning to get rid some of it, it’s still hard to get motivated to do something like packing. AND the bad thing is that I usually get motivated around 10am, while I am at work. By the time I get home, I’m ready to crash on the couch. But that’s the life of the working person. I have to force myself to do it. I do not want to be scrambling two or three days before Andy shows up with the U-Haul. The sorting is going to drive me nuts. I already have a pile of stuff to give to Goodwill, but bags and shoes I don’t use, and clothes I don’t wear is easy. Stuffed animals and certain knick-knacks is what’s going to be hard to part with. Keeping the big picture in mind helps me be more ruthless, though.
2. The drive out to Chicago. Adam will be with me in the car, and we will be able to switch off, which is good. But I have never driven more than 2.5 hours on my own before. And I have driven 3 hours… but 6–7 hours? I’m a bit lot nervous. I think we’re going to split the drive in half, or switch off every couple hours. I plan to make a MOVING playlist for the iPod. Anyone have any recommendations for songs to keep me awake while I am driving? Adam is threatening me with NPR.
3. Learning a new way of life in Chicago. Columbus is not very urban. I drive everywhere. The thought of driving in Chicago scares me a bit. There is almost always loads of traffic, and there are insane cabbies all over the place. And people are MEAN and aggressive. Columbus is full of either right assholes in big vehicles or people who trudge along at speeds well below the posted speed limit. Right now, I am pretty centrally located in Columbus, so I just hop in my car and 5–10 minutes later, I’m where I need to be. My commute to work is about 12 minutes. In Chicago, I am going to have to get used to twice that long, or 3–4 times that long if I’m taking the train or the bus, even if where I need to be is 2 miles from where I live.
I don’t worry much about getting lost while driving. Not only is there Mapquest or Google Maps, but I have a decent sense of direction, and usually once I find my way somewhere, I can get there again without any help. But I’m going to have to learn public transportation all over again, and I can totally see myself going the wrong way on the trains or hopping on the wrong bus. Thank God I’ll be living in a centrally located area in Chicago, but it’s still a bit unnerving!
Plus, they make it such a pain in the butt to own a car out there. The whole “City of Chicago” sticker that is required of residents out there is just a money-making ploy. Parking for work downtown costs a ton. And just getting my license and registration transferred over is going to cost well over $100. But I doubt I’d get what I still owe on the car if I sold it, and I will not be paying for something I can’t use!
I will be looking for a new job shortly after I move out there. There are plenty of opportunities that look interesting, but we’re going into a recession and that worries me a bit. In the best of times, companies aren’t that great to potential employees. But we’ll see. I’d like to get a job doing what I do now, but again, I’ll have to see what’s out there, and who is willing to take me on. Just getting an interview proves challenging when the economy is like this.
My life has been one huge milestone after another since 2000, so this whole ordeal is just another one to add to the list. That’s why I know I can do it, I know I WILL do it, even though my nerves sometimes try to overtake the excitement.
Adam and I decided not to look for a new apartment for now. We weighed the pros and cons, and decided it made sense to stay where we are. My main concern was the idiot college boy neighbors, but I figure I have a few months to figure out how to put the fear of God into them so they won’t be too loud and obnoxious.
Because honestly, his current place has all we need. He’s got it all customized. Crookshanks is there, and Lucy is welcome. It’s nicely sized, and it has a dishwasher and central air. It has a bathtub as well. It’s close to bus and train stops, Sip is a 5 minute walk away, there are yummy restaurants around, a CVS nearby, and some street parking. If the obnoxious idiot with the big truck wouldn’t HOG…
So, we saved some money. And decided to seriously redecorate his current place. Okay, it was more like I planted the seed and as I hoped, he ran with it. He’s really into decorating. Me? Not so much. He was so ready to set up a new place, so I told him to rearrange. He did. He’ll have to do a lot more when I show up with my U-Haul of crap.
So now that he’s getting things set up, it’s starting to feel a bit more real. There are still a few months before I actually move in, but every day brings me closer to that time.
Ew, it stinks in my apartment because someone down the hall burned food. It’s not popcorn, it’s something else. Ew. I just sprayed some Fabreeze air freshener, so it should be better soon.
Today, I took a two-hour nap. I did NOT want to get up, but I had to finish my homework. Plus, I got my W2s, so I kind of want to do my taxes. But I don’t know, it’s nearly 10pm, and I still have another month to pay, so I don’t think I’m going to hurry THAT much. We’ll see, though.
Anyway, it’s amazing what one can find to do when avoiding homework. In the fall, I made a video of Aidan at the Park of Roses. I got into my video editing software and came up with a Remixed Version! Heehee. Check it out:
Actually, the homework excercises are pretty easy. I just have to be careful and not get careless. I do this for a living, so it’s easy for me to get a big head and say “oh pish posh, this is cake!” I have to keep focusing and treat this as if I’m a freshman with NO clue about copy editing whatsoever.
I am having a hard time with the reading. I always disliked doing the reading when I was at Ohio State. I can only remember three classes in which I enjoyed the reading. One was in English class that focused on Chicano literature. The professor was this big Mexican guy from Texas. He always wore gigantic cowboy hats. I remember reading a book called Trini which I loved. It’s been long out of print, but I remember enjoying that class and the other readings, too. Another class in which I enjoyed reading was my African American Literature class, but it had a different name then. The professor was this cute man named Richard Shipley, I believe, and I loved the way he taught. That was where I got my first real exposure to Alice Walker and Zora Neale Hurston. The third class I loved to read was Plant Biology 101. Funny, huh? But that class was so interesting. I had no problems keeping on top of things in that class. The labs were fun, and the professor was a wacko. On the first day of class (for Plant Bio 101 and 102), he dressed up as an alien named Trog. It was awesome. I wish I could find the power cord to my scanner so I could scan the picture. He was fantastic. The other teachers I remember from college are Alicia Chavez, who taught Spanish 104, Lucinda (can’t remember her last name) who introduced our English class to EMAIL and to whom I turned in a 20+ page paper on the pinball machine culture. (Speaking of, there is a pinball machine museum in Vegas that I REALLY want to visit someday….) One of my psychology professors always had a Diet Coke. Every single day. Except once, he had Taco Bell. I went up to him and said “You went to Taco Bell. They serve Pepsi at Taco Bell.” He was totally tickled that I noticed. I remember my dance teachers. There was Ursula, and Natalie, and I had a guy once, too. And there was my gymnastics teacher who’d said, “No one has ever fallen off the vault in one of my classes. Don’t be the first.” I can’t remember her name, but I remember that. Wow, what a random trip down memory lane, but that’s what you get when I decide to make a potluck entry.
Ew, oh God, I’m going to smell like burnt crap tomorrow. Ugh. That smell never goes away. Maybe I’ll burn an incense. It’ll make me sneeze like crazy, but at least I won’t smell like burnt whatever. Gross.
You know what I hate? When I click a link, and just before the page changes to the new link, I see something interesting. That JUST happened to me. Blah. I hope it’s not a dymanic change, so that when I hit the back button, it’ll still be there.
I’m in the mood to see Juno again. It would be the first time I’ve seen it without having a severe sore throat or some other kind of sickness. But poor little Aidan keeps getting sick. When he was here last night, he felt warm, but he ALWAYS feels warm, so I don’t really have a control. *sigh* The poor baby. This weekend should be chill with him though. There’s a Spongebob game, loads of DVDs that he hasn’t watched yet, plus some Christmas toys he hasn’t opened! My place will be a wreck when it’s over, but it’s all good. I suppose we’ll hit the store tomorrow to get some groceries–I need more Cream of Wheat and Malt-O-Meal. This weekend will be all about hot cereals and other comfort foods. I also promised him we’d bake cookies.
I took a bunch of cute pictures of him last night.
I hope to get more this weekend. 🙂
I am so behind on LJ entries. I’ve been mostly skimming. On the days when I am bored silly, NO ONE updates. On the days when I really shouldn’t be reading or can’t read LJ, 4385349549578 people update multiple times! I’m overwhelmed. *sniffle*
A. List seven habits/quirks/facts about yourself.
B. Tag seven people to do the same.
C. Do not tag the person who tagged you or say that you tag “whoever wants to do it”.
(Some of these will probably be repeats. One can only be so quirky.)
1. I hate mushrooms growing out of the ground. THEY FREAK ME THE HELL OUT. I don’t like how they suddenly appear and I think they look awkward. I literally get chills when I see them or even when I think about them. *shivers*
2. I really like A names. I’m marrying a guy named Adam. My son’s name is Aidan. If I ever decide to have another child and it’s a girl, I will want her name to be Adrianne or Adrianna. I also really like the name Anna.
3. I LOVE doing those word games where you take a word or phrase and try to make words out of them. I can usually get at least 135 words out of a phrase.
4. As time starts to wind down for me to move, the more I start to freak out. I mean, talk about a HUGE life change. I am not even going to get into it tonight.
5. I’m almost always cold. It takes me ages to warm up, and all of that can be undone in about 30 seconds. It’s annoying.
6. My eyes are itching at the moment.
7. Even though I often say it in moments of anger, I still feel very guilty about using the word “goddammit.” 🙁
It’s COLD out. But not as cold as it is in Chicago. See #5. Living there will be a huge adjustment as it is. Throw in those cold temps. Eek. I hope to be able to get one of those fancy Eddie Bauer coats that keep you warm in 20 below weather and a pair of Uggs. I think it’ll be worth the money. I don’t even care if I LOOK that cute. When it’s 2 degrees fahrenheit with a windchill of -20, comfort over style always, baby. Comfort over style is the RULE for me.
Alright, I should finish up my assignment (needs two more passes, I may wait until tomorrow to do pass three) and head back to bed. Lavender bath first, though. I would eat dinner, but my appetite’s been kind of ruined by the stinky burnt food smell still wafting in my apartment. Blech. Plus, I ate a HUGE lunch, so I should be okay. I might eat a bit of cereal.
Night night.
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