9 posts tagged “moving”
My movers came today, and brought with them all of my worldly possessions, which i had entrusted to them three short weeks ago. Today is the end of the 'moving' phase of my new life (and the beginning of the 'unpacking' phase which will doubtless go on for months, or even years).
Everything went... perfectly.
The quitting, the finding a new job, the packing, the moving, the driving with a cat, finding 20 dollars in a gas station, getting everything taken care of and finally having it all done, and all here, and FINALLY.. i live in nashville with my boyfriend. and we have an awesome life together.
tonight, my belly is full and warm, the air conditioning is cool, my cat is sleeping on my foot, and i'm drinking a PREMIUM malt-liquor beverage (not one of those ordinary, low-rent malt-liquor beverages). It tastes like a mojito, but it comes in a bottle. life is -so- good.
tomorrow, i'm going to head off to my wicked-cool job where i'm learning the skills that will eventually help me run the world. People are nice, and smart, and utterly devoted to their work. it's good to be around them, it's good to make something wonderful.
later, there will be dinners, and dancing, and ultimate!!X!!1!kickbox!!!!11championships, and having everything i want just where and when i want it, fitting just so on the head of this little pin of mine.
it's a little luck and fate... felicity and synchronicity, but mostly, it's this way because i earned it.
YAY ME.
Reasons I'm thrilled to be here:
1) i saw my first firefly last night. it's like nothing i've ever seen before; a sudden, small, drifting flashbulb shaped like a bug. nature is weird.
2) my job is going to be terrific. At the last possible second, I managed to get a job with the same company, but in a totally different position. I'm completely out of my element. I have to read documents. PILES of documents. And I still don't know what the fuck i'm doing. Luckily, I'm extremely motivated. I. am going. to kick ASS.
3) Everyone is really nice. There is this phenomenon here called 'ladies first'. It seems to mean that no matter what the line is for, i get to go to the front of it. HELLA. I dont' care if it's rooted in sexism and undermines the feminine mystique. FRONT. of LINE. shit yeah! sausage biskits, here i come!!!
4) My commute is 20 minutes, with one stoplight. depending on how I go, I may see cows.
5) The sun. oh! the sun. and the humidity, even. my skin is the softest it will ever be, right now
6) i think i've lost like 5lbs. True some of that could be because i stopped working out for a month while i was packing, but another part of it could be that my bf eats like a college student and i tend toward smaller meals. YAY.
7) almost every night so far, i've fallen asleep on the couch with my boyfriend stroking my hair while he reads. (he also does this for the cat. we are both happy).
8) I have PLANS this weekend!
9) I will DANCE tomorrow night!!
10) I found the recycling center; I already feel like I'm doing some good here. Especially considering my boyfriend wasn't recycling before. I told him it's only a matter of time before he finds his lightbulbs replaced. He did, however, refuse to take the canvas bags to Kroger. Baby steps.
Unfortunately with all the excitement, i have not managed to sleep past six am since i got here. which means i'm tired early. like right now.
:) night. :)
When last we left our hero, she was sleeping in Chateau six in Holbrook Arizona..
New Mexico is Flat. It's also gorgeous; just like the movie dreamland, with wide open plateaus and low bushes running all the way up to big puffy clouds sitting on the edge of the earth. as it turns out, the earth is flat, and it's surrounded on all sides by big puffy clouds. i saw it in New Mexico, it must be true. New Mexicans are really into Dinosaurs, Indian stuff, Alien stuff, and blankets. I didn't buy any, but I-40 sure presented some opportunity. I think I stopped for gas a few times. New Mexico is Ok. In fact, i think that's where i found twenty dollars just laying on the ground in a gas station. That never happens.. the string of luck continues.
Speaking of Luck; I have been wanting to get this photo for about 3000 miles or so. straight sevens, baby.. after finding a job at the last possible second, setting sail on 7/11, finding $20 and now this, i can safely say my luck is holding. also notice the cruise control is on, set to 80. I was smart enough to keep the speed down, because there were cops all over the city-surrounding stretches of highway. and no tickets! again.. yay me! the thing about cruise control.. the buttons aren't backlit for a reason: they aren't meant to be used at night!!
North Texas is a shithole. The only thing I have to report is I stopped into the Worst Bathroom in Texas and when I opened the door, something hid. It was at least partly black, and when it wedged itself behind the trash can, the trash can moved from the weight of it. Fucking EW. Anyway i did some complex math in my head and decided I actually did have to go bad enough to risk that thing coming out of hiding. it didn't. I have never used a bathroom so quickly, and with such care about noise and sudden movements. I should point out the attendent was walking around outside with her shoes off, a la britney spears (but this ain't LA).
Oklahoma is also a shithole, but they have windmills so tall and graceful they make california windmills look like lumbering buicks. and what do you know!!!--klahoma! the wind really does.. come.. sweepin'... down.. the plain. I drove through most of Oklahoma in the twilight hours, and then decided to push on another couple hundred miles to Arkansas. In the end, though, the darkness and fourteenth hour of driving got to me, and I settled into another, charming, chateau six in stillwell or stillwater or stillsqualid, Oh-Kay.
this bears a side note: I fucking hate bugs. I'm not going to go into elaborate detail about the motel six vending machine and the crunching noise and how thirsty I was and was it worth it in the end.. (no)... but let's just leave it at: EXOSKELETONS CREEP ME OUT.
Blessedly, Oklahoma gave way to Arkansas, which is where I saw my first Prius since California. It had Cali plates. Arkansas has forests and large fields and is in most ways pleasant. I barely remember it, however, because I hit it sometime around 7 in the morning on Day Three of the longest drive ever. The kitty had recommenced with the wailing, and I myself was damn ready to be out of the car. It didn't take long though, by noon I crossed the border:
:: and there was much rejoicing. Memphis is the first city I hit, and I filled up the tank in a sort of urban gas station outside of town. Memphis has character, that's for damn sure. Wailing Kitty and I sallied forth for another two and a half hours.. the longest two and a half hours of the trip, by the way.. until we finally pulled into my bf's driveway just off of I-40, southwest of nashville proper.
Stay tuned for part three.. while i rest my weary eyes.....
I am now a Nashvillian.
Sorry it's taken me so long to post something; the last few days have been pretty occupied with driving, settling in and starting up my new job. Here are some of the interesting (well.. interesting to me) tidbits from the trip and the last few days:
1) Tuesday 7/10 was my last night in the bay area, and I spent it at swing central. I have the best friends ever. I have the kind of friends who bring me champagne and CD's with fun music, and flowers and photos and self-addressed, stamped postcards. They threw a 'jam' for me.. (which means they danced me in the middle of a circle) and they took a hundred great pictures, and then they said goodbye and waved from the parking lot until they couldn't see my car anymore. It was perfect. they're the best..
2) Apparently the awesome-fairy sent out an email to all my friends indicating that I would love some good music to listen to on the long drive (estimated at 3+ days). THIS rocked. I got probably a dozen or more CD's loaded with cool music, and the kind of surprising mixes that keep you guessing (keep you awake) on the road. The most surprising mixes came from a couple people; Apex, a regular swing DJ.. who had all KINDS of crazy, awesome stuff on there, and not any swing tracks that I recall. He also wins the prize for 'keeping me from driving off the road one sunny Wednesday' with the inclusion of 'Freedom' or whatever that song is called. I listened to it probably 4 times. The other surprising mix came from Lotsa -- that girl loves her some blues and soul. Who knew? i see all these people swing dancing.. we forget there's the rest of life. The prize for 'song that was playing when I crossed the TN border' goes to Jinkies, and the prize for 'song that was playing when I rolled up to my BF's apartment, and thus, the rest of my new life, goes to Raz (and Christina Aguilera's 'Ain't no other man')
3) Ok, the drive:
California:
I left Wed 7/11 (Luckeeeeee) at 7:30 am. My cat WAILED for an hour solid, with intermittant wailing after. There is not much else to report in California... Here's a picture of my cat in one of his quiet moments. He spent most of his time in the litter box, in his cage, which was fine the first two days because he hadn't used it -at all-. I was beginning to wonder if his kidneys were going to shut down like Grandpa Simpson in that episode where Homer won't stop the car to pee. I felt bad trapping him in that cage, but it's a better alternative than seeing him get out of the car and under a tire.
Arizona
I drove through the top of Arizona.. the northern part of the Kaibab national forest... which I learned on the news is the largest Ponderosa Pine forest in the US. In Arizona! who'da thunk it? So, nothing really happened in Arizona either; i pretty much stayed on I-40. There was some light rain, I took this picture of the sunset after I'd cleared out of the mountains and was headed through the desert en route to New Mexico. It's beautiful landscape out there in Northeast AZ. Reminds me of what Arizona used to look like before the developers got a hold of it and made Gilbert. I stayed the night in a Motel 6 and slept on the worst mattress ever, which was still better than the air mattress I had been using.
Ok this is as far as I can get for now.. I have to get to work!
the y in the subject is supposed to be a 7, but i'm too tired to edit.
in the last 48 hours I've
-visited with friends
-eaten at crepevine
-packed
-packed
and i'm still packing.. I haven't seen a single firework, but i think i've got exactly the right number of boxes.
and if you were wondering if i'm the kind of girl who packs knives without wrapping them and then whines when she's cut, i'm totally that girl:
i. am so. tired.
Today after work I ran a thousand errands:
Drug store: uneventful. although, they do sell Thrifty brand ice cream there and if I were thirty lbs lighter and able to digest the lactose, i'd be all over that.
Uhaul: bought some boxes.. they're proving to be useful. There was a woman in line complaining that on the way from Oklahoma City her Uhaul broke down SIX times, and no one would tow it or let her trade it. Finally now the Check Engine light is on, and she refuses to drive it not another foot. I don't blame her. I'd have staged a sit-in after the first breakdown. I simply don't see the point of renting out shitty equipment and making it the customer's problem. Poor lady.
Pet-shop: I bought a cage for my little monster.. it's big enough for his fat 18-lb ass and it's made of wire so the air can circulate and blow his hair around. That is gonna be one memorable week, for sure. He's licking plastic at the moment.
Trader Joes: MMMMMMmmMMM am i going to miss trader joes. I bought some yummy things to eat.
When I got home I carried everything upstairs and began packing the awkward or bulky things I'd gotten boxes for. I did ok with the piano, actually, it fit nicely into a 'sport utility' box. Some other things required.. er.. manual intervention.. and bending and reshaping of the box to suit my needs. easy enough!
The best part was finding a new use for those Entertainment Weekly magazines Best Buy suckered me into buying, repeatedly. I wrapped my dishes in them. I've got like a hundred more, too, so there will be plenty to go around. What you're looking at is a set of cute asian-inspired pussywillow plates wrapped up in Justin Timberlake and a Ketel One ad. Yes, I packed them in an ice chest.. not much chance of that turning itself upside-down in a moving truck, and easier to carry than a box. and i had to move the ice chest anyway.
So, that's a pretty productive evening. Tomorrow:
Print a photo
Buy a frame
Go to the bank, get a cashier's check
Move a futon
Dance
Sleepover
breakfast w/ mimosas
I'm about to wrap up six long-ass years of Bay Area Life, and I'm going to try to chronicle these last few days to remember them better. Complete with photos! (when I remember).
After the exhausting yard sale festivities yesterday, I woke to find myself refreshed and also sunburned on my neck and in the place where my hair is parted. I'm sure it's going to peel; probably long flakes of scalp skin are going to drop off when people around me are eating.
I got a lot done today; washed my remaining dishes, did some laundry, thought about packing, some online junk, some PG&E junk, etc. I vacuumed the futon I'm giving to a friend, I bummed around on myspace, I got ready to go to Disco Bay for a Canada day celebration.
Drove by some windmills. This is a uniquely California thing, for me. When I was a kid in Arizona, we'd drive from Phoenix to LA (usually Disneyland or Universal Studios, etc) and when we passed the windmills, we knew we were close. I've never seen the windmills actually 'milling' however, and certainly not with as much gusto (hahahhh gust-o) as they were milling today. I wonder if the power generated from windmills is worth the cost of maintaining them??
My friends Starbuck and EEEEEP! hosted another damn fine party. I managed to make it out of there alive and well-fed, and before 10pm (barely). Everyone was a little sad that I'm taking off, moving on to new and awesome adventures in love and country music, but for the most part they know me and they know this sort of thing is right up my alley. I just LOVE love, you know??
Here's a picture of EEEEEEEEeeEEEP! weeeEEEEPing on my shoulder about my impending departure. She's sad and still beautiful. I picked this one because she's in the witness relocation program because of that thing that one time. She's also Canadian, hence the red dress. The celebration of Canada's independence today involved a few different types of liquor, some maple syrup, Canadian Bacon (ham), poutine and other assorted types of liquor. And wheat thins. Note that at no time did we actually talk about, nor in fact did she even know much about, the story of Canada's independence. That's my girl.
okay, eh!
Tomorrow:
schedule car service so that i don't get stranded in amarillo
buy uhaul boxes for the keyboard I begged for and which I don't play
Misc errands
pack pack pack!!
lately i've spent time marking things with bits of masking tape and a sharpie. most of everything in my life here is worth 50 cents, with nothing over $5.
I guess that makes sense.
two weeks! fourteen days. If anyone needs a table, chairs, futon, or bookshelves, all relatively good condition.. let me know. I'm giving them away; craigslist has the market so saturated it's not even worth posting.
big mwahs,
k
it's june first. six weeks until i shake the dust of this crummy little town offa my feet and see the world!
well not so much.. but soon, so soon, i'll be leaving cali, moving cross country, living with my BF, finally.. it's been so long.
I'm super stoked to get back to living. I want to go to libraries and the gym and dance when i can and not when I can't. I want to be around my boyfriend, hang out, just be .. you know.. together. I want to see and hear what he's working on and eat and sleep with him, and do laundry together. His soap is better than mine. I want to drink tea on his balcony. yep..
I can't wait for this waiting to be over. I woke up this morning just thinking.. June first.. June First.. June first... almost done. One holy fuck of a difficult move, 4 days in a car with a giant, hairy, wailing cat, but then it will be done.
I want to tell my friends. I'm so sick of keeping this from the people who care about me. I'm sick of being a liar. And yet, I will carry on this lie for 17 more days, because i don't want anything to come out at work until after my 401K matching is fully vested. Isn't that insane? (and yet sensible?).
Friends, when you do read this, please don't hate me for not telling you sooner. I have wanted to tell you from the beginning.
love, me
