This past month has been nothing short of a saga rolled into an odyssey. I have so much to blog about it isn’t even funny! I had wanted to blog along the way, but by the time I finished the move-related tasks of the day, I was simply too tired.
Part of the move I didn’t want to blog about until we were through it because being public about it, or publicly critical in any way, could have jeopardized the people who were trying to quietly help me.
So, needless to say, I have a lot of stories to tell. But, for right now, I just want to post to say Fin and I are well and safely in our new apartment in Arlington Va. The apartment, as I expected, is very small – just 540 square feet. It is the size of the apartment I lived in when I was first in Kansas City. The problem is back then I was 22ish, and owned almost nothing. Now, I’m 41 going on 42 and I have stuff! I gave a LOT of things away as I was leaving, had various charities come to get bags and boxes of things, as well as furniture. Mom made three trips of things to her house that were sentimental, but that I feared I didn’t have room for here. Still, I’m going to have to get rid of even more.
We only have three small closets and no storage locker here. The closets are about two-thirds the size of my coat closet in Kansas. The clothes are so thick in them that you can’t easily flip through and everything wrinkles. Because I essentially only have two rooms, I’m finding that I have too many lamps and tables. Not knowing what the future holds, and so mindful of the cost of buying new things, I would ordinarily like to save these things. Here, there is no room to save a single box, let alone lamps and tables.
I think it will take a while to downsize to the point that I feel comfortable here, and not stuffed in like a foot in a shoe two sizes too small.
Already I am missing Kansas too.
Our new neighborhood has its own collection of small businesses and stores in easy walking distance. But, there is no replacement so far for Homers. Man do I miss Homers!!! There are actually three places I can walk to for a latte, but none really have much of a place to sit for very long.
While the coffee was good at Homers, it wasn’t the coffee that made it such a special place. It was the community that built up around such a popular and comfortable neighborhood hangout.
I’ve worked from home for some time now and Homers was like having an office of co-workers without the actual normal job. I got to know the other people that came frequently in the afternoon to get out of their home offices as well – to be with other humans. We got so we sometimes worked together. An insurance agent helped me when I was trying to figure out health insurance, and I helped him with a brochure for his clients.
While there is a definite sense of neighborhood here, I haven’t yet figured out how to plug into it on a personal and relationship building way. Perhaps it will come as I settle in, but I’m already missing this.
Part of the move I didn’t want to blog about until we were through it because being public about it, or publicly critical in any way, could have jeopardized the people who were trying to quietly help me.
So, needless to say, I have a lot of stories to tell. But, for right now, I just want to post to say Fin and I are well and safely in our new apartment in Arlington Va. The apartment, as I expected, is very small – just 540 square feet. It is the size of the apartment I lived in when I was first in Kansas City. The problem is back then I was 22ish, and owned almost nothing. Now, I’m 41 going on 42 and I have stuff! I gave a LOT of things away as I was leaving, had various charities come to get bags and boxes of things, as well as furniture. Mom made three trips of things to her house that were sentimental, but that I feared I didn’t have room for here. Still, I’m going to have to get rid of even more.
We only have three small closets and no storage locker here. The closets are about two-thirds the size of my coat closet in Kansas. The clothes are so thick in them that you can’t easily flip through and everything wrinkles. Because I essentially only have two rooms, I’m finding that I have too many lamps and tables. Not knowing what the future holds, and so mindful of the cost of buying new things, I would ordinarily like to save these things. Here, there is no room to save a single box, let alone lamps and tables.
I think it will take a while to downsize to the point that I feel comfortable here, and not stuffed in like a foot in a shoe two sizes too small.
Already I am missing Kansas too.
Our new neighborhood has its own collection of small businesses and stores in easy walking distance. But, there is no replacement so far for Homers. Man do I miss Homers!!! There are actually three places I can walk to for a latte, but none really have much of a place to sit for very long.
While the coffee was good at Homers, it wasn’t the coffee that made it such a special place. It was the community that built up around such a popular and comfortable neighborhood hangout.
I’ve worked from home for some time now and Homers was like having an office of co-workers without the actual normal job. I got to know the other people that came frequently in the afternoon to get out of their home offices as well – to be with other humans. We got so we sometimes worked together. An insurance agent helped me when I was trying to figure out health insurance, and I helped him with a brochure for his clients.
While there is a definite sense of neighborhood here, I haven’t yet figured out how to plug into it on a personal and relationship building way. Perhaps it will come as I settle in, but I’m already missing this.
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