make a move - 7/30/14 in 2013-2014

So. Here I am.

I’m mostly moved in. All my stuff is here, unloaded by a crew of four likely former football players in an hour for $200 (well-spent). My room is almost done; my clothes and bed and bathroom are established, so I’m not rummaging through bags anymore, like this is only temporary. I’m still getting used to sounds and temperature variances. I’m on the third floor, in the corner, and my room is stuffier than the living room. The living room has a ceiling fan, at least. I have so much natural light! A giant double-window in my bedroom and freaking French doors with a balcony in the living room, and cathedral ceilings that make it all look even bigger. Sheppy adores the balcony, but Lena stepped outside, growled at nasty nature, and fled back inside. It looks northwest, I think, so I do get some really pretty views of sunset cloud formations. We’re going to put a table on it (later).

It’s just a one-bedroom, with a single indoor closet and an outdoor storage closet off the balcony. The kitchen is pretty small, as is the bathroom, and I’m struggling to find homes for everything. Same with the bathroom. Going from three bathrooms to one is difficult, although I’ve determined that I won’t need lotion, shampoo, or conditioner until 2015 sometime. I’m apparently a hoarder. What I do need, once I have spending money, are organizers and little shelving units so I can make the most of my space. Not helping is that my closet door is jammed shut! It just needs to be filed down, but it’s not helping the unpacking.

I really don’t want to get into the moving process itself. It was stressful and exhausting and my parents were an enormous, necessary help. My dad drove the moving truck and it blew two tires, making it a 9 hour trip instead of 4.5 and using all of our unloading time and daylight. When I get my Internet back (tomorrow?) I need to find the phone number to discuss the billing on that. I drove up ahead so I could race the clock to the leasing office and get the key. I got here in four hours, shaving thirty minutes off, with lots of speeding and wailing animals and road rage, and with ten minutes to spare. It was stressful. Everything was stressful. My mom brought her two little dogs in a wagon cage because she didn’t think Joey would take care of them, so there was that too. Sheppy didn’t mind them so much, but they and Lena raged back and forth every time they saw each other.

Aaron’s been amazing. He brought my dinner the last two nights and his giant comforter so I could have something to sleep in. He helped me get the truck back last night and then showed me to Walmart so I could get a shower curtain and a smaller litter box that fits in my bathroom. He wasn’t feeling too good, so I gave him Tylenol and a bunch of cuddles that seemed to work. He lives only four and a half miles away. This is crazy. It hasn’t set in yet. When he lied down on a blanket, that was the first time that both Sheppy and Lena settled down, on the blanket next to him.

The complex is pretty. My building is in the very back, up against the trees lining a power easement, so Sheppy has a really quiet grassy area in which to walk. He’s not too fond of the stairs, but at least he doesn’t ask to go out from boredom anymore. The fairgrounds/concert venue where I met Aaron is walking distance down the road. Krystel came over last night to say hi and brought me a bottle of wine and a half-cake-half-cupcake arrangement she created during her shift at Publix. Tonight I’m going to watch Sharknado 2 at Aaron’s with everyone.

It’s mindboggling. I have… help. I have friends. There are people who want to introduce me to others, show me around, help me find a job. There’s a club of FSU alumni with which to watch games this season. I have burst out of the middle of isolated, hyper-independent nowhere to… whatever this is. I still fought through putting my bed together, and my TV, by myself, but I can call Aaron and his sister over to help me figure out how best to organize the kitchen for lack of a pantry. There’s a beach 30 minutes away. I have a rock radio station again. It’s also a lot hotter and more humid, more like Florida again. I missed this! (Or at least that’s what I keep telling myself.) I AM IN THE PROMISED LAND. (Four years, forty years, potayto, potahto.)

I feel like an adult. This is so very weird.