The apartment is practically empty. The walls are bare and the kitchen contains only the essentials to survive over the next few days. Saturday is moving day.
I remember the first night I spent in this apartment. I unpacked most of the day and when I couldn't take anymore I drank a few beers until I eventually fell asleep on my loveseat. I was exhausted, both physically and emotionally. I woke up the next morning with that panicked feeling that you get when you're not sure where you are or how you got there.
Over the next few days the place started to grow on me. It was comfortable, and more than anything, it was affordable. It wasn't anywhere near the 1800+ square feet I had come to love in my old house but it was mine, all mine. It was the first apartment I had ever gotten by myself.
Over the next few months this apartment welcomed old friends and helped me make new ones. This was the place where Thomas cooked for me for the very first time. This was the place that we spent every weekend together.
Eventually Thomas would move in and we learned to work around each other in the tiny kitchen and bathroom. This was the place where we began our lives together.
Thomas and I have been planning this upcoming move to bigger and better things for a while now. Closer to both of our jobs and more space for the dogs to stretch out, we've found our replacement. Now it's time to leave.
Even with the noisy neighbors and the steady decline of good tenants this apartment has been good to me. It saw two major life changes for me -the beginning of my single-hood and the end of it.
I am so looking forward to the move on Saturday because I know that Thomas and I will be incredibly happy in our new home but I will always remember #812 with very fond memories.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Things I Learned While on Vacation
1. Never ever take a cruise in the dead of winter. My luck is such that an unusual cold snap will take over most of the country and our counterparts to the South. This makes for cold road trips, cold ocean water, and choppy water conditions.
Also, I am apparently prone to sea-sickness when on a boat that rocks back and forth like me on a drunken binge.
Note the jackets on and red tipped noses. We may be on a boat but we're freezing our asses off.
2. There's always a reason why something is just a tad too cheap. I swear to the sweet baby Jesus himself being on that ship was like being in a floating Walmart for five days. Babies screaming, kids running, horribly ugly women walking around in their housecoats and slippers. It was like all the trailer parks in Texas got together on one ship to ravage the all-you-can-gorge buffet and take part in the embarrassing karaoke version of "My Humps". The food on the ship was incredibly "meh" and it was more about quantity rather than quality. Then again after seeing how some of my fellow cruisers were wolfing down the food like it was their last day on earth I wouldn't be surprised if there was an emergency case of Wolf Brand chili and hotdogs somewhere hidden just in case we ran out of food and the hungry hillbilly natives got restless.
Thomas enjoying one of the more finer foods on board the ship - soft serve ice cream FTW!
3. After a full and sickening day at sea getting off the ship and getting drunk with strangers is glorious. Also, duty free shopping is one of my new favorite past-times. Buying Mexican Camel Lights for $15.00 a carton made me shed a tear of happiness.
At this particular beach break the Coronas were "all-you-can-drink", so I did.
4. We may be a bunch of white people but we can sure as shit shake a tail feather when we're three sheets to the wind.
5. Towel creatures are fucking creepy.
6. Cruise booze is expensive. A bucket of four beers will cost you a whopping $22.00. $22.00! For FOUR BEERS! A MaiTai will run you about $8.75 and a double Jack and Coke will require you to give up your first born. However, taking photos of yourself with those little umbrellas behind your ears is priceless and extremely hilarious, when you're drunk.
7. After spending hundreds upon hundreds of dollars in booze on the ship when they offer you free drinks for an hour TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT.
8. I am the motherfucking QUEEN of the self-portrait.
9. The more the merrier. I love my husband, I love my in-laws, and I love my friends. This vacation was just what the doctor ordered for all of us. Were there some rough times on the trip? Sure, if you count the sea sickness and the horrible food and the cold and the cabin fever. But in the end we all made each other laugh. We all had a fabulous time. In fact, we were having such a fabulous time that we ended up adopting more people into our group who saw how much fun WE were having and just had to join us. What can I say? We're likable people.
10. No matter what, sunny beach breaks with unlimited drinks makes everything a-okay in my book.
11. Turning 29 isn't so bad when you get to spend it with the ones that you heart the most. A pot of melted chocolate REALLY helps as well and then maybe a beer or 20.
Also, I am apparently prone to sea-sickness when on a boat that rocks back and forth like me on a drunken binge.
Note the jackets on and red tipped noses. We may be on a boat but we're freezing our asses off.
2. There's always a reason why something is just a tad too cheap. I swear to the sweet baby Jesus himself being on that ship was like being in a floating Walmart for five days. Babies screaming, kids running, horribly ugly women walking around in their housecoats and slippers. It was like all the trailer parks in Texas got together on one ship to ravage the all-you-can-gorge buffet and take part in the embarrassing karaoke version of "My Humps". The food on the ship was incredibly "meh" and it was more about quantity rather than quality. Then again after seeing how some of my fellow cruisers were wolfing down the food like it was their last day on earth I wouldn't be surprised if there was an emergency case of Wolf Brand chili and hotdogs somewhere hidden just in case we ran out of food and the hungry hillbilly natives got restless.
Thomas enjoying one of the more finer foods on board the ship - soft serve ice cream FTW!
3. After a full and sickening day at sea getting off the ship and getting drunk with strangers is glorious. Also, duty free shopping is one of my new favorite past-times. Buying Mexican Camel Lights for $15.00 a carton made me shed a tear of happiness.
At this particular beach break the Coronas were "all-you-can-drink", so I did.
4. We may be a bunch of white people but we can sure as shit shake a tail feather when we're three sheets to the wind.
5. Towel creatures are fucking creepy.
6. Cruise booze is expensive. A bucket of four beers will cost you a whopping $22.00. $22.00! For FOUR BEERS! A MaiTai will run you about $8.75 and a double Jack and Coke will require you to give up your first born. However, taking photos of yourself with those little umbrellas behind your ears is priceless and extremely hilarious, when you're drunk.
7. After spending hundreds upon hundreds of dollars in booze on the ship when they offer you free drinks for an hour TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT.
8. I am the motherfucking QUEEN of the self-portrait.
9. The more the merrier. I love my husband, I love my in-laws, and I love my friends. This vacation was just what the doctor ordered for all of us. Were there some rough times on the trip? Sure, if you count the sea sickness and the horrible food and the cold and the cabin fever. But in the end we all made each other laugh. We all had a fabulous time. In fact, we were having such a fabulous time that we ended up adopting more people into our group who saw how much fun WE were having and just had to join us. What can I say? We're likable people.
10. No matter what, sunny beach breaks with unlimited drinks makes everything a-okay in my book.
11. Turning 29 isn't so bad when you get to spend it with the ones that you heart the most. A pot of melted chocolate REALLY helps as well and then maybe a beer or 20.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Monday, January 4, 2010
Not A Resolution
I don't really do new year resolutions. Usually resolutions are selfish in nature. To do or to be better as a person. If I'm going to quit smoking it's not going to be on a day in which I'm painfully hungover. On that day smoking will be one of the few things I will need to get through the day without murdering someone. Technically I don't diet anymore so we can throw that resolution out the window as well. I already work out. I'm already a good person. I am organized and always on time.
However, I made a silent resolution without even really meaning to do so.
Thomas and I belong to a very large public forum/message board. Neither of us are major posters, instead we prefer to lurk in the shadows and wait for drama or lulz. After being on this forum for over a year now you tend to see the same people posting over and over. You recognize user names and avatars. You actually get to know who these people are just by reading what they've got to say, even if it isn't aimed directly at you. This past week a major contributor/popular member passed away very unexpectedly. He was young, newly married, and very well liked. His wife, also a member of the forum, is (understandably) inconsolable.
I instantly felt sorrow for his wife. She is lost in a sea of mourning and grief.
In one way or another I deal with death almost every day. Except I deal with the financial side of dying. I help people pass on wealth to their loved ones, or at least make sure they are not a financial burden on them. While I myself have a healthy fear of dying young I almost always forget that those I love dearly have their own expiration dates. I usually don't put much thought into it but the thought of losing Thomas takes my breath away. The thought of losing any one of my friends or family makes me want to grip my stomach. Of course I have zero control over any of it but that's not my point. My point is to be more aware and to be more apparent in the lives of those that I love and cherish.
While reading through post after post in the thread that announced that young man's death so many people responded with memories but so many others posted regrets that they hadn't seen him in so long, or hadn't had the chance to say what they wanted to say to him. I don't want that to happen to me. I want every single person who I love to know that I think about them every day and even if I don't always show it I do try. I try to be the good listener, the good friend, the best wife I can possibly be. I know I fail from time to time but my intentions are there.
Call this what you will. A promise, a resolution, an agreement with myself, but it is what it is. An increased effort to be a better (insert role here). And since I believe resolutions are selfish this isn't about bettering myself necessarily, it's about bettering the lives of the people I love. It's about letting them know they are my life. It's about letting them know they are special. It's about forgetting about myself and making those people my top priority. In the end we all win.
However, I made a silent resolution without even really meaning to do so.
Thomas and I belong to a very large public forum/message board. Neither of us are major posters, instead we prefer to lurk in the shadows and wait for drama or lulz. After being on this forum for over a year now you tend to see the same people posting over and over. You recognize user names and avatars. You actually get to know who these people are just by reading what they've got to say, even if it isn't aimed directly at you. This past week a major contributor/popular member passed away very unexpectedly. He was young, newly married, and very well liked. His wife, also a member of the forum, is (understandably) inconsolable.
I instantly felt sorrow for his wife. She is lost in a sea of mourning and grief.
In one way or another I deal with death almost every day. Except I deal with the financial side of dying. I help people pass on wealth to their loved ones, or at least make sure they are not a financial burden on them. While I myself have a healthy fear of dying young I almost always forget that those I love dearly have their own expiration dates. I usually don't put much thought into it but the thought of losing Thomas takes my breath away. The thought of losing any one of my friends or family makes me want to grip my stomach. Of course I have zero control over any of it but that's not my point. My point is to be more aware and to be more apparent in the lives of those that I love and cherish.
While reading through post after post in the thread that announced that young man's death so many people responded with memories but so many others posted regrets that they hadn't seen him in so long, or hadn't had the chance to say what they wanted to say to him. I don't want that to happen to me. I want every single person who I love to know that I think about them every day and even if I don't always show it I do try. I try to be the good listener, the good friend, the best wife I can possibly be. I know I fail from time to time but my intentions are there.
Call this what you will. A promise, a resolution, an agreement with myself, but it is what it is. An increased effort to be a better (insert role here). And since I believe resolutions are selfish this isn't about bettering myself necessarily, it's about bettering the lives of the people I love. It's about letting them know they are my life. It's about letting them know they are special. It's about forgetting about myself and making those people my top priority. In the end we all win.
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