Slowly but Surely

We are slowly making progress on the apartment.  There are just a few boxes left, but most of the last week has gone into making sure things are in the spaces they belong.  A lot of the initial work was just getting the boxes emptied as quickly as possible.  Things went wherever there was space, and there was packing paper EVERYWHERE.  I've never seen so much paper in my life.  I kept one whole trash bag of it to use when shipping fragile items, and bags and bags of it are slowly making it to the recycle bin.

Meanwhile, Felix is finally taking to the window seat I set up.  I knew she would love it.

Current Goals

1.  Make good use of my new gym membership.  Ultimate goal: stop feeling like dog doo everyday.  Vanity goal: lose 25 lbs.  And yes, that is based on healthy weights told to me by a doctor.  For some reason people always look at me like I'm crazy when I say that.  Though, upon hearing my weight, one friend did say "Man, you're dense aren't you?" So... yeah.  I guess I am.  Progress thus far:  2 visits in 1 week.

2.  Build a standing work desk for the craft room so I don't sit on my butt all day.  Perhaps something like this.  It's going to be awesome.

3.  Make a pad for the larger than normal window sill in the living room that I've decided to make into a window seat.  Here's hoping my sewing skills, or lack thereof, are up to it.

4.  Finish unpacking and arranging this freaking apartment.  *groan*

Moving In

When we got to town, we were very excited to finally be out of the car and HOME.  Of course, we love traveling and visiting friends and family, but it can be so exhausting living out of a suitcase and juggling all the people who want to spend time with you.  Especially when you have to cram everything into such a short space because of how infrequently we're in town.  So yes, home was calling our names.

Having been here a full week now, I have compiled a list of loves, and not-so loves, regarding our new place.

Loves:
1. The apartment is on the National Register of Historic Places, because it was the first lager house in the US.  This is why our building is called the Lager House.
2. Because of #1, we have giant, wood frame windows, and original exposed brick and wooden support beams.
3. We have a balcony again.
4. From my couch, when the blinds are open, I can see the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, the Delaware River, and some other cool buildings.
5. It's surprisingly quiet here, even though we're right next to the bridge and highway.  The only thing we really hear is when the train goes over the bridge, and I don't mind it.
6. This place is larger than our last two apartments, so I don't feel squished anymore.
7. Washer and dryer!
8. Built in HDTVs in the living room and office.
9. A/C
10. Walking distance to the subway, various DELICIOUS restaurants, a small grocery, pet supply stores, bars, a gym, and some of the more popular tourist attractions.
11. Our actual street has none of these things, so street noise is nonexistent.
12. Did I mention how good the food here is??  Because it SO IS.
13. My office has built in shelving, and a ginormous walk in closet that I don't have to share with DS.

Not-so loves:
1. Bugs.  Creepy, fast, multi-legged things that come out of nowhere and scare the crap out of me.  They seem to be few and far between, but boy do they creep me out.
2. Dirt.  Some of which I suspect is due to a prolonged vacancy, just judging by the dust and the knowledge that it was empty when we toured it a month before.  The rest was obviously from the last tenants, meaning that the place wasn't cleaned by the landlord before we moved in.  It took me 4 hours and 3 magic erasers to clean all the walls, and I'm still not done with the bathroom.
3. Somehow, this place has the same bad plumbing as our last place.  Specifically, the shower hardware was installed incorrectly so that the single knob goes left for cold water, or right for hot water.  Showers are sometimes uncomfortable...
4. It takes 3 full cycles on high heat for clothes to dry in the dryer, even if there are only 4 things in there.
5. There is evidence of water damage in multiple places.
6. There are at least 10 light bulbs either missing or burnt out throughout the apartment.  (We have a combination of track and recessed lighting.)
6. The landlord has yet to return any of our phone calls since we moved in, so we none of this is even being addressed.

That's it so far.  Today DS and I pulled out the W/D combo to check the hoses for lint.  The exhaust didn't look too bad, but the intake was completely covered.  I'm hoping laundry tomorrow goes smoother.  I at least know that the heating apparatus is functioning, so here's hoping cleaning the back helps.  All things considered, I think this place is awesome.  The things that are wrong are completely manageable, and the things that are right are SO RIGHT.

We still have boxes all over the place, because there is only so much unpacking and arranging I can handle at one time.  But we're much much closer to being done, and I will post photos once we are.  I checked to see if there was anything useable from my move in photos, but they're all close ups of various things I wanted to document for the landlord whenever we move out.

The one thing I miss the most right now are my friends.  Right now, we don't know anyone, and without me having a job, I have no immediate hopes of meeting anyone.  It's incredibly difficult to spend all day alone, and then just get a few minutes of conversation out of DS once he's home.  It's like pulling teeth.  We're both adjusting, him to a new job that's more stressful and demanding, me to an utter lack of human interaction.  I wish we could just put an ad on craigslist for friends :P  But I did join a gym today, and we have briefly met one of our neighbors, who seemed cool.  DS has even been to the local climbing gym.  With any luck, we'll have friends soon.  In the meantime, if anyone wants to visit, you have our permission.

The Move

Is it Thursday already?  We've been at our new place for over 4 days??  Wow.  Well, let me tell you about the move.  Be forewarned, there is boring narrative to follow.

The cats were taken away, and I cried like a little baby.  They looked horrified.  The movers came and boxed all our stuff in a mere 7 hours.  I guess when the things aren't yours, you aren't as tempted to spend time touching, remembering, getting sidetracked by each thing you own.  Everything just got quadruple wrapped in white paper and stuck in a box.  DONE.

At the Palace, clinking glasses with the staff as we sang What a Beautiful World.

That night we started staying at our friends, to whom we gave our big tv.  It was a wedding present, and also a way to get rid of it since the new place has built in televisions.  We were not opposed to getting the best new thing whenever we manage to get a house :)  That Friday we did just a little bit of cleaning, but nothing much since we were basically told by our landlord that he was taking the money out of our deposit to have it professionally cleaned no matter what.  I was not about to break a sweat cleaning some place for nothing.  The pick up for our things was delayed until Saturday, but went smoothly.  Though there was some muttering about just how much stuff we had, and packing the truck had to be done carefully to make sure it all fit.  I don't know what to tell them.  A guy came to estimate our belongings' volume a month ago, and it's not like we got a bunch of new stuff...

Nell and DS looking at the city and the moon.

We took our friends out to dinner at The Palace, a Louisiana inspired grill that is soooooo good.  Then we all went up to Lizard's Mouth (a rocky spot on the mountain) to see the sun set over the ocean and take photos.  After too little rest, we caught a plane to KY, where we were picked up by my mom and her husband.

Me and Sam at Lizard's Mouth.

Monday we visited my grandmother, then the four of us toured the Louisville Slugger Museum.  I'm not sure how none of them had ever been before, but I made sure that was fixed.  Back in G'Town, we took my mom out to dinner for her birthday.

Kid in front us at the Bat game, covered in cotton candy.

Tuesday we hung out with my college friend Tim and his wife, and their dog Sterling.  We grilled burgers and learned a new way to make delicious corn on the grill.  After dinner we went downtown to see the Louisville Bats play.  DS was so excited because this guy named Chapman was relief pitching, and he's supposed to be the next best thing for the Reds.

Aroldis Chapman pitching.

Wednesday we picked up Chanda and went north to see Kelly and Jon.  We enjoyed their patio, and their cats, and the booze in their fridge.  For dinner we had Olive Garden, which I hadn't been to in years and years.  Seems strange.

DS, Tim and Beth at the game.

Thursday we saw Geno, walked the dogs, and I was surprised to discover my good friend Mike had moved back next door.  My brother even graced us with his presence.  We picked up the rental car, then DS made dinner for us.  Everyone thought it was delicious, and I let them know it's because Alton Brown can do no wrong.  (Seriously, try that 40 cloves and a chicken recipe)

Chapman's pitching speed.  DS claims we saw him pitch 101.

Friday morning we piled into the car and drove to Elkins, WV to visit with DS's grandparents.  It's only the second time that I've been there, and it was nice to have more than a few hours to see the place.  We spent the rest of the weekend bouncing between his two grandmothers, and I met loads of extended family at various dinners.  Elkins is beautiful, and decidedly cooler than KY this time of year.

Elkins as seen from the Triplett place "in the holla".

Sunday morning we loaded up the car again and drove the rest of the way to Philly.  Pennsylvania looks almost exactly like the region of KY where I lived.  At least, the region we drove through did.  We mostly took back roads out of WV, then took the Turnpike the rest of the way.  Stupid tolls, and lunch at one of those little stops on Turnpike was not great.  But I guess it was better than driving through places like DC the whole way.  That would have take an hour or two longer.

Once in the city, we quickly realized that driving here is nowhere near as nice as walking here.  It made me very happy that we chose to live downtown so we won't need the car hardly ever.  We managed to get some keys, drag in our few belongings from the car, and set up the air mattress before dinner.

Up next: Moving in.

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For some reason, I only have photos of a couple of things.  I'm assuming DS has the rest on his camera.  Though I know I forgot to gets photos of me with Kel and Chanda :(