We are moved in and settled, or as settled as we can be with little money and way too much stuff for a two-bedroom apartment. The final move will come in April when we transfer to a house. We have our eye on a house in Ruskin, 30 minutes from here – four bedrooms, two-car garage, cable included, never lived in, all for $50 less a month than I pay now. It's just a matter of saving up the money for it; I spent every penny I had to get Kelly here, so we're living on her last paycheck temporarily.

Seeing Kelly's parents and brother again after six years was a pleasure, and not awkward like I had worried. I think we're all comfortable that this is the right thing. They have built themselves a great new house in Princeton, IL (no connection to Harvard, IL that I know of) and are in the process of retiring; good for them.

I had a little freak-out for a while upon seeing Kelly's mountain of stuff to be moved, and what seemed at first glance like a lot still remaining to be packed with only a few hours until her friends arrived to load the truck. But Kelly assured me that all would get done, and I was wrong to doubt her or her friends, good people who are very generous with their time to move two friends in the same weekend. I expected the frigid cold and the foot of snow on the ground, but I neglected to anticipate the ice; somehow we got the rest of Kelly's things packed and carried down two flights of outdoor stairs and packed tightly. Many, many thanks to the folks who helped us.

The drive was painful and the unpacking even more so; we finally finished around 11pm the night before I had to return to work, which didn't exactly help me dive into the many outstanding items waiting in my inbox. But we're settled, and we're taking care of things one at a time, like opening Kelly a bank account and stocking up on (healthy) groceries. If we can finish wiring up her computer for the Internet so we don't have to keep sharing this one, I suppose things will be even better, but somehow it doesn't feel possible for me to be any happier than I am now.


Four Replies to Moved In

Aaron Shurtleff | February 9, 2008
Woo hoo! Way to go on the successful move!

Ruskin?! Wow, that's up by where my job is (technically in Balm, but the mailing address is Wimauma..pronounced WHY-mama)! I promise though, you'd have to be lost or looking for it to find it! I don't envy you the commute, but I've done it for going on 4 years now, so it's doable! I hope everything works out for the two of you!

And the previous offer of assistance with moving will be happily extended to the upcoming move as well, if you require it!

Anna Gregoline | February 10, 2008
All that trial and tribulation, and then that last sentence. Yeah! =)

Jackie Mason | February 10, 2008
[hidden by author request]

Lori Lancaster | February 11, 2008
[hidden by author request]


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