Gypsy Woman

Prepping for another move - and it's a good thing because I will be moving into an apartment that is much bigger than my current one.

Current Apartment Cons:

- Approximately 250 sq feet.
- Second floor
- Three windows that face east, so the morning sun sucks (thankful for room darkening curtains)
- Slats on every miniblind (5 windows) had at least one slat broken or missing
- Drilling holes in plaster walls is a BITCH
- No A/C
- No dining room - no dining table so I eat from a TV tray in the living room
- Bathroom that is approximately 25 sq feet
- One bedroom - and only one option for bed placement (door, when open, is less than an inch from my bed)
- No dressers (no place to put them)
- Bedroom closet is the size of a phone booth - and that's being generous
- Kitchen counters (2) - my microwave uses all of the counter top that it sits on
- Coffeemaker sits on top of the microwave, which makes it impossible to open the cupboard above it
- Cupboard space is minimal (95% of my kitchen stuff is in storage)
- Dish drainer uses 98% of the counter top it sits on
- Kitchen window faces east
- Kitchen window is floor to ceiling, and, for safety reasons, installed with the window opening on top
- Stairs leading to my apartment are 13"-15" wide (I measured it!)
- Entry hallway inside my apartment is 33" wide
- Two upholstered chairs and one ottoman in my living room
- My sofa won't fit up the stairs - nor the living room if it did
- Sofa is in storage with 95% of my stuff
- Three piece entertainment center is, well, in three different places in the living room
- Front hall closet is 8' wide and 2' deep (rectangle)
- Clothes bar is placed front to back (2' wide)
- Clothes bar is smack in the middle of the width
- No washer/dryer in the building
- Laundromat
- Apartment HAD a resident mouse (took 6 weeks to catch him)
- Mouse ate the fortune cookies I left on the counter (earning the nickname of 'Captain Crunch)
- Ambulances and fire trucks (with flashing lights and sirens blaring) all day and all night (hospital nearby)
- Train tracks close and a train that runs day/night (not as many times as the ambulances/fire trucks)

Current Apartment Pros:

- Inexpensive (more than living in a shelter; 68% less than my last apartment)
- Month to month lease
- The landlord pays for every thing except gas (for the stove)
- Apartment is in a house built in the 1880's
- It is 0.6 miles from where I work
- Saving wear and tear on my car by either walking to work or riding the company shuttle bus
- Added a 3-piece rattan set (2 chairs; loveseat) to my living room (needs cushions; working on that)
- Three windows in the living room (lots of light)
- Two windows face north and face the street (good air circulation)
- Bedroom window faces south (great air circulation in apartment)
- Less space to clean (previous home was ~800 sq feet)
- Mouse holes have been CLOSED
- Have not had to use the furnace (moved in March 1st)
- The sound of a train reminds me of my last apartment

Current Apartment WTFs:

- Pimp ran his business from MY apartment (using girls from Back Page)
- Dog the Bounty Hunter, his wife (at the time) and the team have been in MY apartment
- One of the "girls" was a fugitive
- The "pimp" stabbed a man on the front porch (for seemingly no reason)
- Which explains the blood spots on the kitchen ceiling and wall
- This apartment hadn't been cleaned in, well, a VERY long time (prior to my move in)
- Bullet lodged in the kitchen floor
- Bullet holes in a couple of other places
- Apartment hasn't been painted in a LONG time
- Lots of nail holes in the walls (that I patched)
- Apartment door was kicked in at some point before me
- Cap'n Crunch, the mouse, came from a first floor apartment
- So did the fruit flies and black flies (she moved out recently)

There are probably other pros/cons; I just can't think of them at the moment.

New Apartment Pros:

- Still within walking distance of my job
- Rent is $25 dollars more than I currently pay
- Almost triple the size of my current abode!
- Dining room!
- Large kitchen space!
- Will put an island in the middle for more counter space
- Four options for bed placement!
- A living room that my sofa and chairs and entertainment center will fit in!
- Ginormous bathroom space!
- Fresh paint; new flooring and miniblinds (that will be taken down right after I get the keys to the apartment)
- Windows (6) that face east and south
- A window in the bathroom - BONUS!
- Ground floor unit

The most important PROS to my current apartment and my new apartment - they are MINE, ALL MINE!

My current residence is the first one I looked at (I was still living in a shelter at the time) and, despite all the filth and without hesitation I pounced on it. There was no way I could continue living with so many other people because there was no place to go for silence, a good cry or meltdown.

Freedom!

Yep, I am excited!

Right now I am waiting for my apartment to be flipped so I can move in. All of the carpets had to be removed; hardwood floors will replace them in the living and dining room. I hope he puts hardwood floors in the kitchen and bedroom too. I asked the landlord to not install (brand new) miniblinds in the new apartment because I won't use them. He is installing them anyway so I asked him to leave the box for each one so I can store them without fear of damage.

As I sit here typing all this I feel guilty because there are numerous things I need to do for the move. I AM looking forward to having a smaller storage unit (less money).  I will again hire the guys that emptied out the POD into a moving truck I rented, then moving all that stuff into my storage unit. Those two guys were so efficient and quick that I could only watch in awe as they worked.  I hired them, they are professional movers, for 2 hours and, three storage units later (first one was too small and the second was still too small, and on the second floor, and with no elevator to help) they finished the job in less than two hours. Had it not been for the storage unit conundrum they would have been done 40 minutes sooner!  Thank goodness the owner of the moving company asked me the size of the truck I rented several days in advance because the one I originally rented would have been too small. As it was, the second truck was packed full; floor-to-ceiling and wall-to-wall. In hindsight, I should have taken a picture of the packed truck because it was amazing how they fit everything in it like puzzle pieces. These two guys were AWESOME (and inexpensive)!

Years ago I joked about how I was a Gypsy because I had moved so many times. With Henry, it was the first time in my life I stayed in one spot for more than three years. I miss my 'home'. This city used to be 'home' to me, more than 25-years ago, and now I feel like I moved to an entirely different planet. It's quite unsettling for me here and as hard as I try to fit in and feel comfortable, I just don't.

After all the strife with my Dad and K last fall I am not looking very forward to seeing either of them without a specific invitation. It is so hard to believe that one month prior to the shit-storm, I couldn't wait to see them every weekend. They were in Florida when everything fell apart and now they are home (arriving 4 days ago) and I hate that I feel this way. It's just not right.