Moving Day

I rented a U-Haul today, filled it with all my stuff, and went on my merry way from Maplewood to Carondelet.

At 8:30, my sister Suzanne arrived and helped me with the last of the packing. Around 10 I went to get the truck. Soon thereafter, Jason, Charlie, and Jill arrived to help load up. We packed the thing as full as it would go. Soon, Charlie, Jason, and I were on our way to the house with the truck. The unloading went much faster than the loading. Niki soon arrived with McDonald's for all of us. We all ate, and then Niki started organizing the kitchen while the three of us returned the truck. Jason went home, and Charlie and I went back to the apartment, where Jill was coming back from lunch.

The apartment where I spent the last two years, seven months, and 14 days is now completely empty. It's so empty it echoes. The campsite rule applies here, as we left the apartment much cleaner than I found it in March of '06.

It seems so weird to walk in there now. It is so dark, so empty, so sparse. My house has windows. It gets direct sunlight. It's great. The apartment was basically in the basement, and it sucked.

I hope I never have to live in an apartment like that again. I'm really not sure how I did it for so long.

After grabbing the last of my things from the fridge and setting it to defrost (because it REALLY needs to defrost), I came back to the house, where Anne had joined Niki with the organization.

The kitchen is completely unpacked and organized. The living room is mostly organized. The spare bedroom is 300% less messy than it was before. The empty boxes are stacked in the basement.

And now, here I am, alone, but in my own house. It no longer echoes. The walls are different colors. The windows have blinds and curtains. The bed is (almost) made. And I've done three loads of laundry already today. My fridge has food in it, my laptop has an internet connection, and the DirecTV installer will be here on Tuesday. There is still much to do here, but thankfully, there is very little left to do at the apartment, and while I will miss living in Maplewood, I will definitely not miss driving back and forth between the apartment and the house.

So... Yeah. I'm a homeowner. Cool, huh?

Busy, busy, busy...

If you know me in real life, outside the blogosphere, and you're in the area, I could use your help.

I need help packing, but I think I've got enough boxes. I just need someone to help me go through and actually accomplish something. I'll need help moving stuff to my house from my apartment. I'll also need some help turning my house into a home -- which is done by filling it with friends. If we're friends and you're in the area, you probably received the evite for the housewarming party. If not, however, drop me a line.

Oh, and if you want to help me pack or move (or both), seriously, call me. :)

I'm a Big Kid Now.

I bought a house this morning. Seriously, I spent like an hour signing my name.

So, all you folks who I've helped move (some multiple times) over the years -- go stock up on Ben Gay. It's payback time.

The Debate

I think my friend Niki described the debate best:

"Joe Biden is like Sarah Palin's teacher. He's like the college professor and she's that whiny girl who always thinks she's right and knows more. She's the girl in class I rolled my eyes at."