So, if you followed the adventures you know I arrived here on the evening of June 17 with as many of my worldly possessions as I could fit in a 17 foot truck. I had made the decision earlier to leave much of the furniture behind for the children who elected not to come along. With me were my oldest two daughters. (Don’t fret, I am picking up my youngest three after summer visitation is over.) I had been told the apartment would be ready on the 18th, so we came over at 9am to sign the paperwork. The apartment was NOT ready, and I could not get in until 2pm.
Now, June 18th was the hottest day of the year so far here in Cockeysville, but some friends of my cousin showed up anyway to help me unload that truck, well after the heat of the day had arrived. I am well and truly grateful for their assistance. When they finally let me in, the guy was still steam cleaning the carpets and the paint was still wet. So, we trudged all that stuff up here and laid out the boxes on soaking wet carpet. No, I mean really wet. Wet to the touch, wetter than anything I have ever steam cleaned, and certainly wetter than thesteamteam.com would have left it. Picture boxes of books…on wet carpet. Yeah, we busted the bottom out of a couple when we restacked and began to unpack.
Other than that things are going pretty smoothly and rapidly. By Sunday, we were ready to go pick out our new cats. On Monday, I went with my cousin to pick up the dining room set that had been gifted to me before I ever left North Carolina. On Tuesday, I stood with my cousin and we watched the left side of her condo building burn out. (Every living soul got out, but she’s displaced for a bit.) On Wednesday, I went out to the VA to meet my field supervisor for next year, and then we walked to the library and got our library cards. I live right across the street from a shopping center with a $5 store, a $1 store, a liquor store, a grocery store, and a drug store.
And these days, I’m reading, catching up on television, and scouring craigslist for free furniture to outfit my kids bedrooms. And bookshelves for the dining room. And a sectional for the living room.
It’s a mellow little life. I’m happy.