Good News!

Maybe the planet’s alignment has changed, maybe it’s because the seasons are changing, maybe it’s because I am lucky, maybe it’s because I’ve worked hard enough and persevered.  Whatever the reason is, I am very happy.

I got a job!

And not just a job, but a really good one.  On Monday I went out as I do everyday to seek employment.  My previous entries serve as enough reminder for how I felt about that.  I was going around Greenwich Village but got disheartened very quickly.  It was Yom Kippur and a lot of restaurants were closed, and those that weren’t were extremely full.

I ended up wandering for about 3 hours without accomplishing anything because everywhere was either closed or too full for me to feel comfortable applying at.  I was about to give up when I passed this Italian place right by Union Square that looked really good.  But I decided today had not been meant for me to find a job, so I’d come back later.

I made it all the way to the subway when I realized how dumb I was being, turned around and marched directly in and asked for the manager.

He wasn’t there.  But they said they were hiring, so I asked when he would be in so I could speak directly to him and they told me to come back in an hour. 

So I futzed around till 4, went back in, and turned out the manager wasn’t going to be in that day.  Then the shift leader asked me if I had experience, then if I could train that night.  I said yes, dashed home to change, and got back ASAP.

First night of training went fine.  I think they might have been able to tell I made up having previous experience, but I stayed alert, paid close attention, and learned a lot.

I went back last night, and they didn’t even have me training anymore.  They gave me 5 tables and let me go.  It was great!  It wasn’t too busy which was a good thing for my first night.  The other waiters and the buser last night were really nice and helped me out on subtle things.  I think I came across as really knowing what I was doing.

I made money, and I was told my next shift is Friday night.  They hired my for weekends and a few nights a week, so it keeps my schedule really open to audition.  I really like the people I’ve been working with both nights, they’re around my age (maybe a few years older) and very chill and fun.

Also, when I show up each shift they feed me (last night was pesto lasagna with Portobello, mmmmmmm).  I have also been told at least once by everyone that I can make myself a drink too whenever I want.  We work as our own bar tenders (getting good experience there!) and after closing last night as we were doing all our winding down work I had a nice cold Sam Adams to keep me happy.

So, I finally have a job.  You cannot imagine the weight that has lifted off my shoulders.  I woke up today, knowing I didn’t have to search for a job.  I was free to look up auditions, rest, get some calls in, and then…

I went to the Apple Store on Saturday to get my computer fixed.  It hasn’t been playing CD’s for almost 4 months, and I’m getting tired of it.  So I brought it in, not sure I’d be able to afford the repairs, but at least wanting to know what was wrong.

The guy at the genius bar figured out a way to charge all the repairs so I wouldn’t have to pay for the labor, just the parts.  It would come out to $150 (which I had before hand actually decided was the absolute most I could afford).  So I left my computer there to get repaired.

I just went and picked it up, and…it was free!  I have absolutely no idea why, but I sure ain’t asking any questions. 

Things seemed to have turned a corner for me.  I am so happy right now, something that I haven’t felt in a while now.

It has also officially made the change to autumn.  The high is 60 today, so I’m in one of my favorite jackets (my dad’s old camel hair jacket), I got a café mocha and now I’m going to go wander through central park with my camera.

There’s a dumb smile etched on my face and I don’t care to take it off right now.

Edit:  Here are some of the pics I took!

I didn’t write yesterday for a reason

I was going to update yesterday, but I had one of those days where my entry would have been this over-the-top, melodramatic reflection of my life.  I decided to breathe and set aside some time today to update instead.

I’m not sure what triggered me yesterday; it might have been my horrible night of sleep (it was SO hot) or being woken up by a person at my door.  Regardless the reason, by about 10 am it was decided that I was not going to have a good day.

I am really frustrated with how much work I am doing with nothing to show for it.  Yesterday Time Warner came and worked on our internet for over an hour and couldn’t figure out what was wrong.  Then I got to call one of their specialists who worked with me over the phone for another hour.  By the end I figured out what I THOUGHT the problem was, but was no closer to solving said problem.

After that I spent a total of 2 hours on the phone with our gas company, Energy Services, and our leasing agent trying to figure out where we were on the gas thing.  2 hours later I have a vague idea with what’s going on, and I am no closer to solving said problem.

After that I went out for about 3 hours job hunting.  I think I handed out between 12 and 20 resumes.  Not a single place was hiring.  What’s frustrating is these places aren’t even looking at my resume before they tell me they’re not hiring.  I got a manager at almost every place I went, they were all nice, and they all said the same thing, “We aren’t hiring right now but if you want to leave a resume I’ll definitely keep you on file.”

Three hours of exhausting rejection and pavement pounding later and I am no closer to finding a job.

Spending that much time in one day trying to fix everything, investing as much energy and time as I did only to have nothing to show for it is very frustrating.  Even karma wasn’t on my side yesterday.

At Grand Central after my job hunt I was waiting for the 7.  When it came there was a homeless man trying to get off but was having trouble getting his cart he was pushing over the gap between the train and the platform, so I helped him by picking up one end and pulling it over.  Then when I went to walk onto the train the doors literally SLAMMED in my face.  There were several people I saw on the train shrieking with outrage at the situation.  It feels good to do something good.

So that was the day.  However, at the end of the day, in one last ditch effort, the boyfriend (who very lovingly surprised me with a home made-ish dinner and desert!) tried connecting our internet to a different, older router we had on hand…and it worked!!!!  We have wireless folks!

Earlier in the day I had talked to my mom, discussing how frustrating things are for me right now, how much I hate busting my butt trying to find a job I don’t even want, and how things are still just not coming together how I would like them to.  She calmly helped me realize that we always knew the “struggling actor” phase of my life was not going to be fun, and that I was going to have to work pretty hard to make things come together for awhile.  But she said if I work hard and I’m lucky something will come together for me each day, even if it’s only one thing.  And then it did!  That wireless was my saving grace.

Today I have kind of been job searching.  I scoped out the next area I’m going to hit.  Basically I am shamelessly trying to find a gay employer, so finally women won’t be favored over me (food service in this city EXTREMELY favors women).  I walked around and handed out a few resumes, but it’s Friday and most places didn’t have a manager on hand, or the time to talk.  So…I’m on hold till next week.

I have a few more auditions coming in the coming week that I’m pretty excited about.  There have not been many auditions for me to go to that I have felt particularly qualified for.  I’ve gone just so people are seeing me, but most have been shows that aren’t my forte, for characters that I’m not perfectly suited for.  But the coming weeks have some regional theatres auditioning so that should be fun.

Today has been a gorgeous day too.  The last 2 days were muggy and overcast, and the humidity made it feel like 100 degrees in our apartment.  But today feels like a brisk fall day, and the sun is finally out!  I’m currently in a Starbucks in Gremarcy Park and looking out the window fills my soul with optimism.  That’s a good feeling.

Well I’m gonna head out now.  I kind of feel like trying to start writing a new song.  My roommate and I had an idea, she’s going to write a song about all the crazy things she over hears at auditions (“I would totally get this role if I could levitate”) and I’m going to write one about all the things New Yorkers do that I hate (like sitting in the middle of 2 seats on the subway).  Then we’ll record them both and put them on youtube and become famous.

So I must go create.

Jobs/Auditions/Life in New York

My blogging skills have been seriously lacking in the last few weeks, there are just so many distractions in New York City (go figure).  I keep thinking about how I should write about this experience, or that experience, and then I sit down in front of my computer and my mind is going in so many directions I can’t focus enough to write one coherent sentence.  Right now I am sitting down in my living room alone with everything turned off so I can’t be over stimulated.

Now a quick update on my life.  The apartment is starting to come along quite nicely.  We are almost completely unpacked and have now picked up all furniture that we were wanting.  There’s still a thing or two missing (like curtains) but nothing all that drastic.  Our bedroom is in a bit of disarray because we tried moving around the furniture, but ultimately decided it wasn’t helping.  It looks like I will have the side of the bed that’s against the wall for a bit longer (which isn’t too bad, I do sleep like the dead after all).

I’ve had a few weird mornings recently where I’ve woken up and not been able to figure out where I am for a few moments.  I have been hopping from place to place so much recently that when I open my eyes I think “where am I?  Am I still at home, or Boston, no I’m at the bf’s…wait…Oh yeah I live in New York now.”  

I’m starting to feel a bit more settled, I just don’t have a permanent job yet.  I had my first day of waiting tables, and let me tell you it was amusing.  You see, I lied on my resume and said I had previous experience (no one is willing to hire you if you don’t, so, I exaggerate).  This one restaurant owner (with a very thick accent) said, “ok, I try you out.  You come tomorrow at 4:30.”

I was pretty stoked.  So I showed up, and he wasn’t there, nor was there a manager there.  The other waiters were just eating and told me to grab a plate (free food!) and after that one of them told me the table numbers and then we started.  I wasn’t trained at all, which wouldn’t be such a big deal if I had ever worked a day in a restaurant before.

I was able to figure most things out myself, but it was very hard since the restaurant is kind of a free for all.  No one was assigned tables, you just took care of which ever one you wanted as you went.  It’s not a good system, 2 customers personally sought me out to complain about how neglected they felt through their whole meal.  Also, I was the only native english speaker in the restaurant.  All the others were speaking Spanish to each other, which confused the heck out of me!

After I finished a shift, one of the head waiters asked for my phone number, and then he said “we call you.  The manager in tomorrow after 5, she call.”  They never called, so I called them and they told me again, “yeah, we call you” and hung up.

I think they didn’t want to permanently hire me.  The whole thing was disorganized and awkward.  But it gave me new confidence with applying to serve in a restaurant (I actually just got back from another round of pounding pavement)

Auditions.  I have started the New York audition thing as well.  It’s not too bad, I feel competitive and competent at these calls, but they are still not particularly fun.  It feels a little inhumane when I am forced to wait outside on a sidewalk in the cold for an hour just to write my name on a piece of paper just to come back 4 hours later to sing for 10 seconds.  But, I think I have shown well at the auditions I’ve been to, they just haven’t been the right projects for me (there are not a whole lot of musicals I’m right for auditioning at the moment)

Yesterday I had my first experience of leaving an audition.  I got to this dance call about an hour early and there was NO ONE there (suspicious).  I waited for 30 minutes and no one showed up, so I went to get coffee.  I came back 5 minutes after the auditions was supposed to start and there was an audition moderator but no one there to audition.  Having been to several other auditions where about 200-300 guys are there right at the beginning, I decided this audition wasn’t for me, and I left.

Also, I have a new love in my life.  I finally purchased my first digital piano!  It is beautiful, it is wonderful, and I love it dearly!

The brand is Casio, and so I have decided to name it, “Cassie” after (you guessed it) the main character from A Chorus Line.  I almost went with “the rock” or “Rampart” or “Tim” but they just didn’t seem manly enough to me.

So that’s all for me.  I’m going to try and make sure that I take a moment every day to bring a little silence into my life and post.  But here is a picture of my baby!

Cassie, but this one doesn't dance

I am Vampire

My last post was kind of depressing, sorry.  It was kind of a rough day, so I’m making up for it.  The time has come for a True Blood post.

Last fall I (like many) became obsessed with Twilight.  I was in a show where I had ample time backstage and so picked up the first book to kill time.  It was like a drug, I couldn’t put it down.  Within 2 weeks I had burned through the entire series.

Now that several months have passed, I’m kind of over it.  I blame most of my AZ friends for this.  I’m not what you would call an avid reader-frankly I limit myself mostly to young adult fantasy novels.  My friends, however, are very involved in the world of literature and I think I can safely say uniformly HATE the Twilight series.

Having listened to all of their complaints for 8 months, their arguments have started to seep into my subconscious.  There is no getting around the fact that these books are not very well written.  More fan fiction than novels, the characters are not smart (I was figuring out everything at least 50 pages before the characters would), the books are way too wordy (I would skip whole paragraphs knowing that I wasn’t missing anything), and most importantly NOTHING HAPPENS.

Thinking about it now, I don’t know why I was so enraptured by these books.  They just enthralled me.  It was romantic, it had sex appeal, it was a page-turner.

But there is a new vampire in town, and his name is Bill.  While I was reading Twilight people kept telling me that I should check out this series called True Blood.  I kept nodding and saying “Yeah, maybe I will” but I had no intention of ever watching it.  I wasn’t all that interested in vampires, that wasn’t why I liked Twilight, I liked it for the romance.

Turns out, I think it was the vampire thing I was into.  True Blood is my new drug, and I am loving it. 

There is something so appealing about vampires.  First of all, they are sexy.  Vampires are usually these seductive creatures that are beautiful, strong, and the whole neck sucking/exchange of bodily fluid thing is just plain sexual.  What’s more they represent things that we as a culture are obsessed with.

They are beautiful, incredibly strong, and have achieved that what Hollywood strives for most, eternal youth (how many old looking vampires have you heard of?)  Who wouldn’t want to have a secret love affair with a vampire, it would feel like they could protect you from anything (or at least that’s how they’re now being presented)

True Blood isn’t as heavy on the romance as Twilight, or at least it has a little more subtlety (note the word “little”).  The first season was a great introduction to the characters and the story of Billy and Sookie.  By the third episode I just wanted to know what was going to happen to these characters and make sure that everything turns out alright (the show makes great use of the element of suspense.  Half the time I’m not sure things will work out).

Sadly I have to say that there are some evident parallels between this show and Twilight.  First and foremost is the bad writing.  I can’t pull out a specific right now for TB (but I can for Twilight, “He sparkled as though he was covered by thousands of tiny diamonds”) but there are a few moments in the show where I can’t stop from laughing at how lame some of the dialogue is.

What doesn’t help/the second parallel is the bad acting.  There are a few people (Tara, Eric, Jason) who I love in the show.  They are doing great work and I love what they bring to their characters.  How Ana Paquin got an award for this show I will never know.  I wouldn’t say that she is guilty of bad acting; I would say she’s guilty of not good acting.  Subtle difference.

Season 2 was really weird, but I was into it.  The whole season I could not figure out what the heck was going on, and that is how they kept me enthralled.  I also got a little weirded out by some of the violence/sexual orgies that were going on.

Last night’s season finale…brilliant!  It wrapped up the season so well and got me ready for next season.  I have to know what happened to Bill!  The only complaint I have about the episode is that it kind of felt like 2 short episodes.  1 story line was finished up a little too early and then there was this weird lull before it picked up again, and then it just ended.  Cliffhanger!

Okay, I have to go now.  I’m actually in the middle of a job hunt, I just got tired and stole into Starbucks for a quick break, but I must return to pounding that pavement!  Gosh I want a job so bad, I just don’t want to have to search for it.

Sookie is mine!

Long Over-do

I haven’t posted for a long spout and I’m sorry about that.  I have not had a whole lot of down time since moving in, and when I do I frankly just want to collapse in front of my TV and do nothing.

The move in feels almost complete.  Yesterday we painted the living room and put together the last of our Ikea furniture, and tonight the bf is starting to hang some stuff up (the most exciting step of moving in in my opinion).  When we got to the apartment on moving day the space was much smaller than I had remembered.  It has been a bit of a magic act figuring out how everything is going to fit…but we’re managing!

Today was the first day that I didn’t have anything planned, and I crashed a bit.  Its rainy outside, which motivated my choice to stay inside all day.  I really should have tried to accomplish more (I did submit for acting gigs online and fill out a number of online applications) but I am in a serious slump right now.  

For starters I am exhausted.  I don’t know why, I’ve been off my feet 98% of the day.  It’s been one of those lazy days.  

Second it is gray and gross outside.  It makes me feel so blah.

Third I felt very disconnected and isolated today.  I blame myself a bit for this.  I am in a serious mood swing.  I don’t think I’ve been very good company recently, but I think it’s because this move has broken me a bit.  I have been in this apartment for almost 2 weeks and I like it more and more everyday.  The neighborhood feels more like home and the apartment feels warmer and more welcoming.

But I have had to deal with so much, there have been so many stresses put on my that I don’t feel like I have been able to move on in an effort to establish myself in the city.  I went to my first New York audition on Wednesday and I was just exhausted.  I didn’t feel alive, excited, or anything that I would have liked to afterwards.  I think I sounded good and didn’t embarrass myself, but there was definitely no spark going on.  

Since then my mind has been going down a kind of negative street which I’m trying to steer off of, I’m just so tired and antsy, and I would love to have some sense of structure in my life, and something to wake up and go do.  Granted I have had goals of things to accomplish each day, I want to go do something though.

I also miss my friends.  This is a funny thing to say because we all live in the city, but recently even when I’m with my friends, I don’t feel like I’m ever there.  My mind and my emotions are in so many different places, and even though I have loved being around people I’m so tired and drained that I can’t help but feel like I’m bumming everyone out.

Life is a roller coaster.

We get the internet once a day by chance

This whole moving experience keeps getting better and better.  The one thing I will say about our leasing company is that they seem to be on top of getting the broken things in our apartment fixed.  However that half of our kitchen wall has been ripped out because the gas pipe collapsed and needs to be replaced.  I would think that this is something that should have been dealt with before we moved into the building.

I’m nervous for how long this whole gas line is going to be a problem, because now we will have to have some remodeling done in the kitchen, and as long as there are people working in our apartment someone has to be here.  That makes finding a job very hard for me.

Everyday it seems there is something happening where one of us needs to be here.  The cable guy comes tomorrow (somewhere in a 4 hour span) the gas is today, who knows when they’ll come to fix the torn up wall.  It keeps going and going!  No me gusta.

It’s even more frustrating because there are quite a few people coming into the city both today and in the coming week to visit and 1 of my roommates is going home for a wedding this weekend, so it kind of falls on me to stay here. 

We have discussed that we are going to demand some of next month’s rent taken off because the company has technically broken contract by not providing us with some of the things that were laid out (like gas).  Also, basically remodeling the kitchen within our first 48 hours of living here is not ok.  And of all the outlets in our apartment, more than half don’t work.

Growl.  The apartment is starting to come together though.  My room is almost completely unpacked and things are finding their place.  There are a few furniture pieces that we need before the rest of the apartment can come together.   Currently I need:

• Entertainment stand
• Dresser
• DVD rack
• Book case

Not a whole lot, but these are all organizational pieces of furniture.  Currently everything that would go in these pieces is without a home, so just tossed in boxes, or bags, or heaped in large piles around the apartment.  The whole kitchen is still in boxes too, but that is for a different, obvious reason.

We are fast approaching the point where we get to start hanging things on walls.  That is when this apartment will start feeling and looking like my home.  We want to paint a little too, so we just need to figure out what colors we are doing, and prioritize in order what we are going to do.

On an optimistic note, I got to see some good friends yesterday.  I met one friend from AZ for coffee before heading to midtown to see some Emerson peeps that are in town looking for apartments. 

We were talking at dinner about looking for apartments and moving to New York, and yesterday was their first day and they were saying how tired of it they were, how stressful it was, and how they wanted it all to be over.  In my mind I just kept thinking, “You don’t even know yet.”

My mom commented on my last post about worse moving experiences.  I moved a few times as a child and one moving day story sticks out in my mind above all the others.  It was when we moved from Cincinnati to So Cal.

I was at my friend’s house for most of the day while movers came to pack up the house and put it in the enormous truck.  When it started getting dark my friend’s parents drove me back and as we turned the corner to my house we saw a whole bunch of flashing lights, there were ambulances, fire trucks, police cars and a whole bunch of people milling around our house and the loading truck.

I can’t even remember what I thought when I saw it, but what had happened is while trying to load our Suburban into the moving van one of the movers had tried to lift the ramp the car was on, and the ramp fell on top of the guy (car included).  The guy turned out all right, I believe he had bruising on his ribs, but what a horrible thing to happen on moving day.

I was about 9 at the time, so I can not even remotely appreciate just how horrible that moving experience must have been for my mother (my dad was already in California) but I’m starting to get a better idea now. 

My brother and his wife also had a terrible time moving this summer.  I could sympathize but not empathize at the time.  This is no longer the case.

One final note.  I never realized how bored I could get if I didn’t have the internet.  All I want to do is watch True Blood.  Is that such a crime?

How many Emerson grads does it take to repair a door?

Turns out…3.

So I have made it to New York in one piece.  I apologize that I haven’t been updating, but I don’t really have consistent access to the internet yet (Time Warner is hopefully coming on Saturday to hook us up).  From time to time we are able to connect with the 1 unlocked signal in the city, but it comes and goes.

The last few days have been a roller coaster ride of emotions for me.  In fact, the act of moving really blocked out just how stressful packing and cleaning my old apartment was.  Now that I’m a day or two removed from the whole experience everything that happened feels more like a dream to me.

Now I’m going to go through the hell that was moving.  Bare with me, everything seemed 10 times worse when it was all happening at once.  Thank god I had my boyfriend with me throughout it all, I literally would have fallen apart within the first hour of September 1^st without him.

We got up around 5 to get ready, grab coffee and a bit of breakfast (I had a donut, breakfast of champions) and head out to Brookline to pick up our Uhaul.  It took a while to get there but there were no problems picking it up or anything.  But then we had to drive back to Cambridge.

I have said it before, I will say it again now: EVERYONE in Boston moves on September 1^st.  It is surreal how many vans and trucks are on those extremely narrow and windy streets.  What was also a problem is the fact that I never drive is Boston and have no way of navigating unless on foot.  The streets are almost never marked, and when I’m within my first 10 minutes of ever driving a truck, let’s just say I was not having my finest hour.

We eventually got back to my apartment, and by this point I had only barked at the bf about 10 times.  We packed up quickly enough (thank goodness that much had already been organized) and as we prepared to leave, a cleaning crew came in.  I’m so glad we spent so much time this weekend cleaning…

We got on the road around 8:35 and headed to Newton where our roommate’s parents live to pick up some of his furniture.  Again, we got lost on the poorly marked Boston streets and what should have been a 20-minute ride took us over an hour.  But we got there and loaded everything up.

Next was the 4-hour drive to New York.  This part was a little easier because at least I felt more comfortable driving on the freeway then busy city streets.  However halfway we got a call that the management company had not received one form from us (the form we confirmed in person at their office on Friday had been received) and got word that we would not be able to move in until the form was in.  Cue my stomach dropping out of my body.

3-4 phone calls later, we are set to move in.  1 crisis averted.

Getting into the city wasn’t too challenging, so we got to the apartment, called the super and got our keys.  Now here’s where the story starts going the fun route.

In order to empty the Uhaul, we were instructed to drive onto the sidewalk (full of trees, poles and laughing children) and then back the Uhaul into the courtyard.  I’m not very comfortable doing this with a Uhaul, but did it.  We unloaded everything and were able to pull back onto the street no problem.

Next, we went back to Manhattan to load up the bf’s apartment.  He had all the furniture, so…all the heavy lifting still had to be done.

We finally loaded everything into the truck, and started back to Queens…at 5 o’clock.  Anyone out there ever driven through Manhattan at 5 o’clock on a workday?  It took 45 minutes to get from 86 to 59 street.  Yes.

Then we had to cross the bridge at right at the end of the bridge the car in front of me pulled a slightly illegal maneuver, right in front of two police women, who thought it was fine to block my lane of traffic during the busiest hour to give this man a ticket.  234 honks later, I got to move, and made it back to my apartment.

I pulled onto the sidewalk to back in only to find that it was trash day!  And the sidewalk was covered in trash bags and other household items.  Quickly the bf, the female roommate and I tried to move them, getting essence of garbage all over us (some liquid substance that smelled of poop splashed in my face, that was pleasant).

After moving the pile, we discovered we hadn’t moved it far enough.  So we left the Uhaul where it was and unpacked.  The unpacking would have been fine if it were not for:

THE COUCH

This couch literally weighs 2 metric tons.  It’s a fold out bed and is the vain of my existence.  We got it up the stairs by sacrificing our backs, and when we got to the door of the apartment, discovered it was too big to get in.  So what did we do?

We took the door off its hinge.  This wouldn’t be a big deal if the hinges to our door were not spring loaded.  Once we sold our souls to get the couch in we realized we couldn’t screw the door back on.

Whatever, that was the end of unloading, and we were grateful.  Uhaul was already closed by now so I went and parked it for the night, I came back and the 2 roomies and I fiddled with the door until we somehow got it on.  SOMETHING WENT RIGHT!

After that, we got food, beer and called it a day.  My day ended up lasting 19 hours, and probably the 19 most stressful, mentally, emotionally draining hours of my life.  When I lay down to fall asleep I barely could, I was too exhausted to sleep, and my mind was still racing.

Since moving in, we have unpacked most of our stuff (except the kitchen which I’ll elaborate on in a second) and tried to set up Cable.  See, we can’t find a cable jack anywhere in the apartment, and as I’ve explained there’ve been a lot of problems with Time Warner, but now they’re telling me there’s no problem and they’ll come hook it up on Saturday.  This whole not having a jack better not be a problem.

Most of the outlets in the apartment do not work, and also I couldn’t get the stove to work.  We discovered it is because the gas was not turned on, so the gas company came out to check it out and discovered…

A possible gas leak.  Not in our apartment, IN THE WALL.  They said there’s no gas running to our apartment but the meter is still turning, which means gas is leaking somewhere, so they need to rip into our wall and find it.  OH FUN!   

Fortunately I can say, everyday is getting easier, and everyday is better than the one before it.  I’m not freaking out the way I was on moving day, and there’s also a bit of comfort in that I can’t imagine any day in this apartment will be as bad as the one when we moved in.

On a scale of 1 to 10 September 1^st gets a 2.  It didn’t rain, there was electricity, we got into the apartment, nothing broke, no one I knew died, and the only thing I hit was another Uhaul.  I officially hate moving.

This post is long enough now so I’ll end here, but I will say I feel like I have grown in maturity by at least a year in the last five days, and I feel closer to my boyfriend than I ever have before.  I keep apologizing to him because I think in the last few days I snapped at him more than the rest of our relationship, but I was stressed.  This has all proven not to be my finest hour.