Moving and other stuff

It's been an eventful week.

Last Thursday I got sick, fever, headache, nauseau, etc. I went in to work for a couple of hours to finish up some photoshop images for a grant application, then took the rest of the day off. Friday I was feeling much better which was good because my mom came to town and we went to Albany to pick up Denis at the airport.

It was moving weekend. Everything went smoothly although it was still pretty stressful. Saturday we loaded the truck. Many thanks to mom, Carey, and especially osirusbrisbane and John who carried many heavy things down the stairs (John also adopted our blue recliner.) It took about 7 hours in all, not including picking up the Uhaul at a quasi-sketchy place in Pittsfield.

Sunday we dropped off my beloved loveseat that I was forced to abandon and then drove down to DC. Denis drove the UHaul (last time I did I hit someone's truck) and we towed the car. That took about 10.5 hours including one 1 hour stop.

Monday we unloaded the truck. It was just the two of us, but only took about 8 hours. I didn't think we were going to make it but we were saved by exclusive use of the service elevator (we were forced to pay a $250 moving fee so at least we got something) and two shopping carts that the building has. The shopping carts meant we did more pushing than carrying which is good since the hallways from the loading dock to the elevator and the elevator to our apartment are pretty long. The only really problem item was the sleeper sofa, but we managed. We are both sore and a little bruised and Denis was feeling sick, but we're better now.

I've spent the last couple days unpacking. The kitchen, livingroom area, the bedroom (at least the furniture and my clothes), and the closets are pretty well set. That leaves the dining area, office area, and bathroom. Since we moved from a two-bedroom with lots of closets to a one-bedroom with fewer closets we're having some storage issues. The biggest pile of stuff left is computer-related so more of Denis's area than mine. I love the newly-discovered container store, although we shouldn't spend so much money there. Today I went with Denis to work so I could see his office, get the keys copied in Dupont circle, and start getting used to ride the bus. When I lived in DC before I walked and rode the Metro, no problem. I'm not so good with buses, part of this I think is that metro maps tend to be colored and laid out graphically, while bus schedules are grids of numbers (which I can never remember and can never find a copy of to take with me.) I also had some bad early experiences with buses, remember no public transportation in Maine, which I'll cut to:

( Amelia's bad bus experiences )

Anyway, so buses make me nervous, I'm not very comfortable on them and (although rationally I know otherwise) I'm always worried that I'll get on the wrong bus and get stranded somewhere. I'm sure I'll get over it, I'm forced to unless I want to walk 25 min. to and from the metro every day.

In other news, I found out one of my close friends from highschool (actually elementary school) is pregnant (about 5 weeks now). Out of the five of us she is the only other married one (although Tim is engaged) and settled happily in Pennsylvania teaching math at a private religious highschool. I'm really happy for her (and maybe a little jealous) and glad she invited us to read her online diary about her pregnancy. It will be interesting to read the details of her experience. Hopefully it will discourage me.

Classes start next week and we still have tons of detail/errand stuff to do. Feeling kind of blah tonight, too much time alone with the boxes. We should go out this weekend and that will help. I will probably also gain some enthusiasm for school although now I don't really want to do anything involving my brain.

the city and school

Change always seems to strengthen thoes personality traits that tended to blend into the background in other environments. I always forget how accustomed I am to the country (or at least suburbia) until I go to the city. Mostly I just get some sensory over-stimulation. So many lights, so many different people, so much to look at, so much noise. In some ways I am fascinated, but then it gets to be too much and I'm irritated. The car is the hardest, I love to ride (look at all the buildings the architecture, etc), but have to concentrate very hard when I'm driving (plus I'm not used to all the traffic.) It's fine, I'm adjusting. I drove to and from school today (about 45 min. each way with moderate traffic. I drive through the city, I'm avoiding the beltway.)

(It seems I've always been a little [overly] sensitive to environmental things. I can't stand to have cold air blowing on me, for example--this has caused some fights in the car--and have a very specific noise threshold. My family says that I've always been that way. When I was a kid I would hold my hands over my ears when the fourth of July parade was still way down the street because the noise was too loud, for example.)

A trip to Ikea this Saturday (my first, I was unprepared), made me want to crawl into one of those sensory deprivation beds, where it's dark, silent, and there's an even physical sensation. I almost started crying because it just became too much (also hadn't eaten for a while so low bloodsugar), and we were rushing, so I didn't have the chance to slow down and take everything in at my own pace, (plus it was Sat. afternoon so everyone brought their small children, I like children, but they are another moving thing that catches my attention.) Anyway, pulled it together and didn't not freak out at ikea (even when the desk I want is on backorder) and we successfully purchased shelves for Denis's office area and a cabinet for the bathroom. We had underestimated the time needed for the whole ikea experience, so were an hour late for dinner with the Mindy. Luckily Mindy, Mexican food, and Ben&Jerry's at Dupont Circle cemented my sanity.

My first day of school went well (amazing how I still always get nervous at the first day of school.) I drove in around noon. Went to get a parking permit and discovered that I should have done that online in July so ended up in the far, far away parking lot (only about a 15 min. walk to the student union and a 20-25 min. walk to the art/sociology building, so not too bad, plus there's a shuttle) but that entailed a lot of walking around campus. It was good to get orientated, even if it meant some time being lost. I'm not used to the 100% humidity and got a headache. It's strange, it just hovers around 100%, it will sprinkle a little, then stop, etc. etc. I got so sweaty. Denis was licking my tummy while I was trying to read the mail and said I taste really salty (sorry for the image.) My class went well (Rembrandt portraiture, the prof. is a Nat'l Gallery curator and some of our classes will be at the NGA looking at the Rembrandts, yay!). Talked to some other grad. students and everyone is very friendly. The upperclassmen say they really like the program and there is a grad. student outing to a UMD football game this weekend that we might attend. (Haven't been to a football game since freshman year at Dartmouth so will be interesting. The email specified that it wasn't about football, but about meeting other grad. students "you might want to hang out with.")

The apartment is right on that line between lovely-clean-peaceful-sanctuary and slightly-messy-low-grade-stressful-due-to-unpacked-boxes-and-unpaid-bills but that should be fixed by the weekend. We continue to make progress, but the further along we get the less dramatic it is. It will help when the shelves are up and my desk comes in. It'll be interesting to see how my Balkan history class goes tomorrow. I've never taken a history class before (since highschool) but the topic is good and we do some textual interpretation in art history. I'm looking forward to it.