I Miss Rob

For those of you who don't know (and that probably includes most of my readers since I haven't written anything about this), Rob is now the Assistant Manager at the new Spot coffeehouse in Williamsville -- Grand Opening tomorrow! It's a really cool store, and has tons of room for hanging out, though in a very upscale Williamsville way. It's an awesome opportunity for Rob since he's been promoted up the ladder fairly quickly and I'm so proud of him.

Sadly it requires mondo amounts of hours. Yesterday he worked 15 hours, today he's working probably 14 hours. Last week he worked 7 days (hence my bad moving day). Whenever he does have off, I have to have him running errands for the move (although I think I'm pretty much done with that, thank God!). I find myself back in the whole alone every night situation that happens when Rob works nights. And I miss him! I think this is going to go on for a while still. The new store will take a while to get up to speed, so he might be working constantly through most of May. In fact his next day off is May 9th -- and that's the day of our childbirth class, so not exactly much free time there. Poor Rob:(

Irony

Um.... My stove in my new apartment doesn't work. It's an electric stove and the outlet for it seems to be too loose, so it keeps coming unplugged. Yesterday I was going to heat up some pizza and I turned on the oven and all of a sudden it just turned itself off.

But I made a repair request online (yes, that's how they roll) and supposedly it will be fixed within 24 hours. But yes, I still love my apartment. And it's not a gas stove so I know we're not being slowly gassed to death.

One More Thing Done...

We made our last big trip to the old apartment. Rob had to do at least 20 trips up and downstairs loading all of the stuff into the car, but we've gotten all of our stuff out. Tomorrow, I'll go over to let the cleaning lady in so she can make our apartment look gorgeous and then we'll be done! The nice thing is this time it seems like such a smooth move -- meaning for the first time I actually didn't throw out anything vital. So moving in here, I don't have a list of 10,000 things that we need to buy ASAP in order to live here.

Also, for those of you who are facebook users, I want to point out something that my friend Jenny told me about. Log in to your facebook and scroll to the bottom. Click where it says English (US) and then select English (Pirate). Guaranteed to provide a few laughs. Enjoy!

Getting Settled

We're really close to being done unpacking. My room full of boxes has decreased in number and size -- from about 70 boxes to maybe 10 or so -- and I can actually walk through the room. My friend Sarah came over last night and helped me with all the books. By this, I mean she actually did all the work, and I opened a box handed her a book and said, "This goes on the red shelf." (That's right, the color coordinated shelves are back!!) But seriously, Sarah is that awesome. Then we had Veggie-Artichoke pizza on a sesame seed crust -- God, I love Buffalo.

The best part about this apartment is I do not feel at all shamed by my apartment -- whereas before I always felt like craptastic apartment smelled bad, could never be organized or neat looking, never was able to be decorated, never clean. Here I feel like everything has it's place and the whole apartment is a breath of fresh air. I love that I've already had company over -- though I made her work. And today Aunt Dode is going to come over, who never even saw my old apartment because I was always too embarrassed by it.

Plus this evening, I think we have managed to line up a maid service to clean the old apartment so we can be out of there for good. Wiping all that bad energy out of my life -- phew!

We have arrived!

We're here, we're here! And I'm guessing that some of us may be a little happier than others of us. Rob had to get up super early this morning while working kind of late last night and having to pick up the cats and get them settled, AND we found out that the street traffic outside our bedroom can be a little loud -- so he didn't get too much sleep. I on the other hand feel like I can actually breathe at this apartment. I feel this complete positivity that I haven't felt since at least October. It's amazing how well this apartment fits us. Let's just hope Rob feels the same after a night of no sleep. I'm sure he'll learn to sleep through traffic, right?

Yesterday morning Rob left for work at 9 am and I happened across a few more decent sized boxes, which allowed me to pack more things. I had left unpacked all our everyday kitchen stuff and all my Martha Stewart Weddings (the pristine complete collection) because we were lacking enough boxes. The enormity of the amount of crap we were leaving over there and expecting to pick up during random trips back and forth was weighing heavily on me. So before the movers got there I actually finished everything on my list. I even managed to vacuum and clean a little.

The movers got there at 1:00 pm and low and behold were able to parallel park on our tiny street! The same three guys that had moved me into the apartment were the ones to do the moving, and they were so nice. By 4:00 pm, I was all moved into the new place AND they had even arranged all the furniture for me.

Truthfully, I didn't label any boxes this time -- despite my incredible organization last time. I have a dining room filled wall to wall with boxes filled with God-knows-what. But that actually works out fine for me. I'm going through it box by box and since there is sooo much storage space here (6 closets including a huge linen closet and a walkin, AND we have a storage unit in the basement) I figure we shouldn't have any problems stowing stuff. By 7 pm last night I had the bedroom, bathroom and most of the kitchen pretty settled. Now I feel like I can relax.

Tonight we'll make a run over to the old apartment to pick up the random stuff left behind and then someday this week, I'll do a mild cleaning before getting a cleaning service for the really cleaning -- a luxury I think I can rationalize by my lack of bending- ability.

My Last Day in this Apartment

We kind of have ended our stay in this craptastic apartment in the manner we began -- with lots of stress and not good-ness. Yesterday was Rob's day off, so it was the day for us to wrap everything up. We didn't have to do that much, but since Rob had worked all week, I had done everything I could do and left all the lifting and moving of things. I also had to do the kitchen which is a pain in the ass, because a) we can only fit one box in the room at a time (i.e. constant lifting) and b) there are cabinets that are really deep and partly obscured (bending done and scrounging) and really high (climbing on a stepstool or chair to get stuff down). So as if I didn't see this coming, Thursday night Rob found out he needed to go into work at the new store -- set to open next week! -- for just "a little bit." He would be there from about 11 - 3 AT THE LATEST! In fact there was some discussion that they might not even need him so he might be home earlier.

So basically I sat around waiting, making mental lists of all the stuff that had to be done and I couldn't do. Then at 2:50 pm, Rob called me to say that the bosses wanted everyone to stay until 7 pm! And the movers are coming at 12pm, today -- when Rob is working. So I decided to start putting together boxes and wrapping the dishes at the dining room table -- at which point I ran out of tape. And Rob had the car, so I couldn't go get any.

Rob got home at 5:30 pm (luckily the whole "My wife is 8 months pregnant and packing our apartment for our movers that are coming tomorrow" excuse works.) We made a Target run, and then I packed the kitchen with Rob's help and lifting/bending/climbing. But we didn't get to do much else -- so that means I feel terribly disorganized now and we're going to have make quiet a few trips back and forth transporting random stuff that we didn't have time to pack. Of course Rob is working everyday this week, so I'm not anticipating much joy in the move.

On a more humorous note, yesterday the electric company was supposed to call sometime between 8 am - 12 pm to set up service at my new apartment. I got a call on Thursday saying that our window for the appointment was actually 8 am to 5 pm (NICE!). So I walked around with my cell phone in my hand all day long, and at 5 pm, still no phone call. So I called and spoke with "Pearl" who informed me I was still on the list for a service appointment and they should be there sometime before 9 pm. So my service appointment window was actually 8 am to 9 pm. I put up a big old stink and got transferred to customer service who told me they could just go ahead and turn on the electric without a sight visit. I'm just left wondering why this didn't happen before AND why everytime I have some sort of service appointment this stuff ALWAYS happens to me.

Things I love about my new apartment!!!!

Today I went over to my new apartment to pick up the keys. I was feeling pretty flustered because this is the first time in a little while that I have had a list of things that need to be done urgently. Plus I didn't really sleep that well last night. It seems that Baby F decided to find a new position in which she could compress all of my internal organs at the same time. She is very creative like that. Anyhoo, one of my to-dos is the Electric which needs to be turned on tomorrow and I was scheduled to meet the electric company guy at the new apartment sometime tomorrow between 8-12, when I would soooo much rather know that I can sleep as long as I need to and finish packing. I asked the Building Rep where the meters were and he told me that there was no need for me to come over. He's going to have the super take care of it for me. All I need to do is call the main office when the electric company calls me. Hoorah!

Meanwhile, he then proceeded to give me more information than I have ever been given in an apartment -- including a fact sheet with the exact sizes of all windows and rooms! Also included -- information on area street parking for guests that stay later than 9 PM (when our parking lot closes). And he told me that we could paint, so long as we smack up a coat of primer when we move out (which he said doesn't even need to be done very well).

And then I looked longingly at my new dishwasher and my new full size stove. Can't wait! Movers will be here Saturday afternoon!

Things I'm Excited about in my new (future) apartment Vol III

Not eating cold pizza because my oven doesn't work. Yes, we've had the gas line checked -- it's not a gas block or gas leak. It's the actual turn on knob. The oven just doesn't register that it has been turned on, thus the gas never turns on and the oven never turns on. So last night we had to get pizza for dinner since I couldn't cook any of our food and today for lunch I had to eat cold pizza rather than nicely warmed and toasted pizza.

Good news? Moving on Saturday! And way ahead of schedule in packing. Just have a few more boxes to go!

Words of Inspiration

I love finding random notes that I've taken for myself among things that I am trying to pack. Both Rob and I have always had an obsession with Moleskin journals. At any given time, I would have several in various sizes handy for taking to a coffeeshop while reading. I'm a big fan of note taking which helps me retain information (just the process of writing that is). Usually my Moleskins are a secondary journal, story ideas for my book and a to-do list combined.

Here's a gem that I find truly inspirational -- sorry source information is lacking.

The Four Rules of Humanity and Government as inscribed on the walls of the Temple at Delphi

1. The most beautiful is the most just.
2. Observe the limit.
3. Shun Hybris.
4. Nothing in Excess.

Hope you meditate and enjoy.

Moving to Home Sweet Home

Last night I went to Ami's Arbor Day party at her lovely apartment. I looked around at all of her cool furniture and stuff and realized that I have never felt at home in my lovely Allentown apartment. I've never hung anything on the walls, never made any sort of decorating effort short of arranging the furniture, never bought the things that we needed to make this apartment feel more homey or even comfortable.

So I have big plans for our next apartment -- it does make me wonder though if I will be able to do so. With a new baby on the way there is less time for decorating and also less money for impulsive buys like new end tables... I've spent the morning browsing Target for the things that I know we will need. At least I can dream, and then we'll just see what we can do once we get there.

Poor Rob is going to have a hellish schedule until early May. He's being transferred to a different coffeehouse location and will be working his normal hours at the old store and his days off at the new location to prepare for opening. That of course means that he won't have much time to help me pack and organize. Except he's going to be helping anyway because I can't lift stuff. So today he'll work until about 4-ish and then come home and pack up the storage closet (aka the stuff we never really found a place for here).

Luckily there shouldn't be that much packing to do, seeing as how we never really settled. There have been boxes, opened but not unpacked, sitting in our bedroom since October. I'm about 3/4 finished with all of our books in the living room, that leaves the storage closet, kitchen and bedroom and we'll be done. Easy Peasy. Right?

Food

Seeing as how I am just about 8 months pregnant, I should be all about eating. But lately food just doesn't sound good to me. I am often hungry and I eat, but I randomly cannot identify any food that would appeal to me. Last night I knew I should be hungry -- wasn't because I still am drinking 10 times the amount of water that a normal human does -- and could not think of a single thing I wanted to eat. The closest I could get was Strawberry Shortcake. That led us to Cracker Barrel, on the off chance they might happen to have it as their dessert special (they did not).

I really have no appetite for breakfast or lunch at all. I mean, I'm hungry just not interested in eating. So I need some breakfast and lunch suggestions. OK readers, time for you to start listing off breakfast and lunch foods that sound good. Go!

Things I'm Excited about in my new (future) apartment (Vol II)

Air circulation. Our apartment only gets air from the back part of our apartment (i.e. the bathroom, which we always keep closed because various things drip in there). So our apartment always smells stale. Now that's it's Spring and I can actually open all the windows you would think it would get a little fresher in here. But it doesn't.

Easter Sunday

For several years now it seems that Easter has passed me by rather quietly. It was always the one holiday where we just couldn't justify traveling, so we would stay in Chicago. And usually Rob would work. Needless to say I was pretty excited about this Easter. I had Rob request it off weeks ago (of course his manager messed up and scheduled him anyway but he was able to change his shift to the night shift).

We went to church this morning with Mom, where we ended up sitting with my cousin Katie and her fiance Tom. Then Mom hosted the family dinner, as promised long ago during my famous ham and Cadbury Mini-Egg cravings. It was so nice to be able to enjoy a family holiday, of course ended with a rousing version of Smart Ass -- a game so optimal for my family it was clearly designed with us in mind.

Easter has always been one of the holiday seasons that I have most enjoyed. It always makes me think of my Grandma Kogler. When we were little we used to go to her house to dye eggs because my mother couldn't boil eggs without cracking them -- not sure if that was true or just what she said to give us an excuse to let Grandma do it. We used to do a bunch of eggs in regular solid colors and then add oil to the dye to make bubbles in the colors. And Grandma used to boil another batch of eggs in onion skins in the German tradition.

We also went to the Niagara Falls Conservatory this weekend -- something else we always used to do with Grandma and Grandpa Kogler. Their floral displays are just the same as they always have been -- so absolutely beautiful at Easter time, particularly with the Easter Lily cross surrounded by Grape Hyacinth. But this year they also had bunnies and chicks amidst the flowers. So cute! And next year we'll have someone special to take with us to see them. This year, Rob just stood in the way and blocked other people's children from seeing the chicks.

Things that I'm excited about in my new (future) apartment (Vol I.)

A kitchen that is not connected to my bedroom. At this moment when Rob is napping before work, I would really like to get up and get a glass of water, but I don't want to wake him up. Sad but true. Too bad I had ham for Easter lunch and feel like I could drink 10 gallons of water right now.

Saturdays

Saturday is my day for being lazy. I refer to wake up kind of early and find some cheesy movie on tv to watch in my pjs, preferably while eating something good for breakfast like a fattening muffin or an omelette. But Buffalo TV programing has made my Saturday morning tradition very difficult. Thanks Time-Warner. Which means that I actually have to get up, get dressed and do stuff. Damn it.

So today's mission is going to be packing. I figure if I do a few boxes everyday that it won't be so bad right? I mean how much packing can there actually be to do? Our apartment is pretty tiny.

This is going to be a serious ordeal, I can already tell.

The Countdown...

Sometime around last week it dawned on me that there is an informal countdown going on here until Baby Time. I'm not exactly tearing the days off a calendar, but there are a string of events leading up to the big day which pretty much guarantees that time is going to fly. Drum roll please:

This week was my sister-in-law's baby shower
Next week: Easter
Then the big apartment move
Then my baby shower and my best friend's visit
The birth of my niece
Mother's Day
Mom's birthday
My birthday/Memorial Day
and then...
the Baby should be here!

We basically have something going on every week or at least every other week until the big due date. So excited!

We're Moving!!!!

I got the call today -- the apartment application has been approved. End of April we will be in our new lovely, large space. Is it wrong that last night I couldn't sleep because I was organizing the closets in my mind??