The Move: a week in overview

[juushika]

A week:

Wednesday the 3rd was our move-in date; the apartment had been ours & available for a while before, but they stagger move-in windows for new residents. But it wasn't feasible to do a mid-week move, so...

Thursday the 4th we looked over our schedule and decided that...

Friday the 5th Devon took PTO* and while we'd initially planned to do the move that day it ended up making more sense to use Friday for pre-move things like finalizing insurance, utilities (specifically internet), finializing apartment paperwork, picking up apartment keys, and Devon finally having a free moment** to do some of his own sorting/packing

Saturday the 6th Devon left in the morning to get a moving van, which took 2 hours; we started packing at noon; a friend of his showed up to help us load queen bed + disassemble and load couch; we finished packing everything by 5p; I was by this point miles beyond done and frankly am amazed I was able to keep going, but getting Starbucks & a meal on the road helped; we did the drive and arrived at the apartment at 9p; we parked—absolutely illegally, but, like: fight me—right in front of the apartment and were done unloading by 11p (unloading is comparably so easy); we drove back south and dropped off the moving van at midnight; we went to CVO and picked up cats and misc items; we drove back up north and arrived at the apartment at 3a

Sunday the 7th another of Devon's friends arrived to reassemble the couch; then he and Devon ran errands, I've by now forgotten which, while I road a surprising surge of moving-in energy and set up the bookcases in my room; Devon ran back to CVO for some further forgotten/smaller items while I road on that ongoing surprise energy to set up my entire desk/computer

Monday the 8th Devon went back to work; I figured out walking routes for mail box + library, and used just-acquired mail to get a library card; we went out for celebratory dinner

Tuesday the 9th Devon made yet another trip to CVO to pick up a fragile item & yet more forgotten things, leaving immediately after work and arriving back here at 10:30p; I figured out how to cook? things?? with the 4.5 ingredients and 5.5 cooking implements we currently have at the apartment, but tbh the day for me was mostly a blur of sleep and staring vacantly at wall and screens

Wednesday the 10th, today, I made a second trip to the library; we went to Ikea immediately after work, and managed not to find the immediately-needed item but did pick up trash bins/dust pan/door mat and advisory information like "measure drawer sizes" and "measure furniture spaces" and "probably buy that specific thing online" which will make second trip/rest of the list easier

* his workplace does unlimited PTO (within reasonable, non-abusive limitations) for employees; one of those quality of life things that make us optimistic about the company

** the 4-hour-a-day commute means he was effectively only home to eat dinner and sleep; no time to do packing of his own

* * *

Saturday, the moving day, was so long & exhausting that I expected I'd crash immediately. I'm surprised that I was able to get through the day tbh that I was able to get so much done after—but the concrete rewards of "find thing in box, place thing in location, ~create a home~" are so fulfilling that I've done about 70% of my room and 50% of what we have for the larger house. But the crash has come, slow, inevitable. I'm volatile while at the same time dulled—like who knew you could have panic attacks and space out at the same time, yet here we are. And I imagine it will get worse, because the more I settle in to this safe space the more my brain will dredge up everything I have processed over the last few weeks/months/year and a half under the failed assumption that now I can work through them.

Wrong, brain! No! Never!

But the apartment is huge, by our relative standards. It's tempering even the cats' fear of change. They can run down the hallway, Gillian when he wakes up can yowl out windows and in other rooms instead of a meter from my fucking bed, there's windows & while the noises outside are scary they're fascinating also. It's quiet and clean, and while we're learning every day how many innate things make up a home (does a dust pan spark joy??) it's also ours to fill as we wish, as little as we wish. We're responsible for it all, we'll see every cost, every time I flush the toilet I see dollar signs—but Devon is at a point where costs at that level are essentially a non-issue. And if my days for a little while need to be nothings, need to be quiet and empty, then now they can be. The library is literally a 10min walk away, and lovely.

Anyway, so: long week, I'm a mess, apartment is a mess in that unique empty way, and I think of ever moving again in view of all the tidbits we're buying now with this feeling like "but ... how?"—and still a lot more to do. But the worst of it is, finally, done.

* * *

And if you posted a thing I probably have not seen it; and I'm super behind on things like reviews, so sorry for upcoming spam.

Comments

[starshipfox]

I'm so glad you're in your new place and the worst is behind you. <3 Moving is SUCH AN ORDEAL and this sounds like even more of an ordeal than usual. I'm glad settling in has been fulfilling, and that you're able to have quiet and to take care of yourself.

I relate a lot to the fear that your brain will get cosy and try to process some stuff. My brain does that too and it's THE WORST.

Glad the cats are happy too! When you post about Gillian I always wonder -- is it pronounced Jillian or with a hard G?

[juushika]

Thank you <3

Gillian is pronounced with a hard G. When I first found him as a neighborhood stray, he was so tiny (b/c he's a small cat but also b/c he was skinny-because-living-on-the-street) that I thought he might be female, so I named him for Gillian Owens (pronounced Jillian) from Practical Magic, because of scenes where she holds a similar-looking cat (and b/c I love the film!). I changed it over to a more masculine pronunciation when he was sexed at the vet. A male character from my favorite book, Maledicte, is named Gilly, so I figured it all worked out as intended.

That's probably a longer answer than you needed but we're talking about cats soooo who's surprised. You can see his street cat pictures & early thoughts re: his name here, if you want.

[starshipfox]

It's cute how in your original post you're planning not to keep Gillian, and yet here you are! I know how that one goes. I love Practical Magic too! It's a good name for a black cat, and I always think that you should call your cat whatever name suits them -- whatever gender that name happens to be associated with. I so wanted to call my grey cat Lilac, and I still think that would suit him best, but I was overruled by people who didn't believe a boy cat could have a flowery name. (He's called Caper now.)

I'd never heard of Maledicte, but looked it up on GoodReads and am intrigued!