Monday, May 23, 2005

New Apartment, New Life Approaching

I've been so emotionally overwhelmed lately. I think that's why I've been so tired. We signed a lease on a gorgeous apartment this weekend! I'm very excited. I love it. I blew up a floorplan and arranged all of our furniture. I took inventory on everything and put it in different categories: apartment, storage, or Goodwill. Turns out we don't need storage! My sister is moving into her first apartment and needs furniture. We made a deal. She can use it if I can store it at her place. Pretty good deal, huh?
Now, I can't wait to start packing. The house is spotless so we're videotaping tonight. Then, it's all going into boxes. I'm going to itemize every box so it's very clear what's in what. Jason has to move at the beginning of August for his graduate program, but I can't move until December (the earliest). That sucks. I hate how we'll have to be apart. I'll have to be all alone in a big, empty house in a scary city with lots of crime. Wonderful. At least I'll have the buns.
It's also hard planning the logistics of the move. Since my sis needs her stuff by early September, and moving is expensive, we've figured out a detailed, if not complicated, plan. Here's how we're going to do it. We'll pack everything up, rent a giant Ryder truck, and recruit some good friends to help us load the truck. My sister's stuff will go in first since it's coming out last. I'm treating my friends to free beer and dinner. Is that good enough? Helping someone move sucks.
Then, I'll take off from lab (bad time to do it with a defense coming up), and ride out with Jason to San Diego. We can do the entire drive in 3 days total. My dad is meeting us there with the Nissan pickup truck (for Jason so he doesn't have to rent a car--we share 1 car currently). We'll unpack on the 4th day. I'll fly back on the 5th or 6th day, and Jason and my dad will drive up to my parents' place to unload my sister's stuff. Then, Jason will fly back down to San Diego and get ready for school. Whew. Does that make sense?
Once I get back to St. Louis (all by my lonesome self), I'll work my ass off in lab. The house will be empty except for the bunnies (yea!), the bed that we're getting rid of, a little t.v. that we're selling, a card table with folding chairs (again, disposable), and some plastic dishes to eat off of. I'll live out of my suitcase for a few months. Any other odds and ends that we will want in San Diego, we'll box up and DHL it across country. It sucks because the house will be so empty. If I want to work out, I'll go the gym. It'll be a good incentive to work harder in lab.
Finally, in December, after I defend, we'll load up our little Corolla with the buns, our suitcases, and drive out to San Diego--the final trip. That's our gameplan.

3 comments:

Kevin Yates said...

it sounds like a great gameplan...it also sounds a little like most of the gameplans that i make...do you think that being obsessive, and making sure that every detail is covered, leads to more "complicated/complex" gameplans?

i like that you thought through where to put your sister's stuff on the truck...a lot of people wouldnt think about that.

i know about helping people move...i got a truck two summers ago, and it wasnt two weeks after i got it before the requests to help started. i ended up helping about a dozen people move either entire apartments or odds and ends that summer.

Rachel said...

Wow, that's nice. Helping people move sucks. I think being obsessive can help but it also leads to more stress. Now, we're thinking of going with ABF, a company that lets us load it up but they drive it out for us. They would help simplify things immensely so I'm getting some quotes.

Kevin Yates said...

yeah the stress level is definitely higher with the constant worry of getting all the details covered.

moving companies are good, but i know they are pricey...a friend of mine got some quotes when she was moving to florida. she saved a ton of money by having a friend of hers drive the ryder truck down there for her.