Moving... again.

I hate moving. I don't mind the 'change' aspect of moving, it is all the decisions one has to make which are based upon sketchy information. For example, I knew there is a kitchen with a dishwasher, disposal, stove, fridge, etc... but I had no idea if there would be space on the counters or in the cupboards for my big kitchen maid mixer, nor if I would ever have need of it in the little apartment in Kansas. I think it is the guessing part that makes me the most uncomfortable with moving. Since I have done this (move to a fairly unknown place) many times, I planned, somewhat, for the possibilities. I am a list-maker and a planner. I am not particularly fond of big surprises, so I try to cover a myriad of possibilities. Some times this works out well, and other times it is just a crap shoot.

Fortunately, this time, it has all gone pretty well. Wednesday night we picked up the u-haul truck and Nick and his buddy loaded it all up. I apparently planned exactly the right amount of 'stuff' to completely fill not only the 10' truck, but also the trunk of the car! Thursday we drove to Anderson, Indiana (where we had lived for some 10 years) and spent a lovely evening with friends there. Other than a dense snow squall during the last hour of the drive out of Michigan everything went just fine. Friday, however, was a very long drive of about 10 hours to get to Lawrence Kansas. Saturday morning I got us breakfast at Mickey D's and we headed over to the new apartment. There was no one parked in front of my new place, so we backed the truck right up to the walk and Larry and Nick began to unload while I took pictures of the 'problem' areas inside. Nothing major, just nicks, dirt, chips and the like.

The apartment has a nice living space with a vaulted ceiling from which there is a fan and light fixture, and a fireplace at one end. The washer/dryer combo is in the closet which also houses the furnace and water heater. The kitchen is small but very workable with a fridge that is only a skosh bigger than the one I had in Istanbul. The bedroom is decent sized with a walk-in closet and the bathroom is what one can expect in an apartment. While I am here by myself this will be just fine, but it is a little crowded for three of us! My new boss, the lovely Terese, bought us lunch on move-in day, sending over three delicious pizzas! This delivery was followed by the arrival of two cable guys to get me all wired and hooked up and then one of the veteran tutors came to help unload the heavier furniture. Of course in this small space, the boys couldn't unload anything with the cable guys in the way, so we chatted and I unloaded boxes in the kitchen while we waited for them to finish up. It probably took all of 30 minutes to completely unload the truck.

Next on my priority list was to purchase as many of the necessities as possible before I went to sleep, so that meant a trip to Bed, Bath and Beyond and Target. These kinds of stores are probably a whole three miles from the apartment. (I love small towns!) After picking up some of the more important items, (silverware, glasses, a coffee pot and some food) we stopped at Applebee's for some supper and went back to pass out. Sunday was filled with more unpacking, returning the u-haul and purchases. Top on my list was bookshelves so I can unload the boxes of books. The good news.... there is a World Market which has lovely bookcases - on sale! The bad news.... we probably should have waited to return the u-haul until after I had bought them! But, with the long box hanging way out the back of the trunk, and the smaller box in the back seat and Nick laying across it we managed to get them home!

We went for a little tour of the campus, so Larry and Nick could see where I would be spending most of my time. It is as lovely as I remembered. There is a shopping center with a very large grocery store and a brew house/restaurant just down the street. We ate at the brew house and then stopped at the grocery store for TP and kleenex. Terese called while we were there - she was at the apartment with baked goods for us! She left them by the door for us - yummy muffins! By the time we got home I was exhausted, and fell asleep on the sofa at about 8:00. I moved to the bed at about 10:30 and slept like the dead until my usual wake-up time, 5:30am. So today I will finish as much of the unpacking as I can, send the boys to Home Depot for the little hardware supplies we need, hopefully get to see Terese, and go downtown to explore. For all that I hate moving, now that the hard part has passed, I am excited to learn about my new home, the community, the campus, my colleagues and students and settle in to the next chapter of my life.