New Beginnings: Day One.

Thursday, 7 August 2014

 

7:04 am. I open my eyes. Sparky and Yoshi's faces are inches from mine. I look around, a faint feeling of familiarity. I don't feel at home, but I don't feel out of place. My brain hasn't processed that I am living here yet. I am freezing, the portable air conditioning unit we turned on last night at full blast has finally done its job. I get up to turn it off but can't reach it, it's so high up. Not even as I climb atop the bean bag chair that's wedged under it. Bean bags sink; that's not gonna work.  Jenn hears me struggling and comes to help. I go pee and crawl back onto my air mattress. Sparky comes and cuddles in with me, although he doesn't look tired. My body thinks it's 10 am. I'm used to waking up around this time. I force myself back to sleep anyway, knowing if I don't I will regret it later.

9:02 am. I hear sparky stirring but reach to pet him and he isn't there. I turn around, my eyes scanning the room everywhere for him. He is cuddled up at jenn's feet on the futon. He looks comfortable. I lay back down.

I check my social media to an outpouring of love and support. People calling me an inspiration. It humbles me. I hope I don't let them down. I hope they don't forget about me. I know I won't forget about them. 

Jenn turns her head and mutters good morning. I go and sit with her and sparky, and Yoshi comes too. For a few minutes we all attack each other with love and hugs and kisses. Our new little family. We look at each other and know this is all we need for now. This is enough. I can tell she is grateful not to be here alone anymore. I am lucky to have her.

Jenn gets ready for her Disney appointment. We take the dogs out on their morning walk. The air is cool but not cold. I am happy to be away from the muggy heat and the sticky air and the rain. Once Jenn leaves, I take sparky out again, for a longer walk. He's not as quick as Yoshi, and he's taking a while to familiarize himself with his new surroundings. He smells everything. He seems happy.

I am hungry, but I don't have a car yet. We have a long day ahead of us, moving to the new place today! I should eat. I ravage through half packed boxes until I come across a bag of cinnamon toast crunch. SCORE. 

I decide that all of these little moments are what really make up my new life. The big milestones are great but they are few and far between. I sit down to write my reflections because I don't want to forget any of this. Maybe I will blog them later. I wonder if people even care. Maybe it will help someone who is thinking about making a big move but isn't sure what it would be like. 

11:33 am. Jenn calls. Her voice is full of excitement. She got her Disney internship! I am so happy for her, this is one of her lifelong dreams and it's so amazing to see it come to fruition! She definitely deserves it. I am proud. The good news definitely makes this moving day a little sweeter. Moving stuff is never fun. 

12:14 pm. Jenn's friend Azim comes over to help us move stuff to the new place. We reintroduce ourselves, he is nice. I don't exactly have much upper body strength, so the added manpower is more than welcome. Jenn arrives shortly thereafter and we begin packing both her car and his. It's a pain going down all the hallways of her building but we figure it out. We drive 9 minutes to the new place. It's 5 exits away, but the exits are pretty close to each other here, not like in Miami. We exit on Vineland. There are two gas stations right off the highway: $4.01 for regular unleaded.

We see a donut shop and a Pizza Hut right off the corner, there's also a chase bank and Ralph's nearby: Awesome. We make a mental note to get pizza afterward. We turn onto our street: The neighborhood looks charming and quiet. A pretty young blonde in a purple maxi dress walking her dog. She introduces herself as our downstairs neighbor and welcomes us to the block. We are overwhelmed with how incredibly nice she is. 

12:56 pm. I step foot into my brand new home for the first time. It's small, but it's cute and cozy and I love it. I skip down the stairs, overcome with joy. Unloading is much easier than loading was, maybe because I'm excited. We go back and pack the cars one more time. I order pizza for us.

3:27 pm. We finish unloading. The house is a mess, there's stuff everywhere, and we are absolutely exhausted. We sit on the floor and have pizza and beer and relax for a few minutes. We thank Azim for all his help.

3:51 pm. Jenn leaves to her audition and then to work. She won't be back  till late tonight. I FaceTime some if my family and friends back home to show them our new apartment. It's not much, but it's ours. Once I hang up, I start putting things in their place. I'm determined to have the whole house unpacked and set up and much as possible before Jenn gets back. 

Spent the rest of the day settling in. I am exhausted but excited. So many memories ahead!