Moving Day

Nick and I (and Atti) are moving to Burlington, IA. It's about 35 minutes from Monmouth. Baseball season for the Bees starts on Thursday so from then on, Nick will be working days and evenings nearly every single day, through September. Living in Burlington will be easier on him. My AmeriCorps job here in Monmouth will end at the end of July, so I'll be commuting to work until then.

Not only will Nick be closer to work, but I'll get to see him more than I would had I decided to stay in Monmouth. Also, Monmouth has a way of warding off inspiration, sucking the energy out of me and overall making me feel less alive. Many of its businesses have closed in the last couple of years. I'm sure it was a happenin' place in its day but there's just nothing here now. Burlington has a farmer's market, a riverwalk, Artisan festivals, a pretty big library, your average mall and superstores, not to mention it's a city that will take more than a 10-minute car ride to explore.

The apartment is.....quirky. It's the 3rd floor of an old Victorian house that used to be the maid's quarters. A good amount of room, 1 bedroom living/dining room, kitchen, bathroom. Some of its major features include a fake fireplace, cool windows, fire escape, and my favorite, a tiny little deck for two that has a view of the Mississippi and sunsets.

The apartment......needs some work. When we first saw the apartment I saw only potential. I was excited to clean and fix it up. I saw us sitting on the deck with beers, hosting a dinner party for my birthday, watching TV at night....

Last week I decided to do whatever cleaning I could without electricity, since it wasn't on yet. I got there and all of a sudden, things didn't look as easy as they did the first time. The only thing I could do at that point is dust a little. Every time I tried to, I ran into a dead bug. Nothing as serious as an infestation but the apartment had been vacant for a month. I don't do well with insects. I had to kill a wasp with carpet cleaner. My allergies were killing me, I had body aches and a sore throat. The carpet was in worse shape than I had originally thought. Today I'll be vacuuming and more importantly, giving it a good Stanley Steamer cleaning.

Needless to say, I got discouraged. I asked myself what we had gotten ourselves into. I need to vacuum, shampoo, scrub, mop and disinfect every inch of this space before we move any big stuff in.

Whether moving ends up being a good idea or not isn't clear yet. While I am still excited to tackle this job, I have a reasonable amount of fear and anxiety as well. It's possible that my expectations for this apartment are too high and that I'll only end up disappointing myself. It's going to be a little while before I'll feel comfortable in this new place. Until then, I'll hate the fact that I'll feel displaced.

On the up side, at least I have a project, something more for me to do. As per Mary E's request, I'll be sure to post some pre-move in pictures. I feel a before and after is in order soon.