After a long month (and much more drama coming down the pipe), I’ve finally determined – it’s just not possible for me to come home to Ohio to go to school next year. My new goal is The University of Illinois-Chicago… my original goal from last year. If things go as planned, I will apply this January for admission in January of 2009.
I know, I’m kinda sad about it, too, since I was looking forward to be back with old friends and family. But it’s not the end of the world.
My reasons:
1. Only $80,000 of debt vs. almost $200,000.
2. Two more classes to take vs. five.
3. $1000 worth of prerequisite classes vs. almost $10,000.
4. More time to learn Spanish.
5. More time to work as a doula.
6. The government-subsidized tuition reimbursement jobs that are in Illinois, but not as plentiful in Ohio.
7. My Sanity (or what is left of it).
Seriously, I’m getting tired from the amount of time I need to prepare and from trying to pay for all these classes. I’m worn out, which means I’m not doing my job at work, things fall through the cracks, which creates even more stress. Everything is snowballing more than I planned. I’m a hardy gal, but you can only take so much. I really liked the idea of coming back to Ohio, but it’s just not going to be feasible or realistic right now.
I’m reminded – we can plan until we are blue in the face, but life will always throw in its own twists & turns. No, we’re not subjects in someone’s cruel chess match, but we have to be adaptable. Go with the flow. My lifepath doesn’t rely solely on the opportunities taken, chances thrown aside, or the mishaps that have occurred, but it sure does make things interesting as doors open and close.
Perhaps this extra time will give me an opportunity to travel a bit this summer, to visit as many people as I can in Minnesota and Ohio. I hope you all forgive me as I take back my plans – I miss all of you dearly.
Dream big, and keep those doors freely swinging.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Monday, September 10, 2007
Moving, take two.
Ah, moving. I know all about how it goes. I do it a lot. (I just did it 3 months ago.)
Recap: a week and a half ago, I was given permission to break my current lease because of a horribly leaky ceiling that would require a torn-up ceiling. That didn’t bother me as much as the landlord’s lack of communication skills, which was the main reason to really break the lease. That and I could find a place cheap enough that I could save more for school. I found my place that night, and after a week of keeping on top of the management company, I finally got myself a signed lease. After that same week of not being able to get a hold of the old landlord, I was finally able to talk to him and get some papers signed. The scene was finally set.
Thursday before I stop to sign the lease, I go pick up my Uhaul -- a very large van that I could keep until Sunday night. I wind up being late to the lease signing because the trash pick-up truck was blocking my van. I was concerned I wouldnt get there in time to sign the lease (just something else that would have gone wrong), but I still get everything set. I get to the old place, get some things together, then Julie comes to my place to help. We load up shelves and kitchen stuff, and are on our way around 9pm. We pull up in my designated parking (an illegal parking spot directly behind a stop sign, but directly in front of my door), and I stop. Then I remember where the keys to my new place are.
At my old apartment. In my purse that I didn’t want to take with me.
So we go back to the old place, I get the keys, and go back to the new place. Julie and I get out and go to the back of the truck to unload.
That’s when I realize: I locked the truck keys in the truck with it running. Seriously.
We laugh (what else can you do at this point, I’ve been running on adrenaline for days already). We get ignored when we ask passers-by to use their cell phone (ours are in the truck). We don’t have the number for AAA anyway, and no businesses around have a phone book. Not even the neighborhood gay bar a few doors down has one.
Then, salvation -- Julie sees a tow truck coming down the road, and she jumps in front of it, practically getting killed. We stop him, ask how much it would be for him to get into my truck, and he says $25. Fine, whatever, just get my keys out of the truck. He does this, we give him money, and we’re on our way. It’s 10:45.
We unload into the hallway, pull the truck into the alley, then start hauling things into my new place. As we’re doing this, I meet my new neighbors: 3 Russian girls living in the studio apartment next door, who are on their way to the fire escape to smoke while wearing only tank tops & panties.
...What? Julie & I laughed. This is surreal. It’s like we’re in every man’s fantasy. (Which, when I told the guys at work the next day, they ALL offered to help me move. Though I’m sure they wouldn’t be all that helpful at that point.)
We got everything in and decided to call it a night. We drive back to my place, and try to find parking.
We’re looking for parking. At 1 am on a Thursday. For a HUGE Uhaul van. ...right.
We eventually find parking, a mile away, west of Ridge Rd. We walk back, and I’m in bed at 2am.
... Just as a side note, I’ve be getting to work early this week -- by 7am everyday -- because of a HUGE project that had an astronomical amount of expenses and invoicing that had to be out before I started moving. So between that and the move, it’s no wonder I’m so tired I locked the keys in the truck. But I digress.
Friday went well. Work was still busy, but Mary and I were able to move all my sewing stuff and put up shelves without a hitch.
Saturday morning I decide to take a load in before I go to my Chemistry class at 9 am downtown. I decide to take a load, drive to class, then have all my furniture donations in the van already so I can drop them off between class and picking up my mom from the train station. I get up at 5am, get things packed, and realized that moving even small furniture can be a two-person job. I’m not going too fast, but getting to class a half-hour late won’t kill me. I get to the new place, load everything in the elevator, and head up. I start unloading everything into the hallway, but the door is heavy and eventually closes. Then it goes up a few feet and stops.
The elevator just broke.
The elevator just broke with all my bedding, towels, and cleaning supplies. I’m surrounded by boxes of heavy books. And somehow, I realize I’m on the 4th floor, not the fifth, which I didn’t realize before I started unloading. I'm not sure what happened, but apparently the elevator hiccuped on its way to the 5th floor. The only phone number I have is for the management office, and I don’t even know if they’re open on Saturdays. ...I hear people up and moving in the apartment next to the elevator, and I knock on the door.
It’s three some-sort-of-asian-or-pacific-descent girls in this studio (does the management company not care about fire codes?), and I ask for a number. They have one, hooray! I call the number. I had been told that the normal building manager is on vacation until Sunday, but the calls get directed to the on-call person.
Except that the voicemailbox is full, and I can’t leave a message. Dammit.
I decide to take my books that are currently in the hallway up to my apartment (at least it’s only one floor), and then try calling again. Still no answer, with the management or the building guy. Okay, fine -- I’m going to the grocery store while I wait. I don’t know the people in this building, I’m not leaving for longer than a half-hour if I can’t watch my stuff in the broken elevator.
I go, I come back. I put things away. I call -- an answer! The management company lady said she’d at least get the freight elevator unlocked, but she couldn’t tell me if the elevator could get released sooner than Monday (Monday!!!), but she had my number, and would call when it got fixed. At least I got to someone.
At this time, it’s 11:30. I’m obviously not getting to class. (Sad -- not because I wanted to learn about chemistry, but because I wanted to see the cute boy in class with whom I’ve been email-flirting.) Anyway, I decide to clean the place with new cleaning supplies I just bought (so now I’ll have stock, once I can get my stuff from the elevator), and then unpack my kitchen. It was time well-spent, at least, and I got a lot done.
I take the old furniture to the Brown Elephant on Clark (more illegal parking), and then pick up my mom. We go to the old place, start doing a few things, and then I get a few people to show up -- Jason, Amy & Dan, and Matt & one of his friends (also named Matt, that made things easy). There was lots of beer, pizza, cookies, and ice cream sandwiches. (I know how to treat my help.) We load the van. We unload the van (Matt & Matt leave after earning their beer). We go back and load the van again (Jason leaves at this point, he earned his beer), and unload (Amy & Dan left after unloading the boxsprings, they also earned their beer).
Later, Julie comes back to help my mother & I organize a bit. I wish we had remembered to take a photo of the place before we started organizing -- it was a mess. This first photo hardly does the chaos justice. So much stuff, not much space, and it looked ridiculous. I am finally completely spent, my brain is mush, Julie leaves, and my mom & I go to sleep.
The next morning we’re up early, reorganizing so we have enough room to bring the last few items and make a Target run. We leave, go to Target, drop off Target items at the new place, pick up more donations, drop off the donations (more illegal parking), then head to the old place. We clean and pack the truck, almost forgetting a number of things in cabinets (and eggs -- we almost left eggs in the fridge). I leave a note with my forwarding address and keys, and we’re out. We unload (amongst children playing basketball with a milk crate in the alley), drop of the truck (late, so I’ll get slapped with a $25 fee plus the extra mileage fee), pick up food, and head home.
My head hit the pillow at midnight, and I doubt I was awake at 12:01.
After selecting a few items to get rid of, the place is looking okay. Not cluttered (unless you go into the walk-in closet, then all bets are off). And even with my space-utilizing skills, my mom was a huge help, I know I couldn't have gotten the place like it is without here. Sure it’s small, but I’m saving money, I’ll be forced to whittle down my possessions for when I move back to Ohio in May... and I do like the place.
Today I’ll finish getting the place together and study some chemistry. Back to work tomorrow, and I don’t want to think about how much work I’ll have after being gone, but I’ll survive.
Housewarming parties will be at the end of September. Say hi to the Russians if you see them in the hallway.
Recap: a week and a half ago, I was given permission to break my current lease because of a horribly leaky ceiling that would require a torn-up ceiling. That didn’t bother me as much as the landlord’s lack of communication skills, which was the main reason to really break the lease. That and I could find a place cheap enough that I could save more for school. I found my place that night, and after a week of keeping on top of the management company, I finally got myself a signed lease. After that same week of not being able to get a hold of the old landlord, I was finally able to talk to him and get some papers signed. The scene was finally set.
Thursday before I stop to sign the lease, I go pick up my Uhaul -- a very large van that I could keep until Sunday night. I wind up being late to the lease signing because the trash pick-up truck was blocking my van. I was concerned I wouldnt get there in time to sign the lease (just something else that would have gone wrong), but I still get everything set. I get to the old place, get some things together, then Julie comes to my place to help. We load up shelves and kitchen stuff, and are on our way around 9pm. We pull up in my designated parking (an illegal parking spot directly behind a stop sign, but directly in front of my door), and I stop. Then I remember where the keys to my new place are.
At my old apartment. In my purse that I didn’t want to take with me.
So we go back to the old place, I get the keys, and go back to the new place. Julie and I get out and go to the back of the truck to unload.
That’s when I realize: I locked the truck keys in the truck with it running. Seriously.
We laugh (what else can you do at this point, I’ve been running on adrenaline for days already). We get ignored when we ask passers-by to use their cell phone (ours are in the truck). We don’t have the number for AAA anyway, and no businesses around have a phone book. Not even the neighborhood gay bar a few doors down has one.
Then, salvation -- Julie sees a tow truck coming down the road, and she jumps in front of it, practically getting killed. We stop him, ask how much it would be for him to get into my truck, and he says $25. Fine, whatever, just get my keys out of the truck. He does this, we give him money, and we’re on our way. It’s 10:45.
We unload into the hallway, pull the truck into the alley, then start hauling things into my new place. As we’re doing this, I meet my new neighbors: 3 Russian girls living in the studio apartment next door, who are on their way to the fire escape to smoke while wearing only tank tops & panties.
...What? Julie & I laughed. This is surreal. It’s like we’re in every man’s fantasy. (Which, when I told the guys at work the next day, they ALL offered to help me move. Though I’m sure they wouldn’t be all that helpful at that point.)
We got everything in and decided to call it a night. We drive back to my place, and try to find parking.
We’re looking for parking. At 1 am on a Thursday. For a HUGE Uhaul van. ...right.
We eventually find parking, a mile away, west of Ridge Rd. We walk back, and I’m in bed at 2am.
... Just as a side note, I’ve be getting to work early this week -- by 7am everyday -- because of a HUGE project that had an astronomical amount of expenses and invoicing that had to be out before I started moving. So between that and the move, it’s no wonder I’m so tired I locked the keys in the truck. But I digress.
Friday went well. Work was still busy, but Mary and I were able to move all my sewing stuff and put up shelves without a hitch.
Saturday morning I decide to take a load in before I go to my Chemistry class at 9 am downtown. I decide to take a load, drive to class, then have all my furniture donations in the van already so I can drop them off between class and picking up my mom from the train station. I get up at 5am, get things packed, and realized that moving even small furniture can be a two-person job. I’m not going too fast, but getting to class a half-hour late won’t kill me. I get to the new place, load everything in the elevator, and head up. I start unloading everything into the hallway, but the door is heavy and eventually closes. Then it goes up a few feet and stops.
The elevator just broke.
The elevator just broke with all my bedding, towels, and cleaning supplies. I’m surrounded by boxes of heavy books. And somehow, I realize I’m on the 4th floor, not the fifth, which I didn’t realize before I started unloading. I'm not sure what happened, but apparently the elevator hiccuped on its way to the 5th floor. The only phone number I have is for the management office, and I don’t even know if they’re open on Saturdays. ...I hear people up and moving in the apartment next to the elevator, and I knock on the door.
It’s three some-sort-of-asian-or-pacific-descent girls in this studio (does the management company not care about fire codes?), and I ask for a number. They have one, hooray! I call the number. I had been told that the normal building manager is on vacation until Sunday, but the calls get directed to the on-call person.
Except that the voicemailbox is full, and I can’t leave a message. Dammit.
I decide to take my books that are currently in the hallway up to my apartment (at least it’s only one floor), and then try calling again. Still no answer, with the management or the building guy. Okay, fine -- I’m going to the grocery store while I wait. I don’t know the people in this building, I’m not leaving for longer than a half-hour if I can’t watch my stuff in the broken elevator.
I go, I come back. I put things away. I call -- an answer! The management company lady said she’d at least get the freight elevator unlocked, but she couldn’t tell me if the elevator could get released sooner than Monday (Monday!!!), but she had my number, and would call when it got fixed. At least I got to someone.
At this time, it’s 11:30. I’m obviously not getting to class. (Sad -- not because I wanted to learn about chemistry, but because I wanted to see the cute boy in class with whom I’ve been email-flirting.) Anyway, I decide to clean the place with new cleaning supplies I just bought (so now I’ll have stock, once I can get my stuff from the elevator), and then unpack my kitchen. It was time well-spent, at least, and I got a lot done.
I take the old furniture to the Brown Elephant on Clark (more illegal parking), and then pick up my mom. We go to the old place, start doing a few things, and then I get a few people to show up -- Jason, Amy & Dan, and Matt & one of his friends (also named Matt, that made things easy). There was lots of beer, pizza, cookies, and ice cream sandwiches. (I know how to treat my help.) We load the van. We unload the van (Matt & Matt leave after earning their beer). We go back and load the van again (Jason leaves at this point, he earned his beer), and unload (Amy & Dan left after unloading the boxsprings, they also earned their beer).
Later, Julie comes back to help my mother & I organize a bit. I wish we had remembered to take a photo of the place before we started organizing -- it was a mess. This first photo hardly does the chaos justice. So much stuff, not much space, and it looked ridiculous. I am finally completely spent, my brain is mush, Julie leaves, and my mom & I go to sleep.
The next morning we’re up early, reorganizing so we have enough room to bring the last few items and make a Target run. We leave, go to Target, drop off Target items at the new place, pick up more donations, drop off the donations (more illegal parking), then head to the old place. We clean and pack the truck, almost forgetting a number of things in cabinets (and eggs -- we almost left eggs in the fridge). I leave a note with my forwarding address and keys, and we’re out. We unload (amongst children playing basketball with a milk crate in the alley), drop of the truck (late, so I’ll get slapped with a $25 fee plus the extra mileage fee), pick up food, and head home.
My head hit the pillow at midnight, and I doubt I was awake at 12:01.
After selecting a few items to get rid of, the place is looking okay. Not cluttered (unless you go into the walk-in closet, then all bets are off). And even with my space-utilizing skills, my mom was a huge help, I know I couldn't have gotten the place like it is without here. Sure it’s small, but I’m saving money, I’ll be forced to whittle down my possessions for when I move back to Ohio in May... and I do like the place.
Today I’ll finish getting the place together and study some chemistry. Back to work tomorrow, and I don’t want to think about how much work I’ll have after being gone, but I’ll survive.
Housewarming parties will be at the end of September. Say hi to the Russians if you see them in the hallway.
Monday, September 03, 2007
Moving... again...
So those of you that didn’t get a chance to visit me and see my new apartment yet -- your time has run out. :)
As my ceiling has been leaking for a few weeks (almost 2 gallons of water came through my roof during the last big storm!), my landlord has told me I could break the lease and leave. I’m not horribly concerned about the ceiling -- it’s annoying to keep two large bins under my leak, but it seems fixable. The ceiling would have to get torn out, but that would only last a week or two. Not really something I would move for, I’m not that easily annoyed. Check out the photos. I will say, though, that it did worry me when he said I could break the lease -- landlords don’t do that. So it probably is worse than it looks.
I am taking him up on the offer, mostly just to have the chance to move to a cheaper place. (Well, that and the fact that he has crappy communication skills, even when his tenant's living space is technically violating building codes.) When I signed the lease in March, I thought I only had 3 more prerequisite classes to take to get into nursing school. I found out later that I had 7 to take, half of them being about or more than $1000 each. So I was a bit crunched, but it was still do-able. Moving to a place $150 cheaper will give me some breathing room, and I’m looking forward to it.
Where am I moving, you ask? Well as long as all the paperwork goes through on Tuesday as planned, I’ll be moving to Sheridan between Foster & Argyle. It’s a good price, and it’s a sublease with the end date of May 31st (perfect for leaving for Ohio). It’s a nice little studio. About 400 square feet. I repeat... little studio.
I hear some of you who know me say, “Hah! You? Move into a little studio? With all the stuff YOU have? No way!”
I don’t blame you, I know I have a ridiculous amount of crap. I laughed at myself when I checked the place out for the first time, I won’t lie. But I’ve got it all figured out. I did a floor plan in my anal-retentive-planner kind of way, and I think this will work. It will be a stretch (or, I suppose, a crunch), but my plan was to move into a little studio when I got to Ohio, anyway. Might as well get used to it now.
Anyway, my apartment is all boxed up again. I did love the place, but I always knew it was more than I needed. I’ll be renting a moving van next Thursday through Saturday. I want to do this over the course of a few days -- to gradually trickle my stuff into the place, and to keep me from going insane like I did last time -- and I want a smaller vehicle instead of a truck that I can park on the street while I take my time.
So here it comes, the plea for help -- anyone have next Saturday afternoon/ evening free? I’m not imposing an entire apartment full of stuff on anyone, no way. Most of it will be moved on Friday. I just need help moving the things I can’t do myself: mattress & boxsprings, small loveseat, endtables, and a small desk. And it all fits in the elevator, so you don’t even have to do stairs. We’ll probably make 2 - 3 trips, it shouldn’t be bad. And you’ll get food for your effort. It’ll be the easiest move you’ve ever helped with, I swear. Last time I had movers -- SO worth the money -- but with this being last minute, I couldn’t make it work. So... please help. [pouty face] :)
So that’s me right now. [whew] Oh, and I got my root canal -- it was fine, not traumatic, I just need to get my crown now. Maybe something platinum with a diamond, we’ll see what happens. The chemistry class is fine, a very nice, warm, quirky, grandfathery kind of guy is teaching it, and boy does he love teaching. It’ll be a good time, even if it is on Saturday mornings.
But back to the move -- they say bad things come in threes, whether that’s just how we perceive it or luck or what-have-you, who knows. And then I started thinking: I moved into the very first place Sivie & looked at when we moved to Chicago, and it seemed pretty great... until we found out that our landlord didn’t realize that being a landlord actually took work. And got some great pet squirrels and mice in the meantime. Then, instead of trying to find a place on my own last spring, I opted to take Mike’s terrific place in Rogers Park, almost sight unseen, and I loved it. And then the roof leaked enough for me to break a lease after only three months. This time, I got a call from my landlord on Thursday, was told I could break a lease, searched that day for a new place, saw two that night, and I’m going to be taking the first apartment I saw. ...I hope I’m not doomed. :)
There will be a housewarming party... correction, there may be a few housewarming parties, since my new place can seat... oh, let’s say... *five*... people comfortably. :) Yeah, no large potlucks at this place. But a few small ones can’t hurt anything. Details coming in a few weeks. Not like it’ll take me *that* long to set up the teeny place.
But all that said, I’m excited. No matter how much moving bites the big one sometimes, new beginnings are always fun & interesting.
So... I’m going to get back to packing. Hope your ceilings stay dry.
As my ceiling has been leaking for a few weeks (almost 2 gallons of water came through my roof during the last big storm!), my landlord has told me I could break the lease and leave. I’m not horribly concerned about the ceiling -- it’s annoying to keep two large bins under my leak, but it seems fixable. The ceiling would have to get torn out, but that would only last a week or two. Not really something I would move for, I’m not that easily annoyed. Check out the photos. I will say, though, that it did worry me when he said I could break the lease -- landlords don’t do that. So it probably is worse than it looks.
I am taking him up on the offer, mostly just to have the chance to move to a cheaper place. (Well, that and the fact that he has crappy communication skills, even when his tenant's living space is technically violating building codes.) When I signed the lease in March, I thought I only had 3 more prerequisite classes to take to get into nursing school. I found out later that I had 7 to take, half of them being about or more than $1000 each. So I was a bit crunched, but it was still do-able. Moving to a place $150 cheaper will give me some breathing room, and I’m looking forward to it.
Where am I moving, you ask? Well as long as all the paperwork goes through on Tuesday as planned, I’ll be moving to Sheridan between Foster & Argyle. It’s a good price, and it’s a sublease with the end date of May 31st (perfect for leaving for Ohio). It’s a nice little studio. About 400 square feet. I repeat... little studio.
I hear some of you who know me say, “Hah! You? Move into a little studio? With all the stuff YOU have? No way!”
I don’t blame you, I know I have a ridiculous amount of crap. I laughed at myself when I checked the place out for the first time, I won’t lie. But I’ve got it all figured out. I did a floor plan in my anal-retentive-planner kind of way, and I think this will work. It will be a stretch (or, I suppose, a crunch), but my plan was to move into a little studio when I got to Ohio, anyway. Might as well get used to it now.
Anyway, my apartment is all boxed up again. I did love the place, but I always knew it was more than I needed. I’ll be renting a moving van next Thursday through Saturday. I want to do this over the course of a few days -- to gradually trickle my stuff into the place, and to keep me from going insane like I did last time -- and I want a smaller vehicle instead of a truck that I can park on the street while I take my time.
So here it comes, the plea for help -- anyone have next Saturday afternoon/ evening free? I’m not imposing an entire apartment full of stuff on anyone, no way. Most of it will be moved on Friday. I just need help moving the things I can’t do myself: mattress & boxsprings, small loveseat, endtables, and a small desk. And it all fits in the elevator, so you don’t even have to do stairs. We’ll probably make 2 - 3 trips, it shouldn’t be bad. And you’ll get food for your effort. It’ll be the easiest move you’ve ever helped with, I swear. Last time I had movers -- SO worth the money -- but with this being last minute, I couldn’t make it work. So... please help. [pouty face] :)
So that’s me right now. [whew] Oh, and I got my root canal -- it was fine, not traumatic, I just need to get my crown now. Maybe something platinum with a diamond, we’ll see what happens. The chemistry class is fine, a very nice, warm, quirky, grandfathery kind of guy is teaching it, and boy does he love teaching. It’ll be a good time, even if it is on Saturday mornings.
But back to the move -- they say bad things come in threes, whether that’s just how we perceive it or luck or what-have-you, who knows. And then I started thinking: I moved into the very first place Sivie & looked at when we moved to Chicago, and it seemed pretty great... until we found out that our landlord didn’t realize that being a landlord actually took work. And got some great pet squirrels and mice in the meantime. Then, instead of trying to find a place on my own last spring, I opted to take Mike’s terrific place in Rogers Park, almost sight unseen, and I loved it. And then the roof leaked enough for me to break a lease after only three months. This time, I got a call from my landlord on Thursday, was told I could break a lease, searched that day for a new place, saw two that night, and I’m going to be taking the first apartment I saw. ...I hope I’m not doomed. :)
There will be a housewarming party... correction, there may be a few housewarming parties, since my new place can seat... oh, let’s say... *five*... people comfortably. :) Yeah, no large potlucks at this place. But a few small ones can’t hurt anything. Details coming in a few weeks. Not like it’ll take me *that* long to set up the teeny place.
But all that said, I’m excited. No matter how much moving bites the big one sometimes, new beginnings are always fun & interesting.
So... I’m going to get back to packing. Hope your ceilings stay dry.
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