Across Country: October 2011

We have finally, after much, much delay, purchased our tickets for our flight to Virginia for the holiday times. It is a big relief to have finally done this, as it has been on my To Do list for many months. We are super stoked and excited to have a vacation from real life. Also, we are crazy excited to see everyone! We are looking forward to having way too much food and drink and celebrating until we pass out.

Now for a question. Since when did airplane rides become so damn expensive?! It should be illegal to charge so much more money around the holidays. Shouldn't a ticket across the country be the same price every day of the year? Why is it half price to fly on Christmas day, as apposed to flying in on the 23rd? The plane doesn't run on half the fuel or half the pilots! I get it, I understand, supply and demand, blah blah blah, consumerism, whatever whatever, free market economy, and all that. Whatever. It just makes me angry. Stupid. Most things like this I can control. I don't believe cable should cost as much as it does, so I don't buy it and use Netflix instead. I don't like the fees they charge at ATM's, so I don't use them, ever. I mean never ever. I don't believe a movie ticket should cost nearly $10 so I patron exclusively second run theaters. But travel. Alas, I cannot figure out a way around it. A train is almost just as much and takes days longer. Driving is out of the question for too many reasons to count. I suppose my only option is to not fly around the holidays. Well, maybe that's what we'll do next year. This year we fly back to Virginia during the busiest travel time ever, with two dogs.

At least I can try and take comfort in knowing that I found one loophole, one way to save some money. We want to bring the pups with us, and as anyone who has ever looked into flying with a pet, it is ridiculous how expensive it can get. Luckily, we can take our wee ones with us as a carry-on piece of luggage. You would
think that since you typically get two free pieces of carry-on stuff, they would just be able to count them as one of those. But no. I guess there is some extra hassle involved that makes them able to charge $125 per pet. Each person is allowed only one pet, and each flight is limited in how many pets can be in the cabin at one time. Oh but we got 'em. There is some rule that says if the two animals are of the same species and size, and they ride in one bag or carrier, then they will be counted as one pet and only be charged one $125 fee! Now, Persie doesn't like to be caged whatsoever. And she is still kind of hesitant to snuggle up on Newton. He also bites all of the time. I imagine that on a seven hour flight there would be some problem, and I don't want to be that person with the growling and barking dogs peeing all over everything (hopefully they don't pee on everything). So I've come up with this brilliant plan to sew two very small soft sided carriers together, so that there will be a barrier between them, but putting one strap on both and calling it a double carrier. I believe I can fool the Delta people into believing me. I've had split 50/50 luck with getting nice airline worker people. Half of the time they seem to be very disgruntled and yell at me, the other half of the time they are very nice and do their jobs well and with a smile. Well, I'm feeling lucky. Now if only I can figure out how much food and water to give the babies pre-flight so that they don't pass out from hunger, and they don't have an accident. And maybe there is a sedative? Luckily, I have plenty of time to figure this all out.

Can't wait to see everyone! Miss you all a lot!

It all happened in such a whirlwind. One week we were desperately looking for an apartment, worried that we would never find a place in our price range that was pet (4 pets) friendly. There were so many close, but no cigar apartments that we had begun to panic. After quite a few let downs in a couple of days time, I gave up on finding anything good, and was just going to settle for anything new, as in different. I saw an ad on Craigslist for a place that was having an open house the next day, a Sunday. Tim had to work so it was up to me to view it and get information. The pictures of the place looked pretty bad. It was at the top of our budget, didn't have details about a pet policy, and seemed pretty shady, as in it required no lease, just month to month and only required a tiny deposit. Still, it was anything to get us out of our stinky complex apartment.

I showed up to the open house 20 minutes early. There were five other groups of people already waiting. The odds were against me. I would have to fight dirty. By the time the landlord showed up, there were 11 or 12 other groups of people lining the sidewalk. I was by no means the first person there, but I slyly crept up and was the first through the door. After rolling my eyes at a few girls who exclaimed that they had been waiting for an hour, I made a brisk run through the apartment. There were so many people that everyone had to march in single file, weaving in and out of doorways. Of course, I lead the way. The place was large, a two bedroom unit with a big eat in kitchen. It had fresh paint and a billion windows. Hardwood floors ran all through the house, and there were at least three closets. I knew we didn't need all of that space. It was bigger than our townhouse in Richmond, and since we have purged all of our furniture and belongings, we just don't require more than about 500 square feet anymore. The place was quite dirty. The cabinets, refrigerator, and stove pretty much made me gag. But dirt is one thing I can fix better than any other. I have in my arsenal two vacuums(one handheld, one upright), a steam mop, a Swiffer, several sizes of spray bottles, oven cleaner, comet, a wee broom and dust pan, a gallon of bleach, a gallon of vinegar, and many sponges. With these I can tackle just about anything that comes my way. This apartment would be a challenge, but I could make it sparkle. It had built-ins and charm. I spoke to the landlord man about details. Whoever could move in first would get the apartment, after a credit check was performed. I filled out an application and put our move in date for two weeks later. We had planned on having a couple of weeks of overlap to make our move easier. I was certain that someone would put in an application with an immediate move in.

I overheard a girl ask about any one bedroom units the landlord may have. He said that the apartment next door would be coming available the following week, and that the rent was $875 a month. That is cheaper than we have ever paid, in Portland or in Richmond. He would not show us the place, however, until the following Sunday, at another open house. I told him I would be the first one there. I was excited! Across the street there was another open house going on at a much nicer and pricier duplex. I joined the girl I had met in touring it while she waited for her boyfriend. When we got back to the apartment, the landlord was on the porch. The crowd had left and he told us that if we were quick we could see the one bedroom. There were tarps on the floor and paint cans everywhere. It was even dirtier than the two bedroom, but I couldn't have cared less. I asked him if I could change my move in date to immediately. He said he would run my credit that day and notify me if I was approved. I almost skipped away.

Once in my car I realized what had happened. I had put in an application for a place that Tim hadn't seen. I had only seen it for about 90 seconds myself. What was I thinking?! Crazy me making decisions all willy nilly! I am not this person. I think things through and research. I had no clue if this place sucked or if the neighborhood was bad or anything. I had basically rolled the dice, hoping I wouldn't get snake eyes (or have a snake infestation).

Wouldn't you know it, we were approved. We could move in that next Sunday. It all happened overnight. I took Tim by to peek in the windows and he trusted my judgement so we sent in our deposit. But we weren't out of the woods yet, it still could suck. The day we got the keys, Tim came by the new place after work, after I had been spiffing it up all day. It was still a disaster and would need many hours and days worth of sterilizing. But he loved it. It was cozy and charming with lots of original flare. It was built in 1923 as a multifamily home, and has big windows in every room with enough space for our tiny family. It is in the most perfect neighborhood, one block from a huge farm stand, with fruits, veggies, eggs, and fresh fish. It's a four minute jog to the school where Tim is coaching and a flat two mile bike ride for me to work. Persie and Newton can play out back off leash, and the cats are loving the many, many windows. The neighbors are genuinely friendly. Last week someone left flowers on everyone's door steps on the block. It really is a dream apartment.

It has taken me two weeks, but I am finally done cleaning all of the other peoples dirt. Now I can make my own. The stove had a few issues, so the landlord is having a new one installed tomorrow, and we barely had to ask him. The shower pressure was pretty weak, so he turned it way up and now it's like showering with a fire hose! The whole experience has been nothing but positive and it honestly shocks me. We turn in our keys to our old place next week, and then it will only be a dark, stinky memory. There will be many more pictures to come shortly, of our before and afters and of some new furniture and pieces that we have added to our collection. For now, I will be relaxing on my floral couch with my little family in our new house with the windows open and a record on.