Thursday, May 24, 2007

Moving out, and ? (up) ?

and here I am, sitting on the floor of my empty living room with nothing more than a TV, a floor pillow, a vacuum, and a rather tacky folding wood table. Yes people, it's official. I'm getting ready to move out and it sucks.

I'm amazing at the agony of moving. How I have managed to amass such large amounts of crap over the past four years is perplexing. The papers from freshman year (lord knows I wouldn't dare ever reference them EVER again...I'm pretty sure that was the year that my writing seminar professor told me that, "You have a penchant for writing superfluous nothing"- well you know what Steve, glad to know you didn't approve, but I still managed to graduate Magna Cum Laude from Penn); the incessant number of free tee-shirts (do I really need to keep the t-shirt from "beer- mitzvah"?); every card sent to me from family and friends; rose petals from the ex-boyfriend (he clearly broke my heart, so why save the reminders?); the stub from the parking ticket that I had to pay (I swear, I didn't see the fire hydrant there when I got home at 2 am); the coupons for $0.50 off a salad (like it really makes a difference when the salad comes out to $12.00...why do I get punished for trying to eat healthy); the approximately 157 recipes that I have pulled from magazine or off the computer (seriously, just who would I cook a 5 course meal for that includes everything from fillet mignon to champagne granita); and of course, more pens, pencils, markers, post-its, and desk supplies than I thought humanly necessary.

At first, the idea of packing up to move to NY seemed so appealing. I envisioned living the lavish NY lifestyle, I’d no longer be a student living off of ramenn noodles and frozen vegetables, but I'd be a *real* person, with a fancy apartment, organic foods, a job, and (drum roll please) a paycheck! However, I seem to have overlooked the process of obtaining the new lifestyle, the transition phase if you will.
Aside from my parents being amazingly supportive and making the 6 hour drive to cart all of stuff home, there were some things that would not be making the voyage back to beantown before the trip to NY. The clean out began when my roommate moved out taking our kitchen table, some kitchen supplies, a bookcase, a few rugs, etc. No big loss, I could manage. She was kind enough to leave things that were essential (a TV, a vacuum, a bathmat) hahah. The cleanout continued with first sale of my furniture. For instance, my bed . Of course, that sold super fast; however, it left me bedless. I sold them to an underclassman who moved out the end of April (yup, its now the end of May and I'm still here), so I have been lapping in luxury as I get my beauty sleep on a twin size aero bed ( a far cry from my plush pillow top full-size bed). Alright, fair enough. It's still a bed.
And then there was the futon. Now it was less than a year old, and amazingly comfortable, but in all honesty, way to bulky to move to NY, especially with the high likelihood that I'll be living in a walk-up with narrow hallways and doors. No thanks, I'll pass on attempting that maneuver. So after numerous postings on craigslist, vast numbers of emails sent to list-serves of student groups, fraternities and sororities, and yes, even a few personalized pleas to people that I knew were staying in the area next year, I finally got an offer off craigslist. The man and his son came and picked it up 2 nights ago. But to my surprise, they showed up with a hatchback, yup, a little Honda Civic. I thought, Oh Lord, there is no way in hell that this beast of a futon is getting in that little bit of a car. But I was happily surprised to see them artfully fold the cushion into the back seat and then strap the metal frame onto the roof. I hope they didn't have too far to drive. Oh well, I got my money. So now, I have no bed, no couch, and..... I also got rid of my desk. This has made studying for my RN boards a bit tricky. Sitting on the floor is not comfortable, I can't go to the library (in my entire 4 years at Penn I have studied maybe 3 times on the library....what can I say, it's too distracting, I love to people watch), and when I study at Bucks County coffee ( I end up drinking more caffeine than is healthy and last time, I was having palpitations by the end of my 5 hour study session). Alas, I have reverted to moving my aero bed into the living room, placing the pillows against the wall, and creating a makeshift lap-table/desk.
But the coup de resistance (actually, I don't think this phrase fits here, but I have been dying to use it) was when my dad drove down 2 days ago to take EVERYTHING else, leaving me with only my aero bed, some personal items/cosmetics, my bike, and some clothes (I accidentally gave him the bad with all my pants, so now all I have to wear for the next 2 weeks is shorts, sweatpants, workout clothes, and of course all of my fancy dresses...fine choices for a day of studying, or an afternoon of babysitting...whoops!). So, QUESTION: where does this leave me? Answer: Sitting on my living room floor, wearing sweatpants and high heels, eating off of paper plates with plastic spoons, watching a cable less TV, while trying to study. Oh yes, I'm clearly on my way to living the glorious NY life. :)

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