Well…I’m back.
It’s been nearly five years since I decided to stop updating this blog. If I’m being completely honest, I almost forgot about its existence entirely. At the time I had felt ready to step away and take a break, not knowing if I’d ever return for an update. It was only last week that I had a “creative itch” and could tell right away that none of my more artistic hobbies were going to scratch that itch. Then I remembered I had this blog and….here we are.
After being back in my hometown for almost a year now, I feel like things are finally settling down. Yet, it seems like I’m still learning something new every day. Sure, some of it is common sense like “If you live near a lot of trees, you’re going to be finding leaves in your yard 12 months out of the year” but when you’re returning to the suburbs after living in a one-bedroom apartment in a city for seven years, you’re going to forget these things.
That’s why I’m back: to share what I’m learning (or re-learning) as a first-time home-owner, novice gardener and bunny owner back in small-town Ohio….and reflect on what I learned living just outside of the most populated city in the US.
We have a bit of catching up to do, so buckle up and let’s take a trip down memory lane to moving day!
Moving Weekend 2021
Life Lesson: Don’t move in the summer
Okay, so no one really wants to be trudging through the snow to load up a moving truck. I get that. But be forewarned, if you move in a summer month, you run the risk of getting stuck in the middle of a heat wave. Lo and behold, the Heat Miser was hard at work in North Jersey, with temperatures in the 90’s if I remember correctly. To make matters worse, I was living in a fifth floor walk up (in a non-airconditioned building) so my heroic movers were really feeling the heat. My little window AC units could only do so much when heat rises.
(Below: Snape enjoying the AC in my empty bedroom)
Life Lesson: Don’t leave much packing for the night before
Sorry, Dad. Truly.
Once the plans for my move were finalized, I was eager to begin the packing process. Probably too eager, because I was left with a tower of boxes six weeks in advance that were starting to overwhelm my apartment.
Yet, somehow, I had way too many items that were left out with the mentality of “Oh I need that until the last minute.” Don’t be me. The Queen of England is not coming over any time soon. Buy paper plates, and pack your dishes as soon as you possibly can. My dad (who brought his van for the move) helped me finish up the packing the night before the move when we were both half asleep and happily stuffed with Chinese take-out. Bad idea.
Life Lesson: Your apartment doesn’t have to be squeaky clean
Prior to move-out, I received a lengthy list from my landlord of charges I could potentially incur for cleaning and service fees to get my apartment ready for the next tenant. The fee for scrubbing a dirty stove top might as well have been the cost of a year of college. So once everything was packed up in the U-Haul trailer, my dad and I went to work wiping down surfaces, sweeping and mopping the place. Was it perfect? No. Was it more than sufficient given the age of the building? Yes. I figured if they were going to nickel and dime me to get it clean, there wasn’t anything I could do about it when we needed to get on the road.
Much to my surprise, I received my full security deposit a month later, so apparently they were satisfied with our cleaning job. But considering the apartment was listed a month or so later with a rent that was hundreds more than I had been paying, I probably could have left a family of racoons in there and they wouldn’t have cared. They were just thrilled to have a now vacant and spacious apartment for which they could overcharge.
Life Lesson: Don’t let your cat sleep the whole trip
I’ll give Snape credit. He’s a trooper when it comes to traveling. He’s been on buses, planes, taxis and long car rides with only one incident. He’s so good about it, in fact, that he has no problem relaxing and sleeping while you’re on the road.
This is great news, because no one wants to hear a cat howling for 8 hours straight. This is also bad news because your cat is going to wake up an hour before your destination, when it’s dark out and you’re ready for bed, and decide he wants to act like a nutcase.
Life Lesson: A 10 hour car ride is Hell
I’ve done the 8-hour car ride to NJ a few times, and it never gets less annoying (And I’m not even the one driving, or doing it round-trip!) So as excited as I was to move back home, I was absolutely dreading the long car ride. I think I would have been okay had it not been for two factors: a late “check out” and the U-Haul. We didn’t get on the road until well after noon, which meant getting home late. Unavoidable, unfortunately, but hey…last time doing that! The U-Haul trailer–though a major cost saver–meant my dad’s van had to go slower than normal to accommodate for the extra weight. This also meant that we did not get home until almost 11:00 at night.
Longest. Day. Ever. I was okay until the last 90 minutes or so, when I was starting to lose my mind. My temporary insanity meant I was on the verge of walking home (and arriving 4 days later) just so I could stretch my legs.
Life Lesson: Fifth-floor walk up’s suck
I knew I’d be paying for movers to get everything out of my apartment, as it was just not feasible for my dad and I to do alone. So while I stayed in my apartment to guard things, I still felt horrible for them having to haul my items down (and walk back up) all of those stairs–and in 90 degree heat (see Life Lesson #1).
While my dad and I were spared the actual moving, we still had to make multiple trips to and from my apartment before to grab last-minute items. Needless to say I was completely exhausted by the time we left.
And now I live in a ranch. Take that, stairs!
Moving Weekend 2015
Life Lesson: Fifth floor walk up’s suck
Sensing a pattern here? Yes, this was a lesson I had yet to learn when I moved into my apartment. “Oh but the view!” (Spoiler alert: that view will be gone the last year you live there)
I had hired movers for the move-in experience, as well, which meant I was spared the hard work. Plus, I think I was still too in awe of the view of Manhattan across the river to care about the irreversible damage the stairs were likely going to do to my knees. So while I was out of shape at the time, I wasn’t too bothered by the whole “no elevator” thing. Give it a month…
Life Lesson: There’s no such thing as a Wifi Fairy
I had gladly spent all 3 ½ years of college living on campus in a residence hall. The off campus housing was sketchy at best and I just didn’t want to deal with all of it. So when I moved into my very first apartment I was…naive to say the least. The apartment listing had made a mention of being Cable/Internet Ready (or something of that nature) so when I moved in, I was surprised to find that I didn’t magically have Wifi…despite there being no router or modem present. A luxury apartment in NYC? Maybe. A 1920’s brick building with no elevator? Fat chance. I remember calling the unreachable landlord and leaving a voicemail about the lack of Internet. Looking back I can only laugh…they must have thought I was a complete fool. So yes, you are likely going to have to call your cable company to set something up, because the Wifi Fairy will not surprise you when you’re sleeping.
Life Lesson: Passcode entries are terrible
As part of the move-in process, I was given the entry code to get into the lobby of building. In theory, this seems high tech and handy. In reality, this is an unsecure box (the passcode is the building address? I mean, really?), that’s going to stop working more often than not. Ask your landlord for the actual key to unlock the front door, so you don’t find yourself desperately waiting for someone to come downstairs for their dinner delivery when you are stuck waiting by the door with a cart full of cold groceries. Whoops.
Life Lesson: Don’t wait to ask for a new stove
My dad and I didn’t want to get fast food every night he was in NJ with me that first weekend, so I opted to make hot dogs in the broiler for an easy dinner. It was at this point that we discovered that the appliance’s pilot light went out easily. Dirty? Dysfunctional? Who knows. After re-lighting it, there were no issues so I didn’t think much of it. Big mistake.
For the seven years I was there, that stove (which was probably already 30 years old when I was stuck with it) gave me so much grief. It was inconsistent in heating, cooking and everything else. It got to the point where I relied on my air fryer for almost everything that couldn’t be cooked on the stovetop (Yes, you can cook hard taco shells in an air fryer). I know…I probably could have–and should have–let my landlord know so they could look into getting a replacement stove. But by the time I decided to move out, I figured it was pointless. Procrastination at its finest!
Next on That’s What Shay Said: What I learned in the past year!
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