I've arrived?

Well, after driving through many, many states and a time zone or two, I've finally arrived in my new (permanent?) state. I've started my new (permanent?) faculty position at my new (permanent?) university. And now I will now forever jinx my two-body solution and call this new place PermaU.

With the switch to PermaU comes an even bigger change in my life: N.A. and I are officially living together. One lease, one place.

We've both had to abandon our bachelor lifestyles. For me, this means no more meals of snickers and crackers. N.A. has started accepting that boxes are not furniture. N.A. has had to adjust to a morning carpool schedule, while I have to stop going to bed at 2 am.

Laundry is done every few days (as opposed to a five load marathon every three weeks). I can't let dishes pile up until I run out of spoons. (I mean....um...yeah, I never did that.) Toilet seats are put down. Closets are shared.


Hmmm....what other lifestyle adjustments will we have to make?

feeding frenzy

My fridge/freezer/cupboards contain the following foodstuffs:

- 1/2 carton of soy milk

- mustard

- pickles

- four bottles of beer

- the heel of a bread loaf

- some soy patties

- two packets of tea

- gummy worms



Either an undergrad again (oh, the horror!)

OR

I'm three days away from THE BIG MOVE and my reunion with N.A.!!

Committed?

In a week, I'll be with N.A. Forever. (muhahahaha) We've lived together before, but not in such final terms. Final meaning our stuff is now meshed together, we both have permanent jobs (chemistry gods willing), and we'll have a joint lease.

Clearly, it is time for the next step. We are ready for the ultimate commitment.

I've been waiting for it for awhile, and finally N.A. popped the question (over the phone):

"Unbal, would you like to sign up for a joint cell phone plan with me?"




If only we had a camera to immortalize the moment, but alas... he popped the question over the phone.

Don't toss that-- give it to an undergrad

Like I've said before, I hate moving. I despise how much time it takes. I have a strong aversion to change.

But most of all, I really, really dislike throwing away perfectly good stuff--food, half-used cleaning supplies, hangers, paper...the list goes on and on.

When I move, I move really far distances and with just my car, so things like cleaning supplies and food are usually sacrificed to make room for, say, my clothes and books. I'm not the kind of person to get to know my neighbors, so it's hard to find a new home for a half bottle of toilet bowl cleaner, an unwanted lamp, or a broom. So often they go discarded.

But.

Cue Undergrads!

The best thing about moving away from a small college town is that said small college town is full of Undergrads! Lots and lots of 'em! Even in the summer! And summer research students are even better because they are usually more in need! Yay for poor Undergrads! They happily take light bulbs, a lamp, coffee beans, or frozen meals off your hands. Have a 3/4 full bottle of hand soap, a house plant, or extra paper towels taking up valuable car space? There's no need to fear, poor Undergrads are here!

Hmmm....if I can free up enough space, I wonder what fun, new stuff I could bring with me....

I can has internets?

...well, at least for this moment. Although I'm in primarily faculty housing, apparently one of my neighbors hasn't password protected his/her wireless internet. With my cable/internet hookup appointment still four days away, I am very excited for this fact (which I just discovered this morning, lying in bed-- only place I can get a signal).

So much to post about my big move, but I am overwhelmed with unpacking and the newness of it all. I'm also insanely behind in reading all of your blogs. I'll catch up soon; I'm going to take the next couple of days to figure out the area (it is COUNTRY) and what all TempCollege Village has to offer (not much).


Quickie: my apartment is gorgeous-- part of a Victorian house, so I have 12 ft ceilings and wood floors. TempCollege Village seems to be full of mostly helpful people, and here is the best news of all for this super-isolated area: a Walmart is opening 10 miles away later this month!! (yes, I do know that Walmart is evil, but the only shopping options here are the grocery store, farm equipment shops, and Dollar General).

Finishing up

Part of my family is in town to help me move to TempCollege Village. It's a little strange; I haven't had their moving assistance since my boarding school days. Of course, the added manpower is more than welcome.

Today I conscripted my little brother into Unbalanced Reaction's Laboratory Forces. We invaded the lab and tag-teamed glassware cleaning. We were undeterred by the fact that former Coworker snuck quite a lot of his dirty glassware onto my bench. Whatever.

"Wow, Coworker sure has posted a lot of passive aggressive notes around the lab," my brother noted. "They'd be great for that website. Ohhh...that's my favorite: 'Put things in the bleach bath or I will SCREAM!!!!' "

Too bad I couldn't have had more coworkers (or Coworkers) like my brother!!

planning it out

I've been referring to my new job location as TempCollege Village because that is what it is: a freakin' village. A "city" of approximately 8,000. There are some traffic lights, but there is no target within a two hour radius. There is a McDonald's but no Walmart closer than 30 minutes. I know this thanks to google maps but also warnings from the Unofficially Faculty Handbook, which details all the retail and cultural offerings in TempCollege Village (hint: it's shorter than some of my undergrad papers).

So as a result, I've had to get very organized about what I will need when I move. I'm used to being able to pop over to the store whenever I need a trash can, wine, or a light bulb. Sure, the TempCollege Village grocery store will carry some of those items, at a price. I've begun compiling my (rather extensive) list of items I will need for the bathroom and kitchen once I move. I've also already bought the bare essentials like a shower curtain, a roll of toilet paper, etc.

But my favorite purchase so far is my day planner. I used to put everything in my planner. I vividly remember one spring break where I thought it had been left behind at a hotel. It wasn't pretty (lucky, it had been accidently stashed in my brother's luggage). My first year of grad school, I heavily used the standard LargeU day planner. After I got done with classes, I moved away from the planners, mostly using iCal. But no matter how many hours I'm in front of a computer, I still like to write things out. I can see them better, and I can take my day planner out at meetings while my laptop is a little more obtrusive. So I went to Target and picked out a plain, 8.5 x 11" spiral-bound day planner.

I'm a control freak. Now that I have some semblance of control over my move, I'm much calmer about the whole event. N.A. is pleased with the result, although a little bemused at my joy at possessing such a basic day planner.

did I mention I hate moving?

As I've previously mentioned, N.A. will be going to a tenure-track position many, many states away from my temporary faculty job. Because I'm moving into a furnished apartment, the plan has been for my furniture as well as as much of my stuff as possible, to go down with N.A. to his state. This move was slated to occur mid to late July, leaving me bedless for at most two weeks. This also would give me several weeks to sort through all my crap in an organized manner.

Today, N.A. casually said (on the phone), "I think I'm going to move next Sunday. Do you think that your stuff will be packed by then?"



Commence freakout.

Movin' on up

As you may have guessed from previous posts, I don't like change. I like to be in control. Consequently, moving is one of my least favorite things to do.

Of course, this likely stems from the fact that I moved around a bit as a kid (four places before I was 10), followed by boarding school, and then moving each year in college (and then to a new research locale for each summer). Moving sucks.

Obviously, I am eagerly anticipating moving to TempCollegetown in 5 weeks. Not.

In order to minimize the suckiness of the move, I'm trying to get my packing done gradually, in a very calm and organized manner. To facilitate this, I participated in Coworker's neighborhood's very large, bazillion-family yard sale. I spent 8 hours broiling outside, but it was worth it: got rid of a few furniture items and three boxes of random crap. Well worth the slight sunburn.

So. Any moving tips that might help ease my pain? And does *anyone* actually like moving?