4.29.21
Well, I was right, time flew. The POD was picked up this afternoon. That mother is FULL. I don’t know if that was due to our poor packing abilities or if we just have that much stuff. Considering we’ve had three major purges of stuff in the last year and a half, I think there is a comment about rampant consumerism in there somewhere, but I’m not going to get into that. All in all, we spent 12 hours cleaning and packing the last of the stuff into the POD today. I am tired.
I’m sleeping on a camp cot with a foam pad, have been since the 25th. My bed was one of the first things we packed into the POD. It is not the most comfortable thing in the world, especially because I am used to a full-size bed, but it works. And at least I’m not sleeping on the floor.
Tomorrow, we are hitting the road.
Oh, and I had a virtual interview today. I think it went well. Only time will tell.
4.30.21
It took us longer than we thought to get the cars packed up and to finish cleaning today. We didn’t get on the road until after 9am. But we still managed to get in nine and a half hours on the road. The miles went fast and were uneventful. We are staying at a Days Inn and had Taco John’s for dinner. I haven’t had it in years. I forgot how awesome it is.
5.1.21
My sister’s cat woke us at the ungodly time of 4:45 this morning by knocking something off the table. I discovered that my body is covered in bruises. Probably because I’m a frickin’ clutz and moving stuff does not make for the most graceful movement.
It’s funny. The last time I was coming through this area, I couldn’t believe how dry and desolate it looked. I had been coming from Wisconsin. This time, coming from Salt Lake City, I was smiling seeing the tiny hints of green everywhere.
5.2.21
We went farther than we planned. We will get to Knoxville today. We cut an entire day off the drive… not sure how that happened.
We made it! We are in an expensive, shitty hotel. But at least the bed is comfortable.
5.3.21
We have an appointment at 9:30 at an apartment complex that looks perfect. There are a couple other alternatives that we wrote down as well, but I am crossing everything I have that we can get in there.
Okay, not good. It wasn’t available. In fact, we got there and she says, “Oh, I tried to call you. If you’re looking for a place for May, we aren’t going to be able to help you. We don’t have any openings until July.” Then she hands us an apartment guide. “Y’all are going to run yourselves ragged. Everybody gets filled up quick this time of year; start making phone calls.”
5.4.21
We moved to a better hotel that is actually cheaper than the one we stayed in the first two nights. I’m happy about that. The other one was super shady. They actually made us move for the second night because they wanted to paint in the bathroom. WTF.
After calling literally two dozen places, we finally found someplace that is available not only this month, but this Saturday. We were getting nervous. Turns out, I like the place. No balcony. But it has a lot of windows, which I love and an old squeaky wood floor. The kitchen is tiny. Very little counterspace, very little storage. Feels like home to me.
5.18.21
We are in the apartment and most of our stuff is put away. My office is set up, which is how I am able to finish this off. I got kind of overwhelmed and side tracked the last couple of weeks, but I didn’t want to just leave it at the last entry.
Nothing ever came of the interview. I was supposed to hear from them by the 7th, but even after a follow up, I never heard from them. I continue to apply. My sister told me that technically, until I get a job, I’m a full-time writer. Nice spin.
We had talked about looking for an apartment that has more of the amenities we thought we wanted, but at the end of the day, this apartment does indeed feel like home to me. And while it doesn’t have everything we want, I like it. With its big windows and squeaky floor. We found an old kitchen island on Facebook marketplace that fits the kitchen perfectly and gave us the counter and storage space we needed.
We have gone on a few small adventures in the last couple of weeks. There is beauty and green and water everywhere. At least once a day, we still turn to each other and one of us says “Dude, we live here.” Usually accompanied by an arm punch and a “Stop hitting me.” I imagine we’ll both have bruises on our arms for a long while.
I’m getting back to my writing after nearly a month of not posting anything. I hope any momentum I had built hasn’t completely dissipated.
Adventure awaits and a routine to settle into to is still being built. Who knows, maybe I’ll eventually post updates, but I’m content for everyone to know that I have yet to feel any regrets in this huge change.
They may come, but for now all is well.
7.17.21
I have yet to find a day job... an issue I had not anticipated when I moved here. I'm not worried yet. I have an interview on Monday, so fingers crossed.
I'm still loving it here. It's beautiful. The people are friendly. I've met some really great ones and have had numerous talks with strangers, something that I have always enjoyed.
My writing has been... not stagnant, but slow going. I did lay out a plan for my novel editing. I have so much to do still. And, of course, the ideas for two novels for a continuation of the series have popped into my head, so I 've written them down and other stories keep popping into my head, so I write those down... This is an ongoing issue I have. Tons of story ideas. But I've only finished a few.
I received an honorable mention for "The Reservoir" in the Writers of the Future contest, so I am going to shore up a story and get it in the next contest. Maybe it will do better this time. It was a big point of validation for me. I got the email and thought, "Hey, cool. I don't totally suck." It was nice.
I have pulled back from writing non-fiction lately, which I talked about in my latest check in. I feel like I got caught up in the idea of non-fiction, and Medium, and social media, and freelancing, etc. And I want to refocus everything back to my fiction. I'm good at non-fiction. Research and idea synthesis, but my heart lies in fiction. It is what I live and breathe and what fills my heart.
So, that's where I am. This is the end, but only of this series. Nothing is perfect, but there are so many beginnings happening right now, I can only be filled with hope.
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