As you loyal readers may (or may not) know, my time in the great white north of Maine came to an end this week, and I am moving to NJ to start working at Princeton. Now moving to new places has kindof become my specialty, my mother likes to refer to me as a nomad and I can see the look on peoples faces when they hear all the times I've moved in the past 6 years. I am small, so the question of "Is she a carnie?" will inevitably cross peoples minds due to the number of moves I have made. Since graduating from Michigan State in 2005 I have called the following places home:
- Eugene, OR 2005-2007
- Vail, CO 2007-2008
- East Lansing, MI (Round 2) 2008-2009
- Hampden, ME (Crappy domestic violence townhouse) 2009-2010
- Old Town, ME (kick ass awesome lakehouse down 2 dirt roads in the boonies) 2010-2011
- Plainsboro, NJ ("palacial" studio apartment with nothing but an airmattress) Current
So heres a brief snapshot into what a move looks like. **WARNING** The following may contain graphic descriptions of lack of planning, organization, scheduling and/or just throwing crap into a car without a detailed packing diagram. Anal retentive neat freaks may experience palpitations, hives and/or the intense urge to organize something or create a binder of some sort. Reader discretion is advised. Ehhh if youre reading this, you know me and none of this comes as a shock to you :)
My departure date was set for 12am on Friday the 15th, due to the fact its a 9hr drive and the leasing office closes at 5, I'd rather leave at midnight than like 4 am, and I figured I'd miss most traffic. The 4 days leading up to departure were filled working soccer, softball and track camps, so I was at work from 7am until 9pm each day. 1 fractured ankle requiring surgery, 1 black fly bite reaction, 1 embarrassing butt rash, and dozens of band-aids later, not too bad of a camp actually, and I got to work on my stellar farmers tan. I told myself I was going to break up the packing process across several days so as not to be a last minute Lucy like I am ALL the time. I did fairly decent, I went through all my clothes and got rid of 4+ bags to donate to Goodwill, and organized the rest into piles to be vacuum packed along with my bedding. I would not have been able to cram all of my life into my CR-V the past 5 years if it wasnt for those SpaceSaver bags, theyre awesome. So the rest of the week after work was either spent going through boxes of crap that have not been unpacked since various stages of my cross country journeys, vacuum packing clothes and grabbing farewell drinks with co-workers. I thought I had done decently on pre-preparing throughout the week, so when it came to last day I figured it'd be smooth sailing. Camps that day were supposed to be done by noon, I figured I'd be off campus by 2, run some errands home by 4, all my packing done by 6 for a few hours of zzzzz's before departure. Hahahahahaha riiiiiiight. Camps finished earlier than scheduled, but as I am trying to clean up and leave, I continue to run into people and start talking. This is a good thing, it was awesome to be able to see and talk to people before I left. Next thing I knew it was 4.... so I haul butt off campus and into Bangor to find a spare tire mounted bike rack, then haul butt back to the lakehouse. When I arrive at 530 I kick it into hyper gear, installing the bike rack, and then start just throwing stuff into my car. Miraculously everything fit, and I still could see out a 6inx6in square of my back window. Now came time to vacuum, and make sure my room was all clean. Once I sat down it was 9. I will admit, I did take a small break to admire one last lakehouse sunset. Maine really is beautiful, as the stream of visitors I had this summer can hopefully attest, and if you have a chance to visit in the summer, take advantage.
Sooooo back inside, I say goodbye to Brandi since shell be sleeping when I leave, and go in and take a 1 hr nap, wake up, shower and hop in the car AHEAD of schedule at 1130pm. And then I realize I forgot to drop my work keys off, so quick stop on campus, then hit up Tim Horton's for a bagel and the first coffee of the drive. It was pretty smooth sailing, stopped 3 times, 1 for gas, 2 for my bladder (thats impressive for me! usually on a 9hr drive it'd be like 7) and refilled the coffee 3 times. Arrived in Princeton, NJ at 8:50am, grabbed another bagel before meeting with the insurance agent. If 1 hour of sleep in over 24 hrs wasnt enough to make me want to fall asleep, listening to that lady go on and on about GOD knows what numbers she was spewing at me was. Then to my apartment to sign my life away, got keys, cranked the AC (it was 99 when I started moving in), unloaded most of what was in the car, blew up the air mattress and took an epic nap before the cable guy showed up to hook up my TV and internet. Overall a pretty smooth, uneventful move. Pretty sure I didnt forget anything, the bike didnt fall off the back, and I didnt fall asleep driving or get lost.
I have been in New Jersey for 48 hours, and it could not be more different than where I've lived the past 2 years. Traffic like crazy (Well anything more than dirt roads and more than 4 cars stopped at a light is heavy traffic in Maine), and people are just not friendly. I learned a life lesson to NEVER go to WalMart here again yesterday. I was run into with carts, cut-off and the strangest moving to a new place moment I've ever had, being hip checked out of the way in the shampoo aisle by a lady with 1 arm. But I look back to all the times I've started new and its always a little rocky to start, and then ends up being good. So I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt New Jersey, you've got some tough acts to follow. As it always has been, sad to leave, I truly enjoyed my time in Maine, and met some amazing people. But its time to look forward, and I am looking forward to the start of work August 1, let the new adventure begin :) As it stands right now, gear up for stories of traveling with the Men's Rugby team. Enjoy what remains of the summer everyone!! And as always, visitors always welcome!!
