Movin' on up...

This is my new doormat. You like? I'm kidding, that's not my new doormat.

It’s my first weekend in the new apartment – I’ve been here a week and I’m doing just fine. I’ll admit that the first few nights were a little weird. It’s amazing how quiet things are when you live alone. It isn’t like my parent’s house was noisy, but when other people are in the same space, there’s a certain white noise. It might even just be the sense of other people around that makes it seem noisier. Anyway, on the first night, it took what felt like an interminable time to fall asleep. Every little noise made my eyes snap open, and I was thinking I would NEVER fall asleep. But I did. Finally.

You see, I was a little punchy that first night, which might explain my unease. I decided to take a shower before heading to bed, because I was all stank from moving furniture and things, so I did and let me say… the water pressure here is fabulous. I was very pleased. Anyway, I got out of the shower and went into the bedroom to put on my pajamas, and then the freakin’ smoke alarm went off – except I didn’t know it was the smoke alarm at first. I might have had a small coronary episode. My first thought was, OMG I’m naked! So I tore on some clothes and then ran around like a cartoon character trying to figure out what to do. I ran outside because that’s what you’re supposed to do (at least, that’s what they taught me in kindergarten), but no one was around. When the door shut behind me, I quickly realized that the noise was coming from my apartment only, so I ran back inside. I don’t know how loud your smoke detectors are, but mine is two decibels down from an air-raid siren and I wish I was kidding about that. I got a chair from my dining room and stood on it to try and turn the smoke alarm off, because I thought I remembered that you could do that. I tore it from the ceiling, literally, but couldn’t find any batteries or any switches, and the alarm was still screaming at me! And then I thought OMG what if the fire department shows up? I’m going to look so stupid. What if this stupid alarm just keeps going? My neighbors are going to hate me and it’s just the first night! Just as I was getting ready to call the emergency number for the complex, it turned off. The silence was glorious and I finally started to breathe again. The shaking continued for awhile, though.

Of course, the alarm went off because of the steam from the shower. Whose brilliant idea was it to put the smoke alarm right outside the bathroom door? And why doesn’t this smoke alarm know the difference between smoke and steam? Clearly, I’m not dealing with geniuses here.

But… lesson learned. The bathroom door must be closed at all times. Got it. The only thing is, when I keep the door closed, the steam doesn’t have anywhere to go and the fan can only do so much. So, when I get home in the evenings and go into the bathroom, which has been in lockdown all day, I find a nice pool of water on the floor where all the steam has condensed. This has to be the stupidest thing I’ve ever had to deal with. I mean, do I really have to buy a dehumidifier for my bathroom? I mean, Geez…

Other than that – I’m loving my new digs. I’m still lacking in the furniture department, and I have cable cords running every which way because I haven’t had the time or money to get a wireless router, and I can’t figure out how to hook my DVD player into my TV, and I still don’t have any pots and pans to cook with, and my couch is still the ugliest couch ever made… but I’m starting to like this whole apartment idea, and thank God for that… I was getting tired of being grumpy.

Oh, update on the car accident. The insurance companies saw reason and totaled the car, so my parents will get a brand new one, probably as soon as next week, so everything worked out. I don’t know if it’s a symptom of getting older and more experienced or what, but it’s like this wreck never happened. My first accident (senior year of high school) haunted me for weeks. I had nightmares and suffered small anxiety attacks behind the wheel, all of which eventually passed, but I remember feeling quite unhinged. This time, I walked away and barely thought of it at all. Is that weird? Somehow, I don’t think it’s a good thing when a car wreck is no big deal.