July 01, 2000
A Moving Experience
So, I moved today. I got up at 5:30 am, and finished packing, then collapsed at about 10:00 am to await the movers. They showed up at about 10:30. By 1:30, they were driving away in their empty truck and leaving me to my new apartment. I so recommend moving with a mover. After they left, I ran to get lunch, then sort of collapsed again for about an hour or so. Dawn and Jason were coming over at some point, so we could go out to Whitmore Lake to my mom's house for the city firework display.
They got here about 4:30, and they came bearing gifts! Upon hearing that I was moving back to the Ann Arbor area, there was some concern that I might be moving to a rather rough neighborhood. To gauge that, they asked, "For a housewarming gift, what would be more appropriate, potpourri or a shotgun?" So when they handed me the gift bag, Jason commented that I'd said potpourri, so... I didn't open it right away, too intent on showing off my apartment. Finally, when we sat down (about two minutes later -- it's a small apartment), Jason said, "Hey! You didn't open it at all..." Rather abashed, I opened it, to discover that the little potpourri basket was tied around the neck of an absolutely adorable stuffed seal. (And if you don't know why that's an appropriate gift, go here then take a peek at my domain name.) Needless to say, I was delighted. Of course, she's already been named Jake.
I've taken a lot of pictures of the lake just behind my parents' house, but I think the one above is probably the best. My mom apparently thought so too, because after seeing it, she declared that she wanted a printed copy for her desk, and proceeded to take my camera around and show the display to anyone who'd look. Because the fireworks were being shot off over the lake, the gathering turned into a party. Of course, aside from my stepsisters and Dawn and Jason I didn't really know any of the other guests. But it all turned out well. Dawn and Jason and I wandered around the yard, going to splash at the end of the dock, sitting on the lawn under huge willow trees, stuffing ourselves with the truly amazing array of food my mom had pulled together. A word on the food. When my mom told me about their planned get-together, she said that we should bring what we wanted to drink, but that she'd have 'snack food'. My mom's definition of 'snack food' fits my definition of 'meal'. There were meatballs and cold shrimp and tons of vegetables and fruit salad and various dips, hot and cold. In short, enough to feed an army. It was wonderful. After the sun had gone down, and we were all sprawled on blankets and lawnchairs waiting for the fireworks to begin, I told my mom, "This week has been so stressful, this has been the perfect way to end it." And it was.
I don't know what was more fun, the fireworks display by the professionals, or all of the amateurs around the lake. Some of the amateurs were damned good. There was the neighbor to the left of us, who had some pretty spectacular (although almost assuredly illegal) fireworks. Then, however, there was the neighbor to the right of us, who only seemed interested in making as much noise as possible. My ears were ringing from the loud booms all night. After all was said and done, Jason gestured towards the water and said, "Here we have Whitmore Lake" then gestured toward the right-hand neighbors "and here we have Wit-less Lake!" Between Jason and one of my parents' friends who kept exclaiming, "Oh, that's my favorite!" after seemingly every single firework, we were kept well-amused. By the end of the show, everybody was teasing her, saying it unison with her.
I realized that was the longest I've spent continuously outside in I don't know how long. It was nice. I don't do enough outside parties and the like. Like I said, after the stressed-out, harried, hurry-up week I had getting ready to move, it was unbelievably wonderful to just sit around and eat and talk and laugh with a few of my friends and family.
Of course, looking around at the chaos node my apartment is, now comes the fun part: unpacking. But that can wait until tomorrow. I think I'm going to go sleep for the next twenty hours or so.
Posted by Lisa at July 1, 2000 11:45 PM
