October 01, 1999
Be It Ever So Humble...
I have a place to live!
That's the important thing. I am utterly delighted. Tomorrow I go to take a good look at the place. I've been there before of course, it's just been a while. I'm just hyper about it. Of course, I could go look at it tonight. I have the keys now and can pretty much move in at will. Utilities. Oy. I forgot about those. I have to get them set up.
So here I sit on hold with Ameritech, the phone company. Why on earth I'm trying to do this on a Friday evening is beyond me. I'm impatient, I suppose. I don't think I have to actually worry about the other utilities for a while. This is a long story and one that gets rather complicated, so it's best left alone. The main point is that I can start moving whenever I want to!
Later
I have a phone number! And an address! You'll forgive me. I'm a bit scattered right now. I feel like I've taken my first steps out into the world where I'm accountable to just me. That isn't precisely true, of course. I'm accountable to the people I owe money to and such. But if I decide to stay up all night -- I don't have to tiptoe around the house! (Or, as with Hollingsworth, if I'm awake during the day, since he worked midnights.) If I want to keep the house at 65 degrees during the winter, I can! If I want to wander around the house naked, I can! (Well, as long as I close the blinds. I'd like to keep on the neighbors' good side.) If I, um... if I want to put up a Christmas tree, I don't have to clear it with anybody! I don't have to get anyone's approval on curtains, or pictures, or colors, or anything decoration-related. I can arrange the furniture however I want to! I can... I can... I can sing loud obnoxious songs to my kitty and not feel stupid! (Well, okay, I'd probably feel stupid anyway, but there'd be no one there to hear!)
However, what happens if I get lonely? I suppose there are always people online I can talk to. However, I'd like to see that become more of a last resort than a first thought. I want to get more comfortable with the idea of people just coming over to hang out. I've never been completely comfortable with that, not the whole time I've been on my own. I'm not sure why. I suppose I could figure out why, and start from there. I may be a little off the beaten path from Ann Arbor now, but I'd like to be a place where friends can come and game or hang out or watch movies or whatever.
And speaking of Ann Arbor. I'm sort of having mixed feelings about leaving the area. I mean, it's not like I'm completely removed from it. I'll be driving through it everyday going to and from work. I'll be at most fifteen minutes from the city if I want to go hang out there. I think I'm going to miss living there though. There's just a feeling to the city that I really like. As one friend put it, "Ann Arbor is 35 square miles surrounded by reality." So I guess this really is all about me moving out into the real world.
Okay, so maybe I really am finally turning into a grown-up of sorts. But damn it, Brand, I am not old!!
Oh, in case you're wondering about the poem to the left, Brian Jude is none other than my good friend Brian. And speaking of Brian, I should probably call him. And give him my new phone number! Hooray!
Posted by Lisa at October 1, 1999 05:11 PM
