November 13, 2009

Steps

Accomplishment complete! The weekend was a blur. I mainly post to this blog so that I can look back and recall the little things, some big things, too, but my favorite posts are authentic individual experiences that may slip from mind if not recorded. This weekend, however, will forever remain a memorable adventure, whether I post it or not. But, I choose to post, to enhance the memory with minor details. Where to begin...well, for starters, the ex-apartment was in decent shape Friday night, or so we imagined it to be. Saturday morning the alarm sounded far too early, somewhere in the 5 or 5:30 range, which never finds either of us happy! I retrieved bagels and Craig retrieved the U-Haul from 23rd and 11th. We proceeded to carry what quickly came to seem like hundreds of boxes down the 2 flights of stairs to the ground floor hallway. We did this in "rounds," carrying the boxes from the hallway then to the U-Haul out front (parked in a construction No Standing Zone - you can imagine where that's going.) The apartment emptied slowly but surely, and the items remaining - furniture, etc., would be moved by professionals the following day. Our very patient and kind friend Amanda arrived at 92nd Street by 11, toting an iced coffee and graciousness. We had requested her presence to just watch the truck. No manual labor for her, just truck watchdog, insurance. Of course, that didn't last through the morning, as Amanda is forever too sweet and warm-hearted and wouldn't just watch us work. Thank you 6 trillion times, Amanda, and I do know that that is not enough!*The truck was actually fully loaded by the time Amanda arrived, so we all jumped in (after discovering that the traffic cops had, in fact, ticketed us - bah!) and traveled to 82nd to retrieve the new keys. Eberhart Bros. had an envelope ready, thus we commenced the 15-minute drive south on 2nd Avenue to E. 21st, where we discovered not a chance of a place to stash the truck, so with lots of luck to have brilliant November weather, we unloaded the entire truck to the sidewalk, and Craig drove off in search of a place to park the beast. Amanda and I began transitioning boxes into the ground floor hallway of the new building. By the time most of our possessions were at least inside the building, Craig had returned having found a metered spot at which to park the truck. And the next few hours are hours I feel I can't aptly describe. Our new apartment is on the 6th floor. Buildings built before a certain year in New York do not require elevators. Our building is what is known as a walk-up, which means you walk your legs all. the. way. up. to the 6th floor. Let's just say, my first trip up to open the apartment? I thought I was going to die. Right then and there, at the top of a New York City apartment building, I thought I might collapse into a dead pile. And all I had on me was a small bag and something hand held, also small. Oh, boy. I shoved into the new (brilliant! amazing! thankfully...) apartment, and panted for like 3 minutes. Then I headed back down what felt like an eternal spiral of steps, and thus began our long, ever long, forever and ever laborious move from the 1st floor to the 6th floor of a building on E. 21st. There were points at which I thought someone had punched me with a blunt object in the chest. Craig's forehead was perpetually a shiny sheet of sweat. Bless Amanda's heart - I asked her to help unload kitchen boxes because we needed to return to E. 92nd with empty ones for a few loose items left there. The upside? That apartment is a fine, fine space. It feels just about as unique to New York City living as we can get, given our price range. There are so many windows that the light just streams, fills the rooms! Two bedroom windows in one bedroom, one in another, two huge living room windows, an enormous kitchen window, even a window in the bathroom! And our views feel so much richer than any we've had thus far. At some point, we sent Amanda out for waters and other hydrating beverages. I don't remember ever drinking a pink Vitamin water as fast as I did that day! While Amanda was out, Craig and I crept up another flight of stairs only to find an Emergency Exit door partially open. Of course, slaves to our curiosity, we had to step outside! A roof deck! I was somewhat tentative, but Craig traveled across the roof and suddenly stopped dead in his tracks, and called out for me to come join him. There, rising above neighboring buildings of various heights, in clear sight: the Empire State Building! Our own private view! The moment wherein we both stared at it as if in a dream, I felt like every trip up and down those flights of steps was vindicated. Is this really happening? It is, and I'm so lucky to have this in my life. I'm relaxed, relaxing more all the time, into this experience, like it's meant to be, despite my fears of the instability of the future in terms of work. I suppose if something arises and in months we learn this isn't happening, at least I will have these initial memories in my pocket. The new neighborhood where we live is called Gramercy Park. It's quaint, quiet, with a gentle pulse. I love it.*So, Saturday night we took Amanda around the corner from our new place to an Irish pub we've been to a few times called Molly's Shebeen, a self-proclaimed "most authentic Irish pub" in NYC. They have incredible potato salad. Amanda loved it (we headed there about half an hour prior to Craig's arrival, as he had to return the U-Haul). We had a nice dinner, but my head was heavy and legs wobbly. We parted ways around 9, and Craig and I cabbed it back to the UES for one last night's rest there. Sunday morning, the professionals arrived around 8:30. Seriously? They rocked. They were speedy, efficient, strong and successful at getting our large items down to the truck, down to E. 21st and unloaded all the way up. We're in! We're all in! That isn't to suggest we are by any means close to feeling settled. The place is a train wreck, to be honest. Last night we made great progress. I am almost done with the kitchen. Pictures will follow eventually. For now, it's a little unruly to be photographed! Tonight the cable/Internet guy arrives. I'm working from Brooklyn today, er, reporting to the office, and will not likely report to the Manhattan office ever again, from what I can predict? Late next week we leave for Amsterdam! Oh, how will we ever be ready for that?? I still have 1 big purchase to make: a backpack I've researched to tote the Nikon and laptop along with anything else I deem necessary to constantly have on me. We're in the height of activity, right now. December is going to feel so quiet, comparatively speaking! This is life. Living it to the fullest keeps things interesting. I'm happy. I'm myself. I feel in tune with myself almost completely. Thanks to the Universe for these unique experiences.*<--typed the other day, top part of the week. Posting now sans photos, but photos will follow!

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