Life Update: The Move

So it’s been awhile since I posted any updates, and I’ve promised them to some people, so here they are.

To recap for anyone (really?) who doesn’t know by now….

I have met a wonderful man named Taum through the magic of family and online Dungeons and Dragons. After many months, late night talks and plane tickets I have agreed to marry him (seeing as how any other answer would have been utterly insane). To this end I have flung myself into the unknown, uprooting myself and leaving behind my much loved family and communities to make a new start in Colorado.

So here is the digest:
A few week’s before I moved, Taum, his mother and my mother descended upon my little upstairs apartment and stuffed it into boxes. This was an enormous help – I don’t think I could have managed it on my own, even if I did end up bring things that I hadn’t intended to or packed things in a less orderly fashion than initially desired. Then they all went home I proceeded to do almost nothing between then and crunch time for the move. Many thanks again to those people who took my stuff away for me. I feel better knowing it is being used and loved by people I care about and want to support!

Moving day was October 1st, and I had an unbeatable crew of helpers. My undying gratitude to my parents Nate and Gail, my uncle Guy, my cousin Willow and her partner Jon, and my dear friends Julie and Kirsten. After some difficulty with truck rental (my debit card had a limit on it, and then we couldn’t use that card again so Nathan had to help) my army pounced upon my unsuspecting storage unit. All the things it took so long to put in there, that had been sitting there for years…in the truck in less than an hour. Then they descended upon what was left in my apartment.

Mommy and Kirsten and I had to make a stop to drop off some give-away items and then fill up the truck, so by the time I got back my busy worker ants had already begun packing my apartment. Which was great…but came with a few unintended and entertaining consequences. It took rather longer (since I could not supervise the doings of that many people all at once), but I did not have to carry really anything down the stairs. Again, seriously, undying gratitude! I wish I could have given you guys more for your time and effort.

We eventually rolled out at three in the afternoon, my mom and me and my very VERY unhappy cat. Orpheus does NOT like travel. He spent most of the time hiding behind the seats as far into a corner and as unreachable as he could possibly get. He kept his eyes shut and his nose buried so he couldn’t see the alarming things around him. They say animals become like their owners…that’s an uncomfortable observation!

We spent most of the trip singing and talking. The first day we drove late into the night, then parked at a truck stop to sleep. My mom stayed up front while Orpheus and I bedded down in the back on some memory foam. It would have been fine but it got very cold and we had to keep starting up the truck for the heat. Also, there was a lot of noise from the trucks around us, and it kept scaring Orpheus. He was just starting to settle down and explore the back of the truck when someone asked mommy to move our truck. That did it – Orpheus stayed terrified, refusing to eat, drink, or potty. Eventually we decided more sleep was not going to happen and we drove on just to keep warm.

The next day we tried to tempt Orpheus with tuna. He seemed weak and disoriented, he was cold and his breath smelled terrible. He wouldn’t have anything to do with food though, so we forced water and a little tuna juice down him instead. He perked up a little after that. We took our time that day, pausing to sit at a rest-stop to eat lunch, put our bare toes in the grass and attempt to get Orpheus to lighten up. I think being on a surface that didn’t move helped, but he was still an unhappy kitty. Watering him may or may not have been a mistake. He was so tight tailed we didn’t think he’d use the litter box, so we hadn’t brought it into the cab. That night he made a distressed sort of meow and…peed all over the cab. There was nothing we could do except pull over and try to mop it up. WOW! It wasn’t too bad at first, but man does that stuff start to stink. And it just seems to get worse the longer it sits!

That night there was no sleeping in the cab. We had to keep the windows cracked in order to be able to breathe. We were exhausted and dirty, and we kept missing the rest stops. So I made the executive decision to rent a room for the night. We smuggled Orpheus in for part of the night in the hopes that he might relax and eat something. I’m not sure if he did or not, but he started meowing so loudly in the middle of the night that we had to exile him to the cab of the truck again. Poor baby.

We slept well, ate, and got really clean – my favorite part – then set off again bright and early. I have never been to Kansas before. My apologies to those of you who like it but….seriously nothing but miles and miles of nothing but miles and miles of nothing! Kansas is FLAT. And empty. It would have been pretty with the open spaces, solitary trees surrounded by empty turf, and patches of some sort of red crop, but the sky was an unrelieved shade of dirty brown pollution. There were hawks sitting on fence posts every few miles though, so that was pretty cool. I kept expecting to see the Rockies at any point – surely with so much unrelieved flatness their towering peaks should have visible for miles around! But apparently the land by way of Kansas slopes up gently but inexorably. We were practically seeing signs for Colorado Springs before saw any hint of the mountains! I couldn’t believe how little civilization we saw before we actually exited the highway for Denver.

Taum and his mom met us and the four of us unloaded the truck two dolly-fulls at a time and trekked them up the elevator. SO MANY BOXES! We were all wiped after that – the order of the evening was food and bed.

Mommy stayed to help me unpack that week – she was really helpful! We got a ton of things taken care of straight off. Orpheus took the move pretty hard at first – he still likes to hide under the bed most of the day. The second or third night I was here he made his displeasure at this unprecedented life-interruption known by peeing on me while I slept. Gotta tell you, there are few more unpleasant things to wake up to. Taum helped me handle it quickly and efficiently however, and Orpheus was banished from the bedroom for awhile.

And that is most of the story of my moving in. I still have several boxes of books and many, MANY file binders to unpack and organize. I have to put up my alter, my desk situation needs assistance, and there are some pictures that need hanging. Taum has been exceptionally gracious in allowing me to utterly rearrange his house from kitchen cabinets to the dresser drawers. In return I, yes I!, made dinner for the two of us all last week. Trying to take advantage of this real kitchen concept. Also trying not to allow myself to become a shut in. But it’s really helping my transition to be able to arrange everything here to my liking. Seeing our things all blended together makes me smile. Orpheus seems to be settling in at last, sleeping with us and allowing Taum to pet him, so that is good – though I think he misses being able to roam outside.

I miss everyone in North Carolina, but I am so grateful to be here. Forgive me for the lack of communication, everyone. I am still in stress-recovery mode, and by now you know how hermit-like I get when I’ve been under strain. Happy Halloween! Wish I could be there with you for it. Light a candle and eat a piece of chocolate for me, won’t you?

Maui rundown coming…sometime.