Aftermath

I am sitting on my ottoman, sandwiched between a wall of boxes and my bed. My laptop is charging contentedly on my wide chest of drawers next to my TV. I can see the kitchen and the closet from here, dark with wall-to-wall stuff. As of tonight, I am completely moved to the new apartment. And my back hurts.

On Saturday, seven of my friends showed up to move me. I've never had the help of more than one or two people in a move before and was blown away by their willingness. Moving is painful but the sense of duty that my friends exhibited that hot afternoon made my heart swell. Even my neighbors commented on the spectacular assembly line of shirtless guys ferrying my belongings to the truck. From start to finish, the whole move took an hour and a half. Can't hire that kind of efficiency! Afterwards, I thanked them with a sushi dinner at the shop on the corner. The best moves end with a spicy chicken roll and a large Sapporo.

When it first occurred to me to downsize, I remember being seized by a sense of destiny. This was only another step in a natural progression that has taken place over the past several years, starting when I moved into my first apartment -- a 600 square-foot one bedroom. It was brand new and so conveniently small. Someone had put a lot of thought into the routine of everyday life, with the flow being to the living room or kitchen, and then the bedroom or the bathroom. I've since longed to recapture that sense of tidy efficiency!

Being that everything has worked out so well since then, I assumed downsizing this time would simply be a matter of finding the right place, figuring out what would fit, and selling or donating the rest. All three have turned out to be difficult. Apartments--good apartments with parking spaces--are few and far between. I've resigned myself to the trashy, dorm-like quality of city apartments. I have a sneaking suspicion that my possessions have been breeding like rabbits since I moved here. And for some reason, San Diegans are only interested in buying something from craigslist if it is sports-related or from Ikea.

Despite things not going as smoothly as I'm used to (I know I've been lucky and am spoiled because of it), my friends and the actual move made up for any troubles I've had. I'm here now, and while I'm not completely happy with the new space, like I've said, it's in a great location and has reserved parking. I managed to sell most of my big furniture items, except for my sofa, which as fate would have it fits really nicely after all.

That can't be said for everything else -- my books are yet without a home and several kitchen appliances won't fit into the few, tiny kitchen cabinets that seem to be coated with five or six layers of industrial white. My stack of to-sell items has grown every day, but I don't really have the energy to go through it all and post it to craigslist or ebay. I'm sure that energy will come as I recover from the weekend. My first two nights in the new place were a little rough sleeping, but I'm learning to put up with the new noises, the new atmosphere.

More to come, including pictures!