My New Roomie

209.2 (slight improvement)

This past weekend was an exciting one for me because MM moved in with me!  More about that later in this post. . . .

I believe I posted that I found out late on Thursday afternoon that I will, in fact, be able to take my long-scheduled trip to DC & surrounding area on July 4th.  Once the reality of the trip set in, I went into planner mode. . . . which made me realize that I didn't have adequate/appropriate clothing for the trip.

BFF KC and I went out to dinner on Friday night, and we followed it up with shopping at Macy's.  I DESPISE shopping--a fact that is well-known to most of my close friends--but KC is great about putting up with my grouchiness and helping me find stuff that looks good.  In fact, on several occasions, I have initially spurned her choices, only to grow to absolutely love the item she picked later on.  (In fact, I have a graphic T-shirt that is MM's favorite that I only bought because KC pressured me into it.  LOL)

I was able to find some cute, workable items at Macy's--a few of which were even on sale--so I am already well on my way to being packed for my trip, thanks to KC.  Over half the items I bought, she picked out.  I even found some cute new undies.  ;-)

Saturday got off to a good start.  I slept in a little, and the cable guy actually arrived 10 minutes ahead of his scheduled time to hook up my expanded digital cable and HBO.  I also dusted and vacuumed the entire apartment in preparation for MM's arrival.

KC came over midday to help me declutter.  At a minimum, I knew I had to clean out half the guest room closet so that MM would have room for his clothes and shoes.  (The closet is a large walk-in, so I knew that half the closet would be more than enough for him.) 

KC ended up staying for over 3 hours, and we got SO much done!  Not only did I get the closet done in plenty of time, we also sorted through several boxes and threw away a whole garbage bag full of junk.  I gave away two garbage bags of clothing and several pairs of shoes to charity.  We reorganized my closet in a way that makes more sense.  Best of all, I realized that I only have 3 boxes of crap that I actually need to address in the near future!  (Yes, I have other boxes with mementos from farther back that I could/should consider parting with, but they are at least organized & cataloged.)

KC is awesome at helping me get stuff like this done.  She is very good at "cracking the whip" without being bitchy and is able to help me stay on task.  I accomplished more with her there than I have in the 11 months I've lived in my apartment, I think!

I joked that she should come over every Saturday and help me declutter.  Her response was that she would, if we alternated Saturdays, one at her place, one at mine.  That might be something to consider. . . .

In addition to the good feeling I got from being more organized and purging some unneeded stuff from my life, I also found several items that I had been missing or that I thought I had given away.  I was pretty happy about that!

To highlight the contrast between our personal levels of organization, MM arrived around 3:30 and was unpacked and organized by 4:00, including hooking up a bigger TV and DVD player.  Granted, he didn't bring much stuff--just his clothes, the electronics, and some personal items--but it still would've taken me longer than 30 minutes to get unpacked & organized.  (I'm hoping he will be a positive influence on me.)

Things are going well so far.  It is a little odd to have him at (what I still think of as) my place all the time, but I like it and can easily get used to it.  I can tell that Sebastian thinks it is weird, too, because he keeps acting like he expects MM to leave at any time.  LOL  At one point yesterday, I got ready to leave and MM was still there.  Sebastian was looking at me as if to say "Aren't you forgetting something?"  ;-)

The one small issue we have had is that Sebastian has insisted on being in the bedroom with us the past two nights.  So far, this doesn't seem to have had an adverse effect on MM's allergies or asthma, but his allergist did explicitly tell him that the dog should not sleep in his bedroom.  I am going to try putting up a baby gate on the door opening so that he can still see me.  I hope it will gradually get him used to the idea of not sleeping in the same room.  In the grand scheme of things, if this turns out to be our biggest problem, I will say things went quite well.

That's my life in a nutshell!  Other than "the big move," I am continuing to play catch up at the office and making some headway. . . .though something new comes up about every other day that requires my attention, but that's to be expected.  I can't wait to see my sis and nephew on Friday!  Too cool.