Dirt

I don't know how I blocked this from memory, but New York is dirty. More precisely, it makes me dirty. Literally. My hands are always dirty. I wash them obsessively. My nose is dirty too, and I'm not talking the outside. (I know that's gross but whatever. It's the truth.) Apparently, the feeling goes away and my body will adjust. In the meantime, I need to invest in some hand sanitizer.

The Update of Updates

On Thursday, July 31st, I picked up my 14 foot U-haul and packed all my stuff inside. Technically, Erich picked up the U-haul because I refused to drive a massive truck that would be towing my car and because Erich never gets to drive and so doesn't let me when he has access to a vehicle. I also want it on the record that I reserved a 10 foot U-haul which still would have been too big for all my stuff so 14 foot one was almost comical. Anyway, on August 1st I left Oxford, Mississippi never to live there again. Not never to visit necessarily, but I'm pretty sure I won't live there again. We drove all the way to my parents house in Columbia, a mere 518 miles, on Friday. The truck and the trailer with my car added two hours to our trip and hundreds of dollars more in gas, but whatcha gonna do? My parents had dinner ready for us when we got there - a feast of grilled salmon, asparagus, and orzo salad. It was delicious. Plus there were fresh peaches for dessert. My dad also shared the news that he accepted the position of priest-in-charge at our home church, so not only is he now employed, but also my parents don't have to move. Yay!

Day 2 - August 2 - Erich and I took our time leaving Columbia. I hung out with my parents as Kate slept on the couch. I said goodbye to my car as I left it in the care of my parents either to be sold or used by them. We headed off for the next leg of our journey in the early afternoon after my parents made sure we knew which gas station to go to for the cheapest gas. Like a good daughter, I indulged my parents and made sure to go to the cheapest gas station which was close, but not easily accessible (especially in a U-haul). We made a couple of minor stops - one for lunch at Groucho's (yum), one in Greensboro, NC to visit Erich's friend Julie, and then we headed on with our sights on New York (is that the right word or is it site or is it a different word entirely?). After an internal debate about whether to stop and spend the night in D.C. we saw the lights of NYC at 4am. It was then that my decision to move hit me. What the hell am I doing, I thought as I saw Manhattan from the BQE (that's the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway for those of you not in the know). At 5 am, we fell into bed after 737 miles on the road.

Day 3 - August 3 - You thought Day 2 ended it didn't you? Well, in typical Sarah and Erich fashion we incorporated the most retarded plans into my move. Instead of unloading my stuff into a storage facility in New York, we continued on to New Haven, Ct (home of Yale and Erich's mom who was gracious enough to let me store my stuff there until I find an apartment). We unloaded, spent the night in New Haven (or East Haven). It was an easy day - only 77 miles in the car.

Day 4 - August 4 - (Told you we make crazy plans.) What else could we possibly fit into a move to NYC? Why, a trip to Maine of course. We headed out in our rental car now that neither of us has a car and drove. And drove. And drove. And stopped in Freeport, Maine at the L.L.Bean store which is massive and advertises tons of free parking, but there's not nearly enough for all the people that go just for L.L.Bean. I got an xl canvas bag with my initials on it because I'm a nerd like that, Erich got some toys for his bike, and then we got back in the car. And drove. And drove. And drove until we got to Bar Harbor - 414 miles. Ugh.

Maine is beautiful, and everything I wanted it to be. We went on a whale watch, a lobster and seal watch, and to Acadia National Forest. By the way, you don't watch lobsters - everyone asks - we watched them pull up traps and then saw the lobsters. Did you know every resident of Maine is entitled to 5 lobster traps for their personal use? After 5 relaxing days, we headed back to New York. Last Monday, I started my job as the Operations Logistics Associate. The easiest way to explain my job is to say that I reserve all the sites for the TFA interviews across the country. That's 4 times a year x ~3 days each time x hundreds of cities.

I'm settling into life in New York which is to say that I'm not settled at all. I don't have an apartment and finding one is pretty much a pain in the ass. Fortunately, I amazing friends who let me stay with them. (Thank you, thank you, thank you.) It's a huge change, I'm out of my comfort zone a bit, and I'm not sure what the future holds, but I'm excited. It's an adventure.