It’s been a crazy month and a half since we’ve been back. To be honest, at first I was happy to not be updating the blog every day but now that I sit down to write I realize that I’ve really missed it.
Rusel went right back to work, and I had a few days before school started just to relax a bit, see friends, and settle in. It was nice, but in a way it was really hard for me to go from fast-forward to what felt like the pause button. I think that my body was just so used to being on the go that when I wasn’t moving anymore I suddenly found myself kind of like a boat lost at sea (ironic, of course, because it was the first time I was actually not traveling).
Of course, Rusel had to go back to work, but at home alone all day after being with people non-stop for six months was difficult for me. I have to admit, I started to find myself slipping into a bit of a depression. The best way to explain it is that I felt as if my life had gone from color to black and white. I have difficulties in the winter anyway and add to that all of the major changes going on, I was having a rough time dealing. I hated to complain because I’d just had the most amazing life experience, but the more I didn’t talk about it, the worse I felt.
But I am happy to report that a series of events helped me “snap out of it.” A few weeks into the semester and after our return, I was asked to freelance for the company that I was working at before I left for my trip. They needed help promoting a documentary about Meat Loaf (the singer!). Although I am taking a full load of classes plus Spanish, I decided to go for it and I’m actually really glad that I did. It’s really helped me manage my time better and quit procrastinating about studying. As my friend Bob’s mom always used to say, “If you need something done, give it to a busy person” and it’s so true. Even though I had more to do, everything actually started to get done.
Then, it was my birthday. The actual day was rainy and glum and fell on a Wednesday, when I have class from 3:00-10:00 – yuck. But my older sister, Paige, flew out for what turned out to be quite the weekend. As it just so happened, our roommates Jess and Evan moved out on the Saturday after her arrival on Friday night. The Saturday that they moved, I had a really fun birthday dinner with a bunch of the usual suspects at a restaurant in my new neighborhood, Williamsburg, Brooklyn. It was so much fun and a great way to see a bunch of people that I hadn’t even seen yet.
The next day, and the following three days, Paige, Rusel and I took on the apartment. With Jess, Evan and the cat gone we were faced with a very daunting task. Basically, Rusel has lived in this same apartment for the entire five years that he’s lived in New York….and let’s just say that the words “clean” “scrub” and “soap and water” really aren’t in his vocabulary….whereas “painting” “gluing” and “bachelor pad” seem to be familiar to him.
The day following my birthday dinner party I had hired a cleaning lady to come around 1:00 and I assumed that Rusel, Paige and I would go out for a leisurely brunch, reminisce about the night before, and enjoy a nice stroll around the neighborhood. Rusel and I woke up around 10:00 a.m. that morning and started cleaning…..Paige came at noon and started cleaning…the cleaning lady came at 1:00 and started cleaning….and we all just kept on cleaning. At 6:00, it was time for the cleaning lady to go and she had basically cleaned the bathroom and a closet. That was it.
Paige, Rusel and I were up cleaning until about 3:00 a.m. the next morning! And we weren’t anywhere near being done. Seriously, it was beyond anything I could’ve imagined. Yes, Rusel got lots of shit. And it was deserved. In the end, we threw out thirty bags of trash. THIRTY!
The next morning, Rusel and I were up around 10:00 a.m. and continued cleaning. At noon, we started painting. The walls were in bad shape – five years of our dear artist hanging multiple paintings on every inch of wall space. We painted the living room/hallway a really gorgeous blue and the kitchen a great yellow. It took until about 7:00 that night. Then, we started in on the bedroom. I had picked out a deep purple to paint in there and unfortunately it was really transparent so we ended up having to put about five coats on over the course of the next few late nights.
Paige left around 1:00 a.m. and Rusel had to work the next day. Somehow, Paige managed to go back to the hotel’s business center, rent a U-haul van and Mapquest the location of a kitchen table that I had bought on Craigslist, which was located in Yonkers, New York. The next day she was at my apartment with the U-haul around 1:00 and we were off again. I’ve never seen a non-New Yorker drive the way that Paige drove that day. We have been talking about a road trip someday together but after that day, I’m not sure my nerves could take it. She took the term “defensive driving” to a new level.
We found the antiques dealer without one wrong turn, which was a huge triumph in and of itself because I am a really bad navigator. In addition to picking up the kitchen table, we found a really nice coffee table and a great yellow retro chair there as well as some great end tables so they also went into the U-haul van. Saul, the guy who was working there, seriously didn’t know what hit him. We were in and out in about a half an hour – Thomas women on a mission!
Next, Paige (a.k.a. MacGuyver) had Mapquested the nearest Target from the antiques store so we did some damage at Target (with Cher’s Mastercard – thanks for the housewarming, Mom!). We got back to Brooklyn just in time for me to jump onto my bike, go into the city for class, come home, have dinner with Paige and then take her to the airport. Poor Paige never even made it into Manhattan – we seriously owe you one, lady!
WHEW!
I can’t believe that was two weeks ago – and the last two weeks we’ve just spent settling into our “new” pad. It seriously is a new place. I’ve uploaded “before” and “after” pictures to show you the difference. This weekend was especially nice because Rusel’s boss, Jackie, brought her little boy Max over as well as her husband, Chris. It was so great to have guests and not be embarrassed or have their lives be at risk! Max was the cutest little baby ever and it was nice to see them. Jess and Evan had a dinner party that same night and it was really nice to inaugurate their new apartment, which is only about three blocks away.
Tonight, I cooked dinner for Rusel with a recipe out of the “Better Homes and Gardens” cookbook that I requested as a birthday gift from Neener. I must report that it was delicious, and I had fun making it. I hadn’t really cooked in a kitchen since Moscow, and Aceh before that, and it brought back some great memories (Banda Aceh surprise, anyone?).
Settling in has been so much fun and I’m really starting to enjoy my new neighborhood -- which is extremely Polish on one end and extremely hipster on the other.
Spring is on the way…..life is really good.
