New Place, Almost New Me! in These Foolish Things

Hey! I’ve started an entry about 15 times. Life has just gotten busy, busy, busy. I like to tap stuff out when I have a free moment at the office, but lately there have been no free moments at work (until this morning). My boss is on vacation (she normally schedules early meetings with me) and I need to catch up from missing yesterday due to Chemo Infusion #9. So…PLENTY to do at work, just working on my own schedule today because no meetings this morning. Yay.

Chemotherapy #9 went relatively well yesterday, for as much as a chemo can go. I had blood drawn first and was hopeful that taking an extra week off because the concern was my platelets being too low, and lo and behold that third week helped me DOUBLE my platelet count! The concern yesterday was my white blood cell count, which makes it super important that I keep my mask on in public places and avoid big crowds. No problem while these covid variants are flying around! Another excuse to be super safe!

And at home, the unpacking continues as well as the fun stuff like shopping for new furniture!. This part is very, very exciting for me and keeps me motivated and not thinking as much about cancer treatments and other yucky stuff.

The love life situation continues to be stagnant, however, for as much as I’ve been pretty meh about the Cyclist, he has continued to reach out to me, telling me that he’s close now and he wants to help, so I’ve been taking him up on it.

So far, he’s helped me move boxes, helped me shop at the giant furniture stores, helped me unpack a little AND put together my new TV console that came from Wayfair in a million little pieces. Yesterday after chemo infusion I actually felt pretty good and active (thank you, steroids!) so he went with me to the fancy mall to walk around and then to another furniture store and a rug store and offered advice. I asked him if he could help me install a chandelier over my dining room table and he told me that it would be easy for him and he’d love to help. So why not? I will let him help and not force the chemistry that may or may not be dormant. Bottom line is, I appreciate his offers and his continued help. Maybe the love will happen, maybe it won’t. I’m just grateful for help like this.

And can we take a moment to talk about how much I looooovvvveee my new place? I can’t even begin to describe how much joy I’m getting by putting together a space that makes me so very happy. Just want to sit here and think about this for a while.

Location: Yes, it’s away from downtown, but it still feels very close to the heart of the city. There are literally hundreds (maybe thousands) of places to eat/shop/play closeby and the demographic of the area is super diverse. And the fact that it sits right on the park still makes my heart flutter. AND it looks like I’m living in a treehouse when I look out the windows!

People: The people I’ve met so far have been very friendly, and I’ve yet to hear super loud noises or obnoxious parties, etc. Though, I have heard a little something in the hallways at times and my upstairs neighbor has some heavy footsteps. Not enough to bother me, just enough to notice. Martini is still getting used to the place and wants to woof at all the noises, but I think that will just take getting used to.

Space: I love the layout of the place. I secured this place sign unseen, though they gave me a schematic floor plan ahead of time. Funny though, it wasn’t exactly correct and the main and second bedrooms were in different places, basically flipped. And that was actually GOOD news because the main bedroom is facing the park and the guest bedroom sits over one of the entry garages where there’s a little more noise, though not much. Regardless, the place is just about as close to perfect as I could have hoped. The apartment opens to a large kitchen and moves into a light and bright dining room overlooking trees, and then spreads out into a living room space (all open, light and bright) with corner windows that are floor to ceiling, again giving the feel of a treehouse. The guest bedroom and bath are to the left of the kitchen and the main bedroom and bath are to the right of the living room, all overlooking the park. The main bath is soooo cool and has a funky, skinny floor to ceiling window that actually has the BEST view of the park while you’re sitting on the throne, haha! I suppose some people would hate that, but for as much as I’m sitting on the toilet fighting colon cancer, it’s the best seat in the house!

Furnishing/Furniture Shopping: So, from my last apartment, I knew I really didn’t want to bring a lot of the old furniture with me. It was fine for the little one-bedroom city apartment, but just not right for this new space. Through shopping trips (with the Cyclist) and internet searches, I’m finding my dream furniture and accent pieces and it really is so very exciting! I like the Cyclist’s opinions and our tastes seem to match, so that’s pretty cool. I have every intention of turning my new place into a nest built for comfort. And for guests. I can’t wait to have people over for sleepovers! It will probably take me a few months to get the things that I want because of the supply chain shortage, but by then I should be all treatment free and ready for guests.

I have more to write about the new place - all the park trails that go on for miles and miles and the concierges with their quirks (get in good with these guys and they will go the extra mile for you!). I want to write about all of the good things close by (Maria has invited me to the country club where she is a member, and that is within walking distance!), so much good food, shopping and entertainment close (not that I’m doing a TON of that right now, but just good to know what’s close).

And I want to get to know my new neighbors. Martini and I have met the adorable dog Callie and her mom who live next door - we share a patio with just a little dividing barrier between us so the dogs met through the bars of the barrier - so cute!

And I feel like I’m in the home stretch with cancer treatment (NINE down, three more to go!), so I see many, many lights at the end of a very dark tunnel.

Lots to do, but lots already accomplished. I’m feeling good, y’all.

Love and health to you and yours,
GS