All moved into my new apartment! Now, before I begin the story of my day, I want to make sure it is known that this really is a very nice apartment - it's big, comfortable, and CHEAP - and overall, I'm very glad we chose it.

After a pretty uneventful drive, my father and I pulled into my new driveway and went inside to do the official walk through with our realtor. We went in through the back and within seconds of stepping into the kitchen I wanted to go home. Not only had Jim and Valerie not finished moving out of the apartment, but it was NOT cleaned to my liking. The floor looked a mess, there were things all over the table, and (I later found out) food left in the fridge. The litter box against the wall was an added bonus.

We continued into the living room area where Jim and Jeff (my new roommate) were sitting and talking. Awesome, this room hasn't been packed up either. Oh look, there's a pile of luggage by the front entrance. Has Jeff already unloaded is car? No. Despite their all-nighter to get the apartment "ready" for us, Jim and Valerie just didn't have the time to get those out of there yet.


After waiting for a bit for the realtor (her car wouldn't start!), we completed all the necessary paperwork. Then there was the tricky business of deciding who gets what room. Both rooms have a queen size bed, but one is bigger than the other and has a couch and a desk in it. This one, though, has pink doors with Hanna Montana stickers on them and worse yet, is the room RIGHT NEXT to the kitchen. I don't like that. Luckily, Jeff didn't mind the pink, didn't notice the kitchen problem, and actually prefered that room to the smaller one.. He took the room willingingly and I gladly got the one I wanted.

Then we started unloading the car. In between climbing up and down the steps 3098032984 times, Jim gave me a key that he told me would unlock the front and back doors, as well as any of the doors inside the apartment. He also gave us the housewarming gift that Valerie had picked up for us (a UMass mug - a very nice thing to do).

When I was finally unloaded, my father and I went for a drive and immediately picked up as many cleaning supplies as we could carry. After I said goodbye to my dad, I went to work on my room. I cleaned for HOURS.

First, I noticed that there were still things of theirs left in the room. Clothes, towels, a teddy bear, beads, books, wooden sculpture thingies, etc. I didn't want to touch anything with my bare hand, so I used a plastic bag as a glove and put all of their things into plastic bags and left them in the living room for them.

Then, I dusted. I began with the night table by the bed. Wasn't too bad until I came to the bottom drawer. I'm there scrubbing with my disinfectant wipes, when I think to myself, "Wait, why does this drawer smell like cat!?" OK, I don't curse, but really, what. the. fuck. I want to know what on earth you would store in a drawer by your bed that smells of cat.

I kept dusting all along the walls until I got to the dresser. I dusted off the top and then moved it so I could do the sides. I immediately had to put my dusting on hold and go get the vacuum because the amount of dust mixed in with old socks and money was horrifying. Luckily, I had two vacuums to choose from: this one from 1963 and this one from the early 70s. I went with the latter.

The rest of the cleaning went by without too much tragedy, with the exception of what I can only hope were drops of chocolate syrup that I had to scrub off the wall.

I was interrupted for a bit during the cleaning so I could meet Valerie and their adopted daughter Zanaya. Valerie and Jim really are incredibly nice people. For a bit, Valerie really made me feel better about the situation. She talked about how she was horrified that the kitchen floor looks like that, but that believe it or not, that's it scrubbed clean. She's wanted to tear out the linoleum for a long time, but apparently there is cement underneath (what!?). She told us she left some food in the fridge because she thought we might like to use it, but if not, it could be gotten rid of. She also told us that the cats are 15 years old (!!!) and that she trusts that we'll treat them well and that if something does happen to them she understands that they're old.

When I went back to my room I finished cleaning, unpacked my clothes and stuff, and then began getting ready to take a shower. Then the worst thing ever happened. I realized that I had forgotten my hair product at home. I know, devastating.

I would have been depressed about that longer, but when I went to go take a shower, I had a new problem. The shower curtain had a very unfortunate odor. I really, really needed to take a shower because I was all hot and sweaty from unpacking, so I just held my breath and took the fastest shower of my life.

And now I'm here, realizing just how terrible this day seems in retrospect. Oh well, I guess there's always tomorrow.