Getting Settled

I haven't posted in awhile, and I wanted to take a minute to give everyone a quick update on what's been going on.

Last week, my family and all my available muscular-male-types helped me move from Birmingham to Tuscaloosa.  It was a whirlwind of a week.  I worked at Bed Bath & Beyond (where I've worked part-time for about 3 years) all day Monday and Tuesday, and I tried to pack as much stuff as possible out of the room I'd rented from a coworker all summer.  Mountain Man came down Tuesday evening and we crammed everything except a few pieces of furniture into my car and his.  You should have seen his face when I told him I wanted to put all the clothes from my closet into his little Mitsubishi Eclipse.  I am ALL girl when it comes to the amount of clothes and shoes I own.

Without overwhelming you with too much detail, let me tell you just how busy the rest of the week was.


Wednesday - Moving Day! We met everyone at my storage unit at about 8:30 and left there about 9:30.  Once we arrived in Tuscaloosa and I did moving-in stuff at the apartment office, we were unloading vehicles until about 1:00.  I had my Escape packed to the ceiling with the backseat folded down, Mountain Man had a trunk full of stuff, the moving truck was full, and Mom and Dad had a handful of things in the back of their Trailblazer.  Then, we all had lunch, and Mountain Man and I came back to the apartment to put my bed together.  Mom, Dad, and my friend, Evan, headed back to Birmingham and beyond.  I had a meeting at the school scheduled for 3:45, so once Riley and I got back from lunch, put my bed together, and I had taken a shower, I had to book it.  After the meeting, I came home and stared at my piles of boxes for awhile.

Thursday - New Employee Meeting! This meeting was in downtown Tuscaloosa at the Tuscaloosa County School System Central Office, which was not at all like how I expected it to look, so I drove past it at first.  I was expecting some sort of industrial, official-looking brick or cement building, but the Central Office was comprised of these two turn-of-the-century buildings which had obviously once been family homes and, in my opinion, did not look all that well-kept.  However, I believe they have recently had a bid approved to move into a former federal building.  The meeting went pretty much like you'd a new employee meeting would: lots of paperwork to be filled out and policies to be explained.  I had planned another meeting that afternoon with a teacher I observed while still in school, and I was driving home to Florida that evening, so after the new employee meeting let out an hour and a half later than anticipated, I rushed home to throw some clothes in a bag and Tucker in the car.  From there, we drove to Birmingham and hung out with Mrs. Gargiulo for awhile, then finally headed to Florida around 4:30 or so.

Friday - The Philadelphia! Although I had driven home to see my little brother perform in a play Friday evening, I spent the daytime doing lots of other things.  I had a hair appointment scheduled at 9:15, then I spent an hour at the vet's office with Tucker.  He needed his shots updated, and Mountain Man brought him back to me a little wormy, so we took care of that while we were there too.  Then, I had lunch with Momma at her office, waited out a sudden rainstorm, and headed back to the house.  Of course, by the time I got there, it was nearly time to leave again.  We all had dinner at my favorite BBQ restaurant - which I never get to eat at because there aren't any in this area - although we didn't eat there because it was my favorite; it just happened to be most convenient at the time.  After dinner, Eli headed off to his performance venue while we killed some time at Lowe's getting copies of my key made and a programmable thermostat.  FINALLY, it was time for his performance, and he brought the house down.

If you're not familiar with The Philadelphia, I would encourage you to look it up on YouTube.  It's a short, one-act play by David Ives, and it's very funny.  I don't want to say too much about it, because I think it's best experienced firsthand, but Eli played Al.  When it was over, I wanted to yell "Again!"

They performed The Philadelphia after another one-act play by the same playwright.  Sure Thing was also pretty funny, and I think you can find various performances of it on YouTube as well.

After the plays, we all went out for dessert with Eli and his girlfriend, Hannah, and we had a great time.  We were goofing off and watching the Olympics and just generally having fun.  As an interesting side note, our service was very slow, which honestly didn't bother us a whole lot because we were too busy enjoying each other's company, but at the end of the night, the manager comped our ticket.

Saturday and Sunday - Unpacking Day! Momma had graciously offered to come back with me to help me unpack and get settled, and being a relatively sane person, I accepted immediately.  We left Crestview at about 5:00 am and got to my apartment close to 10:00 am.  We spent all day unpacking boxes, running errands, arranging furniture and performing other similar tasks.  I got some strange stomach cramps toward the end of the day, but I felt fine by the next morning.  On Sunday, we went grocery shopping as well as a little bit of clothes shopping, mostly to replace some cardigans I have that are well past their prime because I wear them so often.  Momma headed back home about 7:00 pm on Sunday, but it was so nice to have her here helping me get settled.  It was a daunting task, and I was glad not to have to do it alone.

As you can see, last week was very busy for me, but I'm already enjoying being here in Tuscaloosa and in my own apartment so much.  I can't wait to see what's in store for me next!

I apologize for not having any photos to accompany this post, but my camera's still packed up, and my apartment is not anywhere near photo-ready anyway!  This week has been more adventures in the classroom and at the school, which I will definitely be sharing with you later, but I'd like to have some photos of my classroom first!

Wish me luck, and check back soon for an update. :)