Thank you for the kind condolences on the passing of my cousin. It still feels unbelieveable. We had the funeral on a Wednesday night & the gravesite dismissal the following morning. Immediately following the dismissal I got on the road to pick up the key for my new apartment. I had packed my car with some cleaning supplies & some important papers that I didn't want transported by the movers. I made it back to my condo that night.

The following morning I was up at 5 to finish last minute things. I still wasn't finished when the movers arrived after 8, but I was done well before they had everything moved. They didn't have the additional wardrobe box on the truck like I requested, but other than that things when pretty smoothly with the exception of a little damage to my footboard. The entire move took 8 hours. My mom thought that 5 hours would be too long, but I was actually surprised that we got it done it only 8 hours.  I had a lot of boxes & moved from a 2 story condo to a second story apartment. In August. In south Lousiana. It was hard work. Many of my boxes were books. I gave away plenty of books prior, but still had a good number of them. Maybe before my next move I can let go of even more of them. 

So move day was Friday. I was hurting so much the next few days that I couldn't turn over without groaning. Then Sunday I was back at the condo to clean before pictures & pick-up more items that I had left at the condo. I still didn't clean as well as I'd like & the carpets needed a good cleaning, but we got the pictures done Monday morning. Tuesday morning I had the carpets cleaned & Thursday morning I had a lady come in to clean the condo, including the refrigerator & oven. Thursday evening my realtor had the first showings scheduled. Friday afternoon I got an offer at full asking price, waiving an inspection & not asking for any of the repairs that I was trying to get approved through my insurance. What a relief! I was so estatic, especially considering that another unit had been on the market for almost 2 months. That same weekend the other unit also went under contract. I believe it was one of the buyers that viewed my unit. I think that commission should go to my realtor as she was really hustling so to speak to get my unit exposure. Closing is scheduled for September 10th.

I've been busy getting settled into my apartment. The grounds are beautiful with a creek, fountains, and gazebos, as well as a beautiful pool. It's a nice spacious 2 bedroom/2 bath with over 1300 square feet. The carpets are new & the walls freshly painted. I finally have enough room in the kitchen for more than one person & enough storage to get all the appliances off of the counters. I made a coffee & tea bar in the kitchen, which I can't wait to invite guests to use. The living room has a large sitting area off of it where I will put a desk. It's got a lot of closet space which I have made use of: a coat closet, walk-in closets in each bedroom, very deep linen closets in each bathroom, and another closet off of the sitting area where I am storing all of my Christmas stuff. The washer & dryer are a huge upgrade from my set, which I included in the sale of the condo along with the refrigerator. I am planning to purchase another bedroom set as I sold my nearly 30 year old guest bedroom set to my friend's daughter. She's in college & just got her first apartment.

My new neighborhood is full of shopping & restaurants. The shopping center adjacent to the apartment complex includes Hobby Lobby, Home Depot, Ashley furniture, and a Starbucks. Then across the street is a plethora of other big box stores and restaurants. The parish office building where I can register to vote & conduct other business is also across the street. Everything I need is in a very short radius from my apartment. On moving day when I was looking for a gas station to buy the movers some Gatorade I found the post office which is also very close. There is the same family of hospitals that I used to PRN at in the neighborhood as well. I don't plan to pick up another job at this time, but it would be convenient.

The commute has been great as well as they have an express way into the city which keeps me off of the interstate. I'm very happy with my relocation so far in all aspects. Getting on the interstate to head back home is convenient & I've already been back a few times since my move. I'm looking forward to my family staying with me from time to time when I get my guest bedroom furnished.