Spring is (Almost) in the Air!

It is a whopping 51 degrees outside! It has been a gorgeous, sunny Saturday. I finally got out of the apartment after being cooped up in here with bronchitis for a few days. My fifth illness since Christmas Eve. It’s no wonder I never recuperate – I’m either working or moving or working or moving. No rest for the weary. I truly tried to take a sick day Friday but there is no escaping the job of the TAM. But that's OK. It's nice to be needed. :)

But today, I absolutely had to get out of here to buy kitty litter and go to Home Depot for all the “just-moved-in” stuff I need. A fellow shopper in HD noticed my t-shirt and exclaimed, “Wow - A Mariners fan!” It was funny. He had just moved here six months ago. Then the guy in Lamps chatted with me for a while about baseball. He is in the Mets minor league. Name is Sterling Williams. I’ll remember that in case he gets to pitch for the M’s some day.

So it was great to be outside. I walked all the way to 59th and Lexington – mainly because, unbeknownst to me, the N/R trains aren’t running all weekend. Just the train that would get me there. I hate it when that happens.

Anyway, everyone was smiling and pleasant. New Yorkers do like this weather. Not too hot. Not too cold. This morning there was still snow in a lot of places. I’m sure that’s all gone by now.

Oh, I found out what the city really does with all that snow. They don’t dump it in the river - (PA does that). Rather, New York City has its own snow-melting monsters. Seriously - my boss told me this. They park their big dump truck by a sewer drain on the street in the middle of the night, crank up the melting machine, and heave the snow in. It's the only way to get rid of it.

Well, no need for snow talk. Today I coulda sworn it was spring! One cool thing about being back on the east coast is I get to experience my favorite season again: spring. Yay! (Seattle only has two seasons to offer – cloudy and rainy.)

I’m still unpacking and sorting through everything. In all my dozens of moves over my lifetime, this one has definitely been the most challenging. I’ve never had to be this creative in finding places to put stuff. Things I’ve learned:

- Consolidation!
- How to stack stuff.
- It’s OK to use that empty space under the bed for storage. (Shhhh. No one will know. If I’m lucky, I’ll just forget that there’s anything under there gathering lint.)
- Yes, you can throw away that old Mariners Team Store paper bag that you used as a lunch bag many times over. (How the heck did that get packed?)
- Stop moving!

On the bright side, I vacuumed with the upright today for the first time. I completed the job in less than six minutes. Floor space is truly lacking here. So, for all of you whom I told, “Oh, you’ll have to come stay with me in Manhattan!” – I take it back. Forget I ever said that. Ain't gonna happen. But I do hope you visit! The Days Inn is right around the corner. :)

You know, I wasn’t sure if I’d like living in such a small space, but it actually feels pretty good to purge and consolidate. And the place is just beginning to feel a little like “home.”