Lost Teapot

Today I moved into my new apartment. My mom and I even got so far as to set up my bedroom furniture. Tonight I am sleeping on my bed. We ate dinner at my table. Things are happening and I am very excited! …and exhausted. So goodnight to you.

Today I was finally able to take books to the library and recycle my old old computer. Actually that was a lot of fun. I couldn’t figure out how to erase my hard drive because the video card was spazzing out and I couldn’t read the screen to make any changes. So I called and asked the nerds at Best Buy and they told me to smash them with a hammer since Best Buy won’t recycle them with the hard drives and I don’t plan on using them again. So I took them out and had fun with mom’s hammer and axe. Nobody will be restoring those hard drives again.
Somehow, as a result of today’s activities I gave myself a lovely purple bruise on my left knee. Yay. But I am getting excited about moving.

Today was my first incident with a bird since my return to the US. I was sitting in my mom’s living room minding my own business when a mockingbird dive bombed the window. It is now recovering from the shock on the bush in front of the window. Stupid bird.

Today, my goal is to finish going through all the boxes that mom had saved for me. Then I will sort the remainder into piles for trash, recycle, and Goodwill. Yay.

Today I ate toast for breakfast. That in itself is not unusual. What makes this morning special is that I was able to make toast with wheat bread. Japanese stores only ever seemed to have white bread. Well, American supermarkets have wheat and it’s delicious.

You know, living without a car for four years I forgot what road rage felt like. It is surprisingly like subway rage. You know, that feeling you get when you are behind that one person who steps in the door and stops which blocks the five more people who want to get on the subway car behind him. Or the old man who comes out of nowhere and squeezes into the two inches between you and the door just so he can be the first person off and then takes his time stepping onto the platform. Well now that I’m driving again, I get annoyed at Everyone around me because Nobody uses their blinker here!! And it feels almost exactly the same.
In other news, I have an apartment! I will be moving on August 5th and 6th.

I just saw a family of raccoons run across the road and hide under a truck. Four of them. They were cute but the first thing that popped onto my head wasn’t “Cute!” but “Rabies!”

My phone arrived today and I have been playing with it all day. In fact, I found an app that lets me post to my blog. How cool is that! Anyways, I just wanted to say I had a good day and now I wish you all good night.

Got my new iPhone today!

July 13th I left Japan. My eyes leaked during takeoff but I blame it on the air vent. I had been so worried about getting everything finished, getting to the airport, taking the kitties to be inspected, and passing through security that by the time the fasten seatbelt sign turned off I was asleep. I woke up for the food service about 30 minutes later and then slept for another two hours. Then I was unhappily awake for the rest of the flight.

When we arrived in Detroit, Katy and I had to carry the kitties through passport control which took about 40 minutes, pick up our luggage, go through customs and pass a second examination about the kitties. All of that went well and we rechecked our luggage to catch our flight to Durham. I slept the whole flight. Both Lizzy and Darcy were very well behaved. There was almost no whining or hissing or anything.

My mom picked us up from the airport with her neighbor because we had a lot of stuff and wouldn’t fit in her car. She dropped me off at my dad’s house where the cats were finally able to get out of their carriers. I fed them and showed the the litter box and they stuffed their faces and then hissed at each-other in turn. Sarah and Eli came to pick me up and we all went to my mom’s house for dinner. Chicken and mashed potatoes!! Yum! I slept so well that night.

The next day I got a pay-as-you-go phone to last until my iPhone 4 finally ships. We visited A Southern Season for their sale and then I went out for dinner with Eli and Sarah for Sarah’s birthday. I didn’t sleep very well that night.

On the 15th, Eli and I drove up to Syracuse to look at apartments. LONG drive. Friday was spent visiting some apartments and trying to get in touch with others. Saturday we went all over trying to find a place where I could get a money order for an application. I turned in an application for an apartment and then we went to the zoo. They have tigers and red pandas! Drove back to Durham on Sunday with only one traffic incident. A portion of road that should have taken 5 minutes was lengthened out to an hour and a half by stop and go traffic.

Yesterday I spent most of the day with my Dad and sister because he flew in yesterday and she left early this morning. Today I can finally start relaxing a bit. There is nowhere I need to be at any specific time. Lizzy and Darcy have finally stopped hissing at each-other.

Every day I look forward to grad school. Every day I wish I could sleep better, but it’s eerily quiet here. Every day I eat something new. Every day I miss Japan.