Hella Stella

I love my apartment.

It's been a slow move. Pretty much box by box, on evenings when we had energy. That can get trying, especially when you just want it to be done. You want to come home and not have to wonder where you packed your greeting cards, because there are birthdays and weddings coming up and damnit, you already bought the cards for them. Except they are packed. Somewhere mysterious.

There's also that colour and lighting thing. My moods are pretty strongly affected by colour and light, so the process leading up to finishing these jobs was painful. Do you get the urge to growl at people in dim light? I do. I'm not sure why. We had some sparkly new light fixtures that needed installing, and we had buckets of paint that needed to be slapped on walls. Bit by bit, it got done. Now it's all finished.

So, instead of the crushing stress of coming home to a hallway full of boxes, I am now coming home to a hallway with a lone bicycle that will soon be hoisted up onto the ceiling. The kitchen is functional, finally, with shelves that hold my tea and tea accessories, vintage tea pots, and Russian nesting dolls. The neon green is not neon, and I am understandably happy about that. The purple in the front room looks like a light gray in the dark, which I love. The bedroom is the last holdout, with a few baskets of sewing supplies I don't want to part with. And there's the fact that we still don't have a home phone or internet thanks to the brilliance of my new service provider. I've been stealing random signals here and there, in between strained phone calls with customer service representatives.

Still. It's comfortable. And it's been so nice having a lot with a Vrtucar parked a mere ten second walk from our front door. As long as we're living in this area, or even just in the downtown, I don't think we'll need a car.

This brings me to another point. May I vent? Thank you.

My BH and I decided a long time ago that we wanted to stay central should we ever get around to buying a house/condo/duplex/etc. We figured that because we aren't in a rush to buy, we can save slowly until we have the down payment we need. We also figured that buying in the 'burbs would cost us a lot in transportation, time and happiness, and we'd really rather just wait. Wait until we find the right place, in the right area, when we have the money. Whenever that happens. No rush.

Do you know how much shit we've taken for that decision? For even just saying that we'd like to stay as central as we can? People have snorted with laughter, rolled their eyes, angrily denounced the idea, or made fun of the fact that we'll never have the down payment we need to stay here. As though we have no idea what housing costs are like. As though we think it will be easy. As though it's an impossible suggestion.

Do you know what I say to that? Fuck. That. Noise.

I may suck at algebra, but I can plan anyone's finances. If I need to wait another four or five years to have enough for a very modest centrally-located home, that's what I will do. We don't own a car. We have health coverage. We have debt, but we are paying it down quickly. I have a stable job that lets me do things like throw piles of money into a high-yield savings account every time I get a paycheck. Eventually this will become a down payment - not for an extravagant house in perfect condition - but for something I can afford.

Those of you who know me know that I am one stubborn biatch. Unless I have a sudden urge to move out to the country, I know I can do this. It's not up for negotiation.

Rant: Done.

PS, Got a puffer for the Mystery Cough. Now I get occasional coughs instead of painful coughing fits. This is good. Not an answer, but good. My head is still full of goo though. Not so good. (Fucking goo)