We Arrived

Safely, if disheveled and exhausted, at the Seattle airport Saturday at 9 p.m., meaning our bodies thought it was midnight.  The day was jam-packed, too– we got up at seven and headed directly to Amtrak to unload (all of) our material possessions, boxed-up and labeled.  Then we deposited all we were not able to sell on Craigslist at the Salvation Army, before heading back to the house to help our roommate load up HIS furniture and boxes, and then carrying those into his new place.  My friend Sarah took us to the airport around 2 p.m., we had one five-hour flight, a layover, then another 1.5 hour flight.  By the time I saw the city lights outside the plane window, everything was spinning a little.

Our friends Jake and Jillian picked us up from the airport and drove us to our new apartment, where we would still have to do a walk-through and sign the lease before we could drop our bags and pass out.  Although Lon, our building manager, had told us earlier in the day “I’m available 24 hours a day!”, when we called him at ten-thirty he told us it was too late.  Panic.  But after he realized we were outside the building he let us in, Jake and Jillian kindly inflated an air mattress in our bedroom, and we fell asleep at what would be 3 a.m. eastern time.

At 5 a.m. western time, I woke up, my body thinking it was later.  I got up and walked into my empty living room and stood there.  Then I walked into my empty kitchen and stood there.  It’s very strange, moving into an apartment you have never seen.  I felt like I had imagined it so often in my head, now I was trying to reconcile the reality of it with my expectations.  The reality of it, though, is that I love it– this apartment is loads nicer than the more expensive ones we were looking at in Boston.  The kitchen has a big microwave built in over the stove, which is nice since we donated ours.  Dishwasher and disposal.  I think I always worry about kitchens the most, because I like to cook but not so much if my kitchen is scary.

Sunday and Monday also passed in a blur- our aforementioned friends took us to brunch on Sunday and then graciously to Target and Trader Joe’s so we could pick up some staples.  They walked us to the top of Queen Anne Hill (we live at the bottom of it, in Lower Queen Anne) so we could see the view.  Yesterday I scrubbed the floors and- hooray- scored a sweet deal on a sofa set off Craigslist.  David and I have been taking walks, and we always run into something incredible- some amazing view, or some body of water.  We live a block from the Space Needle and are beside the Seattle Center, so it is a busy and fascinating place here, I tell you!

So far, couldn’t be happier.  Which is a relief, as neither of us had really spent time in the city before.  I only caught it in glimpses on the shuttle from the airport to Whidbey.  We feel very lucky that things have gone so smoothly, almost puts me on guard for impending doom of some kind.  But that’s probably just my super-cheerful personality.