Where's the box that has my __________? (fill in the blank)

Operation Relocation was successful!

It took me a week to put my life into boxes, and it took eight people two hours to put those boxes into six cars and two trailers. It took one trip from Tacoma to Kent, and almost two hours to get everything unloaded into the condo. (aka The Penthouse, fondly named such by Rick, Dana, and me last time we lived here)

It's nice to be in a place and not feel like I'm still living in the dorms. I mean, shoot- I'm going to turn 29 again this year, aka 30, and I deserve to be in some nicer digs... but it's still weird. It's definately easier to be living in a place I've already called "home" but it's definately lonely without Rick & Dana here, and it's really weird to be sleeping in "Dana's Room". As I slowly get things unpacked it starts to feel more like it's my place. Kind of helps having different furnature- the guy moving into my apt in Tacoma is keeping my couch, and someone else there rescued my desk from the trash compactor. I have to laugh though, because it TOTALLY feels like a bachelor pad- I have a recliner and a swivel chair, a big screen TV, and in my fridge is beer and vodka. I'll be fixing that though, fear not. *grin* Just have to find the right couch for the room, and I want to blow up one of my photographs to hang above the fireplace instead of the whiteboard and its revolving "art".

The hardest part is getting used to the quiet again. For a year I was so used to radiators clanking, elevator doors slamming shut, people being loud and obnoxious outside, pets running across hardwood floors over head- signs of life around. Now it's just silent. Nice, peaceful, but almost too quiet. I think I'll be sleeping with my laptop playing either music or a movie or something, a little more than just white noise but not too much distraction to keep me from sleeping. Mom calls these movies her lullaby. For a while, now, it's been The Holiday, with Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jack Black, and Jude Law. (I like to think that it helps me to find the confidence I need to be the leading lady in my own life, to reference Kate Winslet's character's challenge throughout the film.) Before that it was Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, and before that was National Treasure!

Okay- time to start my lullaby. It's a bit longer than 4 miles to work now, I hardly think I'll be able to leave at 7:40 and get to work on time.

Must sleep... soon...