I’ve lived in this house longer than any place since high school, and even then, not by much. I was a tween the last time I lived anywhere more than a year or two.

We had good times, regardless.

It’s sort of staggering how many of those good times I had by myself. I watched The Wire, all of Desperate Housewives, 30 Rock.

Guests, friends, adventures.

I’ll miss the easy drive to south county and Seattle, the weird, random fun of moving in with strangers.

It’s another step away from college … adulthood, or something.

I’m making this out to be more monumental than it is, but it feels that way.

The mornings, the days, the nights.

A chapter closing.

Reminding myself that endings are beginnings.

And at this stage, I have a lot more beginnings than endings ahead.

Previously in leaving: Pullman, Wenatchee.

It could take a few weeks to sort out.

Oh gosh! Where will you read about the minutiae of my life?

Nowhere but other social media sites? Dangit!

As I get ready to leave the house where I’ve lived in suburban south Everett for almost exactly a year and a half, I’m trying to focus on the positive.

There is so much negative that I feel like I’ve been holding my breath for weeks, like some little kid making a wish in a car in a tunnel, eyes closed, feet lifted off the mat.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention some of the good things my roommates have done for me in the past 18 months.

They helped me lift heavy things. They opened jars. They checked up on me whenever I went out, making sure I came back home and wasn’t kidnapped in a trunk somewhere.

They helped me with my car, especially my old car that required near-constant oil-and-coolant infusions. They gave me rides to the airport. They picked me up from parties when my scheduled rides fell through.

They invited me to parties. They introduced me to their friends. They included me in their lives.

They listened to me whine, rant and ramble. They didn’t judge my bad habits, not too much.

They’re good people, way different kinds of people than those I met in college, or through journalism, or even in the Tri-Cities. Just … normal dudes.

They broadened my horizons, and I hope I broadened theirs.

And if nothing else, living with men has proven to be an excellent deterrent to getting married too soon.

Life lessons … aw shucks, guys.

I’ve wanted to move for a looooonnng time.

Except for three pieces of furniture, 85 percent of my belongings are boxed up in the living room. (When did Elliott Smith CDs, love letters and exercise accessories get so bulky?)

For a couple of weeks now, I’ve been trying to remind myself that moving won’t fix everything. It won’t make my life perfect. I’ll still have my holiday-treats spare tire, my student loan bills, my super annoying cat.

But it’s a step. A brave effort to make every day a little better.

I’ll have to find a new gym, yet another library, my way around a new town, a new commute.

I’m sure there will be creepy neighbors, unforeseen traffic concerns, blah blah blah.

I’m doing this for myself. I hope it pays off.

If nothing else, it’s the next landing pad, the next stage of Single 20-Something Adventure America Fun Time Now.

I get the keys and sign the lease tomorrow, plan to start living there next weekend.

Ladies, bust out the cheap wine and Destiny’s Child.

It’s my cheap plastic critter souvenir from Chicago’s Brookfield Zoo in May 2007.

This hurts my heart, a little to a lot.

Never fear, I still have my cheap plastic choo-choo souvenir from Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry.

Note the hat?

Tagged: dating, grrrl, Internettery ]]> http://rikkiking.wordpress.com/2012/01/18/two-things/feed/ 2 rikkiking http://rikkiking.wordpress.com/2012/01/17/my-worst-winter-driving-experience/ http://rikkiking.wordpress.com/2012/01/17/my-worst-winter-driving-experience/#comments Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:02:23 +0000 Rikki http://rikkiking.wordpress.com/?p=11128 ]]> We’re supposed to get a foot of snow in Everett before the week is out. Despite my four years in Pullman, my snow driving isn’t the best. I know HOW to do it, but it’s not my favorite, and I swear, nervousness and snow driving are like fear and rabid dogs … one incites even more trouble in the other.

I had one bad drive last year. I got off work around 9 or 10 p.m. I-5 had a couple of inches accumulated. It wouldn’t have been that bad, but people were spun out everywhere. There were at least four cars who’d missed my exit and ended up stuck in not-safe places. It was like that Mitch Hedberg joke about Target practice, all the people splattered about.

Anyway … during winter in Pullman in 07-08, I was out of contacts or something and had already rescheduled my optometry appointment a couple of times. It was mid-blizzard between Pullman and Moscow. I got there OK, got stuck in a parking spot, then fishtailed getting back on the highway, I was well along that highway when my windshield wiper on the driver’s side flew off. Moments later, a truck passed me, flinging mud and snow all over the windshield.

We were going 50-ish. I couldn’t see anything. I slowed down, holding my breath, waiting any second to crash into a semi-truck or a basalt cliff.

An eternity later, somehow, something knocked off some of the snow, and the snow let up so I could make it back to Pullman.

It was insane. I’m glad I didn’t die.

I found a place I’m tempted to rent. It’s BIG for a one-bedroom apartment, has its own washer/dryer, TWO storage-sized closets and it’s only $625 a month. (The same thing would cost $950 in south Everett.)

The only problem is it’s in Arlington, 30 minutes north of Everett. My commute would be longer, and I’d be living in a much less populated area than I’m used to.

I’m looking at places in north Everett this week. They feel more like living “in the city,” but that also means less parking, less space, more money, etc.

I’m torn. I know I want to end up in the country eventually. But I’m not sure this is the time, especially now that I’ve finally got a decent social life going here. It’d be at least 45 minutes to south county, an hour to Seattle, even though I go to Seattle only once every month or two.

Anyway, Julie and I accidentally went to the wrong place first. It was a lovely shade of pistachio, not the nice beige as seen on Craiglist. The yard was littered with cigarette butts and trash. It literally* bumped up against the water treatment plant. The “foyer” was filthy, and there were loose electrical wires hanging around.

This whole experience feels like Sex and the City. But without Sex, or the City.

The view from the not-place

*Yes, I say “literally.” It’s a disgusting habit. I blame the Kardashians.

• Wiki’s List of English words of Yiddish origin.
• Johnny Lee’s “Looking for Love” from the Urban Cowboy soundtrack.
  
• Enough snow to freak out native Western Washingtonians.