The Eagle Has Landed

[Lauri D]

Admittedly, I don't really resemble an eagle in any way, but it was the first thing that popped into my head. :chin:

At long last, I have found *semi-permanent living arrangements (*meaning, nothing's really "permanent"), but this should be a long-term and stable thing.
After a couple of false starts, I have taken a one-bedroom apartment at the complex my grandparents own. There are six units on each side of two long driveways, with their house/yard/garden/pool in the very rear; the one I got is directly on their left. My sis and the 2 rugrats are directly on the right. It's kind of funny because if we all walk out of our domiciles at exactly the same time, we're standing in the driveway about 15 feet from each other.

I didn't expect to take a place here for a couple of reasons - firstly, no-one hardly EVER moves out (they have this weird thing where they haven't raised their rents hardly at all in like 15 years, meaning the one-bedrooms rent for about 2/3 of the county market standard) and I was a bit reticent about being SOOO close to the whole damn fan-damily (as a sidenote, my dad/stepmom/stepbrother and bio-mom/bio-grandma also live in the complex. :doh: It's fucking bizzare; literally everyone in our family, with the exception of my aunt and uncle and their 2 kids, live on the same 2 acres of land. I shall henceforth refer to it as "The Commune". Also, over the years I've lived in 4 of the other units :eek: . We're like a throwback to the
60's or something.

Anyway, so I was slightly weirded out about that, but I spoke with my grandparents about it at length... see, I don't mind being so close to my GP's and sis & kids in the least, it's "The Others" that worried me a bit. I've set pretty clear boundaries with them, though, and my GP's assured me that they will supplement reminders that my space is to be inviolate should the need arise.

So back to the space which I can now call My Own. It's absolutely positively perfect for one person, who has given away almost all their stuff and is starting from scratch, like..... me! :bbed: All the spaces are just right for a singleton but there's still my big ole couch w/chaise for visitors, there's laundry in the kitchen (no more yucky garage or laundromat treks), and a pretty big backyard with a real live peach tree (not to mention access to my grandma's year-round orange trees of different varieties, lemons, and her summer garden of apricots, boysenberries and strawberries :drooleek:

I felt that I had made the right decision after spending the first night sleeping there. After weeks and months of heinous insomnia/sporadic sleep, I slept like a freaking baby and woke up feeling totally... comfortable. I think it's because I simultaneously value my privacy and "own space" but don't like to feel totally isolated, and in this place I feel very safe and comfortable knowing that the people I love most are literally just a few steps away if I need them or they need me.

Also I have some prospects for work, for my former boss of all people. Mostly event coordination for some of organizations he is involved with outside of the main office. However, it would be strictly work-from-home and flexible, so I'm stoked about that. Now that I have no debts or major expenses (rent is it - paid off the car, no credit cards, blah blah blah) - I have the freedom to choose a bit more. His comment to me that was he would love to see me working 15 hours a week and spending the rest of my time writing, painting and spending time with my family, a bit of travel. I think I can get on board with that. :yup:

The cable guy is coming on Monday to hook me up with cable tv and internet, so I will hopefully soon be more consistently present than I have been for some time.

I'm starting to get a little freaked out by the way that things are starting to look up and go right. I think it's probably a character flaw or something to always be wondering "When's the other shoe going to drop?" when things are going right. Argh.

My grandmother's breast cancer surgery is tomorrow, so I will be spending the day there at the hospital and then coming home with them to be close at hand. Her prognosis is good and she is in good spirits, so I am feeling optimistic about it. Keep your fingers crossed for me if you can :)

:flower:

~L

[Brimshack]

Congrats Lauri.

...and I hope your Grandmother's surgury goes off without a hitch.

[viscousmemories]

I think I'm having deja vu. :)

It sounds wonderful, Lauri. I'm really glad things are going so well for you right now.

My fingers are crossed.

:hug:

[LadyShea]

Congrats Lauri that sounds awesome! Does the Beastie get to come live with you?

[Ronin]

First lunachick...and now you!

There should be some sort of cap on "things are going my way" threads put in place post haste.

Oh, and now look...we have a FF photo gallery for everyone to share there happy moments with one another!!

What's this Wonka, some kind of funhouse?!?

:squeeze:

[Lauri D]

Congrats Lauri that sounds awesome! Does the Beastie get to come live with you?

Thanks! (Brim and VM too :yup: )

I have thought long and hard about the Beastie issue... I've been horribly conflicted, primarily because:

I love him (Dempsey) soooo much and miss him terribly. However, the last few times I have visited him at the Surrogate Family's house (my former next-door-neighbors) he has seemed SO HAPPY. He has a whole family that dotes on him - the parents, 2 kids (8 and 18) with friends over all the time... he gets so much attention and excercise...

So I finally have an apartment where I *could* have him, but I picture taking him back and with me being out and about and traveling all the time, that he would just be lying around in the house/backyard all the time and missing having so many people around and loving him, and feeling lonely... :sad:

So I guess I feel sort of like a parent who has given their kid to temporary care, and then has to decide what is truly best for the "kid" - not just their own desires. As much as I love my baby, I don't want to be selfish and take him out of a truly happy and nurturing environment simply to serve my OWN needs. I never thought I'd say that; I feel like such a bad dogparent. :(

But I want him to be happy; he's only got a few years left and it just feels wrong for me to uproot him from the family he's gotten to love (and also, they are completely in love with and attached to him). I think the "right" solution might be for me to have a couple days a week with him (they only live a mile away, walking distance even) on the days I know I am going to be home, maybe overnight visits...

*sigh*

[Crumb]

Sounds great Lauri! :1thumbup:

Oh, I almost forgot: The elephant walks at midnight. :spy:

ETA..

Well except for the dog thing...that's kinda sad. :(

[Lauri D]

First, lunachick...and now you!

There should be some sort of cap on "things are going my way" threads put in place post haste.

Oh, and now look...we have a FF photo gallery for everyone to share there happy moments with one another!!

What's this Wonka, some kind of funhouse?!?

:squeeze:

WOOHOO!!!!

/me jets over to the photo gallery

:)

[LadyShea]

Congrats Lauri that sounds awesome! Does the Beastie get to come live with you?
<snip> So I guess I feel sort of like a parent who has given their kid to temporary care, and then has to decide what is truly best for the "kid" - not just their own desires. As much as I love my baby, I don't want to be selfish and take him out of a truly happy and nurturing environment simply to serve my OWN needs. I never thought I'd say that; I feel like such a bad dogparent. :(

But I want him to be happy; he's only got a few years left and it just feels wrong for me to uproot him from the family he's gotten to love (and also, they are completely in love with and attached to him). I think the "right" solution might be for me to have a couple days a week with him (they only live a mile away, walking distance even) on the days I know I am going to be home, maybe overnight visits...

*sigh*

Hey man, if they love him and are accepting of such an arrangement, that may be best and sounds like a sensible choice.

We had my brother's dog for the last 5 years or so of his long life, we called our house his retirement home :). He was happier here with the other dogs and not moving around with my brother.

[livius drusus]

I'm glad to hear you've got such a perfect set up for yourself and the people you love. That includes Dempsey, imo, who sounds like he as all a dog could desire. :)

[Crumb]

I feel like such a bad dogparent

Hmm, I would say sacrificing your own happiness for the good of the dog, makes you the best kind of dog parent.

[pescifish]

I'm glad you've found such a great place to perch for a while, Lauri D!

[Lauri D]

Thanks for your kind comments, Crumb (glad to, er, make your acqaintance, btw :) )

[seebs]

Sounds wonderful. I'm happy for you!

[Petra]

Hey, Lauri, babe - me'n'you are on a roll! :chestram:


Sorry about Dempsey, though. I was the same leaving Lochie (my Jack Russell) behind in Rotorua, but he's happy there and has more space and everything, so I hear ya on that one.


Best of luck to your Grandmother, too. Hope the surgery goes well. :)

[Roland98]

Glad to hear you got some digs!!

:cheer: :datedrnk: :cincin:

[Crumb]

:wave: HI Lauri

[Lauri D]

And the hits just keep on coming! :rimshot:

This is getting really weird. I thought I owed about $300 for my closing cable bill and another $300 for my closing electric bill from the old house, but when I called them both up yesterday, they were like "Oh, your final bills were deducted from your deposits" (never thought there would be an upside to having to make big deposits for, um, having service turned off :blush: ). AND they are both sending me money back :slide: So now I have a little extra cash I hadn't expected to outfit my new apartment with a decent-sized tv, DVD player, and computer printer (my old one was so thrashed I tossed it when I vacated the house).

Also, my former boss called me to tell me that he called in a favor for me. During the three years I worked for him, I saw 99% of the new bank clients do a 40-50% return on their stock shares in the first year. There was one bank in particular, we were working on the IPO right around the time I left, that he (and I) had a really good feeling about so I wanted to get in on it when the house escrow closed. However, I was MIA when the offering over-subscribed, meaning they couldn't accept any more. But being the consultant for the offering, he was able to ask the CEO/CFO to set aside a chunk for me, so I'm in like Flynn. It's a small cap growth investment that should perform beautifully and the best part is that we struck a deal for his buy-out of my shares at full value in the unlikely event that it doesn't take off as it should.

:yup:

[Petra]

Woohoo!

It's great when life turns right around, ain't it? I love it when everything comes up roses, even if it was tomatoes that were planted!


It's great to hear so much is going so well for you, Lauri. It's your year, babe - run with it! :bow:

[Lauri D]

Woohoo!

It's great when life turns right around, ain't it? I love it when everything comes up roses, even if it was tomatoes that were planted! :yeahthat:
Indeed it is. I'm trying super-hard right now not to overthink it (paralysis by analysis) and just go with the flow. :)

It's great to hear so much is going so well for you, Lauri. It's your year, babe - run with it! :bow: I'm gonna!!! :skater:

[JoeP]

Hey, Lauri! It's great to hear all this fantastic news piled upon more fantastic news! ... Except Dempsey not being with you, a'course. :happycry:

[Lauri D]

HA! See, I *knew* it was retarded of me to be all happy and shit (not that I'm not still happy about the good things that have come my way. I am.)

But the other shoe always drops.

My grand-mom's surgery went swimmingly. It seems that the anasthesia is the problem; she's been in recovery three hours longer than was anticipated. I'm sort of biting my fingernails, which is uncharacteristic. It's just that I don't know what I will do if anything bad happens; I might curl up in my animal blanket and die. If I were of a religious bent, I might say "pray for her", but since I'm not, I'm kinda screwed.

[livius drusus]

Oh Lauri, I'm so sorry. This wait must be hell. How's your grandfather dealing? What do the doctors say? Surely there are things they can do to help her come to... :badday:

[pescifish]

I was just coming to this thread to see if how the surgery went. I'm sorry about the anesthesia. I hope she is doing ok now, Lauri D!

[freemonkey]

HA! See, I *knew* it was retarded of me to be all happy and shit (not that I'm not still happy about the good things that have come my way. I am.)

But the other shoe always drops.

My grand-mom's surgery went swimmingly. It seems that the anasthesia is the problem; she's been in recovery three hours longer than was anticipated. I'm sort of biting my fingernails, which is uncharacteristic. It's just that I don't know what I will do if anything bad happens; I might curl up in my animal blanket and die. If I were of a religious bent, I might say "pray for her", but since I'm not, I'm kinda screwed.

See, that's what's so sucky about trying to be happy... the other shoe always does drop. Things get even trickier when someone else has misfortune while you're on an upcycle. :sadcheer:

But, I'm glad you're settled for the time being, and I hope your grandmother is doing better. What sort of trouble did she have with the anesthesia? Is she allergic?

[livius drusus]

Any news, Lauri?

[viscousmemories]

The Eagle just called and told me that all is well! :woohoo:

Apparently it just takes some folks longer to recoup from anesthesia than other folks, and Lauri's Grandmother is one of those folks. However she's itchin' to get out of that hospital bed and tackle the world today. :)

We'll likely hear more details when Lauri next gets a chance to log on, maybe later today or tomorrow.

[LadyShea]

Anesthesia is more of an art than an exact science, and yes, everyone reacts differently to it. Can't imagine such a thing is good for any of that family's shot nerves. Glad everything is okay :)

[kensloft]

Admittedly, I don't really resemble an eagle in any way, but it was the first thing that popped into my head. :chin:

At long last, I have found *semi-permanent living arrangements (*meaning, nothing's really "permanent"), but this should be a long-term and stable thing.
After a couple of false starts, I have taken a one-bedroom apartment at the complex my grandparents own. There are six units on each side of two long driveways, with their house/yard/garden/pool in the very rear; the one I got is directly on their left. My sis and the 2 rugrats are directly on the right. It's kind of funny because if we all walk out of our domiciles at exactly the same time, we're standing in the driveway about 15 feet from each other.

I didn't expect to take a place here for a couple of reasons - firstly, no-one hardly EVER moves out (they have this weird thing where they haven't raised their rents hardly at all in like 15 years, meaning the one-bedrooms rent for about 2/3 of the county market standard) and I was a bit reticent about being SOOO close to the whole damn fan-damily (as a sidenote, my dad/stepmom/stepbrother and bio-mom/bio-grandma also live in the complex. :doh: It's fucking bizzare; literally everyone in our family, with the exception of my aunt and uncle and their 2 kids, live on the same 2 acres of land. I shall henceforth refer to it as "The Commune". Also, over the years I've lived in 4 of the other units :eek: . We're like a throwback to the
60's or something.

Anyway, so I was slightly weirded out about that, but I spoke with my grandparents about it at length... see, I don't mind being so close to my GP's and sis & kids in the least, it's "The Others" that worried me a bit. I've set pretty clear boundaries with them, though, and my GP's assured me that they will supplement reminders that my space is to be inviolate should the need arise.

So back to the space which I can now call My Own. It's absolutely positively perfect for one person, who has given away almost all their stuff and is starting from scratch, like..... me! :bbed: All the spaces are just right for a singleton but there's still my big ole couch w/chaise for visitors, there's laundry in the kitchen (no more yucky garage or laundromat treks), and a pretty big backyard with a real live peach tree (not to mention access to my grandma's year-round orange trees of different varieties, lemons, and her summer garden of apricots, boysenberries and strawberries :drooleek:

I felt that I had made the right decision after spending the first night sleeping there. After weeks and months of heinous insomnia/sporadic sleep, I slept like a freaking baby and woke up feeling totally... comfortable. I think it's because I simultaneously value my privacy and "own space" but don't like to feel totally isolated, and in this place I feel very safe and comfortable knowing that the people I love most are literally just a few steps away if I need them or they need me.

Also I have some prospects for work, for my former boss of all people. Mostly event coordination for some of organizations he is involved with outside of the main office. However, it would be strictly work-from-home and flexible, so I'm stoked about that. Now that I have no debts or major expenses (rent is it - paid off the car, no credit cards, blah blah blah) - I have the freedom to choose a bit more. His comment to me that was he would love to see me working 15 hours a week and spending the rest of my time writing, painting and spending time with my family, a bit of travel. I think I can get on board with that. :yup:

The cable guy is coming on Monday to hook me up with cable tv and internet, so I will hopefully soon be more consistently present than I have been for some time.

I'm starting to get a little freaked out by the way that things are starting to look up and go right. I think it's probably a character flaw or something to always be wondering "When's the other shoe going to drop?" when things are going right. Argh.

My grandmother's breast cancer surgery is tomorrow, so I will be spending the day there at the hospital and then coming home with them to be close at hand. Her prognosis is good and she is in good spirits, so I am feeling optimistic about it. Keep your fingers crossed for me if you can :)

:flower:

~L
:woohoo:

[Lauri D]

Hey ya :)

Grandma's quite the spitfire. She actually came home today (earlier than anticipated) and when I went over to see her, was like "Hey! Wanna see it?" :eek: (Meaning her incisions/scars - it;s funny how alike we are. Must show off battle wounds!)

She's doing great. I'm so happy about it that it almost feels wrong.

Not everything in life is good; sometimes One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest *again* and there's not much that can be done about it, but in general, I'm feeling good. And grateful; I deeply appreciate the friendships that have helped me through This Great Big Mess. You know who you are ;)

L