Milestones

This is not what I had planned on writing but I'm super excited so I'm going to do it anyways!

Potter is 4 months old today.I decided to test his tiny little bladder to see if next week I can try leaving him home all day...and he made it!!! So at some point next week, I haven't decided what day yet, he will stay in his crate all day, and I will enjoy lunch at the station or with co-workers :) If I come home to find a mess then I'll immediately have to start coming back home. But I'm sure gonna try. It'll be nice not to have to shell out what I do for gas on this next paycheck.

He also managed to jump up on the bed without the help of my old entertainment center today. So I was able to take that back apart and store it in my closet, and spread out my purple fuzzy rug. It almost looks like I have a real bedroom now!

I've spent today trying to get things in their proper places. I have all but one of my boxes unpacked (I don't have my desk contents out because the movers broke my desk). My closet is finally together the way I want it, I have all of my clothes hung up and in their proper place. The drawers in my bedroom are organized and full, now I'm just working on handling what's left of the clutter in there. I'll hang at least two pictures tonight and then it'll look like I have a real bedroom! (I still need curtains, but that's gonna wait til the paycheck after this next one) Once the bedroom is done (after the True Blood season finale...) I'm going to attack the bathroom and de-clutter and clean that. All the while I've gotten a load of dishes done and three loads of laundry. The apartment is really starting to look like a home. So this is what being productive feels like...

I got out of the house yesterday and went and check out what I'm told is a Montgomery landmark...the old Capri theater. I went and saw The Girl Who Played With Fire since I finished that book last month. It was a pretty neat time. It was the first time I've ever gone to a movie by myself and it wasn't as intimidating as I thought it would be. However it was a bit of a shock to have to pay with "cash or check only." It really was like stepping back in time.

I get to see two familiar faces this week, and I'm totally stoked about that! Someone I went to Mizzou with (I'm not going to blow their cover here) will be interviewing at WSFA. They'll be the first familiar face I've seen in two months. And Jason will be here for a visit at some point this week, I'm not positive on what days because of his class schedule, but I'm so excited to see my honey again!

I know there was more I wanted to write but I just turned off the air-conditioner and cracked open my windows and I'm going to enjoy the southern breeze on my first cool night in Alabama (I know my allergies will make me pay later...).

"What do you mean I have to flip that switch?"

My only true complaint about my apartment complex is the maintenance men. They're pretty much useless.

I can submit a complaint and unless it's an emergency they won't get to it for at least a month. And even then, it won't be fixed. Case in point...

When I moved in, the biggest burner on my stove had a short in it, so when I turned it on, it sparked. I put in a maintenance request. 5 weeks later they came to replace it. Apparently they didn't think to test it...because the new burner definitely doesn't work.

My back balcony door doesn't lock...because the part of the lock that attaches to the door frame is missing. I called them to fix it...they left the copy of the request on my counter saying it was fixed, they didn't even touch it. I can only assume that it isn't supposed to have a lock, they're just using the security arm as the lock. I don't live on the ground floor, so if someone wanted to break in that way they'd have to do some serious shimmying up a drain pipe. And when they opened the door my security alarm would go off, but a simple explanation would've been nice.

Also when I moved in my toilet had a phantom flush. I'm not stupid. I know that meant the flapper was going bad. I called the problem in at the same time as the door lock and stove burner. After 3 weeks nobody came to fix it. I got up one morning and it wouldn't stop running. I went to jiggle the handle and heard a "plink" and then the toilet wouldn't flush at all. This meant the chain on the flapper had slipped. I have a counter top that runs over to top of the toilet so it's hard to see inside the tank...so I took my chance and I called maintenance. After all...it's my only toilet and it now didn't work. I knew exactly what was wrong and how to fix it, but an hour later someone showed up, fixed that problem and replaced the part that caused the original problem, and all is well. Sometimes a little fib is necessary...the real irony is that if they'd come to fix it in the first place, this second problem never would've happened.

The last instance isn't really a maintenance issue, it just goes to show you need to check out how your apartment is wired.

When I first moved in my mom and I check to make sure all of my appliances worked, ice make, refrigerator, microwave, dishwasher, everything. With the exception of the one burner on the stove, all was well. So when my moving fan FINALLY came, two weeks later (yeah, I lived in my apartment with only an air bed and folding chair for 2 weeks...miserable) I unpacked my dishes and went to throw them in the dishwasher...and it wouldn't turn on. I was so angry. I called the maintenance people yet again, and then I went to work hand washing.

About an hour later my cell phone rings, I pick it up, and it's maintenance. The guy asked me if the light switch next to my garbage disposal was turned to on. I said no. He said turn the dishwasher on and then flip the switch. My response: "What do you mean I have to flip that switch?" I did, and my dishwasher popped on. WHAT KIND OF AN IDIOT ELECTRICIAN WIRES A DISHWASHER TO A LIGHT SWITCH?!?! Yeah...mine.

Also...it's deceptive when you tour an apartment during the day, you have no idea what it looks like when it's dark. I didn't notice that there was no light in my living room, OR my bedroom. They're using switches wired to outlets so your own lamps can light the rooms. And that's fine except...I'm supposed to have 2 switches in my living room...only one outlet is wired and working. I'm supposed to have one switch in my bedroom...it doesn't work. And I have a feeling maintenance won't ever come out to fix them. Fighting a losing battle there. But I have no way to flip a light on when I walk into my bedroom, which is annoying...I have to stumble around until I find my lamp. It'll be easier for me when I have my fish tank set up and I can leave that light on, but for now...it means tripping over things for a bit.

Finding an apartment...without being there

The biggest obstacle I've come up against after finding my job, was finding some place to live.

My situation was pretty unique. The project I was hired to work on was starting really quickly after I accepted the job. I had 3 weeks after accepting the job til my first day of work. Unbeknownst to my future employer, I had immediately put my two weeks notice in at Michaels after I got home from my interview, before I even was offered the job. And I started researching apartments and laying out a basic budget at the same time.

When I was offered the job a week later I only had 1 week of work left at Michaels. That left me with 1 week to pack til I left for Alabama, and I had 2 full days here before I started work.

With only 2 days on the ground in 'bama, that meant I did a TON of leg work finding an apartment while I was in Missouri. I worked off of a spreadsheet that identified the apartment name, rent, sq. footage, and various amenities I thought were important. I also laid out what part of town they were in, because in Montgomery there's one good area and the rest...needs help. Then I started calling about availability, and that's where I ran into trouble.

Montgomery is a college and military town. I was looking for availability at the 1st of August...when everybody was moving back for school or duty, and I was looking for it on short notice. I crossed several apartments I was really interested in off of my list simply because they couldn't have anything ready for me in the time frame I was willing to wait. Plus, I left Columbia before my moving truck loaded. They loaded the day I started work, from that point, they had two and a half weeks to deliver my furniture. I had to have somewhere for them to take it. It was a very serious, and VERY stressful gamble. I was working against the clock in a bad way. I HAD to have somewhere to live, and I didn't have many options to choose from.

Once I marked on my list where there was availability I picked my 3 favorite and sent off an application. One of the three I didn't have a great feeling about, but it would have been somewhere I could deal with. The next choice up was decent. The 1st choice was a long shot, but all things considered, it was my best option. Side note: most places won't process your application until you pay the application fee. My first choice wouldn't do it until I was also willing to put down a $250 security deposit...that was my first choice place.

I faxed applications in, and overnighted an application fee to my second choice (fees were waived for my third choice), and an application fee and a security deposit to my first choice. The first place I heard back from was that third choice. I was approved and they would put my name on an apartment if I wanted to send them a security deposit...I had 3 days to decide. The third day came and I hadn't heard from the other two. I kept thinking about why I didn't like that specific apartment...and on the third day I told them to release the apartment to someone else. I was freaking out, but I didn't want to get stuck in a year long lease somewhere I didn't absolutely love. Stressful decision, but I'm glad I did it, because the next day I heard back from my first choice, I had been approved, and they had a unit saved for me. I set up an appointment to meet with them when I got in to Montgomery to actually SEE that apartment...remember...I was doing this all sight unseen. Terrifying. (btw, I never did hear back from my 2nd choice...the check was cashed and that was it...lessons learned)

When mom and I got into town, with puppy in tow we checked into our hotel...a home for the next week and a half...and then drove straight to the apartments. At first sight, I was really unsure about the apartments. The property manager was really hesitant about telling us anything to do with apartment demographics (student vs. adult vs. military vs. family breakdowns). She kept acting like she didn't know saying "Oh, I don't know. Couldn't tell you." That left a bad taste in my mouth. She showed us a unit not EXACTLY like mine, just similar. I wasn't sold.

Mom and I left without signing a contract. Once again...panic mode.

We spent the next morning visiting my 3rd choice (so glad I didn't go there) and a couple other places I couldn't get to call me back). During that process I learned something that made me feel better about the first apartment...it's not that the property manager didn't know that breakdown of the demographics. "Couldn't tell you" literally meant she couldn't tell me, as in not allowed to. Alabama has a fair housing protection law where management is not allowed to disclose that information to residents, whereas in Missouri they were required to disclose that information. I felt a bit better about that.

Mom and I had a late lunch, discussed my possibilities, and went back first thing the next morning to pay first months rent on my first choice apartment. And that's where I'm living now. And I love it.

I took a number of HUGE gambles that I don't suggest or wish on anybody...ever. But after moving in to my apartment, and after looking at the process there were a couple things I wish I'd known to look for. Some suggestions:

- Ask about the Fair housing requirements where you're moving. That clarified a lot for me.

- Ask a police officer on the street where he would suggest moving. They patrol those streets every day, the know what's safe and where to avoid.

- Call the city and ask for a break down of crime statistics by district. Most areas have to provide this and it will give you a better understanding of the city and where the best places to live are (this proved the cop I asked was right...peace of mind is key).

- Tour the area, find out if you like the grocery stores, the gas stations, local pharmacies. If you have to go there a lot, make sure you're near one.

- KNOW what you are and aren't willing to deal with in an apartment. Do a lot of laundry? You probably don't want a stackable unit. Cook a lot? Watch for counter space. Live alone? Look at a gated community or somewhere with security systems.

- Pay attention to little things in the apartment like outlet placement and wiring (I'll explain more about this with my next blog...)

Owing a puppy is a math equation.

And it's one I see every day in my checkbook in some very unexpected places.

Potter is my pup.

My mom and I on a lark one day went to visit the Independence Animal Shelter. I had just accepted my job in Montgomery and my parents had agreed that once I got settled in they would buy me a dog so I could have some company to count on. We went to the shelter just to get some ideas of what to look for in a shelter dog.

In the back room, each locked in there own kennels were 5 little puppies marked "Hound mix, 7 weeks." The puppies were all from a litter someone had found under a set of stairs somewhere near the Independence Square. When they found them they were malnourished and covered in white paint. The shelter rescued them, cleaned them up, fattened them up, and then put them up for adoption as soon as they were old enough to be fixed.

It was love at first sight. Potter was a quiet, shy, loving little guy. I picked him up first thing and all he wanted to do was snuggle into my shoulder. He was a cuddley puppy. Against my best judgement I put him back in his crate and took a turn around the kennel room with each of his brothers and sisters. I kept coming back to him. So did my mother. Mom and I were on our way out of the shelter to go home when she stopped at the desk and said "what do we have to do to adopt one?" My heart dropped. I wasn't supposed to get a dog until after I'd gotten settled in Montgomery. We put our name in and a week later she picked up a drugged little puppy from our vet and took him home while I finished my last few days of work in Columbia.

He spent time learning from our three large breed dogs at home and 3 days later when she brought him to me, he was convinced he was a Great Dane. And he and I have been inseparable ever since...

but that's not just because I love him so darn much.

He's too young to be left alone for very long.

According to his new trainer (I'm shelling out for obedience classes for him) puppies can't be left alone for more that the number of months they are old, plus one.

Potter is 3 1/2 months old. So he can only hold his bladder for 4 1/2 hours technically. This leaves me with two options...pay $10 a day for puppy daycare...or drive home every day during my lunch hour to let him out and to play with him.

A puppy is happier in his own home, so that means I'm driving home on my lunch break every day to let him out.

Unforeseen consequence: My gas mileage has doubled. Instead of a tank of gas lasting 2 weeks like I budgeted...I'm only getting 1. It costs $30 every time I fill up my tank. That's $60 a month I hadn't counted on.

Now go back to your college economics class...opportunity cost. I'm missing out on the chance to go out to lunch with co-workers...which when you're a strange person in a brand new city is a pretty important thing. It's the chance to make friends. And instead of going out after work, I run home to let out and feed a puppy.

He goes through a $12 bag of food every two weeks...a $5 box of treats every 3. Add a $3 box of scented poop bags to pick up after him at my apartment complex (gross). And all the table scraps he can beg (and you know I'm a push-over).

He goes to the vet for shots on Friday...guaranteed minimum $60. Add the $70 for a month of obedience training. He'll need another round of shots in 2 more months...another $60. Add flea medication, heartworm medication. He's a teething puppy, so add lots of toys. Two $12 Kong toys destroyed, plus countless other toys. Add in 3 pairs of my own socks. (yeah, haha, funny...not)

And laundry for every time he's peed on his bed...and my bed...and towels from cleaning his spots on the floor.

I'm awake no later than 7am every day. I can't go to bed any earlier than 11pm because of his bathroom schedule.

I'm tired. I miss human contact. I'm broke.

But I don't know what I'd do without the fuzzy little booger. He's my only friend in 800 miles.

If I had it to do over again I probably either wouldn't get a puppy (I'd get an adult that's easier to house train), or I would wait til after being down here a few months to get one.

But the emotional benefit of having that unconditional love through the tough time I'm going through right now is hard to put a price tag on.