Does anybody read these?

I promised a post on my adventures...

Adventure is the only way to describe the past few days. I left Thursday morning to go to Detroit and get my brother and our belongings and bring them back to Ohio.

Well, I got there after dark, so I went to the apartment long enough to make sure a) it was still there and b) the cat was still alive. Affirmative on both. So, I went to my friend Virginia's where I was going to stay because she had power. We went out to one of my favorite restaurants and caught up. Then I watched ER and called it a night because I had a busy day the next day.

Friday morning I woke up bright and early and went off to find my brother. I found him on the second try. He told me that he'd be home in three hours because he had to help someone move (someone who was not us, I mean) and get a tattoo. Priorities, you know. Anyhow, I went over to the apartment and started cleaning. I took food for the cat, and she was a little startled by me, but nothing major. She hissed at me, but then she let me play with her once I called her by name. However, she must've forgotten who I was or something because she attacked me. Big time. I bent over to put some stuff in a box and she grabbed me by the head. She kept scratching me with her claws, and I had blood running down my face. There are deep gashes in my head, face and cell phone. My clothes were covered in blood. I don't know if I've ever bled that much. If I had to guess, I'd say that I have probably 15-20 scabs on my scalp from where she sliced me with her claws. And there are 6 cuts on my face and 3 on my phone that I can see. I was scared to death because I was bleeding so much. And she kept hissing at me after that. I didn't get much accomplished Friday, because she was only nice to me when my brother was around. He didn't come back until 5 p.m., not 2 p.m like he promised. Did I mention the apartment had no power.

Friday I was exhausted from the craziness. I collapsed into bed. I woke up bright and early to get started Saturday. I picked my brother and his friend up to help me pick up the Uhaul truck. You see, my family called me and told me there was a big snowstorm coming and they wouldn't be able to help us move. So, I rented an in-town U-haul truck and a storage locker and deposited all my belongings there for now. It took us forever to get packed, and it was sad to have the apartment look just like it did the day I arrived in 1999 (except for a stain on the kitchen counter I'm sure I'll get charged for). It was a good run while it lasted, and it's time to move on to a new chapter in my life. Of course, I am moving 400 miles south of HERE and my belongings (including ALL my furniture except an end table and my dining room table) are 300 miles NORTH of here. Oh well, we'll get it all figured out. You should've seen us fit the entire contents of a 600-square-foot apartment into a 50-square-foot storage locker. But we made it!!!

We finally got in the road way behind schedule, and I was dragging ass from non-stop packing and cleaning. Of course, my brother fell asleep before we hit the state line and stayed that way until about an hour from home. I was dragging and living on Mountain Dew MDX (I love the diet version if you haven't had it yet!) and trail mix trying to stay awake. Luckily, I got a phone call that perked me right up and I was fine the rest of the trip. Not sure when I'll come off the cloud actually...

I'm a little sad, a little exhausted, a little relieved and a little excitedto be starting a new chapter in my life, even though it's a little more topsy-turvy than it was a week ago. But for every door that's been closed, at least one window's been opened. I'm very blessed.

posted by Laura at 2:45 PM