Moving in, Moving on

We arrived at our new apartment building in the morning on a Friday. I had scheduled the move in at least a month prior, and yet, they didn't have us scheduled. So, we had to beg them to let us into the loading dock. Eventually they did and our movers showed up and took all of our things out of the truck, up the elevator and into our apartment. Overall, it was really smooth. A hamper handle got broken along with something else, but I don't even remember what. None of our things were dirty or otherwise damaged. So, perhaps, driving our stuff across the country in a Penske truck (like turtles, our whole house on our back) paid off.

Unfortunately, our landlord had not cleaned the apartment prior to our arrival as promised and it was gross, but within two days, we had a cleaning crew come in and clean and the landlord paid. We went to Ikea with the truck and bought small furniture to facilitate storage. We built the furniture (two bar stools, one wooden chair, one desk, one cabinet for the bathroom, one glass cabinet for art, one wooden shelf unit for a closet and one metal shelf unit for the pantry) and unpacked everything by Sunday evening. If we didn't know already, this experience was proof that both Neil and I are very anal. All of the other people we talked to about the move looked at us like we were insane when we said we'd broken down the final box on Sunday afternoon. But regardless of possible insanity, we felt great once we were all moved in. (I mean even the art was hung on the walls...)

Our apartment, even if it's half the size of our house in Albuquerque, is awesome. We somehow have enough space and it doesn't even feel crowded. Add to that the fact that we get lots of natural light and the dogs seem to like it a lot. Also, we have a great gym and a roof deck with pool, and a party room with a pool table and a movie theatre and so on. We really like where we live. The neighborhood, Chinatown/Penn Quarter, is awesome. We're about five blocks from Ford's Theatre and the house where Lincoln died (I am a big Lincoln fan) We're blocks from the Smithsonians and even closer to the National Archives where we can visit the Constitution and Declaration of Independence whenever we feel like it. We have a big multiplex theatre nearby as well as several live theatres. There's an Ann Taylor Loft and an Urban Outfitters (two chains that do not yet exist in NM)just down the street. It's really exciting.

We're still exploring the neighborhood and making new discoveries. Last night we ate at Wok 'N Roll, a Chinese and Japanese restaurant in the historic Mary Surratt boarding house where John Wilkes Booth and his co-conspirators are said to have hatched the plan to assassinate Lincoln. Our building adjoins to another condo complex called the Clara Barton because it's built above the original house where Clara Barton set up her office for missing soldiers. They're restoring it right now and soon it'll be a museum. Being surrounded by so much history is really fascinating.

At home, in New Mexico, the history was different. I was immersed in different stories. Pueblo revolts, conquistadors, the Apache trail of tears. Growing up, I thought of the New Mexico history as my own. But, I also thought of U.S. history as my own. In 5th grade, I made my parents take me to D.C. so I could see everything -- the Star Spangled Banner, Ford's Theatre, Mount Vernon, the Constitution...And now I live here, a new place with its own history -- a history that I identify with, too.