Less Than 2 Weeks

I have less than 2 weeks left in my apartment and only 3 days left at my job if you want to be technical. I still have so much to do and if I am honest, I am not entirely excited to leave. I mean I am so excited for the coming months. I have so much to be excited about, especially living with P again! I don't think I will miss coming home to an empty apartment. An apartment that has been my home for nearly 3 years making it the longest I have lived in one place that is not my parents' home. I'm 29 years old and I spent the first 18 years in the same room in the same house and in the second 11, I have not even made it 3 years (3 months shy) in one place. That is a crazy thing to think about. It also tells me that I am ready to stay put a bit longer. At least  not having to move my stuff would be nice. I am trying not to accumulate things and really purge before this move. It. Is. Hard. Sometimes I don't feel like I have very few possessions and then I look around and wonder when I collected all this stuff. I even have a Christmas box that is overfull and I've never had a real tree (as in not a branch but a full size tree with a stump).

We are moving to a furnished apartment which seems nice until you remember I like furniture and I especially like refinishing wooden chairs and building things. So I guess that's one hobby that will have to be put on hold for a bit. On the plus side, we are able to bring some pieces so my chair projects and hall table don't have to be donated just yet. On the down side, my efforts to sell any of our furniture have all but failed. I keep telling myself I will put in more effort and sell something but finding better ways to use my time (even if watching new fall TV has been counted among those ways). I had a large trash day last week which helped kick start getting rid of furniture and ironically also helped my downstairs neighbor refurnish her apartment. I had hours of entertainment watching her commandeer our computer chair, wooden shelves, and 2 sofas and then replace them with her old sectional. Actually entertaining was watching the trash pile morph over 24 ish hours. I just need to share the play by play. I started putting things out around 18:00 and a friend came to help me with some of the larger pieces an hour later. We got everything on the curb around 20:00 on Tuesday evening for a Thursday morning pick up. I said goodbye to my friend and hello to my neighbor as she went out to walk her dog. As soon as I got back to my apartment I noticed the microwave which has been broken for about 2 months and needed to go out so I walked back downstairs microwave in hand and saw the same neighbor returning her dog from the shortest walk ever. I put my microwave out and she was right behind me asking about the status of the computer chair. I laughed as she offered it a new home and went back to my 3rd floor living room. Upon hearing some noise, I peeked out the window to see her beginning to carry the rest of her treasures in. Oddly enough one of the shelves she picked up had spent about an hour sitting in my hall with a free sign but she lives below me so never saw it. We would have happily delivered everything into her apartment for her and saved ourselves from putting it outside. A few hours later, I looked out and saw her white sofa had replaced my black one and a few additional pieces were gone. I noticed someone picked up P's old stereo but didn't get all the speakers. The microwave was sitting oddly far off to one side and someone even dumped the wire hangers and broken glass out of a small plastic trash can in order to take the trash can - who does that! I went to bed and then looked out in the morning. Overnight the pile was pillaged. Mostly everything was gone except for a piece of deconstructed Ikea furniture, an old rug, a metal TV stand with lots of candle wax on it, a broken picture frame and 3 broken suitcases. Maybe I should also explain that means someone picked up the broken microwave, 2 printers without cables, a computer tower, a cable box, old drapes, the wire hangers, 2 random light fixtures, a paper floor lamp, and the rest of the speakers even though the main unit was already gone. By the time I showered and left for work I noticed there were additions beyond the white couch, someone dropped 2 blue chairs, an orange paper lantern and a few fake flowers. In the 45ish minutes since I woke to walking out my door someone also picked up 1 of the broken suitcases and when I got home, the TV stand, other 2 suitcases and rug were gone. My the time the trash was collected the only things left that I actually put out were the broken picture frame and the disassembled Ikea which was in terrible shape as we broke some of the pieces and could not be rebuilt. I know this is very mundane and not interesting but it was the first time I threw out big trash and was able to watch the evolution from what was planned for pick up and what ended up being picked up. It also made me really happy to know that even though I failed to sell any of our furniture most of it is still staying out of the landfill. I'm happy to know that I didn't create unnecessary trash and clearly made at least my neighbor happy with a new to her sofa that was an unexpected improvement over what she had. I'm actually curious to see how they are arranged in her apartment but I guess I'll never know as 3 years was not enough time to get to know many of my neighbors. I saw that with a bit of disappointment in myself for not being a friendly neighbor but also with a bit of satisfaction that I dodged the bullet of having to get to know the creeper super friendly guy downstairs who asks too many personal questions and over shares.

Did I mention I am sad to leave this city? Because I just am.

1 Down, 29 to Go

I am back and on the other side. I met goal number 10 on my 30 before 30 list and successfully defended my dissertation to earn that Dr. title! I defended on a Wednesday and immediately went on vacation for the remainder of the week and the next one. It was a whirlwind of stress, overwhelming emotion, family, friends, support, love and everything else. To be honest, it really didn't set in until returning to my office this week. Upon my return yesterday, I have started tying up lose ends, catching up on tasks which sat on the back burner while I worked on my research and handing over my responsibilities.

This is my last month at the University and my last month in Germany. I guess that needs another post but suddenly its all so real. It is one of those OMG (I use this expression in an effort to convey emotion and keep it PG, in my head I am thinking of some more intense words but this is a public forum) moments. I am moving out of one major phase of my life and into a new one.

I have about 5 major projects on my desk at the moment and am not sure how I am going to get them all done before Oct 26th. I also found out I have a few vacation days I didn't know I had so I need to use those in that time too. In an effort to try and get on top of my to do list, I am planning to head to work on the holiday tomorrow. Oct. 3rd is to Germans what the 4th of July is to Americans. As a foreigner, I get the significance but I need to get a presentation finalized and off my desk. Besides, I've already agreed to help a friend with some painting so there's my celebration for the day!

I think I need to add to my list, "learn to savor the moment" as I find myself constantly thinking of what's next. Right now, I am a Doctor and that feels good. In the spirit of savoring I should note this was not an easy process and I learned a lot about myself. I realized my limitations and my abilities quite clear. I learned that I can lean on my support system and I am sure I would not have made it this far if I did not have such great family and friends. So, to no one in specific and to everyone who was there when I needed to vent, asked for proof reading help or just encouraged me to not give up when I was beyond frustrated, Thank you.

Once I get them, I will post photos of my graduation cap so I can officially check the Dr. title off my list.