Trying to Find a Place to Live... and a Million Other Things

The school dorms were full :-( There is a company that runs private dorms that look really nice. They are furnished and have gyms and laundry in the buildings. Sadly, they require the entire semester payment right away to reserve the space. Until I sell my car that is just not an option. So I've turned to Craigslist.

I have found 1 fantastic option in Brooklyn. The place is super nice and the girl I would be living with is in her 20's and seems pretty cool. It would take about 30 min to get to school on the subway. She has someone coming to look at the place on January 1, but if that girl doesn't want it, it can be mine. Cross your fingers this girl doesn't want it!

I have 1 other pretty good option in Brooklyn as well. The place isn't quite as nice and the rent is the same as the other place but it includes utilities. The people I would be living with are a married couple. The wife is an architect and the husband is an engineer. At this point, it seems to be a good fallback option. The other plus is that they are moving out in June and I would have the option to renegotiate a lease with the landlord and then Sara and Victoria could move in! That timing isn't perfect, but it might work.

There is also a place in the East Village. Its much more expensive than the Brooklyn places, but still within my budget. The guy who lives there is also in his 20's and a PhD student at NYU. The great thing about the place is that it is pretty close to my school. The major downside is that it is a 6th floor walkup. I'm thinking this place would be a last resort.

So I'm still looking. Trying to find a place without being able to meet the people or see it in person has been challenging. Lots of people don't even respond because they want to meet me, but obviously I can't afford to fly out there to find a place to live.

I'm also still trying to sell my car. Besides my BBQ, it is the only thing that I haven't been able to sell yet. I had a couple come see it this morning but then totally lowballed me and wouldn't come even close to what the car is worth. There is a possibility that someone from Redding will come buy it this weekend. We've spoken on the phone and he mentioned a price he would be willing to pay. Its closer to what I want but I would like to see if I can get him to pay a little more. He asked me a bunch of questions about the car and I sent him a picture of the dent, so I expect to hear from him in the next few days. I've also emailed the woman who saw it last week. She has been out of town but I think she was coming back today. She seemed to like it when she came to see it and drive it. We never talked price though, so who knows. Cross your fingers for me!

Packing and downsizing is a nightmare! I borrowed my parent's suburban yesterday to take a huge load of stuff to goodwill. The entire back was full as was the middle seat. I still have a lot of stuff. Even after going through all of my clothes and getting rid of a bunch that doesn't fit or that I don't love, I still have more clothes than I realized. I've got my suitcase full as well as my old high school dance bag. I'm planning to check both of those on the flight. Then I have 2 boxes full of other clothes that I'm planning to ship. Other than that I have 1 box of some miscellaneous things (books, electronics cords, dvds, etc) and I'll probably have 1 more box with my printer and shoes. I'm planning to tackle the shoe issue today. I want to fit as many as possible into those 2 boxes and maybe my carry on. I don't want to have a 5th box but I might have to.

I'm moving out of my little house on New Years Eve. The plan is for me to take Kitten and stay at my friend Laura's apartment while she is out of town until January 4th. She is going to be taking care of Kitten this semester for me until I can get into a more permanent living situation and find a place to live with Sara and Victoria where I can have a cat. After she gets back, I'll be living with my parents in their apartment and possibly in the new house depending on when they move.

The plane tickets have been purchased and we are leaving on January 12th! Amazingly we are going to be flying out of Eugene at 8am so we don't have to get up ridiculously early that morning! I'm starting to get excited but it hasn't really hit me yet. I just have so many things that I still need to take care of before we leave. I can't wait to get to the point where I can enjoy the process and get really excited. I'm thinking that will happen once I nail down a place to live and move out of my current house. Selling my car would be icing on the cake.