The End of an Era

I'm moving. I've lived in my tiny studio apartment for seven and a half years. When my second marriage ended, my beloved "caramel sister" Mia let me sleep on her couch. The next morning, I was lamenting that I had no place to go, so she called her landlord. He showed me three apartments, the third of which was across the hall from Mia's place. I told him I needed that one so that Mia and I could start our sitcom. He did no credit check, asked for no security deposit, and let me move in four days later. I lived across the hall from Mia until she moved out last June. It was time for her to take a new direction in her life. I miss her proximity.

Michael lived there with me for three years. He called it "Living French", two people in such a small space. I don't know how we didn't drive each other crazy living in 600 square feet. Love makes you do strange things. The night Michael died, I again slept on Mia's couch. God bless Mia.

After I lost Michael, the apartment became kind of a prison cell for me. I could function on the outside, but I was trapped by memories in my own home. People deal with grief differently, and I was paralyzed by mine, but only at home. I could function perfectly well on the outside world, but I couldn't even bring myself to go through Michael's belongings. Grief is weird.

But this is a happy blog! My dear friend and talented artist Sarah Bell and I are going to be roommates!! Sarah is a sweet, fun girl with a generous spirit and a sparkly aura. Moreover, she found us a beautiful two-bedroom apartment in our beloved Rogers Park!

 Here's Sarah and some of her art

Here's some more of Sarah's art. She's cute AND political!!

The apartment is on a beautiful, tree-lined street a little bit north of Morse Avenue. It's got a big living room, a formal-sized dining room that will become our craft room, a good-sized closet that Sarah has claimed as her "cloffice", two bedrooms, a built-in hutch in the hallway across from the bathroom, and an eat-in kitchen with a sizable pantry. There's a small yard in the front and a small yard in the back -- basically the whole thing is a little slice of heaven.

So this week, I'm going through seven and a half years of accumulated stuff. I spent most of today on yarn. Seriously -- who needs all that yarn? I untangled skeins and skeins of yarn that my cats had gotten into. I always tell my Habibi that I crochet and have two cats -- without him, I'm a pathetic middle-aged stereotype! I tenderly balled each tangled skein and nestled it in a Ziploc bag so the cats can't undo my work, then I put the bags in a see-through heavy-duty plastic zippered "jumbo" storage bag. This way I can see what I have, have easy access, and squish it into smaller spaces so the yarn is not taking over my life. Now I can use the bins in which the yarn used to reside to pack clothes and linens and kitchen stuff.

It's taken me a while to get motivated to begin this task -- I've been talking about moving for months now -- but once I get through the skeins and skeins of yarn, I think I'll be about halfway done!

Saturday is moving day. I can't wait to begin a new chapter of my life with room to move about!! I'll post pictures of our little hermitage in next Monday's blog post. And then I'll post more pictures when the furniture that my wonderful mother is purchasing for me arrives!!

So that's the news for now! I'd better grab some dinner to fortify me for tonight's Stitch 'n' Bitch at the Glenwood. I hope to see you there at 7:00! Until next time, Peace, (radical) Love, and Yarn!!