But we're not there yet.
Let's go back a bit. Bonnie got a job in February and by then we knew we were moving without a shadow of a doubt. We used to curl up on the couch around our computer and gleefully wish and imagine getting an apartment in New York City. But we soon realized that you don't just stroll up and "get" an apartment in New York. It's a trial by fire, an endurance test that could challenge the patience of a saint. We really had no idea what we were getting into. In April, Bonnie and I made our way into the city for a few days to do some preliminary scouting. We thought that having a heads up, walking around neighborhoods, seeing Brooklyn up close would help us--and it did. But nothing was really learned in that trip other than where to park.
The thing about NY real estate is that the turn over rate is so incredibly quick that you can't really start looking until a few weeks before you are prepared to move. Everything that's open gets snatched up before you can really do anything about it. And we had those moments. Several promising apartments in good locations were snatched up before we could inhale to consider them.
Then we made a trip in early June for a few days, intent on putting down a deposit, pouncing on an opportunity, leaving with an idea about where we were going to live for a July 1st move-in date. Well, we found a place. No fee, good price, decent neighborhood, kinda small (but what isn't in NY, right?) and we were ready to move on it. After some consideration and looking at other, much more expensive locations, we decided that this was the place for us. So we put a deposit down, filled out the application. We were told promising things from 2 different realtors of this property that "Yeah, you guys should be good." There was, however, a question about our dog. For those of you who dont know Maggie, she is a miniature dachshund. Less than 10 lbs. The least imposing dog you'll meet. Unfortunately, this landlord had apparently laid down a mandate against heart-stopping cuteness. Our realtor was ignorant of this and led us on. We were denied the application and found ourselves right back where we started from.
Fortunately, I have wife who is gifted in the art of boldness. She barreled into NYC 10 days later, founda better apartment in a better neighborhood and even talked the owners down $100 off of the original price. On June 22, we were approved and finally had a place to roughly a week before we were supposed to move in.
288 Clinton Ave.
(more on this place later)
So we then began the tumultous tempestuous tempermental tiresome trial of packing our belongings in a week's time. The truth is, we didn't have much to pack. We had been practicing for the past 6 months to throw away anything that wasn't absolutely necessary and this act was further amplified when we saw the square footage of our apartment. So in the last week, it's likely that we contributed to roughly 1/3 of Goodwill's overall inventory. This was also tricky since we had to work minutely around my rehearsal schedule for "The 39 Steps" which had me in rehearsal on the day we were supposed to move in (today). But as you could guess, tragedy struck.
The moving truck that was supposed to be there, wasn't. They didn't have our reservation. Even worse...there were no trucks available for days. So we were stuck. We had to think fast. We tried to find another truck...could we go in a caravan? But we had big furniture...should we get rid of it? What were we going to do?
So we ultimately had to delay our move. Just a week. Bonnie is going to make her trip this week to Mississippi to sell the car, fly to Texas to see our newly born niece and then meet me back in Charlottesville for the move this coming Friday. I've got a week to get everything in order, prepare prepare prepare and CONFIRM all the reservations. We'll be better this time around.
There's a lesson to be learned here. I'm not sure exactly what it is. It might not be so transparent. Maybe not a "this" or "do better next time" thing. Maybe it's learning to deal with things when they come up. Being patient. But we better get used to it. Because if there's one thing I know I'll get out of the city, it will be experience. Everything is a lesson to learn and you get better and smarter the longer you live there. That's what I love about it. That's what excites me. When I go to visit, I feel like I participate in a small way in that experience, in that energy. It's been going a long time before me and it will keep going way after I am gone.
So we're closer now than we were before, but we aren't there yet. And I can't stress about it. I've got to be ok with that. I know we are getting better. Little by little, step by step.
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