I moved into my temporary home yesterday afternoon.

The day was quite a whirlwind. My van was still in the shop, and I wasn’t sure when it would be ready to drive. The new housemate needed my share of the rent to pay the landlady who wanted the cash before she went on a trip to California. The Lady of the House was willing to drive me to pick up the van, but she had an early afternoon appointment of her own and had to pick up The Boy from school later in the afternoon.

It all worked out fairly smoothly. I talked to the mechanic around 10:30, and he assured me that the van would be ready by the afternoon. He even called me as promised later on when the work was complete. (This was the first time ever that a mechanic called me to let me know work on my vehicle was complete. I’ve always had to call the shop to find out the status of the job.)

Since I didn’t have transportation, my new housemate drove out to the home of the host family to pick up my share of the rent. I guess the landlady was really hounding him for it.

When The Lady got back from her appointment, we hopped into her car and zipped over to the auto repair shop. She dropped me off at the gate and zipped off to pick up The Boy. I paid for the repairs, and headed back to the home of the host family to pack the rest of my belongings into the van. I really wanted to be on the road before rush hour.

By “pack the rest of my belongings into the van,” I mean I threw the rest of my stuff in as quickly as possible. I was on the road a little before 4pm, so I just got the early bird rush hour and not the full-on, super-crowded rush hour. The driving was ok. I had my usual changing lane angst, but I did fine (meaning I was not involved in a crash of any kind).

My keys unlocked the doors of my new abode, which is always helpful.

Taking the advice of Judge Judy and the much nicer judge on The People’s Court, I took photos of the (very few) damaged items in my new room. There are some scuff marks on the wall, the door has some peeling paint and discoloration, wires are hanging out to the light fixture attachment on the ceiling fan. There’s no bad damage, but I want to have proof, just in case.

While he was picking up my rent money, the new housemate offered me the use of an extra mattress. After taking photos of the empty room, I dragged the mattress from the spare room into my bedroom and placed it in the corner next to the window. The bed looked quite inviting after I made it with my clean linens, but I stayed strong and did not lie down for a nap.

It was pretty hot in the house, but luckily, I found that the window opened. Unluckily, the window did not have a screen. Luckily, the screen was on the ground right outside the window. To get to the screen, I had to go through the kitchen and dining area, out the sliding glass door, through the back patio, and out another fence into the side yard. Whew! But there was the screen. I got it back into the window, although it was a bit torqued. It fit pretty well and kept bugs out for the rest of the afternoon.

I hauled my clothes in next and unpacked the items I think I will be wearing to my temp job. I have too much clothes! (This has been a problem of mine for a long time.) I mostly have a lot of skirts. What can I say? I’m a sucker for a long, colorful cotton skirt. The next few weeks are going to be a time of purging the items that aren’t 100% comfortable. There’s no need to carry around clothes that itch or bind.

After all the clothes were unpacked, I sat around playing solitaire and waiting for the housemate to come home to give me the password for the WiFi. Later I took a bath. I have a private bathroom, which is an absolute luxury.

I heard the housemate leave for work a little while ago. I have the house to myself! I’m going to haul in some food from the van, now that I know what cabinet I should use. I should eat something too. After I run a few errands, I can take it easy and prepare myself to be a working woman once again.