Alone.

So much has been happening the past few weeks; it’s hard to even remember where to begin with it all. 

 First things first, I am officially living (very close to) downtown! It took me a little over a year to make it down there but I am now finally able to ride my bike to work and not have to spend so much time commuting to and from work every day. I’ve been in my new place just under 2 weeks and it’s been nice having the place all to myself. Mostly I am enjoying not having to be super quiet when I get ready for work in the morning. My 4am guilt levels have dramatically decreased since I have been living on my own, which I think is good for the soul. Plus I am quite sure that my cousin and her son are very happy not having to tip-toe around in the evenings when my pathetic ass is trying to get to sleep at an un-Godly early hour for anyone over the age of 4. 

 Right before I moved I stopped and thought about how long it has been since I lived on my own, and I was floored to realize that I haven’t lived “on my own” since I was 20 years old! I haven’t lived in a place that didn’t have a boyfriend, family member, room-mate, house-mate or friend, for that length of time. I didn’t believe it at first but it’s true!

The weird part about it is that I LOVE living alone. I love being able to have a whole place to myself with no designated cupboards, drawers, rooms or refrigerator shelves. It’s great to be able to walk naked from the bedroom to the bathroom without the fear of someone catching you in the buff. 

Poor Krista-Lee. She’ll probably never get that horrifying image out of her brain. I still feel really guilty about that one. 

 The one bad thing about having this whole apartment just for me is that I have accumulated very little things in the past 7 years. I have to fill in the gaps and the space where things like furniture, pictures and appliances generally go. I’ve developed this mentality of “It’s just me, so why do I need it?”, meaning that I am not going to go out of my way to buy stuff cause it’s just me and I don’t need to impress myself. I don’t like “stuff” and have a bad habit of getting rid of things which have little to zero use for me. 

But then I realized that if I want people to come over and visit me, that these people probably don’t want to visit someone who looks like she lives in a colourless, furnitureless prison cell that echoes when a conversation is being had. Something like a couch might be a good way to encourage people to come by and stay for a while. I bought myself a chair (good enough for 1!) but not the most comfortable when company comes around. 

So I was very happy when I got an awesome house-warming gift from my lovely friend. He asked me if I wanted my gift and I was expecting something like a…I don’t know…a mug or some coasters for my non-existent coffee table. Then he blows me away by giving me his old television and DVD player. He bought himself a (much) larger flatscreen a couple days before and gave me his previous one. I had zero intentions of buying a TV for myself but now that I have this one, I am happy to have it for background noise when I am doing things around the apartment. 

I may not have accumulated much stuff to fill my apartment, but I’m accumulating some pretty awesome friends around here.