Home Sweet Home?

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One of my New Year’s Resolutions was to move out into my own apartment, and for the last two months I have been actively pursuing that goal.  It’s an emotionally draining process with both ups and downs. Unfortunately, it’s seemed to be mostly downs.

I started in earnest when I returned from the East Coast in late July. I didn’t expect to move in August, but it was good to start looking. My goal was September 1st, then giving me the Labor Day weekend to move in, get settled, and all before school started. Well, that didn’t happen, but it wasn’t my fault. I’d found this beautiful 1 bedroom apartment that takes dogs. It was open and bright and had a HUGE deck that my pup would love to hang out on. I put in my application and application fee, totally in love with the apartment. I got a phone call from the property manager the next day stating that he had rented the apartment to another woman who had seen it the day before me. He offered to mail back or shred my check as he had not cashed it yet. I was heartbroken – I had started to picture myself (and Toby) living in this great place.

It took me a couple of weeks to find another place that I would consider, and it came in the form of a basement apartment about four blocks from my work. It was a little steeply priced, but it included all utilities and I would make up the difference in what I’d save in gas. I contacted the woman and set up a showing. It was in a beautiful old neighborhood in north Seattle and I was really excited. It had its own fenced backyard space and the woman had her own dog, so she was happy to have Toby.  It was a very weird apartment. The kitchen was small but doable, however it had no oven. There was a gas stovetop, but nothing underneath except a cabinet. Okay, weird, but not a deal breaker. I don’t really bake all that much anyway. I continued on into a very small living room. I have a large couch, so this was a bit of a concern. The bedroom, though, was huge. However, there was no closet, so I’d have to get a wardrobe of some sort. The light was still pretty good for being so deep into the basement. The big problem, though, was the bathroom area. A curtain – soon to be replaced by plantation shutters, she said – was all that separated the bedroom from the upstairs access. The apartment’s bathroom was on the other side of those doors, as was her guest bath and the laundry room. She even said that if she had guests over, they’d be using the guest bath. This lack of privacy, especially for an apartment that was at the top of my price range, was not going to work.

I looked at a third place this week. The apartment itself was okay, but the owner was trying to sell it and I really didn’t like the uncertainty of that situation. Another condo came out on Craigslist this weekend, and although I’ve emailed twice and called twice, I cannot get a hold of the manager. She called me back, but we keep missing. Now there’s a new place, two blocks from the one I loved originally, and I’m hoping I can get in touch with someone there.

The whole process has been exhausting. I thought it would be easier to find an apartment here than in Manhattan, but it’s not turning out that way. Hopefully soon, though, I’ll find a place that Toby and I can call home.

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