Moving day moved up!

Hi Everyone,

So, my leisurely move over the month has been cut in half. The first person my landlord showed the place to fell in love with it and wanted to move in right away. So, I have my final inspection next weekend. This all happened as of Thursday night. Moved a truck load (no cap on truck so not a lot but it was heavy/awkward stuff). Rented U-haul cargo van today and did 2 big loads. Everything is in a pile at the new place and I'll sort things out once I'm officially there as of Sunday.

I don't have a lot of stuff left. One more truckload - a couple more heavy things that I'll get Jerry and/or Keith(roommate) to help me with. One van load for the furry family. They'll move on Wednesday. And I'm renting a car Friday night for the weekend. That'll give me enough time to move my final stuff, run errands and bring Mike to his annual vet appointment. I'll rent a carpet cleaner Thursday or Friday night and do major cleaning. All repair/touch-ups will be done prior to that. So, it'll be a matter of clean and go.

I forgot how physical moving is. Getting stuff pulled out. Putting it in boxes. Moving boxes around. Bringing boxes up stairs to van. Taking boxes down stair from van. Moving boxes around. I've gotten a couple bruises, 2 broken nails and my hands are extremely rough. I've had to put on my cycling gloves to help. Jerry helped me with the heavy stuff today. It's times like this that I realize just how much stronger his upper body is than mine. I struggled with 1 file box (textbooks, paperwork) and he was able to carry 2 at a time. I knew that men's bodies were build differently then women's (we've got the advantage with legs) but it was really noticeable today. We're going to start wall climbing at the end of the month so hopefully I can develope these muscles more. It'll be a big advantage when cycling. I've noticed they're a bit weaker than during the summer as I'm walking up the hills verses riding them. I can't justify the energy exhurtion and heat to go up them in bad road conditions, stiff lube, drag from the spikes and the layers I'm wearing.

When I was in the new apartment today, my impression was that it had more light than I remembered and the bedroom's a little bit bigger. It's still smaller than my current one but not by a lot. The storage room is also lovely as there's shelving along 2 sides and my freezer managed to fit through the narrow doorway.

The furry family's overally been good with the move. I shut Mike in the back room while moving so he wouldn't try to escape. Whiskers is being very well behaved and rather calm. Both are being a bit clingy but I was expecting that.

Jerry's birthday is on Tuesday so I'm making him chocolate loaf with white chocolate rum custard. His mom brought him a cake today so I thought this would be something different. The chocolate loaf looks like a heavy cake or maybe brownie made in a loaf pan. It's served with the warmed custard and lightly sugared strawberries. The recipe is from one of Nigella's cookbooks and I'm rather excited. It's also much easier to transport than a traditional cake. I'll let you know how it turns out.

We celebrated his birthday with his parents and friends at a Moroccan restaurant. I've never eaten Moroccan and it was very tasty. I told Jerry we need to eat this food more often. It was very flavourful (spice/herb combinations I wouldn't have thought to pair). And we got to eat with our hands. I think I'll need to pick up a cookbook since I'm now in the area of town I can get a lot of uncommon spices since the dishes were very tasty and it would be relatively inexpensive (lentils, couscous, vegetables).

Anyways, I have a cake to make. Tomorrow is birthday cake Sunday (probably one of the last times I'll be at St. Matthews). I'm cheating by using a mix and canned frosting. But, it will be great for the kids because once the 9x13 cake is cool, you cut it into the shape of a horse and use candy to decorate it. Smarties are used to make the eyes and bridle. Licorice (the pull apart kind) is used to make the mane. I got the idea from the Kraft website. They have some great (and super easy) cake ideas there.

Have a great weekend!