Otto's Bridge to Terabithia (via Easthampton)
Last Wednesday, I responded to a craigslist posting for an Easthampton apartment, which George and I viewed the following evening. The landlord is friendly and the apartment both spacious and charming, with a set-up that should allow for comfortable co-habitation for us and the two Squidjees (Keelin and Brynna) who'll be sharing our space.
Afterwards, over dinner, we filled out an application, which George submitted via fax the next day, to the landlady. She, in turn, called George today to inform him that our landlords had given us glowing references --
and our application has been accepted! YAY!!!
I'm both excited and relieved. Our official move-in date is May 1st, but we're hoping to get some of our stuff moved in a bit sooner. (We each have our current apartments through the end of April.)
Amusingly, this apartment is almost directly across the street from the first one we viewed and really liked. The other places we saw (in Holyoke, Easthampton, and Granby) were either too tiny or just unappealing.
Oh, and the landlord is a real animal lover. He suggested, without prompting, the possibility of putting in a cat door or two, to allow the ladies access to the porch!
In other news....
After George and I parted company on Thursday night, I went to see The Bridge to Terabithia. I still hadn't redeemed a movie ticket I'd received for donating blood in January, and Thursday was the last night this particular movie would be playing at Cinemark.
I've never read the book, though I probably will. Usually, I like to read the book before seeing a movie adaptation; this time, though, I was in the mood to be transported...in a more passive way, I guess. I really enjoyed it, though it did make me cry. A lot. (Maybe not as much as My Life...but I did have a little trouble crying quietly.)
One interesting thing about the experience was that the character of Leslie Burke reminded me of my sometime friend Diane. Not entirely, though. It was sort of like seeing a "'Good Parts' version" of Diane. All the imagination and courage and idealism without any of the whining, self-entitlement, or sneering judgments. So that aspect left me a bit uncentered...nostalgic.
In still other news....
On Friday, I received a call from the owner of Nesco Sales, the auto body shop where I got an estimate for the hit-and-run damage to my poor car. The headlamp assembly he'd ordered had arrived, and I was able to take Otto in for repair the following morning.
I was really pleased with the result. I mean, it's still all kinds of sucky that I had to shell out $242 because some wanker hit my car and didn't have the personal honor to admit it --
but anyway. The guy at Nesco Sales was super-friendly and very reasonable. The part alone cost $176, so labor was only fifty-something. And he straightened out my cracked hood and slightly-bent fender, applied a sealant to both areas to prevent rusting, and still stuck to his original estimate. And I appreciated that the guy called me right away and agreed to take me on a Saturday; I hated driving around with that busted light.
So, yeah. It sucked that I had to get the repair at all, but for any Palmer-area peeps in need of bodywork, I'd definitely recommend this guy.
Afterwards, over dinner, we filled out an application, which George submitted via fax the next day, to the landlady. She, in turn, called George today to inform him that our landlords had given us glowing references --
and our application has been accepted! YAY!!!
I'm both excited and relieved. Our official move-in date is May 1st, but we're hoping to get some of our stuff moved in a bit sooner. (We each have our current apartments through the end of April.)
Amusingly, this apartment is almost directly across the street from the first one we viewed and really liked. The other places we saw (in Holyoke, Easthampton, and Granby) were either too tiny or just unappealing.
Oh, and the landlord is a real animal lover. He suggested, without prompting, the possibility of putting in a cat door or two, to allow the ladies access to the porch!
In other news....
After George and I parted company on Thursday night, I went to see The Bridge to Terabithia. I still hadn't redeemed a movie ticket I'd received for donating blood in January, and Thursday was the last night this particular movie would be playing at Cinemark.
I've never read the book, though I probably will. Usually, I like to read the book before seeing a movie adaptation; this time, though, I was in the mood to be transported...in a more passive way, I guess. I really enjoyed it, though it did make me cry. A lot. (Maybe not as much as My Life...but I did have a little trouble crying quietly.)
One interesting thing about the experience was that the character of Leslie Burke reminded me of my sometime friend Diane. Not entirely, though. It was sort of like seeing a "'Good Parts' version" of Diane. All the imagination and courage and idealism without any of the whining, self-entitlement, or sneering judgments. So that aspect left me a bit uncentered...nostalgic.
In still other news....
On Friday, I received a call from the owner of Nesco Sales, the auto body shop where I got an estimate for the hit-and-run damage to my poor car. The headlamp assembly he'd ordered had arrived, and I was able to take Otto in for repair the following morning.
I was really pleased with the result. I mean, it's still all kinds of sucky that I had to shell out $242 because some wanker hit my car and didn't have the personal honor to admit it --
but anyway. The guy at Nesco Sales was super-friendly and very reasonable. The part alone cost $176, so labor was only fifty-something. And he straightened out my cracked hood and slightly-bent fender, applied a sealant to both areas to prevent rusting, and still stuck to his original estimate. And I appreciated that the guy called me right away and agreed to take me on a Saturday; I hated driving around with that busted light.
So, yeah. It sucked that I had to get the repair at all, but for any Palmer-area peeps in need of bodywork, I'd definitely recommend this guy.