It feels like forever since I've posted here...
BoyChild was delivered to college today. He has what appears to be an awesome roommate and hall, the guy he knows who he adamantly didn't want to room with is as far away in the building as is physically possible (much to his relief), and although the stupid sticky hook picture hanger failed and the glass broke on his brand new framed poster when it fell, there was little trauma in the whole event. He has his first hall meeting tonight around - now.
And we are moving Monday. We decided some time ago that once the Boy was away at school we would go somewhere that didn't require Hubby to drive close to an hour to get to work every day. Since I work from home, I had total flexibility. So we began looking and planning. And we found a place that is, in my mind, perfect.
For many, many years I've lived in the suburbs. Kids, schools, housing costs and the such being the justification. We decided after giving up our big house to just rent for a while, and had a quite nice little house in a very nice subdivision, very close to our son's high school. But ever since my daughter first went to Chicago to go to college, I've had a secret yen to be a more urban dweller. I love walking, and in the suburbs, walking is purely for exercise. Nothing is close enough to actually walk to be going there.
So when the decision to move was contemplated, we started looking at apartments close to my husband's office, in a very close-in part of Atlanta. Not quite the city proper, but certainly less suburban than we've ever been before. His office is right across the street from Perimeter Mall, one of the older and nicer malls in the Atlanta metro area. It is also surrounded by apartment communities. Out first love was an Amli community that had retail on the first floor and apartments above, literally next door to a Super-Target. It was pretty new! It was cute! It was in the middle of things! It was damned expensive, and didn't have anything larger than a two-bedroom. We kept looking.
Next we looked a few blocks from his office at a Gables community that had a gazillion floor plans, including a three BR flat that we really liked. This one was almost right next door to a Wal-mart. They had three pools! That cute 3BR! They'd just started offering a Zumba class for residents! Hubby could walk to work! So we gave them money, made clear what we wanted, and waited. This was - three or four months ago? They assured us that since we were on the waiting list so early we would get everything we wanted - the fireplace, wood floors, top level with a balcony. We were thrilled.
Last month, we tried to contact our leasing agent to find out what our address would be so we could start arranging things. He was NEVER there. So we went in and talked with another agent. Who told us we didn't show up in the system! Then, while he was trying to show us how he was fixing everything, there's our money we'd deposited, here's an apartment that meets MOST of our requests, I saw the rental amount. Over three hundred dollars more than we'd been quoted when we made our deposit. Yes, we knew things could change, but that was somewhat more change than we were comfortable with.
We went back on the hunt. Turns out, there was a complex RIGHT NEXT DOOR to the Gables community - smaller, slightly older, but actually a bit better maintained and very warm and friendly. When we got there, no one was in the office (it was late on a Sunday), but we poked around by ourselves, snuck in the gate while someone was coming out, and rather liked what we saw. So the next day hubby went on his lunch break, they showed him a three BR townhome (which was a corporate apartment still under lease but already vacated), and he loved it. The rent was within our budget (more than our original plan but less than the Gables Surprise), it had fireplaces in both the living room and the master bedroom, and it had TWO balconies - one upstairs and one down. And a great view. Nice pool, lovely gym area for the community. Still close enough to walk to both work and the local stores. And available on the date we wanted to move, which the Gables compromise wasn't. He was sold and gave them a check, which they promised to hold until I saw it. I saw it, agreed, and Monday we move.
Life changes - sometimes with breakneck speed. Both Boy going to school and us moving have been in the planning stages for some time - but now it is upon us. Tomorrow we pack everything we can, and Monday the truck shows up. And hopefully soon thereafter, I'll be back, to tell you we survived...
And we are moving Monday. We decided some time ago that once the Boy was away at school we would go somewhere that didn't require Hubby to drive close to an hour to get to work every day. Since I work from home, I had total flexibility. So we began looking and planning. And we found a place that is, in my mind, perfect.
For many, many years I've lived in the suburbs. Kids, schools, housing costs and the such being the justification. We decided after giving up our big house to just rent for a while, and had a quite nice little house in a very nice subdivision, very close to our son's high school. But ever since my daughter first went to Chicago to go to college, I've had a secret yen to be a more urban dweller. I love walking, and in the suburbs, walking is purely for exercise. Nothing is close enough to actually walk to be going there.
So when the decision to move was contemplated, we started looking at apartments close to my husband's office, in a very close-in part of Atlanta. Not quite the city proper, but certainly less suburban than we've ever been before. His office is right across the street from Perimeter Mall, one of the older and nicer malls in the Atlanta metro area. It is also surrounded by apartment communities. Out first love was an Amli community that had retail on the first floor and apartments above, literally next door to a Super-Target. It was pretty new! It was cute! It was in the middle of things! It was damned expensive, and didn't have anything larger than a two-bedroom. We kept looking.
Next we looked a few blocks from his office at a Gables community that had a gazillion floor plans, including a three BR flat that we really liked. This one was almost right next door to a Wal-mart. They had three pools! That cute 3BR! They'd just started offering a Zumba class for residents! Hubby could walk to work! So we gave them money, made clear what we wanted, and waited. This was - three or four months ago? They assured us that since we were on the waiting list so early we would get everything we wanted - the fireplace, wood floors, top level with a balcony. We were thrilled.
Last month, we tried to contact our leasing agent to find out what our address would be so we could start arranging things. He was NEVER there. So we went in and talked with another agent. Who told us we didn't show up in the system! Then, while he was trying to show us how he was fixing everything, there's our money we'd deposited, here's an apartment that meets MOST of our requests, I saw the rental amount. Over three hundred dollars more than we'd been quoted when we made our deposit. Yes, we knew things could change, but that was somewhat more change than we were comfortable with.
We went back on the hunt. Turns out, there was a complex RIGHT NEXT DOOR to the Gables community - smaller, slightly older, but actually a bit better maintained and very warm and friendly. When we got there, no one was in the office (it was late on a Sunday), but we poked around by ourselves, snuck in the gate while someone was coming out, and rather liked what we saw. So the next day hubby went on his lunch break, they showed him a three BR townhome (which was a corporate apartment still under lease but already vacated), and he loved it. The rent was within our budget (more than our original plan but less than the Gables Surprise), it had fireplaces in both the living room and the master bedroom, and it had TWO balconies - one upstairs and one down. And a great view. Nice pool, lovely gym area for the community. Still close enough to walk to both work and the local stores. And available on the date we wanted to move, which the Gables compromise wasn't. He was sold and gave them a check, which they promised to hold until I saw it. I saw it, agreed, and Monday we move.
Life changes - sometimes with breakneck speed. Both Boy going to school and us moving have been in the planning stages for some time - but now it is upon us. Tomorrow we pack everything we can, and Monday the truck shows up. And hopefully soon thereafter, I'll be back, to tell you we survived...