My New Addiction

So I'm sort of settling in to life out here is western Michigan. I still don't have a job so basically I do nothing. I finished a puzzle that took me a week to do, I kept a very close watch on the Olympics, and I read the paper almost everyday. And now I'm in the final week before Stephen gets here! Somehow this week is worse than the last three were. The anticipation is making it difficult to say the least.

But anyway I have a new musical addiction. I found this gem of a vintage store with a great record selection and a picked up a few while I was there last week. Besides buying two Neil Diamond albums and a record of the songs from Disney's "Alice in Wonderland" I bought Steve Forberts "Alive on Arrival". I bought it mostly because I know the first track "Goin' Down to Laurel". It was only 25 cents and I knew it would make my dad proud. So I put it on and fell in love. Most of the songs I vaguely know from my dad singing them while I was growing up. But it really is a great album! Some of the best lyrics I've ever heard. If you've never had the pleasure I suggest giving it a listen.


Here's to all the shitty jobs that I despise.
Here's to two-bit guarantees and other lies.
Here's to roads of burning tar and hot cement.
Here's to money in my hand and where it went.

Well, I got my fingers a-tapping on the hard,
stone steps.
I'm waiting for lightning and the rains to fall.
Young lovers are loafin' with their sidewalk smiles
And all their rainbow dreams....

I been livin' an' breathin' in the rat trap town.
Tryna get over where the wall breaks down.
Holdin' my head up with my thin tired arms
and all my rainbow dreams
-- "Steve Forberts Midsummer Night's Toast"

I'm Here!

I'm here in Grand Rapids. I am all moved in and enjoying my new place. I won't have a chance to blog much since I have to use the public library for internet access and I'm only allowed 30 minutes a day on their computers. But I wanted to give everyone an update and let you know that in a few weeks when Stephen gets here I'll hopefully be able to use his computer to blog about all my crazy adventures since I've been here! And I'll post some pictures than too.

The Move from Hell

I decided I can finally blog about my move here to GR. It was rather stressful to say the least and I now feel like I have moved past the trauma enough to talk about it. My mom and I had started off our day driving out to Michigan at around 6am. I was driving my car and my mom was driving the rented moving truck. After about 12 hours on the road and feeling tired, cranky, and with sore knees, we made it to my apartment. We went in and looked around and than checked into our hotel (we didn't want to bother moving anything in the first night). We got up the next morning and were really geared up to get going. We had a lot of trouble getting the tuck into the narrow driveway and that was only the beginning. We moved in the mattress, my large heavy dresser and a few other things before tackling the couch. Well, long story short, it got stuck in my insanely tiny door. It not only got stuck once but twice! After we had successfully gotten it out we thought trying it again was a good idea. But it wasn't at all. So anyway we called up the handy man, whose number I had gotten from my landlord, and he came by and got it in for us. I cried when it was in and I had trouble sitting on it for a few days. But everything else went great and then we had to move the truck out of that narrow driveway again. But after the adventure with the couch it seemed like a piece of cake.