sh*t happens
September has not been my month so far, and that's a complete understatement. I'm happy to be home and be away from the madness.
Let me tell you, it has been a saga. It all starts with me driving out to Spokane to meet Lauren and Gina, who was accompanying Lauren on the long drive from Colorado and help her move back in. We all arrived Saturday evening, tired from the driving and had a great weekend together (more on that in a later post!). Gina and I left Monday morning to drive back to Seattle so I could go to work and move into my new place.
Tuesday was fine and dandy, until we had to move all of my stuff from my summer sublease to my friend Hunter's house to be stored for a few days before I moved AGAIN into my housing for senior year. Let's just say I have wayyyyy too much stuff and it took a lot of car trips. We moved the remaining pieces of furniture Wednesday morning and turned in my keys (which took forever because the office opened 30 minutes late, major *eye roll*, should have been a sign for the next few days).
We didn't have anywhere to stay that night, so we did the logical thing: grabbed our passports and drove up to Vancouver for the next 24 hours. I gotta stop doing Canada in a day. Anyway, I'll recap that fun in another post!
We drove down to Seattle Thursday afternoon to make my scheduled walk-through of my new house. I was hoping it would be a quick check, but it turned into a two hour inspection. Not super ideal. Gina and I were starving and still had to move all of my things over. Luckily, we knew what we were doing and moved my things into my new place efficiently. Of course when we moved my bed, it started to rain. We threw everything into the new place...my bed was all set up in the dining room.
I planned on rearranging and organizing everything over the next few days. Friday rolled around and I went to work while Gina kindly ran a bunch of errands, buying necessary home items. Her best purchase was a discounted ten piece pots and pans set. GOOOOO GINA. I do really appreciate all she did for me that day, she saved me so much time. Also on Friday was an ongoing conversation with our landlords to get the interior of our house painted. The only time they were able to schedule the painters was for 9 am Saturday, the next day. It was important that they get it painted before everyone else moved in, and though it was an inconvenience, I decided that I'd just cover all my furniture in tarps.
After Gina made an awesome enchilada dinner and Sharon surprised me with Honolulu Cookie Company cookies, Gina and I set out on a Target expedition to buy tarps. We returned successful, even purchasing a few items for the kitchen. We were going to finish off the night eating some Molly Moon's Ice Cream and watching Bachelor in Paradise (it's a guilty pleasure) when we realized my laptop was missing...
We looked everywhere. I thought, maybe I placed it in a super weird spot and it would turn up somewhere while we moved my things into the center of each room. I felt so nauseous as we searched because we realized it was in fact not there and someone had stolen it. We called the police and filed a report, then had a sleepless night. Of course, the stupid refrigerator had to make weird noises all night to freak us out even more.
Saturday was absolutely awful. Gina and I had to still cover everything in tarps and move some stuff around which ended up taking much longer than expected. I had to go to work, Gina the airport, and I started crying which delayed things further. 9 am rolled around and Gina HAD to leave. On a time crunch she called an Uber and discovered it would cost $60 (the surge was ridiculous!). We rode it down to the Link station where she made the executive decision to ride the Link to the airport. Fortunately, she made it on time. It stinks that we ended such a fun trip on a sour note.
Work was no fun for me, which is usually not the case. I love my job, but my heart was not in it at all. The whole day I was depressed about losing my laptop and someone entering and stealing it in my new house. After a long day at work, I went back to the house to find it painted. It looked amazing! The walls really needed a fresh coat of paint. The catch? They weren't done yet and covered all of my stuff even more so I couldn't get to it. I had to go buy a toothbrush, a new outfit for Sunday, underwear, socks, etc. I ran around the stores of U Village before they all closed at 9 pm and had to resort to the bathroom to charge my phone so I could coordinate with Kristi to sleepover at her place. I was an absolute mess and threw away my contacts, so I was "blind" all of Sunday.
Sunday, my spirits were boosted a bit. Kristi and I woke up early and went to Pike Place for breakfast. I had one of my best days at work and I was planning on watching Game of Thrones with Sharon and Hunter that night. I went to the house that evening (because the painters were supposed to be done) and my temporary key didn't work. I was livid. I eventually got in after an hour and contacting my landlord. This was not how things were supposed to be going. Hunter, Sharon, and I ended up watching GoT and spent Monday (Labor Day) in Vancouver which helped me take my mind off of things.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, I finally got a few of my things organized and flew home Wednesday evening. As I recount all of these events in Colorado, I'm a little under the weather, so there's that too.
Other than that, all is well!
Things could have been A LOT worse. I was telling this story to Lauren and she pointed out that this could have occurred during the school year. Gina and I could have encountered the intruder and who knows what could have happened there. I had some of my laptop backed up, but the worst part was that I was going to back it up the night it was stolen. Oh well, fingers crossed for the cloud! If I lost anything, it would have been pictures, but I've still got those memories. Insurance should cover some it and it seems to be the only item that was taken.
At this point, I want to move away from the theft and the bad vibes. I realized my laptop was just a thing, a valuable thing, but a thing nonetheless. I'm happy that no one was harmed and these things can be replaced. I got to a place where if I found anything else to be stolen or say my car was broken into, I'd say "oh well!" and move on from it. Obviously, I didn't want something else to happen, but if something did, I was going to be just fine.
I think the worst part about losing it has been the repercussions: filing a report with the police, contacting insurance, changing passwords, replacing the laptop, questioning the safety of my new house. Don't ever, EVER, think about stealing something from someone. You're an awful person if you do. I know people are inherently good, but it takes one bad apple to ruin the bunch.
Through all of this nonsense, I've been able to find some good, okay, maybe I should rephrase it as a few learning opportunities. Here's some:
1. Back up your computer weekly. GO DO IT RIGHT NOW.
2. Hide your valuables.
3. Make sure your locks have been re-keyed when you first move in/ask for confirmation.
4. Know where important documents and receipts are located.
5. Have an emergency phone number for your landlord.
Now I'm just paranoid about losing another thing and take extra precautions. I left my camera in the car the other day, but separated the lens and the body, then hid the SD card. #extrememeasures I'm being a bit dramatic, but 10/10 would rather not get stolen from again.
In the midst of the paranoia, I've realized how privileged I am. I had an awesome laptop I called my own, insurance is helping replace it, and I have access to other solutions. This whole thing is very much a first world problem. It sucks it happened, but a little perspective helps to show how lucky I am. A lot of people don't have these options, and I'm not going to take this for granted.
I'm REALLY thankful to have the support from friends and family. I'm especially indebted to my those who let me sleepover, fed me, listened to me complain, drove me around and offered their help. I was a complete mess, and they helped me keep it (semi) together.
Well, that's it for now. I'm working on a replacement at the moment and this sort of explains why I've been MIA #ontheblog. Our regular scheduled posts shall resume this week and I'll be playing catch up, recounting the highlights (instead of these lowlights) from the past few weeks. Thanks and please go spread some good out in the world like it's peanut butter!