In Which Lots Happens, Including A Very Long Drive / Friday, December 24, 2004
Okay, it's been a while. First of all, that job I was talking about didn't happen. Whic is just as well really because I've been spending all my time picking up free furniture! So, I told you I cleaned out that ladies house.... After that I went to some apartments to pick up a bed. The guy told me the street address, but not the house address. There must have been a thousand apartments there. I wasn't going to knock on every door so we just went without a bed that evening.
Then I went to pick up a couch. It's very comfortable, and it ment Ash had somewhere to sleep that night. I phoned up my landlord Kagan (pronounced "karn" I found out after calling him kagan forever!) because he had said the night before when we were moving in that if we needed any furniture he would try and help us. I told him aboutthe dilemma with the bed. He sad he'd see what he could do. He phoned back five minutes later and said one of his friends had a bed and we could pick them up tomorrow! He also gave us his desk because the free one I got had a broken leg. Isn't that nice? Oh, he has also found me a job. I love this guy!
I went and did some shopping in thrift (charity) and dollar stores, got a few essentials that weren't covered, like drying rack, a vacuum cleaner ($20), ironing board ($3), etc. Alright, so the ironing board might have been used to iron a now-dead persons clothes, bt so what? (I draw the line at buying clothes from thrift stores... That really is too creepy!) I think I bought the coffee table ($25) and end tables ($15 ea.) then as well.
I picked up the bed in the evening. It's not the most comfortable bed (it's definatly going to be the first thing replaced) but it's a lot better than the floor!
The next day Ash told me about some lady giving away an entertainment center and some dining chairs. I went to have a look and she also had a reclining chair and sofa, so I picked those up too. I had help on that end, on my end I had to move the sofa by myself. It took me about an hour of really hard work to get it down to our floor. I tried to get it in the flat but there was no way. I was exausted, and about to break down. I gave Ash a call and she said she would come and help, I went to pick her up and before we even had a chance to try and move it one of our neighbours came and gave us a hand. Which is just as well, because Ash and I couldn't have done it by ourselves. Oh, I also got a full dining set and 24 glasses from that lady as well.
I had to go back to pick up the entertainment center. It was very heavy, bt the lady managed to find a dolly to help us out and I had Ash with me to help. At our end, yet again it turned out to be tricky. We got it off the truck, couldn't carry it any further, so I took off all the bits of wood that would come off and we tried to move it again. It was still very heavy. In the end we put it on its roof and slid it. It damaged it a little, but it was free anyhow!
So that's everything moved in. We're going to pick up our bedroom furniture from down here and tak it up with us. We spent $55 (about 30 pounds) on furniture and we've furnished the whole apartment. Not too bad really!
We were going to leave on Wednesday night to come down here but I was exhasted. So we left at 5:30 the next morning. We drove all the way yesterday and got here at about 10ish inthe evening. Here's the
route we took, pretty much. I was knackered by the time we got here.
That's it really. Oh, if you get this emailed to you there's a couple of posts you might have missed on the actual blog (Ash wrote them for me at work since we don't have internet yet) so go and check it. I go the address kind of wrong as well. it's apartment 08 not just 8 and the zip code is 22003. If you haven't got the address then email me and I'll send it to you.
Merry Christmas everybody! Sorry I didn't have time to write to y'all this year, it's just I've been a bit busy with the move and all that. You'll just have to accept the reams and reams of stuff I' ve written over the last year instead!
I hope you all have a great one!
/Hopped!
10:09 AM
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Short update / Tuesday, December 21, 2004
Hey y'all,
It's Ash. Just letting you know that we're moved into the apartment, no bed though as the person who was going to give us a free one backed out... and also no internet or phone there... no cable or tv either so it's just good ol' conversation at the spencer household!
We're leaving tomorrow evening after Pete's job interview at the bank, to drive back to louisiana for Christmas. We probably won't be able to check back in or check email until Christmas Eve. So take care everybody, and Happy Christmas!
Ash and Pete
/Hopped!
11:58 AM
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In Which We're Blessed Again! / Sunday, December 19, 2004
Well we've been very fortunate this week. I have hopefully got a job starting Tuesday, we sign the contract for our apartment today, and yesterday I picked up a load of free furniture. I'm picking up more on Monday.
Starting from the top, I went to Manpower to fill in all the paper work, I finished that and they said they had a temp-to-perm position availible starting Monday, I said I was moving on Monday so they're going to find out if I can start on Tuesday. It's some kind of job, I'm not really sure what it is to be honest, but it pays $11 p/h and I have to be earning at least $9 p/h for use to get by, and it's in Fairfax which is just down the road.
Signing the contract is the reason that I'm up so early. I'm all excited! I can't sleep! It's going to be tight the first couple of months while we pay off the deposit (it's a month of rent - we managed to convince him to split it in to two seperate payments) but after that, as long as I'm employed we should be fine. Another good thing is that in March the truck is all payed for! This means that we could actually start saving some money *Gasp!*
So yesterday I went to this ladies house. She was moving to Oregen, and she wanted to get rid of all her stuff. So instead of taking it down to the Salvation Army place she invited people over to come and take it away for free! I got us an armchair with ottoman, a desk, a table, a stereo, some pillows and blankets, a phone.... A whole bunch of stuff! I also went round to another guys place and took away some patio chairs he was giving away. On Monday I'm going to pick up a queen size bed and a couch, all free! So we've managed to furnish our apartment with nothing! Eventually of course we'll buy our own furniture and stuff, but it isn't half handy. We were worried we were going to be sleeping on the floor, now we've got more furniture than we need! I've already turned down a couch and a matress!
Ash is enjoying her job. The traffic is a nightmare on Fridays though. We'll have to do something about that! Especially as Ash is working right next to the metro. At the moment she's not feeling too hot though. I think she's got a cold. Poor flower.
Anyhow, there you go! That's you about up to speed. I'll email y'all my address in a seperate thing. I don't want my address all over the internet!
Peace out!
/Hopped!
6:01 AM
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In Which We Moved.... But Not Quite Where We Planned On Moving To / Monday, December 13, 2004
Well since we last spoke a lot has happened. I am now 1600 miles further north!
We left pretty soon after my last post, after Joe and I packed the truck. So we we're off to the family reunion! We had to stop quite a few times because the tarp was flapping about, so we ended up being about an hour late. Everyone is doing fine. There was a brand new baby (well a year old) there (called Carlyle) who was very sweet. During the dirty santa (White Elephant, Pink Elephant, whatever you want to call it) Ash got Trivial Pursuit 90's edition and I got some cushions with little snowmen on (the thing I bought, they'd go nice in out new place!)
So after our goodbyes we were on our way to Barbs place in DC! Ten miles down the road, after telling everyone that everything was fine and we didn't need anything thanks anyhow, We got a phone call from Barb "So you're on you way down are you?" Sure are lady "Well my old roomate decided that she wanted to move back in so I said yes." Uh-oh. "I guess you need somewhere to stay... I recommend Extended Stay America." Thanks a bunch lady! So there we were. Ash was starting work on Wednesday, the truck was already packed, we had a hotel booked 4 hours further North in Birmingham, AL so our decision to carry on was made really.
So we were on our way up to Washington. Not quite as excited as we were when we first set off, but a load more anxious! We decided that best thing to do was to sleep on it. Next morning, everything was still exactly the same as when we went to sleep. So Ash went and used their free internet service to find the phone numbers of all the people who I went to go and see last week, then as I was driving she was phoning all these people.
Well Our Vicar did say "If you have any problems give me a call." I'm sure he wasn't expecting a call the next day, but he saved us. Remember all that stuff I was telling you about the church being a family? Well here's some proof. He phoned back later and said "I've got you a week at Extended Stay America." Thank you Father Vic! So we stopped being so anxious.
To cut a long story short, after a long drive, we got here. We find out if our second choice is avalible tomorrow. Well it gives us something to pray about! The only real and apparent problem (all things well with the apartment) is that we were planning on moving into a furnished room, so we didn't bring any furniture with us. It's a rare (and more expensive) thing to find a furnished place here, so we're going to be sleeping on the floor for a while. At least until we can afford furniture. The advantage that we have got is thanks to Father Vics kindness I have a week rent-free to find a job (prayers on that too!)
Oh, talking about furniture Ash and I have made a wedding registry up at last (we figured why should we do it before we had anywhere to keep the stuff) it's at
Bed Bath and Beyond if anyone wants to get us something. I understand if you don't, after all you didn't come to the wedding and get free booze and grub at the reception.... I promise if you do get us something you'll be invited to our blessing. Heck even if you don't then you'll get invited anyhow! It probably won't be for a few more years though!
Well there you go. It's all very exciting isn't it?!
/Hopped!
8:37 PM
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In Which We Move! / Saturday, December 11, 2004
Today, it will be the last time I type to you from this office. It's very exciting really. We've spent the last few days packing, now we have an empty room and a full truck! Well it will be once I've filled it. Lots of boxes!
We're going to the family do this afternoon, then we're driving to Birmingham, Alabama staying in a hotel and arriving at our new home on Monday! I'm not sure when I'll next be able to do this, I am just about to start packing the computer up, and I don't know about internet connections up there.
It's funny, we've put a big tarp on the truck and the cats are being silly with it!
Anyhow, wish us luck!
/Hopped!
8:46 AM
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I Which I Do Some House Shopping, And We Decide On A Place To Live / Sunday, December 05, 2004
Sorry it's getting kind of random on me writing to all you guys. I thought I would have time while I'm unemployed. How wrong I was! I've been a very busy man this last week. Packing, sorting, packing some more, putting up Christmas lights, etc... The most exciting thing was going to Washington again. It was just me this time, I was looking at places to live. I got there on Friday at about 12:30ish, after a rush to get to the airport on time. Ash hit snooze and we didn't wake up until 6:30. My flight was leaving at 8:00 and the airport is an hour away! I ran to my gate and got there just as they were closing the door! It was a close call. I've had too many of them in the last couple of weeks!
Anyhow, I went and got my rental car (a Pontiac Grand Am - Not a bad car, apart from it's American of course!) Drove to kinkos made a copy of the list of questions I had to ask and went off to look at houses, well, rooms really. We're going to be sharing for right now. We'll see how it goes maybe we'll move into an apartment later. The first house was great, it was very big, we would be sharing with a nice lady, and she has five cats and one dog (it just occoured to me - that's exactly half of the amount of pets in this house... Spooky!) In a nice quiet neighbourhood, but just down the road from five shopping centers and half an hour (at the most) from were Ash is working, there's a wooded park just across the street with trails and stuff, a community swimming pool, lots of storage space in the house, a big bedroom and a guest room. The reason I'm telling you so much about this one is because it's the one that Ash and I have decided on. That's right. The very first place I went to look at! I could've saved myself a lot of time!
Anyhow, I went to look at some other places. Some are better situated but much smaller, some are in dodgy neighbourhoods, some are just far too much money for what they are. I went to stay at Tammie's place, we sat up drinking beer and watching TV... Well I drank beer, Tammie had a cold so she was high on Benedryl and wasn't drinking 'cause of that.
The next day Tammie came out with me to help me look at some places. She was a Godsend I tell ya! Do you know how hard it is reading a map and driving at the same time? Also my phone ran out of batteries so she was on the phone to people sorting out appointments. I bought her lunch (we had chinese), but that's not really enough! I should've been paying her at least $9 an hour for what she was doing! So we went and looked at a few places, had a few possibilities, but none of them matched up to the first place that we went to.
I went to the church I applied for a job at and finally met up with Fr. Richard. He told me the position was filled already, but there were some others opening up. It went to their contemperary service. Their band is really good! It seems like a nice church. A lot bigger than St. Margarets is. They have a lot of outreach stuff going on, and lots of small groups, which is really the most benifical way for me to learn more.
I went straight from there to the airport. I took a wrong turn though and ended up going towards downtown rather than out of town towards the airport! It was already going to be close with me getting there on time anyhow (the service went on longer than I expected). So yet again I found myself driving as fast as possible towards the airport! My flight was leaving at 10:00. i dropped off the rental car at 9:30... Fortunately it was late at night so there wasn't many people at the airport so I didn't have to wait. I had to run all the way through the airport. I got there just as they were closing the door (yet again! I told you I've had a lot of close calls! Actually thinking about it, the only time I've been on time for a flight out of the last six was for a transfer on the way back to New Orleans. One out of six... hmm... I've been very lucky haven't I?!)
I got back to New Orleans at 11:30 very tired. Ash picked me up (we kept missing each other for a while) and drove me home. We talked about where we were going to live and decided, and went to bed.
Ash wanted to go to the 9:30 and 11:00 services today, so that's what we did. I came out of retirement from playing in the church band and played one last time. They managed to find a guitar for me and I tried my best to learn the songs in the short time between services. I kind of failed for most of them, but it was alright. It's the last time we're going to be regulars at St Margarets. It was really sad. I've made a lot of very good friends, well they're more like family really. I mean that, it's not just a friendship based on what the other person is like. We are, after all, brothers and sisters in Christ. That isn't just a superficial saying I promise you. We're going round to Jo and Lloyds on Wednesday to have dinner.
We went along to Alpha in the evening. Ash said that her group talked about how it was me who encouraged Alpha to start in that church. They had been wanting to do it for about five years before I started going as a true Christian there. It's amazing to see God work in my life. Being apart from Ash for two years, realising the distance between us and the chances of us actaully meeting each other is the first blessing I really noticed. So that's how God got me interested in Christianity. Then when I got over here I went to an Alpha course at a church where God's work is very apparent, and everyone there is filled with the Holy Spirit. They nurtured my faith and helped me to realise it. Then I came to a great church family at St. Margarets they blessed me with their love, and when they saw what Alpha had done for me they realised the importance of it in bringing people to faith and renewing peoples faith. I think that the Lord wants me to move to DC, it's all part of his plan.
Anyhow, enough of me preaching at you, I'm just telling you like it is. Lots of you will hand it over to your gods of Coincidence, Delusionality or whatever, but the important thing is that I know it's God working in my life. Amen!
/Hopped!
8:51 PM
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