We welcomed December sitting on our little yellow couch in our new-old apartment. With no shortage of things to do, the past few weeks have been brimming with tasks and errands. November 29th was moving day and it kicked our butts. The rain that was forecasted did indeed come and made the day that much more prickly and miserable. We moved and then we moved again. We moved all the things from storage and the garage, into the moving truck and then up all the stairs to the top floor. We moved the fridge and the washing machine. Michael slipped backwards with the washing machine and almost died. We moved all our totes and the couch and our suitcases and our mattress. By the end of the day our arms were so tired that we could barely hold the pizza box that we picked up for dinner.
It’s worth mentioning that the totes that we shipped from Canada arrived pretty mangled. Clearly labelled ‘heavy’ totes were put on top of ‘fragile’ ones. Many totes were caved in and cracked and the lids were destroyed. We took extreme care when packing the contents so thankfully everything made it here intact.
The following days were spent building the flat pack furniture and trying to make the apartment feel somewhat like a home. We’re very slowly getting used to living in an old walk-up building with brick and plaster walls and single-pane windows. The noise transfer through the glass is overwhelming and they also suck for climate control. If the neighbours have friends over, you have friends over. If the neighbours are listening to music, you’re listening to music. Maybe this is part of the reason the rent is such a reasonable price. I also miss my dishwasher and having an actual laundry room. I miss the multitude of creature comforts that we had at home that we don’t have here anymore.
Since moving in, we’ve (I’ve) already been traumatized with some house spiders which I was unlucky enough to deal with when I was home alone. I sprayed one to death (no shame or guilt) and caught the other beneath a bowl and got Michael to release it back into the wild when he got home later that evening. After some tears and primal fear, I have now sealed every crack around the doors and attempted to bug-proof this apartment. It will be my life’s mission to keep these bastards as far away from me as possible. Australia can stay outside of my apartment, thank you very much.
To balance the arachnid trauma, we got up to some of the fun things that included buying house plants, going to the art gallery, the outdoor cinema, trivia night on Sunday and dinner out with friends. It’s the little things that make us feel a bit more settled and brings us some joy.
It’s also really nice to see the city come alive at Christmastime. Every time I go downtown something new has been added to the myriad of festive lights and decorations and more free events have been announced (like carols in the park, Christmas light projections, the Myer Christmas windows and Christmas themed pop-up bars). Melbourne goes above and beyond for all things Christmas and I love it.
With my 30th birthday approaching, we’ve decided to go away for the weekend and enjoy a well-deserved break together. We have a few wine tastings planned, a fancy dinner booked and hopefully some beach time if the weather is cooperative. I’m also having pre-birthday drinks with friends on Friday to help celebrate this milestone. I wish I was home for my birthday this year to celebrate with my friends and family. I’m trying to be excited about having a summer birthday in the land down under instead of feeling isolated and sad and a bit lonely.
I thought having the apartment was going to be a much more magical fix than it was. I wanted to move in and love the place and love Melbourne and suddenly love my job and bask in rainbows and sunshine. I wanted to experience an overwhelming sense of peace with our decision and feel grounded in our new life. Have our angsts melt away and flourish; filled to the top with happiness and contentment. I haven’t had any of those things happen yet, but maybe in time.
We miss you and love you,
Alex & Michael
