My first day in the new apartment

Well, we haven't officially moved in, but I'm here today unpacking some of the lighter boxes and getting to know the place. One thing about moving that always stresses me out (besides people just throwing all the boxes in any room they want) is when I let other people handle my favorite of favorite items. So this time, I brought the ones I could and lovingly transported them to their new home.

Among those items are: Viny George, hand-painted wine glasses from my sister, and a clock from Venice.

Many plants are replaceable, like the kind you buy from Home Depot for $30, but Viny George was given to me by Steve, as a three-leaf starter plant, seven years ago. More importantly, George and I have endured several moves, relationships, graduations, and near-death experiences like when my mom acted as a caretaker and left him OUTSIDE in the winter and he froze. It took him nearly two years to fully recover from that plantsitting-gone-wrong event. Four years and many apologies later, George still won't look my mother in the eye and doesn't much like it when she comes over.

As such, I'm very sentimental about him, and on occasion it will cause me pain to cut him, even when he needs it. Once, Nick called him ugly (before the latest trimming) and Viny George was offended for a month -- even though that's not what Nick really meant to say. So when I'm moving, and someone steps on his precious arms and leaves, I remember it for years like it was my arm that got stepped on. Or, when someone else winds his vines around their arm to prevent further steappage from occuring but only succeeds in ruining several leaves in the process. These images are burned in my brain forever and as such it's probably best if I'm George's official handler, especially when moving.

Viny George is in the sink beneath his kitchen window for now. He's safe, and wet, and very happy to be in Sacramento. I think he sort of feels like he came home.

I also brought some of the breakables from Venice because I know, in my heart of hearts, that even if someone was breaking their back to help me move, and then broke my clock, I'd see red and want to do mean things to them, which really isn't fair when you aren't paying your labor.

So we're safe and pretty relaxed and mostly packed. I am so excited to live here.