The First Weekend

Well, it was not really my first weekend in the new apartment, but in some ways it felt as if it was. Though the possession date for the purchaser taking over the house was January 15th, a week ago last Friday, my fraction of the price, and the papers documenting the sale, and completing it, in my mind, did not come to me until this past Monday. This most recent weekend, therefore, was the first during which I felt that my connection with the house was finally over, and the apartment was my home.

So how is it feeling, this new residence of ours? It is smaller than the house, of course, so I have to be a bit more thoughtful regarding storage space. To be honest, I think it doesn’t have much less storage space than the house. I noticed that when a house’s basement is developed and finished, it becomes living space, rather than storage space. There was storage under the stairs and in the furnace room - which, by the way, is mostly taken up by furnace. Everything that I intended to keep has been kept and packed away with a bit more rationality than it was. I was not able to retain one bulky cat-tree, though it has gone into storage with the rescue-group of which I am part. I am glad that I kept the ‘cylinder-house’ cat-tree, as that has become Renn’s favourite spot in the apartment. It is not meant for putting by a window, so placing it in the corridor doesn’t make it less useful.

The apartment is, on average, warmer than the house. I think that has to do with less space needing heat, but also with the fact that there are other heated flats piled around mine. The cats still use the heated beds, even so, but find other places in which to relax. Tucker seems able to collapse anywhere and enjoy it.

The beasts’ transition to the new home has been almost without noticeable stress. Cammie did become ill but has recovered fully. I don’t believe that had something to do with the surroundings. My princess is a sensitive creature but I would have thought she would be more affected by the actual move; a delayed reaction is not unreasonable, however.

In terms of location, the apartment is central in the city in which I live, but farther away from the lower-priced and discount grocery stores I use. It is also more distant from my veterinarian, but in any case, I would ride in an automobile to the cats’ appointments regardless, so that makes little practical difference. Josie’s surgery was unaffected by our new location. My Chubs bounced back very well from that ordeal and, though she is still taking the last of her pills, seems largely unfazed by it, especially now that she is able to eat her hard-food again. The Great White is once more in fine, if rotund, form.

I am pleased with the new abode. There are disadvantages (I would prefer an upper, rather than ground, floor; an upper floor is, I feel, more secure, and suffers less from dust and dirt in the spring and summer), but these are out-weighed by the benefits. It costs less than my house did. Even were I to lose my job and have to survive on unemployment payments (roughly reckoned to be about 55% of one’s previous wage), I would be able to squeeze by - barely, but definitely. I like that my library, albeit small and constricted, is on the main (only) floor of my home. That is convenient for me.

The utilities are included in the rent, which is low, relative to other apartments’, so I need not worry about leaving a light on, or raising the temperature. And of course, this particular apartment building allows cats at no extra charge, which cannot be said for any other rental property I considered before my move. I am not the only tenant with cats, nor even the only tenant with four cats.

I was lucky, both to sell my house in a period of economic descent, and in finding the new apartment. It feels like home to me, a cosy refuge for me and the cats. This first weekend saw the foundation of new routines. I look forward to many more satisfying days in our new home.