Started in Nashville. Went to Racine, Wisconsin. Ended up in Chicago.

Left our last apartment, or the last place we had a lease, our last residence in Nashville, August 24. Landlords wouldn’t extend it the extra month we needed to take care of the things we needed to take care of before leaving Music City. They are doctors, ones who didn’t really give a shit, so there was nothing we could do. There’s no fighting a devilish mixture of greed and apathy. Both are well-respected biomedical engineers, and both their kids are cute. They could not have cared less about our concerns.

Moved into an Extended Stay Motel from there. Small. Gross. But it did have a large fridge and stove, wi-fi and Showtime. Left the motel thirty days later, and good riddance. Moved into a friend’s house for five days, the house where we’d been storing our stuff since moving out. After those one hundred and twenty hours, a handful of emotions, and lots of beers, we packed our shit, my girl’s parents flew down, and we drove up to Wisconsin. So long, Music City.

She and I shacked up in her parent’s old house from there, for five weeks starting September 29. Took a couple weeks to decompress. Once that wrapped, when we came down from getting over Nashville, we looked for an apartment in Chicago. Found one that suited our needs: cheap, cozy, comfortable.

Part of town could have been better, but what can you do? It’s a huge city, and October is a bad month to look for places. This one’s plenty nice. Lease started November 1^st, we moved in November 3^rd. They let us pick the colors and they painted the walls: green in the front room, yellow for the bedroom and the office, and a deep coppery red in the kitchen that ties the whole thing together. Other than the sirens at night and the stern, not-so-friendly faces in our ‘hood, this place is perfect. We mind our business, we’re in good shape.

Haven’t had a job since September 18^th. Saved like it was the depression before I quit, but when that started to run out I cashed in savings bonds kind family members and friends purchased for me on the event of my birth. Still have a little left of those, too, if I need them. But I got plenty for now.

We both do. Plenty of everything. I’d say we’re just about perfect. Everything is unpacked. Pictures are on the walls. A job interview is scheduled. Other jobs are being applied to. Good friends are close, and happy to see us. The city is at our disposal. Life, it must be said, is good.

A job, income, would make it better, but there’s time for that. We got plenty of that, time, and have had plenty on our hands since mid-September.

It’s nice to finally have a home to go with it.