edge of glory

For some reason I keep thinking that today is Friday. Perhaps it's an attempt to forget that I have to go into the gym and get tortured by Alyssa again tomorrow. I rather petulantly asked her today why she likes lunges so much, and I canceled next Tuesday's session because I told her that it's imperative for me to be able to walk when I move up to the city on Wednesday. But, it was good to see her today, and her tortures are at least invigorating. They also keep my mind off the publishing world for three whole hours every week, a respite worth twice the price.

After I trained with Alyssa, I grabbed a quick lunch at Joanie's Cafe. I learned that they bought the former Round Table Pizza building down the block from their current location, and they're going to move there in three weeks. But, the Joanie's people are keeping the building they're currently in and turning it into a French bistro, which makes sense since they have such a great location and business that they might as well expand rather than just move. All things change, but the Cobb salad I had was just as good as ever, and I'll likely stop in at the new Joanie's occasionally when I return to the glorious south bay to see Alyssa (and my other friends here, of course).

I lingered over my lunch longer than I intended; I was continuing to brainstorm my gargoyle series (you do remember that 'gargoyle' is now the codename and it has little, if anything, to do with gargoyles anymore?). And in my brainstorming, I came across a delicious, wondrous idea that made me nearly giddy with excitement -- it was one of those flashes of inspiration that left me stunned with how wonderfully the human mind and create and unmake whole worlds in an instant. As a result of the idea + more traffic than I expected on a weekday, I was nearly late to my meeting with my new landlord. However, I strolled up to her building at precisely 2pm, after finding favor with the parking gods and snagging a street spot rather than having to pay for one of the lots in that area. Granted, the street spots are still $3.50/hr, but most of the garages in that area are $3/20mins until you hit the daily maximum, so this was a bargain.

My landlord was lovely; in addition to passing over the keys, she gave us a tin of chocolate to welcome us to the city. We had coffee at the Starbucks down the street from her office and chatted for half an hour or so, which was nice -- it's always good to feel like you have some sort of connection to someone beyond sending them a check every month. After we parted ways, I went over to the apartment, and spent an hour and a half measuring every single wall, closet, etc., so that I could diagram the rooms and start thinking about furniture arrangements. The living room can't be settled until Terry and I combine our things, and the dining room is all Terry's, but at least I could start figuring out my bedroom. That may seem a little OCD, but some of my stuff (and in particular, my library cabinet) is too big/heavy/unwieldy to relocate without the movers' assistance, so I want to make sure its location is determined before moving day.

And I must say that I'm even more excited to move in now that I've explored it more thoroughly. I was excited before, but seeing it again, and examining little things like outlet placement and sink fixtures and cabinet space, made me positively giddy. I'm not excited about packing, and since I haven't started, I should probably get over my lack of excitement and get started. But, I think that once we have the apartment arranged, it will be wonderful.

After I finished at the apartment, I sped home, just barely beating rush hour (although I did sit in traffic in the first couple of miles of the attempt to escape the evil city, but the rest of it was fine). Then, I called PG&E to arrange utilities, ordered movers for my portion of the move (getting my belongings out of the house and into Terry's truck), and ordered a street permit for the moving truck in San Francisco. And eventually, I made supper -- a rather large cheeseburger and an artichoke, for what it's worth. And then I abandoned all pretense of packing tonight and read some more of that neuropsych book about writer's block that I'm slowly making my way through, which was rather interesting.

Since today is not Friday, though, I should really go to bed. Alyssa awaits as usual, and I've got lunch plans with Gyre, an afternoon appointment with Bart (the man who is encouraging this high-protein thing), and dinner with John and Jess that exists solely so that I will take them to the airport afterwards. Somewhere in there, I fully intend to organize some things to take to the apartment on Saturday -- but we'll see whether my intentions fail me. Goodnight!