The Apartment....

So I get home from the interview and start hunting for apartments.....UUUUUGH!!!!

I find a few and call on them, they are all gone....I find a few others and they are trashy trailers and not very nice...And in all reality, too big for what I need.

All I need is a VERY small one bedroom, efficiency/studio apartment that I can be comfortable in and lay my head down at night...Something furnished would be even better!

So I hunt, and I hunt, and I hunt..... I call contacts I know, send out e-mails, reach out to as many people as I can, broaden my search area....I am coming up with nothing...Or with things that are WAY too expensive....Then I find an add on craigslist...

Small studio apartment on River Road below canyon dam...Clean and 600.00 a month. I give them a call and they say they will go month to month.

River Road in New Braunfels is one of my favorite places in Texas...Its absolutely beautiful canyon below the dam that the Guadalupe River runs through...This is the river that everyone in Texas has floated and drank beer at some point in their native Texan life...Its an amazing place. Any time I can, I like to get on my bike and make a trip to New Braunfels JUST to ride this road.

I called the people and told them I would be out in about 2 hours to look at the place, I jumped on Lucy (my bike), called Brandi (my middle daughter) to go with me, and we were off....

It was a beautiful day for a ride but the wind absolutely killed us on this trip...It was a long ride to the apartment.

So, when we get there, I am EXTREMELY familiar with this area.... There were a group of trailers that many of the guys from the Sheriffs Department use to rent years ago when I was working there....A lot of the guys stayed in those trailers and I had even been there once or twice... Its a GREAT place on River Road... Away from the crowds but only a few minutes from just about everything cool in New Braunfels.

Well, this apartment is attached to a barn, 3 doors up the river from those cabins.... A BEAUTIFUL AREA!!!

As I met the owners (The Brooks) I found they are both retired teachers and pretty laid back...easy going, soft spoken...Just seemed like good folks... Kinda reminded me of burning man folks (not the extreme ones) or maybe some Folk Fest type folks.... Genuine, friendly, our type of people for sure....I liked them!

As we got off the bike, they came out to greet us and took us to see the apartment.... We walked around the barn and into a little yard that was high fences with hog panels to keep the deer out and a stone front porch with about two steps that lead up to the front door...The building was "barn" red and had plenty of windows.... The view from the porch was spectacular...Rolling hills and a place I had admired for many years!

We walked into the apartment and it was immaculate...Clean, white walls, ceramic tile and yes, a studio apartment!! There was a full size bed up against the wall, a small kitchen and a nice large bathroom... This place was TIIIIIII-NY....Prob 450-500 sq ft of space and the bedroom, living room and dining room are one in the same.... But in all reality, for what I need, its PERFECT and only 10 miles from my office....So we got to negotiating...

As we chatted, it looked like they would have all the furnishings I needed for the place (and then some....These folks would be the guys from American Pickers dream to go through their stuff...The barn is FULL of stuff!) and we discussed utilities and such.... The rent was 600.00 a month...I told her I would pay 2 months up front and was planning on only staying for three months....

She said...

"Well, you know, it costs 100.00 for you to just transfer the electric over to your name, PLUS the monthly expense....How about you just pay me 70.00 more a month and I will include all the utilities that way you don't have to pay the 100.00?"

"UH, DEAL!"

As we chatted, I told her about my needs for furniture and she took me to the barn (which has a washer and drier for me to use as well) and we found a coffee table and two leather chairs as well as some pots, pans, coffee maker and some other cool little things.... By the time I left, the place was already livable!

So I gave her 600.00 deposit for the apartment and told her I would have the 1340.00 for her on the 26th when I moved in...She agreed! I would like to take Heidi with me, but she wants another 250.00 deposit for a pet...So for now, it looks like its just gunna be me.

I called Donna and ran it all down to her and expectedly, she was less than enthused about it....Neither of us like the idea of us living apart, but if we have to, at least this is a nice cozy place for me to live and her to come visit me...We both love this area and I know she will love it when she gets use to it.

Looks like the only thing I will have to get hooked up is cable and get the incidentals for bedding, plates, towels, utensils, etc....

So, here we go...The ride is rolling and I think this day was one of the "over the humps, hands in the air, scared as hell, WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" moments.

I have to say, it is uncomfortable to think about living away from Donna....I have lived with her almost everyday for 16 years with a week or two here and there when I went hunting or to see my folks for something.... Its gonna be something new for sure.

I do have to add, on my way home I started to think.... "this has to be the right thing...Too many things are falling into place for it not to be....Its been too easy to this point so it must be the right thing to do...If it wasn't, it wouldn't be happening.... TRUST THE PROCESS!!

When doors start opening, keep walking through them...Don't turn you back and go back to the doors being slammed in your face.... If its moving forward, move forward with it....GO WITH THE FLOW!!!

I think of the story of the little crab holding onto the rock in a stream.... All the other animals would swim by and tell him...."Let go, let go....let the flow take you, its amazing!!" The little crab always refused, terrified of the unknown and just wouldn't let go of that rock...Sometimes holding onto it to the point of exhaustion.... He just wouldn't let go...the fear was too intense!!

One day, while holding the rock, he had something run into him and jarred his grip loose from it...he was terrified, petrified and screaming in fear....He didn't know what to do so he fought the current, swam against it, struggled and fought...As he did, he was bumped off of rocks, run into sticks, hitting other obstacles because he was so focused on the upstream fight, he couldn't see the obstacles coming at him and was blindsided by them, victim to the injury of the obstacles....

Finally the crab saw his fight was futile and he decided to turn around SURRENDER to the current and just FLOW with it....

When he did, he started to feel the excitement of the ride....He could see the obstacles coming at him and with just a little movement he could avoid them, he wasn't getting slammed against things anymore and as he got comfortable, he realized the brilliance and the beauty of the things he passed, rays of sunlight, lilly pads, other fish and animals the glory and thrill of the ride....

As he rode the stream, he looked back and thought to himself....Why did I ever resist? Man, this is amazing!! Life is brilliant and fabulous...Sometimes you just have to let go of the things you think are making you secure and know its never THINGS that make you secure!!

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, I have let go of the rock..... I am going with the flow.....

Below are the pics of the little apartment.... Emphasis on the word LITTLE!!

This is the inside facing from the bed to the kitchen. the room on the right is the bathroom

                                              This is facing from the kitchen....See, its SMALL!!

                                             From the porch view to the left (and the little yard)

From the porch view facing to the right (and the little yard)

                         The front porch, the front of the apartment, Brandi and my landlord