Change. The Only Certainty in Life.

There’s nothing like the reality of an upcoming move to make you re-evaluate your life and more importantly, your possessions.

I’ve decided to move. September 1st. Into Galtier Towers. It’s downtown St. Paul. A place I’ve dreamed of living ever since I was a teenager. When Galtier Plaza opened back in the 80’s, I spent some time there, going to movies and hanging out. One of my very favorite movies was seen there for the first time…”Some Kind of Wonderful” with the dreamy Eric Stoltz and the badass Mary Stuart Masterson. Their kiss ½ way through the movie is one of THE best movie kisses ever filmed. So here we are, 30+ years later and the timing is such that I’m going for it.

A big reason (besides the dishwasher and the rooftop deck w/pool!) is that it’s in the same building as the downtown YMCA. I’ll be able to swim year round and I’m now eliminating my last excuse for why I haven’t gotten a membership already…which is that if it’s not easy to get to (it’s not hard, but it’s not convenient) I just won't do it. Now I don’t expect everything in life to be easy BUT the hard things are hard enough and I have plenty of challenges already (though I’m not complaining because my life is so awesome in so many ways) so this is one less hurdle to moving forward with taking better care of myself. I have learned that if I structure things in my life in certain ways, I succeed. This is that for me.

(And in a delicious twist of fate, the floor plan of the unit I’m moving into is the sperm donors first name, Clay! (Is the universe finally going to be getting a say in my life? :D ))

I’ve been here at W. 7th for about 3 years now and now that I’ve got a new place to look forward to living in, I’m finding myself thinking about all of the things I WON'T miss about my current place. Oh sure, it’s got character and charm and feels like a home BUT I won’t miss the awkward layout of the bathroom right off the kitchen (that the bathroom is across from the kitchen in the new place is a totally different thing!) and the tiny kitchen w/no counter space and the centipedes/spiders and the nasty basement that gets flooded every time it rains and having to use air-conditioners to keep cool in the summer and having to move the fan around constantly in order to distribute the cool air around and…and…and…well, you get the picture.

I am at a point in my life where I feel the need to move forward somehow, someway and this is the road I’m taking.

While I still am dealing with the fuckula (and I pray to god it doesn’t flare up/require surgery in the next 2 months) I feel this is the time to slough off the old and embrace the new.

I’m finding it hard though to be objective about my possessions…and I’ve got to be because I’m going back into a studio apartment. There are things of course that are a no brainer. The shelf that I got from my mother and all of the Jim Beam decanters I got from Grandpa, Aunt S and my bro.

But I guess I have to realize that if I’m tossing something out, I’m not tossing the person…e.g. there is a lovely get well card from one of my co-workers that I received after the whole ass business began a couple of years ago that I just came across. I can just read it again, enjoy the warm fuzzy it gives me and then toss it.

I’m going to get rid of the broken chairs and dressers. Anything broken, beyond repair, is going out the door. I’ve hung on to them because having to replace them has seemed like too much work. I’m sure there are all sorts of psychological things going on too. Why throw things away that just need a little love and tlc? But I will merely put them out there as free things in hopes that they find a new home with someone who will fix them.

I had the profound realization that in order for new and good things to come into your life, sometimes that means letting go of other things.

I just have this major urge to purge (ooh, I’m a poet and don’t know it) and I will have to be strong. I hope I can find a balance between surrounding myself with things that I love and not cluttering up my space (life!) again. It comes down to my desire to lose not only physical weight but emotional and spiritual weight.

And now speaking of change…I just got a phone call that is going to change my [work life] for the better. As of tomorrow, I’m going to be working the newly formed MSP Premium [Group] Desk! It’s more money too! This is good, considering my new apartment has a higher rent! Talk about great timing!!

I needed this. I’ve been …dissatisfied with my job in some regards…that I haven’t been able to officially be the agent of choice for certain travel agents and now I will be. I’ll have to figure out a plan to help out my regulars…I have a funny feeling that I’ll be spending some of my own time working on their groups, but that’s fine with me. Some of these travel agents have been really good to me.

So here I am…upending my life in all sorts of ways. All sorts of good ways.

And one last thing about changes...did I mention in my last post that my brother went to the Philippines and got married?? Yeah. He did that. Whether or not she actually gets here is a another story. I have a sister-in-law! Wild! I'm happy for him and I hope he gets his happy ending.

Onward and upward.