Home Is Where Your Stuff Is

I moved into my current apartment in Austin last May, and my lease is almost up. I just picked up the paperwork to give my 30 days' notice. Sorry, apartments. You've been pretty nice except for the time you cited my friend Jim for "littering" his porch when in actuality a patio table and some plants are not "litter," really. I digress. The opportunity has presented itself to live a little closer to one of my jobs - "on site" if you will, and it also happens to make huge financial sense. Starting in May I'll be part-timing it in Austin in a rented room (not an apartment with a lease) and then other-part-timing it near the nifty town of Wimberley, Texas. The Boss has offered the use of a trailer on her property (next to a river be still my heart), so when I'm not sitting in the van going somewheres, that's where I'll lay my head...when I'm not laying my head in Austin. It's a little pieced together, except I've been living in my current place half time already it seems, so this isn't going to be that big of a shift except I'll be cutting my bills big time. This makes the frugal nerve in me twinge with joy. So I have about a month and a half to sort out my possessions and see where everything goes. My essential furniture will fit into my Austin room, since I pretty much live in one room anyway. I had a studio my first 2 years here and upgraded to a one bedroom...except I still just sleep and work in my bedroom anyway. The living room has been a good...bookshelf holder. It means Getting Rid of Stuff which is simultaneously daunting and exhilarating. I mentioned that I helped The Boss clean out her shed last week (partly so I can put some of my stuff in it), and you see how much you have that you don't really NEED to have. I know for a fact that there are things in my apartment I have not touched since I moved them up the 3 flights of stairs to get them there. Ouch. Away it goes. Except I might take some books back to New Mexico to live with Mom and Dad for a while. Books are great, even when you don't have anywhere to put them for the moment. Haha, Mom and Dad! Surprise! I'll admit it, it's not a typical living style choice, although...whatever. I have friends in grad school who live in student housing, and I have friends who have chosen to travel the world and sleep in hostels or huts in Africa. There is no typical in your 20's, I suppose. I think the chance to snowball some credit card payments and save up for making EP 2 is a good one, and the flexibility to tour some more with the Boss will only add to the experiences that will make up EPs 2, 3 and beyond. So that's my long winded way of saying...email me if you want a 13" TV, haha. If home is where you hang your hat...well...