The People That You Meet

Apartment hunting on short notice has been an experience like none other. In university I lived in residence and then moved in with a friend when one of her roommates moved out. Totally bypassing the ridiculousness of e-mailing strangers on Kijiji and hoping for the best. The fact that I only have a week to find a place just adds to the craziness. I mean, worst case scenario I could stay with friends for a week or two while I find a place but I would rather move once and stay there and not have to move again in two weeks time. That being said I'm not about to settle for sketchy accommodations just because I'm on a time crunch. Some ads I've answered have quickly turned from good to bad with one reply. These are just a few of the delightful folks I've interacted with over the last 72 hours. 

Pinterest

Hipster Girl

She was my first lead, the room seemed nice enough and with just one other person I thought I was home free. Then I creeped her on Facebook. The first red flag was we had some mutual friends. And by friends I mean casually acquaintances who I had either gone to high school with or worked with and are still kicking around my friend list but are super hippies/stoners. I'm a friend to hipsters, I can get on board with oversized/unnecessary glasses, fair trade coffee and plaid. The drug use not so much. Moving Along. 

Family Circus

I don't remember the exact wording of this ad but it went along the lines of "looking for a third roommate in two level townhouse close to downtown...both young professionals, non-smoking, no parties..." So I emailed to check it out and discovered that it wasn't so much they were looking for a roommate as much as they were looking to rent out a room in their house. This husband and wife team had at least two kids and were just looking to rent out a room (for a lot of money considering what was included) in their house with shared kitchen/bathroom/living space. No Thanks. 

Animal House

I'm still not convinced this one was real. And I didn't send an e-mail because there was no way I was ever going to move in with these people. But their ad contained such gems as "2.5 dogs live here, really just two but there's a third that is over a lot", "420 friendly", "Saturday night parties & jam sessions", "communal living", "co-operative environment" and "must not be uptight". If I was a producer looking to cast a reality show this bunch would have been my pick, but I'm not. I just want a place to live for 3.5 months. Keep Looking. 

Christian Girl

When I saw the ad 'female Christian roommate wanted" I was sold. I e-mailed the girl and she seemed really excited and lovely and I was really excited. Good location, no crazy parties or drug use, sign me up! And then I asked for photos of the place and if I would be able to Skype with the roommate (the girl I was talking to is the one subletting her room). Girl replied back that she wasn't willing to sublet her room to anyone without approval from the roommate. Understandable. I replied that I wasn't planning on making the five hour drive to the city before moving and was hoping that we could exchange some e-mails, set up a Skype meeting and decide if we'd be a good match. She stopped responding. I feel like I failed some sort of Christian Girl test. 

The Hippies
I love me some tie-dye. And I'm all about peace & love and all that good stuff. But there's a line. And these folks were past the line. They were looking for another roommate who would agree to attending regular meetings to discuss the atmosphere in the house, has an interest in poetry and foreign languages,  potlucks and highly active in environmental and social justice issues. #aintnobodygottimeforthat If I was embarking on some sort of spiritual journey this would be an experience, but I'm not. I have a job. The last thing I want to do after a day of work is come home to a meeting to discuss the atmosphere of the house with 8+ people who live there.

Big Bang Theory
At the moment this is my most promising situation. But again I'm waiting on pictures. These guys are looking for someone to take over a lease until April (perfect timing). There's a parking spot, it's within my budget, close to work, it's a lot of check marks! And bonus points for the room being furnished. I've got high hopes for this one. I'm referring to them as Big Bang Theory because it's 4 PhD students. Which is great because it means I won't be living with a bunch of undergrads who just discovered alcohol. Fingers Crossed!

God Moves Fast

At least once a week for the past five months I've mentioned "the grant" on blog. For those of you who are new around here "the grant" I'm referring to is a grand my camp had applied for to transform my current job as seasonal program/assistant director into full time. I'm not exaggerating when I say it has been a never ending saga of jumping through hoops and thinking we've reached the end only to discover more paperwork needed to be filled out, or they misplaced information they got over the phone or that the person in charge of our application was leaving that department so it was being passed on to somebody else. When the original proposal and application was sent in the requested start date was October 28. October 28. Needless to say that date passed and with each month we assumed the odds of getting approval decreased significantly. The most frustrating part of the whole thing was the grant was never "denied", it was sitting in limbo. Which meant I was sitting in limbo too. I couldn't sign on a contract anywhere else because if the grant was approved I obviously wanted to be working there. 

Tuesday we heard from the person overseeing our application and he said something along the lines of "things look good". It was so tempting to get excited but "things look good" is a long way away from "approved". So I didn't get excited. Then yesterday morning we got official approval! And a start date of February 3rd. That gives me 9 days to move. Nine days to find an apartment in the city (that meets all my requirements and is budget friendly) and pack and move and start work. 

My anxiety is pretty darn high at the moment. 

I had a bunch of posts planned for this week but with all the chaos I didn't get a chance to edit & hit publish. I suspect that pattern will continue for the next few days while I figure out the details of the move. Things are a bit overwhelming but I'm trusting that everything will work out God is in the details. I'll find a place to live that is near work, has parking, in a safe part of town and affordable. Everything is happening pretty fast but it's all good things! I just need to keep reminding myself to breathe and enjoy the experience.