It's a great day to be alive

In the words of Ozzy Osbourne, "mama, I'm comin' home". Or rather, we have arrived. Yes indeed, I have an excuse for not having posted in so long...we did it; we moved. Last week (or so) we were watching Cops 2.0 in the comfort of a rather spacious living room in a beautiful wood-trimmed house with almost too much natural light and a wide-open floorplan in a chilly northern Dallas suburb, with our truck tucked safely inside a garage. And we even had a silverware drawer.

This week, we would have tried to chase "1984" down with Cops 2.0 (except that it's not on) in a rather cozy (and, to my delight, warmer!), surprisingly homey 900 sq ft 2-bedroom apartment in not-as-chilly north and slightly west-of-dead-center San Antonio, with our truck tucked safely within an outdoor first-come-first-served parking space. We have vaulted ceilings in the living room and a breakfast bar in the kitchen. But we don't have a silverware drawer.

It's been a little over a week now, and the cats still haven't fully forgiven us, although they're starting to come around. I think they're feeding off our newfound positive energy, a kind of energy that can only come from living in a relaxed city where Nothing. Ever. Happens. (And we like it that way!) Sure, I reckon the positive energy can also come from having taken a single bus all the way downtown, walking around all day in the dry, warm 76-degree sun, visiting El Mercado and La Vilita shops and making some unique purchases. That can generate some kickin' R&R vibes.

It also helps that we've been surprisingly successful at recreating a setup similar to what we had at the house. We did our best to utilize as much of our same furniture as possible, and to settle into as familiar a routine as possible. Sucker that I am, I saved and brought all of Maddie's toys, and we quickly picked up Murphy's favorite organic milk. Not only did we bring their old scratching jungle gym, but we also bought an additional brand-new one. After several days straight of hiding under the bed, we think they're coming around.

San Antonio is very good to us. Part of that is simply because San Antonio is just plain cool. The other part of it, though, is due to the fact that we went in expecting what she could deliver--a quiet, simple town, with useful amenities but not flashy flambuoyant ones, where normal people could simply co-exist and be themselves, without a lot of brew-ha. It may not be glamorous, but if I wanted glamorous, I'd move to L.A. I obviously don't want glamorous. It's hardly all it's cracked up to be anyway--highly overrated and not worth the stress. If your idea of fun is taking a bus downtown and walking peacefully and uneventfully along the Riverwalk and you're content with that being the highlight of your week, then this town is for you. If you want a trendy hip theme lounge that raves until 4am with bleached spiky-haired yuppies with thousand-dollar outfits, or a big out-of-the-closet gay scene, or a big Persian population, or a well-publicized Green Movement, you'd best look elsewhere; this isn't the town for you.

Some adaptations have proven mildly interesting. For example, we found ourselves looking for grape jelly at one grocery store, only to wind up completely unsuccessful. And what sick oversight is it to neglect to build a silverware drawer into the kitchen blueprints? They did exist back in 1983, when this building was built, so there is hardly any excuse. At least we're DSL-capable. Definite plus! I'm sure there'll other interesting hiccups along the way that we'll have to adapt to.

Overall, I'm comfortable here. I can drive defensively, but without having to go on the defensive. I can be nice to people without getting shit on in return. We've met several of our neighbors already, and so far, they've all been nice. Unfortunately, there's no recycling protocol, at least at our complex. And it is so weird to revert back to apartment living, especially after so many years in our own house. But, I know that it's temporary. We'll eventually have a house again; it's just a matter of time. Maybe it'll even have vaulted ceilings and a breakfast bar. And it will have a silverware drawer!