Reality Bites

So while we are busy getting all our things together for the co-op package, a startling realization hits me over the weekend: We have less than 7 weeks left in our apartment before the big move to the in-laws.

For the past few months we had been going back and forth with them about whether it was a good idea or not for us to move in with them. It’s one of those things that sound perfect in theory, until you actually start to think about the day to day. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, and at the end of the day when I think about how much money Amanda and I will be saving it’s absolutely worth it, it’s just daunting to think that I will be living with too people my parents age and I’m curious to see what the dynamic will be.

When I think about it, I haven’t lived with “adults” for almost ten years. Before getting an apartment with Amanda I’ve lived with other roommates; messy, slobs, just as careless and uncleanly as I was at that time of my life. I remember the bathroom always being dirty, the need to wear flip-flops in the shower, and an argument over whose responsibility it was to take the garbage out.

I remember living with my parents, and the biggest gripe we used to have was that I always left clothing everywhere (making it impossible for my mother to tell if the clothing was clean or dirty), I left drawers on and every light in the house (a problem which my father solved by adding dimmers to every room, which was a great idea, except for when you were trying to read and he would lower the light so that you could barely see the page). Interestingly enough, those quirks that my parents would get upset about me about, are the things that I now get annoyed when someone else perpetrates (namely Amanda) against me.

Over the weekend Amanda and I were walking through our lobby, and for the first time, I started to visualize what things would be like. I thought about the fact that in about 6 weeks I’m going to have to pack up the majority of my belongings and put them into storage. Say goodbye to my surround sound system, Nintendo Wii. My Panini Maker. (This by far, probably my favorite wedding present of all). While I won’t fall into the mindset that we are putting our lives ‘on hold,’ there is the very real notion that the majority of our stuff will be inaccessible and we will only be bringing a certain amount of items to Amanda’s parents apartment.

Before I go crazy and pretend that we are moving into a cramped apartment where we will be on top of each other, her parents fortunately have an ample sized apartment where we won’t be in each other’s way. There is a side that essentially would be demarcated as theirs and ours. For me, I plan on living as clean and neat as possible so that it seems as if I’m never there. I will definitely miss my HDTV though.

One of the interesting transitions or changes to consider is that Amanda and I love to cook (or Amanda loves to cook and I love to pretend I’m going to help, only to inevitably clean the dishes), and her Mom admits that she hasn’t used the kitchen to cook a meal since they bought the apartment so many years ago. It will be interesting to see how the dynamic works. The other will be clothing, to see how much we can realistically bring.

While we are away in California over the holidays, we told Amanda’s parents that we would love to have a meeting with them to go over ground rules for the apartment. Rather than disappoint or annoy them with what we may or may not be doing that’s to their liking, we’d love to find out going in what they would like us to do so as to avoid any confusion or frustration.

I have a feeling that during this time we won’t be staying in as much as we do normally…so I only hope (and plead, or beg) that our friends invite us over with open arms.