Yesterday I felt like taking a nice long walk since I haven’t had much physical activity since…well…the beginning of winter. I was exercising a fair amount when I got back from Australia the first time but then I got sick in February and I could barely get out of bed to *eat*, let alone waste the little bit of energy I had on exercise. After I’d recovered I went back to Australia again to spend most of my time cuddling with Jules and eating a lot of good, rich food, then straightaway I came to Seattle where I continued that lifestyle when everyone came to visit. So anyhow, I’ve missed exercise a lot. It used to be such a part of my life before I got sick.

I was interested in getting a scanner since Will and I both wanted one and I’d left my craptastic one back in Wisconsin, so I decided I’d take a walk down to Staples to check for one. According to google maps, it was a bit over 3 miles from here, so that sounded reasonable to me, and I set out to walk. It was kind of stressful in parts as the road I was walking along was a rather busy divided highway (at least for part of it) and it had a relatively long drawbridge in one section. Anyhow, I got to Staples and of course they didn’t have anything close to what I wanted, so I walked over to Office Max on the way back and of *course* they also didn’t have anything good. *sigh* I think it would have been hilarious to see a small chick carrying a huge scanner down the street but I guess I had to deny people that entertainment due to crappy stock at the office stores.

When I got back to our neighborhood I stopped in at Subway for lunch and was slightly shocked that my food cost over $8. o.o Oh well. I went over to Sonic Boom records and got Portishead’s Dummy and the second Six Feet Under OST. Good stuff.

Right at the moment I’m sitting out on the balcony enjoying the lovely cool weather and waiting for the UPS guy to arrive with my packages. Dad sent me my canvas frames and the remainder of my roll of canvas last week and they should show up today. :D :D I’m *so* excited about that! I want to paint again so badly. And now I have this lovely balcony space to work in…the cool, fresh air, natural light…*sigh*

…Which leads me into the thing that’s been most on my mind since last evening…Jules and I were talking on Skype for a bit before he left for work and he asked me if I’d rather work or paint once we’re living together. :O I started crying suddenly as I realized he was offering me my dream, to be a painter! I was immediately concerned that if I did that we’d never have enough money, but he assured me that if he got a job like the one he has now it wouldn’t be an issue. I have *never* considered the possibility of *just* painting…I’ve always thought getting a full-time job was a necessity just to support myself. Painting as a sole activity was never an option for me…I know I couldn’t paint for a living because I can’t paint well under pressure and I don’t know that I could paint for financial gain anyhow…that seems like it would cheapen the work. That’s not the reason I paint, and I don’t want it to become the reason in the future. If, somehow, I was able to get some stuff into a gallery and someone was interested in buying it, that would be different since financial gain wasn’t the original intention. I guess that’s exactly what it boils down to for me: intention. I’ve become a lot less uptight in the last few years about the idea of selling my work…and I’ve changed so dramatically recently so there’s no telling how I’ll feel in the future.

The important thing to note here is that Jules wants to do this for me because he wants me to be happy, and he knows what painting means to me. If I were to choose this path, by matter of circumstance this would also make me into a housewife. Anyone who’s known me will tell you that I am just about as far from domestically-minded as one can get. Or…I *used* to be. :O When I began to really think about it, I found myself *wanting* to do the cleaning and the shopping and take care of our house…I wanted to do these things for Jules. What the hell? o.o I never, *EVER* would have thought I’d find the prospect of becoming a housewife appealing!

Jules has changed me *so* much without even realizing it. I really like who I’ve become since we became involved. My life has so much more purpose now, I have a solid, consistent, *receptive* place to channel all my love and energy…I no longer have to dream of having something like that as it’s a part of my life now. I couldn’t have ever dreamed of being this happy…and we’re not even on the same continent. Our lives will be so unbelievable when we can finally be together. I can be patient now because I know it’s not a matter of if, but when.

Julian is the most amazing person alive. I am so incredibly lucky.

That reminds me, I went to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory the other day. Pretty entertaining…odd music…Tim Burton uses synchronization of movement to utter advantage…beautiful. They chose the correct Charlie. Johnny Depp was creepier than usual.

The Jet Li-looking doctor told Jules yesterday that he thinks it’s a virus causing his headaches so he recommended Jules take a bunch of zinc and get rest so hopefully the weekend will be beneficial in helping him get well.

I’ve been listening to The New Pornographers’ “Twin Cinema” nonstop since yesterday and I’m really loving it. Dickie suggested it’s better than A.C. Newman’s solo work, and the more I listen the more I’m tending towards that opinion. It’s *really* good, extremely catchy.

So I went back into the bank again today and got my accounts straightened out. Hopefully that’ll be the end of messing around with that stuff. I still have a lot of stuff to take care of related to my move, but it’s mostly stuff like changing over my license plates and driver’s license and insurance. I’m sure some of that will be a hassle but at least I can do things one at a time.

It’s an absolutely beautiful day outside today. There is a lovely breeze rustling through the trees, washing across my face, tickling my bare feet, as I sit out on the balcony. The temperature is so pleasantly comfortable considering it’s mid-day at the end of August. Seattle has such beautiful weather…at first I was a bit disappointed that it hadn’t rained at all since I’ve been here (someone said it rained one night while we were asleep, but I missed it) but I guess Will says winter is pretty rainy, so I have something to look forward to.

I’d like to take a moment to describe a couple of the major ways Jules has changed me in recent days. I’ve gone shopping a few times with Will since I arrived, and each time I wished I were shopping with Jules, purchasing things for our place, decorating based on our own tastes. I’ve done some housework like dishes, laundry, cleaning the bathroom, etc…and each time I wished I could be doing that for Jules…I’d imagine that he was at work and I was cleaning the place up to look nice for him when he got home. I want to cook dinner with him even though I know jack about cooking…I want to go out and buy an entertainment center with him, to pick out a TV together, to shop for our bed. I’m holding off on buying anything but the necessities right now not simply because I don’t have a job and have limited funds, but because I want to wait for him so we can do that stuff together. I have more than enough to get by with here without getting anything else. Anyhow, the point I am making here is that I have this entirely new attitude towards domestic tasks now…before I used to shun them at every possible opportunity but now they are beginning to really appeal to me.

One thing that concerned me slightly when he asked me to be his girlfriend, was the fact that I’m not very feminine. I dress in a quite tomboyish fashion and don’t wear bright colors at all. I don’t wear makeup or doll myself up in any way…I just do whatever is most comfortable. I’ve always known that Jules likes girls who are cute and wear dresses and look really nice, so it was somewhat puzzling to me how this would work out…how he could find me attractive when that was the opposite of how I am. Well, it never seemed to bother him at all, he never mentioned it until this week when he asked if I would ever wear a skirt for him. To my own surprise, I found myself eagerly agreeing to it. I *want* to look nice for him, to dress in a way that he finds alluring. The following day I asked Will to take some photos of me dressed up in the skirts I already own (it may come as a surprise to know that I have something like 10 of them!) which he happily agreed to. I felt really self-conscious and strange as I always do when I’m dressed up, but Will and Chris both told me I looked good, so I had to trust them. I know they wouldn’t lie to me. Jules was really pleased once he saw them, which made me feel like I’d done something nice and thoughtful for him.

The decision to change my hair color is also somewhat related to this as well. For all of my life I’ve loved blonde hair, and when I was younger my hair was white-blonde, but as I grew into my teens it began to darken into a light brown and then into a medium brown. I was really displeased with it and thought it looked really bad; I’d often compare it to poo. I didn’t want to be a brunette so I started lightening it, and I continued for the next 5 years. Before I left for Australia, I mentioned to a few people that my hair wasn’t naturally blonde so they asked to see photos of me with darker hair, and it was a common opinion that I looked nice with darker hair, and all of them agreed that natural hair color was more attractive. So Jules and I discussed dyeing our hair when I got there. When I finally got to touch his hair, to see it every day, I found myself so in love with it as it was I didn’t want him to change it…and we just never got around to doing anything to mine either. Jules said he prefers girls with long, dark hair, and was eager to see what I’d look like with my natural color. So I asked Nat to help me dye it back when he got here. After two attempts, the combined effort of Nat and Chris brought me back to being brunette. After take two, I was very pleased with the result and realized that I probably do look better with darker hair. At least my hair and eyebrows match now. Heh. More importantly than what I thought of it was Jules’ reaction. He was stunned as he hadn’t really known what to expect, but to put it mildly, he really loved it. I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen him more delighted over something before. :D That made me feel fantastic.

I’ve been interested in the idea that several people who have seen photos of us together have noted that we look a lot like each other. The first time someone mentioned that to me I was incredulous…what a preposterous suggestion! After all, Jules is incredibly gorgeous and desirable, and I have trouble even looking at myself in the mirror (though I *hate* mirrors, and that has nothing to do with how I look.) Anyhow, after the third time someone told me we look alike, I started to consider it…I guess some of our features are somewhat similar… Well, in the end, now that I’ve dyed my hair back to my normal color (which is actually the same shade as his) we must look even more alike. But he’s gotten a haircut recently so his beautiful locks no longer fall forward across his face, down along his cheeks… *sigh* I really miss his hair, but he still looks incredibly good, although older. I’m more attracted to him every single day.

*sigh*

It’s really lonely being in the apartment by myself all day with no one to talk to. I’ve found it difficult to find motivation to do anything at all. The only reason I get up early is so I can talk to Jules, but once he goes to bed I have the whole day to kill…to try to get myself organized enough to work on my website and portfolio and resume. Today while I was waiting for the banker to come back, I did a sketch for Ross’s teapot design thing, which is the first thing I’ve drawn in months. I was pretty happy with the idea I came up with…whenever I come up with something after thinking really hard about it for a long time, I feel a bit better about myself and feel a little confidence returning. Because I haven’t been forced to be creative in a long time and I’ve had so many other things to worry about, I haven’t made much effort to create anything, so I’ve felt burnt out and uninspired. The other day I started thinking about painting again so I contacted my dad and asked him if he could send me the remaining canvas frames that he’d made before I left, as well as my roll of canvas. He kindly shipped them out to me via UPS and they should be here next Wednesday. I’m going to get back into the monochrome portrait series that I started. Chris, Jon, and Will are next. I’ve also been trying to finish up Jules’ momo blanket…maybe I can get it done by the time we’re married. XD

Everyone has left now…the congregation of so many cool people in our apartment is at an end and I’m left here alone. It’s such a strange and empty feeling, and it’s really easy to slip into a funk when there’s no one but yourself to answer to. It’s not as if I’m *completely* alone, as Will is around in the evenings, but for most of the day now I’m left to my own devices. It’s really difficult to make myself get up and shower, and even worse…to leave the apartment.

I had to spend several hours this morning convincing myself I should go to the bank and straighten out my accounts. It shouldn’t have been a big deal at all considering the closest branch is only three blocks away, but I felt myself slipping back into the “excuse zone” that had ruled my life for so long…I could think of so many reasons why I should just put it off and do it another day. I eventually convinced myself not to be an idiot and walked down to the bank. I was really looking forward to getting outside and getting some exercise since I’ve basically spent the last two full months just sitting around and eating a lot and I’m beginning to look and feel like an ugly, disgusting slug. I told myself if I could get the bank stuff taken care of I could treat myself by walking down to the CD shop and getting the new New Pornographers CD, so I had some incentive.

Anyhow, the girl I talked to in the bank was really new to the job so she had very little idea what she was doing and had to constantly ask for help. She was really kind and friendly so I didn’t mind so much…in fact, I felt pretty good that I was helping her get experience in her job. All I really wanted to do was to transfer my existing accounts over to be local to Seattle, which I expected to be a pretty simple process, like checking a box on the computer or something then printing new checks. It turns out I had to close my accounts and open new ones in order to get a local routing number. o.o Sheesh. Will and I were planning on setting up our bank accounts so we could transfer money between them but this screwed it up so we have to resubmit the forms with the new info and that’ll take more time…plus I won’t have access to the accounts for like 3 days and I’m not sure my debit card still works…and on top of that I have a loan that was making automatic withdrawals from the checking account that I closed, so it’s a bit of a mess. I have to go back in tomorrow and get more stuff straightened out. I felt really bad about screwing with it because Will really needs money badly and for awhile now I won’t have any way of getting any to him. *sigh*

I’m really worried about Jules. Recently he’s had some horrible, persistent headaches that seem to be quite debilitating (to the point where even *he* can’t go on.) He always tries to be strong and work through the pain, to lead as normal of a life as he can, trying his best not to upset or disappoint anyone, so it’s quite shocking when he says that something is hurting him so bad he can’t ignore it no matter how hard he tries. He’s going to the doctor today so we’ll see how that goes.

This morning Will took Rushi to the bus station so he could head home and tonight we drove Nat to the airport. :( It’s so sad to see everyone go. We still have Chris for another week so there probably still won’t be too many updates since I’ll be busy, but keep checking the photos directory as I’m still uploading photos as I take them.

We have a full *full* house right now. Mike (Rushi) joined us on Saturday night and has been staying with Chris and Nat in the livingroom ever since. It’s pretty amazing how easily everyone gets along with each other without ever having met previously. All of us have known each other online for years now (to varying degrees…ie, I know a lot more about Chris than I do Mike) but it truly is incredibly natural interacting with them. I have now met so many people in real life whom I’ve known online, and these people have quickly become the best friends I’ve ever had. Pretty much everything important in my life in the last 3 years has come from the community where I’ve met these people. Had it not been for #rosa, I’d never have gone to Australia and I wouldn’t be here in Seattle now.

All of these wonderful, special people…so unlikely for us to have ever crossed virtual paths and now to be in the same city together. How odd is it to go to dinner with 6 friends, 5 of whom I’ve only known in real life for two weeks or less? It is absolutely amazing to me. Thus far, I’ve met *eleven* people in real life, and many more people through those friends. It is mind-bendingly cool to think about the circumstances that allowed this to happen.

Unsurprisingly, it’s been a bit chaotic around here lately. We’ve been staying up really late recently, either talking or gaming until the wee hours of the morning. Often I’ll go to bed quite a bit before the others and wake up early so I can catch Jules online before he goes to bed. I haven’t been setting an alarm, I just wake myself up now and then to check if he’s there (I can’t help it.) I’ve felt moments of sadness recently because he’s started his new job and hasn’t been able to stay up too late or is just extremely tired by the time I come online and therefore we haven’t been able to talk much. I guess I’ve been spoiled by the days where we could talk to each other for hours every day, so when even a single day passes and we’ve been out of communication, it feels like a week. I get pretty emotional when I get denied time with him so some of my reactions to the separation have been a little irrational, but it just goes to show how much I need him. This isn’t an easy time for either of us but both of us are completely dedicated to the goal of being together so we just have to remind each other to keep the big picture in mind. (Easier said than done.) I miss him *terribly.*

As I was saying, the guys and I have mostly been hanging out together. I’m once again in a situation where I am the token female in a group of geeky guys, which for the most part I really *love.* I usually don’t have much issue fitting in, though there are things they enjoy that I’m not really interested, like playing fighting games or gal games. There are moments where I wonder to myself what I’m doing there, but they are few and far between. Most of the time I don’t even think about it. I’ve really enjoyed having Nat here as it’s been fun making playful gay jokes with him and talking about girly-type things. He’s incredibly goofy and entertaining and reminds me a lot of Peter. He even makes a lot of the same types of speech mistakes that Peter would make. (ie, “Usually my span fins like crazy.”) There are times where I feel a bit annoyed with the guys when they take stupid jokes too far or go on nonsensical tirades but most of the time they’re really fun to be around.

I’m going to be spoiled by the sheer number of places where Bubble Tea is available here. I hope I don’t get sick of it. It seems as if the majority of Asian restaurants here serve it or there’s a place down the street where you can get some. There’s even a place a couple streets down from here called “Ann’s Teriyaki” that offers it. :D Yummy.

Huu, I’m quite tired right now, but I’m doing a load of laundry so I’ll wait until that’s done before I go to bed. *yawn*

Last night Nat got us all a free meal at a restaurant one of his friend’s friends owns because it was his birthday. It was a lovely place called “Rosebud” in the Capitol Hill district. We had a lot of fancy food and drink and racked up quite a hefty bill, and we all felt a bit guilty about not having to pay for anything but the wait-staff was really kind and attentive so it was really nice. I had a lot of really yummy wine. :D~~

I played through Silent Hill for the guys last night (and even backed up a bit to try to get one of the other endings.) Today I began Silent Hill 2 and was a bit dismayed to notice that the Greatest Hits version doesn’t recognize the regular version’s saves, although the items that appear after you’ve beaten the game once are there during gameplay. Odd. I noticed there’s a sub-scenario in that game I’ve never tried so I really look forward to trying that.

Rayme lent me some of the Sandman graphic novels so I’ve started reading those. Quite good. Neil Gaiman is an entrancing storyteller.

Oh, also, Nat helped me dye my hair back to its natural color the other day. The result was fairly good…the color isn’t quite what I expected (it’s a bit more ashy brown than my natural color, but it’s not that far off) and part of the left side is a bit dappled-looking, but it really isn’t terribly noticeable. I haven’t decided if I’m going to redo it yet, but if I do I might choose a slightly different shade. It was an interesting experience as I’ve never done that before. I can see how some people could get addicted to changing their hair color on a regular basis.

Well, two days left with everyone here, then it’s just Chris for the next week. I’m sure we’ll be going on all sorts of adventures soon (if everyone manages to get up at a reasonable hour, that is.)

Today was an incredibly full-on day. I was up quite late talking to Jules after he got home from work but I made myself go to bed because I knew I had a lot to do today. I woke up early again and he was still awake so we talked briefly, after which I fell back asleep. The Airport Express here keeps dying all the time so the wireless connection is pretty shoddy (it’s a 50% chance it’ll be dead when I get up.)

I had some breakfast/lunch and watched the latest episode of Top Gear then showered and left to go pick up Chad. This was the first time I’ve driven alone in Seattle without Will to direct me, so it was a good experience for me. I made it the whole way without missing a turn or getting lost, which is a pretty big deal. :D I notice that I frequently underestimate my driving ability (particularly when it comes to navigating) so when I am able to do something like I did today, I feel really good about myself. Anyhow, Chad rode with me to the airport where we picked up Chris. We waited there for about 45 minutes and finally Chris showed up. SEA/TAC is strangely oriented in terms of United Airlines terminals so he had to take a train to get to the main part of the airport.

After getting Chris, we drove into the International District and had ramen for lunch (yum) and I went for a bubble tea. (YUM!) When we got back to our apartment, I showed Chris around a bit, then we walked down to 7-11 to get him a phone card. I pointed to the round area of concrete, grass, and trees in the middle of the intersection and asked Chris what it was called, but I guess he didn’t realize there was a term for it. You see, I wanted to hear him say “roundaboot,” but he wasn’t playing along. :( Awww.

We played a little bit of KD2 and once Will came home he and Chad played some Earth Defense Squad type game until it was time to go pick up Nat from the airport. Rayme came over and he and Chad stayed behind while Will, Chris and I went to the airport (again.) Nat exclaimed about how short I am (heh) and then we all met up at this burger place called Dick’s (yes, many jokes were made.) They only serve burgers there so I watched the others eat and took a few photos.

After that we came back to the apartment and spent the night laughing and playing multiplayer video games. At about quarter after 2 Rayme and Chad went home and I smiled at the silence that commenced…the only sound being the four of us typing away on our Apple laptops. Heh. I think we’ll probably be going to bed soon. Ah, but Jules has just come online. :D Yay!

I must say, it is incredibly awesome to have a house full of really really cool people whom I’ve only just met in person (save for Will) but feel like I’ve known for ages. It’s very fun, lively, and comfortable. I wish Jules could be here to experience this with me.

Happy birthday, Julian dear. (It’s actually on August 10, but it’s that day already in Australia.)

Because Jon was moving to a different place, he had to shut down his computers and change over to a new internet service, which means my website has been down since that happened. He’s got DSL up and running again after huge headaches and lots of time on the phone, and I’ve just changed my DNS settings so hopefully by the time I’m finished writing this my site will be available again.

Anyhow, god…so much has happened in the last two weeks it’s impossible to remember. I can’t even refer back to what I last wrote in my journal either, so I’ll have to take a stab at it. The entries previous to this one will be all sort of retrospective, so I’m missing a lot of details. But at least you’ll get an idea of what has happened since I left Wisconsin.

Today, I woke up one minute after Jules marked himself asleep on IRC and went into a bit of a fit as he wasn’t responding to my messages. For some reason it really really bothered me that I wasn’t going to get to talk to him at all and I started crying. What a shitty start to the day. :( Then when I was about to give up in frustration he came back to check his computer once more before he actually went to bed, so I got to talk to him for about 15 minutes and at least say goodnight to him and tell him how much I love him and miss him. We talked quite briefly about visas again, so I did a little research after he went to bed. It turns out that in order to sponsor him as my fiance, I need to be 125% above the poverty level, which at the moment I am not. I felt really depressed and disheartened after that, but I did find an immigration lawyer in the yellow pages who handles these cases so I’ll have that option once I get some money. I’m a little scared of what sorts of fees he’ll have, but at least the consultation is free. This particular guy seems pretty sympathetic since he is an immigrant himself, so that gives me a little hope. I had a little nap after that, then had some lunch, and I’ve been sitting out on the balcony typing journal entries ever since. Not sure what’s going on tonight, if anything. I guess I’ll sort out these entries, post them, then clean up my room some more. Nat and Chris arrive here tomorrow. I’ll have to go get Chris myself since he’ll be coming in while Will is at work, but at least Chad agreed to come along with me so that will be nice. I’m excited to have people here to keep me company during the day. I hate being alone.

I woke up early to catch Jules before bed. We talked about the different options we had for getting him to America, which is a daunting and scary subject. I’m going to have to hire an immigration attorney. After he went to bed I started cleaning the bathroom and realized that we didn’t have any toilet cleaner and very little Drano. The tub was pretty vile and backed up really bad and the toilet smelled terrible, so I asked Will if he’d go shopping with me in the evening for supplies. After cleaning as much as I could, I put away all my dishes and things then took a really long nap. I woke up with a sore throat, feeling really disoriented and tired.

When Will got home we went shopping at Fred Meyer, this Super-Target-like store that has groceries. I got a ton of stuff, lots of good food, but in the end we forgot to get Drano. Oh well. Next time. Will worked on Soft Landing for awhile while I had dinner (I had a Hale’s Ale with dinner, which is “bottle conditioned” and about as close to Coopers as I’ve been able to find so far…it’s an acceptable substitute.) After that I showed Will an episode of Six Feet Under which turned out to be the last of the series. :o He seemed to enjoy it, which made me quite happy, since it’s an awesome show and Will is very particular about things he likes (I have a lot of trouble recommending *anything* to him). We decided to design our entertainment system in a logical way so Will mapped it all out in OmniGraffle (it was *really* impressive when he was done!) and then we hooked everything up and tested it out. I talked to Jules very briefly before he went to work as he was running a little late, and then I went to sleep.

Talked to Jules for a bit, but he had to go to bed reasonably early because he started his new job on Monday morning. Will emerged from his room and said his coworker Andrew was taking him to see the Blue Angels (fighter jets that fly in formation.) I wasn’t showered and Andrew was on his way over so I didn’t have time to get ready. So I washed all my new dishes, played some KD2, and then showered. Will gave me a call later on and asked if I’d like to come to lunch with them so they came and got me and we drove to the Sunday Markets on Pike St. (I think that’s what it’s called, or something similar.) It was really cool seeing all the food stands and people selling things, and all the various people milling about. We had crepes for lunch (I could only finish half of mine sadly) and I won 2 free Snapples under the cap of my Peach Tea Snapple. Mmmm. After that we had gelato (yum) and I just kept thinking how much of the market reminded me of parts of Perth. I kept thinking of how at home Jules would feel here.

After walking around a bit more, Andrew offered to drive us around to see different views of the city, so we got to take a bunch of photos of Seattle from afar. In the early evening he took us to the locks to see the boats being lowered (which I’d never seen before) and then we came back to our neighborhood to have dinner at a sushi place a few blocks away. Yummy! I filled up on a plate of “beginner’s sushi” which Will gently berated me for (”But you’re an expert!”) (hah!)

I rolled more katamaris, looking specifically for the cousins and presents I was missing. I only have a few left to get (less than 5 I believe) but I can’t locate them. I guess I’ll need some help. Will decided he wanted to go get some snacks at about 1AM so I said I’d walk with him to 7-11. It was a nice little walk, and I discovered there that they sell beer and wine until 2AM. Wooo! So I bought myself a large beer (which turned out to be good.) I rolled more katamaris until I was too exhausted and then went to bed.

Another lovely talk with Jules on Skype in the morning. After lunch Will came along with me to Ikea so I could get myself a proper sleeping surface and some other necessities. I spent waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much money on things which I sort of regret now, but oh well. I ended up with two bookshelves, a futon mattress and cover, two pillows, a closet organizer, a hamper, a set of wineglasses, a set of plates and bowls, a pizza cutter, and an office chair. We ran across a chair named “Jules” but I thought it was pretty ugly and uncomfortable (although Will liked it a lot.) All of this nearly didn’t fit in my car so we had to unpack the office chair. I couldn’t see out my rear view on the way home so Will had to check my blind spots. I treated him to Wendy’s for helping me so much with all the furniture and spending his whole day with me when he could have been doing other things. I thanked him several times for helping me, but I don’t know if I was able to tell him exactly how much it meant to me that he came with me. Ikea is a big, terrifying experience (and it was the first time I’d been there!) so I was so grateful to have him along. Will went to Omni in the evening to talk to Hiroko so I spent the night assembling my shelves and chair and organizing things in my room. I talked to Jules quite a bit on Skype and even talked to his mum a bit (I *LOVE* her…she’s so cute!) I tried out my new wine glasses with some cheap White Zinfandel from a box (hah.)