New New York

This happened shortly after we decided not to renew our lease:

("jwee ddong" is the transliteration from Korean to English for "mouse poop")

Words cannot describe the angst of that morning.  Standing naked in a hot shower relaxed and thinking about the day ahead, bending over to study the suspicious new marks inside the tub, realizing what I was seeing, eyes bugging out, grabbing the Clorox bathroom cleaner from under the bathroom sink, and then spraying it all around me like THERE WAS NO TOMORROW.  I haven't forgotten the silent screaming or the trembling either.  Thank goodness I was alone in the shower because it was not my finest moment.

I wouldn't recommend being unemployed, but shucks, try being unemployed and applying for a new rental lease in this city.  Chances are very good that you'll end up in a sewer with an umbrella over your head or in some rat-infested squatting house in the East Village.  It's remarkable to see just how many people live in perfect dumps in this city.  New York is, well, New York, and people really will live anywhere to experience this place.  

Fortunately, I have a little sister who decided that it wouldn't be too terrible to live with her sister again for another year.  Moreover, this said sister works very hard and incredibly long hours at her lovely job which made it possible for us to look into upgrading living options.  When I say "us," I mean "her."  Pathetically bereft of all hope from my failing job search and the looming possibility that perhaps it was time to part ways with New York, I sort of twirled my hair around my finger and lazily chewed gum doing nothing helpful while Soeur frantically searched the city for an apartment that met her standards (she has way high standards, that one).  I'll spare you the details, but in the end, we signed a whole bunch of paperwork one damp day in February for a unit that at the time looked like a bomb had exploded in it.  Smack dab in the middle of a gut renovation, among other things, we saw wires falling from the ceiling and a ton of rubble.  It was pretty ugly.  Soeur was terribly hopeful about the situation and could easily visualize the completed space; I, not so much.  When we walked into the finished apartment for the first time on move-in day earlier this week, I breathed a huge sigh of relief.  A lot of things had to happen to make this work, but it did.  We're still settling in, but can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

You know how today's Easter and this is the day that the Lord has risen and we will rejoice and be glad in him?  BE GLAD IN HIM.  I know I need to work on being glad in Him all the time, but moving here was a little miracle unto itself and it's so much easier to be glad in Him when your home has closets and new appliances.  I think you'll agree that life is just easier when living in nicer quarters.  

New apartment.  New neighborhood.  It's like New York is new all over again.  How appropriate for Easter.