All Rowelled Up

Thirty Days Until Thirty

Day 23 coming at ya!

I feel like I keep getting younger by the day :) This project of going back in my past and trying to remember what happened is a lot harder than I thought it would be. I forgot to put on day 25 that that was the year I got my first tattoo. As a matter of fact I got the first one on my actual birthday and then went roller skating. Good memories.

At twenty three I moved out on my own. It was a scary deal. I never thought I would live by myself. Let me tell ya, it was the best thing I ever did. There were some nights were I stood by the door with a hammer because I thought my drunk neighbors were going to bust in. I knew they weren't going to but to be completely on your own for the first time you just get a little bit paranoid.

At the time I worked an odd shift. I worked in Tulsa and lived in Claremore which is about a 30-45 minute drive. My shift was from 5:00 in the evening until 1:30 in the morning which put me home around 2ish. My apartment was not the hip happening place in Claremore. Let's be honest, Claremore isn't a hip happening place to begin with. Not for a 23 year old. You would think since I had my own place and a lot of my friends lived there that I would have people over all the time. False. I think my friends came over a total of 2 times. I guess with an odd schedule you don't really have time to hang out. My sister lived in Claremore at the time too so if I wasn't home I was probably at her house. My complex was old and occupied with mostly old people.

One night I came home from work and watched a movie like I always did. My living room had a huge window. Almost took up the whole wall. If anyone was up at night you could always tell because their window would be lit up like Christmas. My neighbors decided to get in a huge fight one night right outside my window. Of course I muted the t.v. and listened in curiosity and fear that someone might come flying through the window. (I lived on the first floor.) While this couple is going at it I thought about turning my t.v. off but it would be way to obvious. So I sat there on my little wicker couch right in front of the window, hoping my head wasn't casting a shadow on the curtains. Sheer curtains. I was doomed.

They went on for about 20 minutes until the manager of the building came and put a stop to it. They froze, I froze, every body froze. The manager said, "I've just got a call saying there was a lot of yelling out here. You need to take it inside."

I don't think I moved from my couch for a good 30 minutes. Maybe they didn't see my light on. (yeah right) Maybe they don't realize I'm home. (Um, okay.) I was so scared! Who else would they think told on them? I just knew they were next door plotting my take down. I left for work the next day thinking my apartment was going to be raided. (They were the maintenance workers for the building. They had a key to my apartment.) When I got home that night there was a big plant dumped over in front of my screen door. Soil everywhere. I guess if that was the worst that happened to me while living alone, then it was a nice experience.

Now, Im happy to have a house that I'm never alone in. Even when Zach is gone I still have the company of my precious Phoebe.

One of my goals for my 30's is to start putting a little money back for my "dream home." Hopefully the only fighting I will hear outside my big living room window is my kids arguing over who loves their mommy more ;)

Planning for the future,

April