Letting Go: It’s Time to Move On

MARTA Bus Stop (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We’ve been in the new apartment for almost 4 weeks now, and I’ve discovered something important. . .  It’s time to move on, not just in our living arrangements, but at work, too.

I didn’t want to change stores because I really like most of the people I work with (and the others I can deal with,) but staying at this store is going to be totally unmanageable. To be at work by 4PM, I have to leave the apartment by 1PM to make the connection to the bus at the other end. Then I spend an hour and a half to 2 hours and 15 minutes getting home, depending on whether it’s a weeknight or a weekend (and if the bus on either end is early or late, I’m screwed because I miss my connection.) Basically, I’m getting paid for 5.5 hours, and spending 11 hours to get it, and it’s playing hell with my fibromyalgia (not to mention the effect on my blood sugar from not being able to eat when I should, or what I should.) I just can’t handle 4.5 to 5.5 hours a day on public transit, so something is gonna have to change, soon.

Working with a chronic pain condition is difficult enough without this . . .

If you also figure in the physical costs (increased pain levels and flaring, fatigue that makes it possible to fall asleep standing up leaning against a post, fibrofog from hell, and a diet heavily weighted toward peanut butter sandwiches;) add the extra financial costs (multiple added bus trips because I can no longer just grab groceries before I leave work, buying cigarettes because I don’t have the time or energy to make them, and buying convenience foods because I don’t have time to cook;) then add in the money I’m losing because I don’t have time to write (anywhere from $150 a month and up;) it’s actually costing me more than I’m making to continue working at that store.

Luckily, I work for a major chain, and there are 12 stores within an hour’s bus ride of the apartment, so hopefully I can transfer to one of them (SOON!) If I’m really lucky, I’ll manage to get into one of the 3 that are less than 30 minutes away, so cross your fingers. (Tomorrow’s project is contacting all of the stores and trying to set up a time I can talk to the deli manager if they aren’t there when I call.)

Other than that, I haven’t really found any major difficulties since we moved. (There’s a noisy dog upstairs, but I’m not here enough for it to be that big a deal for me right now.) I’m loving the apartment, and we’re gradually getting everything organized and arranged. There are still some boxes that haven’t been emptied, but they’re all either in the bedroom, or stuffed in a closet because the things in them aren’t used often enough for them to be emptied. I’m even finding all kinds of stuff I haven’t seen in years because it sat in boxes under the bed from the time we moved to the cottage until we moved here.

I will admit, I miss “the boys” and Soxkitty, but it’s not like I can’t go visit, message them on FB, or call or text them whenever; and the advantages of the apartment over the cottage are worth it (mostly.)

Even better, hubby’s doing much better now. He’s seeing a different doc for his ADD, and this one a) has ADD herself, and b) actually recommended vitamin D instead of an antidepressant. I’ve been giving him vitamin D for the last few weeks, but she recommended a higher dose than I was comfortable with giving him without a doctor’s advice, and it’s really making a difference.

He’s also finding some folks to hang out with, which helps even more since it gets him out of the house. He even traded a second guitar someone gave him for guitar lessons. I hear a lot of growling and grumbling during practice sessions when he’s not getting the result he wants, but he doesn’t give up, he just b*tchs and keeps going.

Things have improved so much that I’ve even come home to find the dishes done and the living room cleaned up, and he’s volunteered to take over keeping the bathroom clean if I’ll buy some bathroom cleaner instead of making him use my homemade stuff. I’m thinking it’s worth the trade-off of a few extra dollars and the small amount of added toxins, since cleaning the bathroom tends to put me in bed for hours of recovery. I’m gonna have to think about this one – I’m not sure how comfortable I am with the idea of using a commercial cleaner again.

All in all, the move has been a very positive thing for both of us, and once I get the commute under control, I think I’m going to be very happy with the changes . . .

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