Stress!

As in, the only thing I got from my recent apartment hunt. Aside from, of course, an apartment. My mom (thank god she came with me because I would have fucked this up royally if left to my own devices) and I flew into Houston. We first went for a drive around the mall and saw a cute little apartment complex right behind it. Then we went to the hotel and googled it.... and some other things. This was how we found the other apartment complex we saw that day. The first was a little further down the road and was stuffy and expensive ($830 a month). Contrast that with the second place which had a sand volleyball court and a pool table and a little theater in the clubhouse and was about $30 cheaper. The next day we saw a million places. Some were old, some were really new (like still under construction). Some were really expensive (the highest one clocking in at $955... but they had an infinity pool overlooking the lake! hehe like I am moving to Texas for the swimming pools). By the time the day was over I couldn't remember one's crown molding from another vaulted ceiling or one linen closet from an in unit washer and dryer.
At the end it all we had narrowed it down to two... the cute one from the first day and one from the second day. So we decided we'd go back to both of them. Google maps put one at 6 miles 12 minutes from work and the other at 4 miles 11 minutes. Why two more miles and only one more minute? Traffic. Especially around the mall. While the other is 2 miles on Farm Road 270 which has, as you can imagine, nothing on it. No stop lights, no shopping centers... just a nice view of some swampy lake as you drive. That apartment is a little farther from civilization, though there is a grocery store right down the street (Farm Road 2094) in one direction and a big shopping center in the other: Super Target, Super Wal-Mart, Chili's, Chik-Fil-A, Payless Shoes, and some ubiquitous chain called Darque Tan (I will never understand why people in either Florida or Texas go to tanning beds... I walked to class and felt like I was in a tanning bed, save the paid sun for the people in New Hampshire and Utah). And the Kemah boardwalk which has a ferris wheel and a wooden roller coaster and is like this cute little seaside town with a bunch of seafood restaurants that look only a little sketchy. I guess you can figure by now that this is the one I chose.
And thats where the stress comes in: There were two things the other had going for it. First, it seemed geared a little younger and they had alot of activities already in place, like a card night every month and movies in the clubhouse every week. Second, it was in a really busy place-- this was a pro and a con, as you can see by my discussion on traffic. But it was near the mall and a bunch of restaurants and I wonder if I chose the other subconsciously to avoid being social and being able to go out. Am I putting myself in exile in South Shore when I could have lived nearly on top of a mall surrounded by 20-somethings? Maybe. After all I chose UCF over UF because I wanted to live somewhere with real things going on instead of Hicktown, Florida. This is kinda the opposite decision, to skip traffic and mall rats in favor of the quieter, prettier, just like Amityville-from-Jaws kinda town. So I am stressed over the decisions I made, but I guess its too late now. You want to know what was the biggest reason I chose the one over the other? Furniture placement. There was a place for my TV that left a big wall for my couch AND allowed me to watch TV from the kitchen. I guess I did have to decide whats most important to me. I have one TV and one Tivo and if I can't always watch them, what good are they.

After deciding on an apartment, my mom and I went to Rooms To Go. I found a bed I really like. http://www.roomstogo.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=showRoom&roo_id=1041 And a couch I think will be awesome. It is a sleeper couch of course, so you all can come visit. Its got low armrests so I can lie across is like a bed, and its comfy and microsuedey kind of material and... yeah I'm excited for my real furniture. http://www.roomstogo.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=showItem&ipac_id=14922 Also my parents have a cool table where the top rises up to be like real table level and pivots closer to the couch, perfect for eating on the couch. Since I have always eaten in front of the TV, I don't expect having a real job to change anything. But I dont't know if I can afford one. Or, even if I can, if I want to spend that kind of money right now. But we'll see. Also I went to Ikea yesterday and found a kitchen table with 4 chairs for $99. That place is funny. The Ikea in Houston is really far so I think I might buy the table here and have the movers move it to Houston with the rest of my stuff.

Then on Thursday since all the work was done my mom and I went to the space center. We went on the tram tour and saw the historic mission control and the Astronaut Training Facility. I went to both places... but I got to go in. On the regular people tour they take you to like viewing areas, separated by glass. Haha. So I felt special, showing my mom the places I saw and telling her things I knew that the people giving the tour didn't say. And one guy said "How do you know this?" "I'm gonna be working here," I said. "How much schooling do you need to work for NASA?" "Just a regular 4 year degree... in aerospace engineering." Yeah, I'm smart. So that was fun. Am I full of myself? Maybe just a little. But with the cool job I got I think I have a right to think I'm awesome. What do you think?

So you're thinking, save somethin for the next entry. Alright. That's all folks! ;-)