Goodbye 102 and Ness

Today was a huge day for goodbyes.

My studio bachlorette apartment I have lived in for over five years is now out of my life.  I cleaned the last bits and got rid of various items that refused to leave till last minute.  The keys are sitting on the counter of a kitchen I should have cooked more in.  The curtains are pulled back letting in sunshine onto a living room I hosted a variety of parties in (birthdays, White Castle & Beer, Lost nights, B2B jello shots, murder mystery).  I feel like I have done most of my growing in this space and I will always remember it fondly, despite my mostly-deaf neighbor and the bitchy-slutty girl upstairs.  I left a room that had no windows and moved alone into apartment 102 after I got my first fulltime job.  At the time this apartment was well out of my price range but I lied to the agent and said my parents gave me $1000 a month for rent atop my current income.  I also became a mother to an (illegal, no pet-deposit) furball after constantly saying that I would never own a cat.  It was my scared space and I loved it.  It is also time to move on.  

Main space

Kitchen

And now there is the story of my cat.  Ness moved out last week before I did most of the cleaning of the apartment to minimize her stress.  Her ride over to her new home was traumatizing for the both of us to the point that she peed in her carrier and upon arrival she walked around her new home with pee-pee paws.  She is living with three good friends (ex-work friends) and another cat.  I'll call them D/M/S since I don't know how much they want me giving away about their home life.  Some people just like to be private.  Anyways.   I figured Ness would hide under M's bed for several weeks and slowly come out of her shell.  Apparently she hid under the bed for one night then was walking about the apartment.  She has completely made herself at home just after a week.  The difficulty comes in when speaking about her relationship with the other cat in the house.  The other cat, who has lived in this apartment for almost a decade I believe, isn't too happy about this temporary living situation.  She will yell/yowl at Ness when Ness does something she does not approve of such as:  speaking, getting to close to her couch, or drinking out of her water dish.  I can't blame her.  Ness continues to test boundaries and keep a safe distance.  I am so proud of her.  This gives me such hope for our new life in NZ in September.  She is good at coping.  Yes, after a long flight and being handled by humans she does not know will stress her, but after a week of love from Guy and I all will be well.  Her paperwork is 70% in order and I cannot wait to have her back in my care.  The universe knew best that she should travel after me and I respect that since it is working out well for the both of us.

Ness lovin' next to Tia M