Thursday afternoon, when Mark left for work, there had been no talk of moving. As far as we knew at that point, we would be staying in our apartment until spring, and then trying to find a home to rent in a nearby town.

That all changed by the time he got home from work at 4:00am Friday.

Here’s what happened:

Our garbage can reeked to high heaven, so I took it outside to spray it out. We had chicken juice that had leaked through a bag. It was really nasty. After the can was clean, I brought it back upstairs, filled the bottom with bleach water, stuck the top of the can inside there, and set the whole thing out on the fire escape. Where I promptly forgot about it.

A couple hours later, after Mark left for work (poor, unsuspecting soul), I went out to retrieve our garbage can. I pulled out the cover, set it aside, then dumped out the bleach water, somehow managing to knock the cover over. I watched it slide down the roof, and then drop three stories, landing in the grass below. I glared at the cover, flipped the garbage can over to let it dry, then went back inside the apartment.

An hour or two later, I threw on some shoes, grabbed Becca, and we headed down to retrieve our lid. On the way back up, we walked past one of the other apartments, and I noticed the smell of gas. I knew the tenants had moved out a week or so before. I knocked, then tried the handle. It was unlocked.

The door opens up to the kitchen. I opened up a window near the stove, then went up and called the landlords. A short while later, Becca and I decided to go for a walk, so we headed back down the stairs, and caught up with our landlords (the Savinos) as they were exiting the other apartment. As it turns out, their cleaning lady had turned off the pilot lights in the gas stove, but didn’t turn off the gas.

On the way back home, after our walk, Becca and I poked our heads back into the apartment. I knew a few things about it already– it has it’s own washer and dryer, and it had a tiny kitchen. We wandered inside, and had a look around.

There are three entrances to this apartment. One opens into the kitchen. When Becca and I walked through, we came in the one that opens up to the living room. Which is huge. With 6 windows (one is a picture window), high ceilings, a custom wood floor, and a fireplace. From there, I wandered into the dining room, which also has a lot of windows and a custom wood floor. A small hallway leads to the first bedroom, complete with an attached bathroom. There is another bathroom down the other hall, near a second bedroom. The kitchen is indeed tiny, but it has a dishwasher.

To get to the laundry, you have to go back down the hallway, out the front door, and across another hallway. There’s a small laundry room, which may also be my office, with a closet and another bathroom. This will also be where our freezer goes, assuming we get one. Mark is hunting this year, so it’s kind of a priority.

Mark came home friday morning, after work, to a note on his chair saying that I wanted to move, and would be calling the Savinos that morning. By the time he got up, I had a price, and permission to go down and show Mark around. He wasn’t thrilled. Rent is considerably more than we are currently paying, but still something that we can afford. Once he saw the place, though, I knew he was on board with it.

We started moving yesterday. Today, we start painting. And, within two weeks or so, I hope to be entirely moved out. I love where we are living now, and we’ve made a lot of great memories here, but it’ll be nice to have a washer and dryer. And to not be on the third floor. And I am really okay with having a fireplace, especially with those cold NY winter nights coming up.