Someday I will be able to write about what has happened over the last month with humorous detail.  I know I’ll be able to because a few weeks ago, Justin and I had dinner with friends and recounted certain moments aloud and had everyone in the room hysterical with laughter.  For right now, I think the timeline of events below will speak for itself.

 February 13, 2009:  A normal Friday, we go out to dinner with Gordon and Jess.  We cannot find a parking spot so Justin returns the car to our apartment and walks to the restaurant.  It is 25 degrees and the zipper on his coat is broken.

 February 14, 2009:

10:00AM: Justin wakes up with a sore throat. 

10:15 AM: He goes to get a glass of water and finds a notice under our door.  It reads (essentially) “construction will begin on your apartment the last week in February.”

11:30AM:  Both sets of parents have been consulted on the apartment issue and an email is sent to our landlord.

11:45AM:  Justin goes back to bed (he has a fever)

5:15PM: Landlord emails back to say she is out of town but didn’t know about the construction and will be in touch.

7:00PM:  Dori goes to pick up chicken soup from Zaftigs and gets hit on by an older man who presumes she is single, out by herself on Valentines Day.

10:00PM: We’re both asleep.  It’s snowing. What a shitty Valentines Day.

 February 16, 2009: Dori talks to Elizabeth  - – she and Jon are engaged!!!  There is much excited screaming (Dori) and smiling (both).

 February 17, 2009: Dori talks with the condominium association manager to confirm aforementioned construction.  She learns that (essentially) they will need to move out.

 February 19, 2009: Justin returns to work, though he is still sick.

 February 20, 2009:  Dori goes to New York to meet Sarah and Nicki for a girls weekend.

 February 21, 2009: Two very cool NYC attractions are seen:  Sex and the City Tour  and Broadway Show: “The Story of My Life”.

 February 22, 2009: The evening is spent apartment hunting in Brookline.

 February 23, 2009:  Ditto above + dinner w/ the future Mr. & Mrs. Quealy where we are asked to be Best Man and Matron of Honor.  (we said yes, of course!)

 February 24, 2009:  We find an new place to live.  A townhouse with a finished basement. In Brookline. 

 February 25^th – February 27^th:  Break lease at current apartment,  sign new lease, travel all over Boston to find boxes,  begin packing, hire movers.

 February 28, 2009:

10:00AM:  Dori goes with Elizabeth and her Mom to Vows to find a wedding gown.

 11:30AM: Justin calls Dori to tell her that a  Massive snowstorm is predicted for the day of our move. 

 1:00PM:  Dori arrives home,  friends have been called in to help with packing, locating a truck and disassembling furniture.

 11:00PM: Our belongings have been moved to the new place.  Friends have been fed, are presumably still our friends and are back at their respective homes.  We return the moving truck.  We are lying on an air mattress on the floor of the bedroom where we have slept side by side every night since before our wedding.

 February 29, 2009:  Clean old apartment.  Move boxes around in the new house.  Clean new house.

 March 1 – March 22, 2009:  Attempt to get settled in. Gasp at state of finances. Buy furniture to fill empty living room.  Talk about how this is a blessing in disguise but is really hard work. Wish (over and over) that we had family close by.  Begin to think the new house doesn’t feel like a hotel…

 March 23, 2009 – present day:  both come down with the flu virus and are bed-ridden.

 … someday I will be able to write this with more humor.  Someday we are going to look back at this month, realize that it made us stronger and was filled with too many humorous moments to count.  We’ll be thankful that we had each other to lean on, yell at and laugh with.   But at this moment, I miss our old place.  It was small, it smelled like old people or overcooked cabbage (your pick), the neighbors were cranky and the carpet badly needed to be replaced.  But it was home.  This isn’t home… yet.