Snow is not RED, but I'm looking forward to it all the same

Okay. Maybe I'm just a complete idiot. But I did NOT expect it to be in the 80's here. Not on my move in day on Wednesday nor in the few days that I've been here. I also did not expect to be living in a third floor apartment without air conditioning. IT IS SO HOT!!!!

Perhaps this is God saying that I need to soak up all the heat I can now?? Who knows. What I DO know is that it is really disgustingly hot in my apartment.

Which is exactly why I'm in the nice air conditioned computer lab of my school. Thanks be to God for air conditioning and for my roommate who showed me where this place was.

And while we're on the blessings part of the post, thanks be to God for my mother. She was incredibly patient with me as I have been adjusting to my surroundings. She let me vent about the walls and doors that have been painted 80 times in that scary bright white color of most campus living spaces, about the stairs going up to the apartment that are crooked, creak, and are stained, and about the apartment that just doesn't feel like home yet. All the while trying to deal with the fact that her baby was now an 11 hour drive away from her in the big city.

It has been hard. I can't lie and say it has been fabulous so far. I'm not sure what I expected. ''Hey God, I'm here. Now why isn't it all perfect?''

Maybe I really am an idiot. I think, in some ways, I was mentally and emotionally prepared for the transition. But I wasn't physically prepared. I wasn't prepared for the heat, the hard bed, the constant walking (though I'm really excited about that), the dirt on the streets when you do walk in flip flops (ahh!!!), and the frustration with trying to set up a home and being limited by funding, your roommate with allergies (carpets aren't good for people with dust allergies - I've got slight allergies to it, too, though), and the setup of your tiny bedroom. There's space. There is. I just can't make the most of it.

So I'm foiled by my frustration. And the heat.

But there have been those moments of joy that cause me to continue to believe.

*My incredibly gracious roommate who is eager to welcome me to a place she hardly knows herself. She's from Palestine and is living in the US for the first time. She's here to get her PHD in Old Testament. We are trying to make our little apartment and this big city our home.
*Welcome wagon - Okay, there wasn't a wagon. But there were 6 people ringing my doorbell and handing me an IKEA blue bag with maps and things inside. We chatted. Josh, John, Meagan, Ingrid, Issac, Manda. At least I think. I've got to work on this memorizing names thing...
*Karen, my godmother. She lives 45 minutes away. In the burbs. With shopping I'm familiar with. And comfy beds. And home cooked meals. Mom and I spent the night there seeing as I only have one bed and it is hotter than Satan's armpit in my apartment. I was also experiencing sensory overload and had to get out of the city.
*Henry, my wonderful fabulous little car.
*S and W, two friends from college who live three blocks away. And speaking of, I've got to get going. I'm heading over there to watch Harry Potter and have dinner.

Thanks for your prayers and phone calls. You are all muchly muchly missed.