Moving & Music

This past weekend, we moved hubby into his new weekday apartment. For those confused by that statement, hubby works for a university ninety miles from where we live so he keeps a place in the college town. When hubby accepted the job, they already had another James working there, so they asked if they could call him, Jim. I have cringed for years at him being referred to as Jim, so this weekend was frustrating as his coworkers kept saying that name and I kept looking for some stranger. I'm sure it is not telling that hubby uses an alias at work. Right? The student assistants struggle when I call and ask for James. There have even been a few times when the student claimed James didn't work for that department.

Though it was in the 90s and muggy, we had an overall fun day, especially because it included a road trip. For me, road trip equals singing at the top of my lungs to whatever is on the radio. Hubby regularly cringes at my singing because I truly can not carry a tune, but really don't care. He was greatly disturbed listening to me sing along with Maroon 5 and Fall Out Boy but soon got into the road trip mentality. After I rapped my way through Eminem & Rihanna's Love the Way You Lie, hubby couldn't resist stopping on every hip hop channel to ask if I liked this song or this song. We discussed my need for a new fall-back request song (see previous post), which led to my reveal that Add it Up was actually my favorite Violent Femmes song because I love the angst and f*ck you message. Hubby then asked me to sing from both Add it Up and Blister in the Sun because he claimed not to remember the difference. So of course, I obliged.

The music mellowed with Tom Petty followed by Jim Croce. Hubby always asks if I know who Jim Croce is because it leads to an emotional conversation. When his mother was in the cancer center, she regularly played Croce. One of our most poignant memories of his mother's final months is her reaction to our then three year old nephew dancing and singing Operator.

We settled hubby in his very questionable digs. They are questionable because the space is cleaner with newer carpeting than his previous apartment, but it is really tiny, has definitive water damage which may have been properly cleaned, and is in a questionable neighborhood, though three blocks from campus. After returning to the Fort, we did not rest, choosing instead to purchase edging stones so we could frame our new landscaping. This was a project we had decided to put on hold until next year, but then we saw the stones on sale for $0.33/ each and couldn't resist.