Please forgive the lack of political news in this diary. It is just my personal stress being let out.
I am moving out on August 1st, which is not too far from now, with my two best friends. I am only moving about an hour away from home so its not too far, but its far enough. And I am starting to get a little freaked out. I am nineteen years old, the oldest of five children, and the only girl. The only girl part used to get hard at times, but it also has its advantages (my own room).
Needless to say, living at home with so many siblings drives me crazy. It would drive anyone crazy at times. And plus, mom and my step-dad can get on my nerves too as with any family. No one gets along all the time (duh), but even with the worst of arguments (or worse) we always know we are family at the end of the day whether we want to admit it or not.
That is why I am getting a little freaked out about moving away. It will just be weird to be away from all of the craziness and arguments that make me want to pull my hair out. My mom depends on me a lot with my youngest brother, Bob (yes we call him Bob) who is 8, and it will be weird not seeing him everyday and saving him from the torment of the older brothers.
It will be weird not having the dogs sleeping on the end of my bed. It will be weird not seeing my family everyday. It will be weird not talking to my mom as often as I would if I were home. It will be weird living in a different city. It will be weird not hearing my mom yell at the boys for eating a whole box of granola bars in one day. It will be weird to live with my friends.
It will all just be so...different. And I am the kind of person who likes to gradually try out "different." You know, maybe just dip my toe in to see how the water feels.
And I know what some of you might be thinking. I realize that I was never going to live at home with mommy forever. I wasn't going to permanently attach myself to her hip and never leave. Everyone has to grow up eventually and be on their own out in the cruel world. I know this. But geeze where did the time go? And some of you might be wondering why I'm not singing FREEDOM!!! Trust me I am, just not as loudly as I was before.
I thought it might help some if I made a pros and cons list to moving out. So here is that list.
Cons:
- All of the above that is mentioned. Being away from family.
- My friend thinks she is a Republican. This will have to be changed since she knows nothing about either side.
- I have no clue how to navigate around the new area. The new area is mostly street names, therefore its mostly memorization. Where I live now is mostly numbers. Numerical order is nice.
- My best friends, while I love them, drive me insane. I fear for all of our lives should we argue.
- I'm such a wimp when it comes to driving on the interstate. (yeah I know, give me some grief about it)
- I won't be able to keep the job I have now when I move, so I need to find another job. I think we all know how that goes in this economy.
- Bills. I hate them.
- I always think about my mom losing her mind being in the house with all of the boys, by herself. Well our dogs are girls but they don't give us much backup.
- Bob. I know technically you aren't supposed to have favorites in a family, but Bob is my favorite brother. I think its funny how the youngest and the oldest get along the best. It will be really hard not to see him every single day. And I taught this boy why to support Barack Obama (in a way that an 8 year old could understand).
- I have so much responsibility when I am at home. And I never complain because I love helping out. Its me not being there that worries me. Obviously I don't think I keep the whole household up and running, but I help out a lot and now I just worry that everyone is going to be stressed out when I'm gone.
- The whole packing and unpacking thing. I wish I could teleport my things to the new place.
Pros:
- Also all of the above that was mentioned about family. Haha, it is nice to be away sometimes.
- FREEDOM!!! I'm not quite sure what I will do with it since I'm not a party animal, but its nice to have it anyways.
- I will be in a more Democratic city where my views will not be shunned.
- A lot of my friends from high school moved to this city also to go to college, so I wll be able to catch up with them more often.
- I won't have to clean my room every single day. Though I probably will out of habit.
- I can meet new people. Maybe even have some cute neighbors in contrast to the crazy ones I have now.
- New school, also means meeting new people.
- I'm sure I will have some fun. I have to right?
- I have learned how to bargain shop from watching my mom feed a family of seven. Part of her strategy is to use lots and lots of coupons. Never think the coupons don't matter. So I will save money when I grocery shop.
- The apartment complex I am moving into is very safe. Which I think is the only reason my mom was happy about it. It is a gated community and you can only open the gate with a card thing. And there is an alarm system in every apartment. Plus we chose to be on the second floor. So if somehow someone did want to break in, and they managed, they would have to take the extra initiative to go up the stairs.
- The complex has nice features (see above), but it isn't expensive especially when splitting the costs three ways.
Yeah its a nice list, but it hasn't really helped me much. Anyone and everyone who has a story to share about when they first moved out, feel free to post it. I am eager to know how you felt. I can't be the only one who is nervous like this am I? If you have advice feel free to give it. Anything that could calm my nerves. I am one of those people that is so afraid of change. I realize how ironic this is when I support Obama. Totally awesome change for the world and America? Hell yeah. Really new and scary change for me? Eh..not a huge fan.