Success at last... and a failure

At last, the dreaded essay of doom has been completed and sent off to Real Simple magazine. Okay, so in my eyes it will never be completed. I could continue working on it for months--or even years-- and never think it was good enough. But I cut myself off. I just sent it off by e-mail. I cannot publish it on my blog quite yet. Until the results of the contest have been determined, the essay cannot appear anywhere else--even if it's just my piddly blog that approximately 7 people read. So if anyone just CAN'T wait (insert sarcasm here) let me know and I will e-mail it to you. I know, it's not likely, but since my last few blog posts have been about this project, who knows.

Next on the agenda-- the failure... I need to move. I didn't want to move until I could afford to buy a place, but the complex is quickly going in the toilet and I would like to escape before I'm completely buried in crap. I know-- it's a beautiful visual, isn't it? So anyway, this week will be spend looking at new apartments because my lease is up at the end of October. I have been considering this for a while now. A new management company took over the complex in about January and everything has just gotten worse since then. My "air conditioner" has never worked properly; they turn the water off to the apartments to fix a leak AT LEAST once a week; the garbage disposal has stopped working and they never actually show up to repair anything; and all of this would be manageable if not for two more major concerns: First, the light outside my door has been burned out for two months and the next light over has been burned out for three... the moral of the story-- I cannot see ANYTHING if I come home after dark, which is completely unsafe for more than one reason. And second, it seems that they have dialed down the security patrol that used to drive around the complex at night because I haven't seen them for months, and I used to see them at lease once every day. These two things combined with recent events in my complex, and I just don't feel comfortable anymore. So I now officially have a month and a half to find a new place, get all packed up and moved out. I hate moving.

That is all.