Hard Times

Dear friends,

I haven't written in over a week because life has been too hard lately. And it's taken it's toll on my health. I am sick today. And not mentally or emotionally sick. I am genuinely ill. Last night, I could feel a sore throat coming on, and I woke-up every hour during the night because I was in such pain. It's just a cold, but it's a nasty cold. It came on hard and fast. My body has been weakened these last couple of weeks, and somehow, a cold just jumped out and bit me. And poor Eric. Today is his first day at this new job, and I was in and out of bed all night long. But once he's asleep, the boy is unconscious, so I'm hoping I didn't disturb him too much.

Things that have been hectic these past couple of weeks:

1. THE MOVE.

Eric has finally (and officially!) moved out of Virginia and into our lovely home in Columbia Heights. He's a DC resident now. I am so happy. But this has all been so hard. Eric has a LOT of stuff. SO MUCH!!!! We don't know where to fit it all! We started packing up his apartment last Saturday. Then the moving company arrived at 8:00 AM last Sunday morning. They didn't realize that there was SO MUCH to pack. It was a long, hard, painful day. They packed up all of the furniture, and they packed as many possessions as they could, until they literally ran out of moving boxes. Then they drove here to DC, unloaded both of the trucks, and they were gone by 5:00 PM.

But that was just the beginning. Eric had more possessions back at the apartment. So last week (which was also his last week at this old job), every night, after work, he would drive from work in Central Maryland, to his apartment in Virginia, pick up another car full of things, and drive back to DC, and unload his car. Repeat the next day.

Then this past weekend, Eric spent Saturday and Sunday driving back and forth to Virginia, picking up the last few things. Did I mention that it rained it all weekend? My job yesterday was to follow Eric around with an umbrella as he walked into the apartment, picked up a load of things, and carried them to the car, walked back to the apartment, repeat. And I followed with the umbrella. I was hard, cold, and wet. Hard work.

But he picked-up the last of his possessions yesterday. He now has all of his possessions here. And the place is a wreck. As my grandfather used to say, "It looks like the bomb went off in here."

But we'll get there. One day at a time, one possession at a time, everything will get unpacked, and everything will find its home, and we will finally be home. It's just going to take a while.

2. THE FILM SHOOT.

The other project in my life that has occupied my time lately is the "Church Night TV" intro that I've been filming with Linsay and Ted and others. Linsay and Landon host a comedy/variety show once a month at the Wonderland Ballroom in Columbia Heights called "Church Night" (visit their website here: www.churchnight.org). They're now planning to make a web series. So for the past two weekends, I've been part of the crew, helping to film the introduction of "Church Night TV."

It's been a lot of fun, but a lot of hard work (there are lights to move, sets to dress, and generally a lot of lifting and carrying). It's fun because we're filming some wacky scenes (and I love working with these guys), but it's been hard because my weekends have been spent moving Eric into the house, then I go straight from that to the film set.

And on top of it all, the weather was shitty this weekend. It was raining, snowing, and sleeting yesterday. And I was outside for a lot of the day, moving Eric's things, then walking to and from the film shoot at Wonderland. And somehow, a virus entered my body, and my body just didn't have the strength to fight it. I felt the sore throat on my walk home (in the rain) from the shoot at Wonderland last night. Then it just blew up over night.

So here I am. Sick at home. I slept most of the day. I've been drinking gallons of water (because I'm constantly parched). I ate waffles for breakfast/lunch (because they're easy and I'm weak). I took a long, hot bath. And I've been watching the movie "Julie & Julia" for the past hour (so inspiring!).

Oh, other important thing I did today - I signed up for Obamacare! I will have basic health insurance with Kaiser Permanente and basic dental insurance with Delta Dental. For this up-coming, next chapter in my life, I'm going to need non-employer-based healthcare, as I plan to have a much more freelance career in my future.

So maybe it was a blessing that Eric moved and the film shoot happened at the same time, all of it in shitty weather, so that I was destined to get sick, stay home, and get the health insurance I will need when I quit my job.

Today is the last day of March. April will be a very different month. April is the month that everything changes. Here's to April, and the next chapter of my life.

Night-night,
Leila

P.S. Did you know that you can watch all 10 episodes of "The Sherman House Webisodes" (plus extras!) for free at www.shwebisodes.com? Because you can :-)