We are now in our fourth week of exile. Yes. Four. Three full weeks plus three additional days.

Last week, while I was in California on a business trip, Erik and I received another update on the status of our apartment situation. In the memo, our management told us that they hoped we would be back in our apartment by mid-to-end of next week (meaning this week). It’s now Wednesday and we haven’t heard a peep since then, so I’m trying to not get too hopeful.

Living in a hotel has been an interesting experience. For the most part, it’s been fine, but it’s hard to stay organized with all the mail and papers we seem to be collecting. Eating out for every meal has wrecked havoc on both my weight and my blood sugars, and I can’t tell you how hard that is on my body. Our bathroom is one tiny sink, with no cabinets, so all of our stuff is pretty much strewn every which way. I haven’t been in our apartment in almost two weeks, when I went with Erik to pick up some extra clothes. He has gone a couple other times to pick up a few items. But we’re only allowed in the apartment for a few minutes at a time. When I was there, the whole apartment smelled awful, from the oil spill in our basement. Erik said that when he was there on Saturday, our bedroom still smelled like oil (probably from the heater in our room) but the rest of the apartment was okay.

What’s ironic is that I’ll be out of the apartment for much of October as well!

• The first weekend, Erik and I are planning on going to Vermont to do some leaf-peeping (you can’t beat the colors in New England).
• Then next weekend, we are heading to Kansas City for Simonpalooza. This is a huge diabetes meet-up that is taking place all because some Australian guy is coming to America. Diabetics will use pretty much any excuse to get together. If you’re in the area, you should come!
• The third weekend of October, I am flying to San Diego (my 7th cross-country trip this year – gah!) for a business trip. I’m attending a diabetes TED event called TEDxDelMar (TED titles are based on their location, not on the topic). Instead of staying in a hotel near the venue, I’ll be renting a car and staying with my grandmother. Even though I did see her in July, things were crazy busy with the wedding, so I’m looking forward to a chance to spend some quality grandmother-grandaughter time together.
• The fourth weekend, we’re planning on hitting up Salem, Mass. It’s Halloween Mecca and I’ve never actually been to Salem during the holiday season! We figured it’s about time.

Whew!

I had all these plans to redecorate our bedroom once we calmed down from the wedding crazyness, but I haven’t been given a chance since we’ve been living in exile. I’m not sure I’ll get much, if anything, done in October. Although I’m thinking that since I won’t get started until November, some of the holiday sales might help me out. Always gotta make that lemonade!