Shit Luck

Just when you think things can’t get worse…

So, after the burglary and the impromptu move, I was pretty sure that I had suffered my share of unfortunate events. I had gotten the internet set up in the new place, my room was almost in order, and Spliff would be moving in in just a few days. Things were looking way up.

And then on Wednesday, (the one year anniversary of the infamous car accident) I was getting my things together to leave work and wrapping up a phone call with an insane patient, when my cell started ringing. I listened to my voicemail and immediately, my heart sunk.

“Crystal. There’s an emergency. The apartment has burned.”

I know what you’re thinking. “There is no way.” But you would be wrong. It is quite possible for someone to be burglarized on Friday, have to spend all weekend packing and moving and then to have their apartment catch on fire 5 days later. I know this, because if it is going to happen to someone, it will happen to me.

Mrs. P drove me to the scorched apartment while I freaked out and demanded to know where Ernge was. No one knew. No one had seen him at all. I won’t go into the gory details, I’ll just get right down to the nitty gritty.

The apartment below me had caught fire around 3:30 on Wednesday afternoon.
There was no one inside. (Except Ernge.)
I arrived at around 5:30 to talk to police and firemen and landlords.
When I walked in, I went straight to a hiding place that JGJ had said Ernge had used when I was out one day, said his name, and heard an ever so soft, “Meeeow…” and I was able to get him out, calm him down and get the layer of black off of him.
The fire itself didn’t destroy anything of mine (at least, not that I have discovered so far) but the smoke may have ruined several articles of my clothing. I can’t be sure until I am unpacked.
My bedroom was destroyed and the edges of every room where stained with soot and the smell, I fear, will follow me in a black cloud.
I was homeless for three nights and staying in a hotel with JGJ, Pica, Ernge and Raphael. (Yes, my fish lived too.)
Spliff and I found an apartment on Friday, moved in yesterday and are currently enjoying our first morning in our much bigger, much more home-like sort of place (which is three doors down from Jess and 2 blocks from the water).
Ernge is fine. And loud as ever. He is having a little trouble adjusting to all the new places he has been lately, but I think that seeing that he has (in the past week) met a burglar, and been trapped in a fire, he is doing better than anyone could have guessed. Oh yeah, and he is my hero.
I am finally starting to feel like a human being again. I am able to wake up in my own bed, make coffee and start the blogging. In our “office”. Yeah, because I always wanted one, and now because I have shit luck, I have one!
The people at work have been very, very supportive. I have received checks and cash from my coworkers as well as prayers and well-wishes and phone calls and love. And I appreciate everything. It has been a tough time. Tougher than I thought I could take. But I made it. And provided that, in the last few days of Hurricane Season, one doesn’t come and knock my house down (knock on wood), I think things are right with the world now. Besides that, Spliff and I are roomies again!

So…now…the thank yous.

JGJ: You are simply the best boyfriend a girl could ask for. You have done so much for me and I can’t even begin to tell you how much it all means to me. Thank you for putting up with my attitude and frustration and fits of crying and for keeping me sane. And thank you for single-handedly making the world a more bearable place. I couldn’t have done it without you. Olive juice.

Spliff: Thank you for making it easier for me to laugh at this whole thing. If anyone can do that, it’s you. Because even though it was your apartment too, your not freaking out too badly and ability to make jokes, made me feel like the end of the crap was near and that soon, we would be right back where we started.

Spliff’s Parents: Thank you for being here to help me and Spliff settle in. She is lucky to have great people in her life. God knows, if it weren’t for my friends, I would be screwed.

Everyone who has called to check in or ANYTHING AT ALL: Please know that I am infinitely grateful for everything all of you have done. I am beside myself with gratitude and am amazed by the outpour of support I have received. I wish I could express how much it all means to me.

The fates: Thank you for (somewhat harshly) showing me that that last apartment was not for me. I would have been happy with a note, mind you. You didn’t have to set the damn thing on fire so that I not only spaz out for days, but think my cat is dead and have to buy a new wardrobe. But again, there are worse things than shopping. So…next time, if you need to tell me something, seriously, you can slip a note under my bedroom door. I don’t mind. It’s the one with the crazy parrot head hat on it.

To my new apartment: Thank you for being the best ever. Thank you for having three bedrooms but costing less than the (scorched) two bedroom that we just rented. Thank you for having a huge balcony and a backyard. Thank you for having 23 windows.

That’s all I have time for now folks. I have to, again, change my address and all that stupid shit that you have to do when you move twice in a week.