Memory Lane
I did good today. Now, Tami would get all over me for saying that because I used the word "good" and she says that if I imply something is good that is implying that there is a bad counterpart and she is trying to keep me from connecting the two. Chris does the same, yet doesn't call me out on it as much as Tami does. Anyways, I did good today.
Spent the day in Charleston. Had to go do some ASL website work with Robin on campus. It was a beautiful day and the sun was shining bright. I just kept reassuring myself that it was ok to enjoy it to the extent that I could. Before we headed to lunch we snapped some pictures in front of Old Main. This is a busy photo-op spot during graduation yet I never had my pix taken here. I decided today was the day.
I took a little trek around campus and town and snapped pictures of all the places I had lived. Ok, so I didn't get the trailer park I lived in when I first moved back in 98, as it is now a renovated modular home park and I didn't think taking a "I think my trailer was here" photo was worth it.
Carman Hall. I lived my freshman and sophomore years here. Very top floor of the left tower, 3rd window from the left. 1010 Carman Hall! We had so many people in the hall that they had to make the lounges on each floor into living quarters. Now, enrollment is down so much that Carman has been closed for 2 years. For my short stint as a junior, I lived over in Lincoln Hall, in the basement. I could have taken a photo of the window yet there is a big bush in front of it now. Yup, from the top floor to the basement.
It look pretty bad these days, yet after I left Harpster's, I lived in this old house. This was my favorite place I lived of all of them. Downstairs was made into two apartments and then the upstairs was all one apartment. I lived downstairs on the left. I loved having the porch and sat out on it many of nights. The left corner, it was kind of a "bay" area and I had this over-sized, big cushioned, swivel rocker (that I got at a rummage sale for $5) that sat perfectly in there. There were 3 large windows and you could sit there and just enjoy the sun.
My apartment was the original study and kitchen area. Basically 3 rooms in a row. The wall that divided the living room and the bedroom was painted black and then had bright neon colors that was like they dipped the brush lightly in the paint and then flicked it at the wall. It was really neat. I wish I would have taken a picture of that wall. There were a lot of good memories at this place and it was home to a lot of fun during my Erika days. I would get "evicted" ... as they didn't call it that, because the landlord's ex-wife got the house in their divorce and she wanted to move back in and she wanted the apartment that I was living in. I would pack up and go live the summer with my friends in Mattoon. That would be where Ali was continually on a contact high and, well, some moments in time really need to just be left in time.
After escaping Mattoon, I moved here...well, kind of. There used to be a trailer there...a really crappy one and so I am not surprised it is gone. The garage was really nice though, had the laundry room in a finished part of it. Even had its own bathroom out there. There were not as many good memories at this place. This is where I moved Nicole in with me after we started dating, this is where I would punch the concrete laundry line pole repeatedly, this is where I shut down and earned my week vacation on 4-west, and upon returning home (after kicking Nicole out), found out that she had fed a bunch of stories to my landlords (the Polish couple who lived next door) and I had 6 weeks to move out. So, hey, not sad to see that place gone!
Ah, the farm. Yes, I honestly lived on a farm, that was never an exaggeration or a made up story. When I lived there, the farm was actually twice this size. Soon after I moved out, the land was split and the east half was sold to be developed as a subdivision. Almost 14 years later, there is still only a few houses out there and all kinds of empty lots.
The farm looks good these days. I guess the current owners are descendants of the people who originally built the house 100+ years ago. The have done a lot of work to it and it looked great. I really wanted to drive up and take closer pictures, yet I didn't want to be intrusive...so I just played stalker from the end of the driveway and used my zoom lens.
Ali and I lived in the top of the old carriage house. It needed some major TLC and we did a lot of work to make it look nice and cozy. The owners of the property (who I knew) would generally rig things rather than fix or build them correctly and so there were some odd things that happened from time to time. Most were not a big deal, the Carbon Monoxide leak in the furnace did make for some excitement and a nice trip to the ER.
Ali ran loose on the farm while I worked and got in her fair share of mischief. Many times I would catch her and Brumby, the Australian Shepherd, sunbathing on the roof of the stables. Seems they have replaced the windows and upgraded the roof over the years, yet those two would get up in the hay loft, and crawl out the window onto the roof. Always an adventure at the farm!
Although not there anymore, as it burnt down a few years after I moved out, was the "party barn." It would have sat just in front of that tree (where a lovely pile of rubble is). The party barn was actually a small stable yet was used for different events like weddings, parties, and of course...the greek frat/sor barn dances. Myself, drunk Kathy, and many others were bouncers. Now, THERE were some fun memories! It also housed one of the top haunted houses in the area each year that I got to be a part of building and running.
Also missing now was the indoor riding arena that would have sat just behind the big barn. I wonder why it is gone, it was a pretty decent building. There would be nights that we had parties going in both buildings. Talk about insane.
As the owners got into financial issues (I think they were already in them, they just got deeper and deeper), they kept raising my rent until I was paying almost $400 a month for my 1.5 room studio. That didn't count the discount I got off my rent for working the parties. Yah, I decided it was time to leave.
The next 4 years would be spent here. Seems that whoever is living there now has some taste in cars....and satellite, that is new. Loved this little place. Two bedrooms, area in the back that I could fence off for Ali, quiet, awesome neighbors, and more. As I was trying to be sneaky and take pictures from the alleyway, I drove down far enough to see if I could get a peek at the back of the apartments. I did not take a photo, yet I was able to see that the dog door was still installed. Yah, I never asked permission to do that, I just chopped a hole in the screen door and put it in. I figured the worst case would be that I would have had to buy a new screen door. Whoever lives there now was probably thankful because I counted 3 dogs and a 4th that kept running in and out.
Before I went photo stalking my old residences, I spent some time out at Charleston Lake. I miss having a place like that to go up here. Yah, there is Kickapoo, yet there is not a place that compares. I sat and listened to the water break across the spillway while the sun shined down. I just took time to ponder and think about things and write Chris an email. I really didn't want to leave.
So, yes, I did good today. I did my best to stay positive, to find things to enjoy, and to not be hard on myself. Of course, since I have to do a training tomorrow and had not even started on anything, I spent the majority of the evening at my office getting stuff put together. That is ok because I got it done and I am ready to go for tomorrow. For now though, it's creeping slowly up on midnight. I am tired and I am ready to call it a day...a good day. Yes, there is some worry of which day in the future is going to balance it out, yet I will deal with that tomorrow.
I took a little trek around campus and town and snapped pictures of all the places I had lived. Ok, so I didn't get the trailer park I lived in when I first moved back in 98, as it is now a renovated modular home park and I didn't think taking a "I think my trailer was here" photo was worth it.
Carman Hall. I lived my freshman and sophomore years here. Very top floor of the left tower, 3rd window from the left. 1010 Carman Hall! We had so many people in the hall that they had to make the lounges on each floor into living quarters. Now, enrollment is down so much that Carman has been closed for 2 years. For my short stint as a junior, I lived over in Lincoln Hall, in the basement. I could have taken a photo of the window yet there is a big bush in front of it now. Yup, from the top floor to the basement.
It look pretty bad these days, yet after I left Harpster's, I lived in this old house. This was my favorite place I lived of all of them. Downstairs was made into two apartments and then the upstairs was all one apartment. I lived downstairs on the left. I loved having the porch and sat out on it many of nights. The left corner, it was kind of a "bay" area and I had this over-sized, big cushioned, swivel rocker (that I got at a rummage sale for $5) that sat perfectly in there. There were 3 large windows and you could sit there and just enjoy the sun.
My apartment was the original study and kitchen area. Basically 3 rooms in a row. The wall that divided the living room and the bedroom was painted black and then had bright neon colors that was like they dipped the brush lightly in the paint and then flicked it at the wall. It was really neat. I wish I would have taken a picture of that wall. There were a lot of good memories at this place and it was home to a lot of fun during my Erika days. I would get "evicted" ... as they didn't call it that, because the landlord's ex-wife got the house in their divorce and she wanted to move back in and she wanted the apartment that I was living in. I would pack up and go live the summer with my friends in Mattoon. That would be where Ali was continually on a contact high and, well, some moments in time really need to just be left in time.
After escaping Mattoon, I moved here...well, kind of. There used to be a trailer there...a really crappy one and so I am not surprised it is gone. The garage was really nice though, had the laundry room in a finished part of it. Even had its own bathroom out there. There were not as many good memories at this place. This is where I moved Nicole in with me after we started dating, this is where I would punch the concrete laundry line pole repeatedly, this is where I shut down and earned my week vacation on 4-west, and upon returning home (after kicking Nicole out), found out that she had fed a bunch of stories to my landlords (the Polish couple who lived next door) and I had 6 weeks to move out. So, hey, not sad to see that place gone!
The farm looks good these days. I guess the current owners are descendants of the people who originally built the house 100+ years ago. The have done a lot of work to it and it looked great. I really wanted to drive up and take closer pictures, yet I didn't want to be intrusive...so I just played stalker from the end of the driveway and used my zoom lens.Ali and I lived in the top of the old carriage house. It needed some major TLC and we did a lot of work to make it look nice and cozy. The owners of the property (who I knew) would generally rig things rather than fix or build them correctly and so there were some odd things that happened from time to time. Most were not a big deal, the Carbon Monoxide leak in the furnace did make for some excitement and a nice trip to the ER.Ali ran loose on the farm while I worked and got in her fair share of mischief. Many times I would catch her and Brumby, the Australian Shepherd, sunbathing on the roof of the stables. Seems they have replaced the windows and upgraded the roof over the years, yet those two would get up in the hay loft, and crawl out the window onto the roof. Always an adventure at the farm!
Although not there anymore, as it burnt down a few years after I moved out, was the "party barn." It would have sat just in front of that tree (where a lovely pile of rubble is). The party barn was actually a small stable yet was used for different events like weddings, parties, and of course...the greek frat/sor barn dances. Myself, drunk Kathy, and many others were bouncers. Now, THERE were some fun memories! It also housed one of the top haunted houses in the area each year that I got to be a part of building and running.Also missing now was the indoor riding arena that would have sat just behind the big barn. I wonder why it is gone, it was a pretty decent building. There would be nights that we had parties going in both buildings. Talk about insane.
As the owners got into financial issues (I think they were already in them, they just got deeper and deeper), they kept raising my rent until I was paying almost $400 a month for my 1.5 room studio. That didn't count the discount I got off my rent for working the parties. Yah, I decided it was time to leave.
The next 4 years would be spent here. Seems that whoever is living there now has some taste in cars....and satellite, that is new. Loved this little place. Two bedrooms, area in the back that I could fence off for Ali, quiet, awesome neighbors, and more. As I was trying to be sneaky and take pictures from the alleyway, I drove down far enough to see if I could get a peek at the back of the apartments. I did not take a photo, yet I was able to see that the dog door was still installed. Yah, I never asked permission to do that, I just chopped a hole in the screen door and put it in. I figured the worst case would be that I would have had to buy a new screen door. Whoever lives there now was probably thankful because I counted 3 dogs and a 4th that kept running in and out.
Before I went photo stalking my old residences, I spent some time out at Charleston Lake. I miss having a place like that to go up here. Yah, there is Kickapoo, yet there is not a place that compares. I sat and listened to the water break across the spillway while the sun shined down. I just took time to ponder and think about things and write Chris an email. I really didn't want to leave.
So, yes, I did good today. I did my best to stay positive, to find things to enjoy, and to not be hard on myself. Of course, since I have to do a training tomorrow and had not even started on anything, I spent the majority of the evening at my office getting stuff put together. That is ok because I got it done and I am ready to go for tomorrow. For now though, it's creeping slowly up on midnight. I am tired and I am ready to call it a day...a good day. Yes, there is some worry of which day in the future is going to balance it out, yet I will deal with that tomorrow.