I was away from the writing desk last week, taking the weekend to drive back down south to move my youngest back in for another year of college.  This time, it was a little different, as she was moving into her first apartment – off-campus (her university only guarantees on-campus housing for the freshman class).  As you can imagine, this took a little more planning and research, since her university is about twelve hours away (driving time) from our home.

The first thing to take care of was the apartment itself.  After much research, calls, and local visits, my sister-in-law found a perfect spot for our daughter, just a few blocks away from campus and right in the midst of all of the off-campus action.  She’s just two blocks away from the college strip (home to all of the restaurants and bars), three blocks away from the massive football stadium, and just another block over from the building where – as luck would have it – all of her classes are located this fall, so there was no need for a car (hallelujah).

It’s an older, one-story unit, in a part of town where new student apartment high-rises are slowly taking over, but it was clean and had just had a recent kitchen makeover, so it came with a fridge, microwave, electric stove/oven, dishwasher, and garbage disposal.  Not bad for a college pad.  Being older, though, has its advantages.  One, the square footage for this one-bedroom with a kitchen and bathroom was nearly double the size of the newer units – and about half the price.  Two, other parents I talked to were shocked, astounded, and a little miffed at what we were paying, while the students themselves were impressed by the amount of room to be found in the apartment itself.  Moral of that story?  It pays to look around (thank you, sis!).

Next was establishing utilities.  Unfortunately, water and electricity don’t come for free, and in this Southern state, no one under the age of 19 can set up their own accounts, so guess who got to do all of that leg work and set-up everything under his name?  Yeah, that would be me.  Ditto for internet services.

So with all of that prep complete, it was time to furnish the place.  We went the route of “used” whenever possible, but did have to buy a few things brand new.  Since we knew going in that the local market was going to be hammered of inventory for move-in, we opted to purchase some things here at home, which meant I then had to figure out how I was going to shlep all of this gear over 700 miles down the road.  Some friends graciously allowed me the use of their cleaning van for the weekend, so we packed it full of furniture, storage tubs, and suitcases, then hit the road early last Friday morning, arriving at our muggy and oppressively hot destination in the late afternoon.

Once the van was unloaded, we then had to go to the storage unit (where we kept things from last year’s dorm move-out), reload the van, and then hump that inventory back to the apartment.  The next two days were spent traveling all over town picking up final furnishings (like a desk, kitchen table, and a dresser), along with other odds and ends.  Do we have scissors?  Damn it, I have to go get some.  AA batteries?  Another Target run.  Then there was lots and lots of assembly (and cursing).  Thank goodness I had the foresight to bring along a bag full of tools for this very purpose.  This was followed by the initial grocery run, which if you’ve never done from scratch, is quite expensive.  We had to set her up with everything from salt and pepper to kitchen trash bags (as she had literally nothing).

I was also giving my youngest a crash course in basic apartment care throughout the weekend.  Refrigerator wasn’t working when we came in?  Just a flipped breaker.  Electric stove not working?  Just needs the heating elements to be re-seated.  Dishwasher?  Here’s how to run it.  A/C?  Set it to 73 – NOT 64 (as she did when we first walked in).  Garbage disposal?  Don’t throw bones down there.  I think she was a bit overwhelmed, but she’ll figure it all out with time (or a phone call).

So, over 1500 miles traveled in four days, 27 stops at various places in town (according to Google), and a lot of sweat and take-out food, but she’s finally all moved in – and couldn’t be happier.

The first apartment is a memorable one, and I think she’ll do just fine.

The funny part?  I get to do it all over again this week with my oldest, who’s also moving into her first apartment for her senior year at college.

I’m hoping that the CEO of VISA will give me a personal shout-out on the quarterly earnings report, as I think I may have melted my card from overuse.

Have a great week!