So, basically between my stash, the house stash, and the food my friend gave me when she moved, we may never have to buy rice, olive oil, teriyaki sauce or fake butter again!

Last night I ask my main housemate, who I will call, Hades, "So what's the scoop on shared household supplies like toilet paper?" 

"Oh, every so often my mom will make a Costco run and ask me if I need anything. She comes back with these massive packages of toilet paper and paper towels. No one in this house has had to buy toilet paper in like, the last 4 years."

 So my rent includes utilities, internet, cable, parking space, washer & dryer AND toilet paper? Boo yah! 
And crazy ex landlady with her ramshackle slum where you never knew what insane amount you'd be asked to pay to subsidize their "music" said we shouldn't complain because we were getting such a sweet deal? The deal where her homies could come and use our toilet paper anytime she passed them a key? 

Honey put the crack pipe down. This is a sweet deal!

My day so far.

• Wake up ridiculously early to the neighborhood chorus of birds, dogs and train whistles commanded by the rooster maestro! 
• First morning tinkle in new place. Aaah.
• Back to sleep for a few hours.
• Wake up cause it's hot.
• Go downstairs take out recycling with roommate. Ask if I can mooch some coffee because I have not brought my coffee or coffee maker over yet. There are 2 coffee making devices. Can't use one because there are no filters. Can't use the Keurig because "I have to throw that out. I dropped rice in it and can't figure out how to get it out." *Note to self: Another reason to hate these stupid machines!
• Settle for tea, English Breakfast with half & half. Yes!
• Go upstairs to hang with the kitty, drink my tea and eat a bowl of yogurt with granola and a giant peach sliced and juicy!
• Hear my name.
• It's our lovely landlady who has stopped by to see her son, pick some kale from the garden (Did I mention we have a kick ass garden?), and make sure I like Cameron, our newest roommate. She's adorable and SANE! 
• Now to get on with the unloading of the car, running a couple of errands then back to Alameda to finish cleaning and emptying my friend's apartment. It's going to be a long and busy day during which my kitty will get to sleep through most of it, assuming she gets used to the rooster who either doesn't tell time well or more likely just has a lot of testosterone. Rooster #2 only seems to make a ruckus in the morning. Farm sounds in the city. Huzzah!

Gas is generally cheaper here!I am in the gas line of despair at Safeway. What one must endure to save 10-20cents per gallon! I remember lines like this, well a bit worse, during the gas crisis in the 70's when I was little!

Wow! I am actually sitting on my own bed.

First night in ze new digs! And it's a hot one! So happy I can open my windows! 

One more trip back to Alameda tomorrow and another to Oakland, July 4th weekend but finally I am here! Huzzah! 

We haz a full house tonight. All the roomies plus the girlfriend of awesome!

*note, this is not MY girlfriend of awesome in case y'all is having some fantasies right now.

It's a warm night for sure. THE KITTY is hot. She is stretched out as long as she can make herself, on the bed sleeping. 
Mommy actually feels like she could sleep but it is too hot still. 
We're both going to need to do some settling in.

THE KITTY has just heard and smelled THE DOGGY through the door. She is cool with that but then she hears the stomp, stomp of the MENZ coming up the stairs to their rooms and she is not sure if she wants to go under the bed or not. 

Pretty soon she won't even twitch an ear at these noises. 

It's going to be entertaining when she hears THE ROOSTER!

 Warm night! 
Shorty Pajamas it is!
Cuz with 2 male roomies it's probably wiser than No Pajamas!

1) Like me, can't stand liars.

2) So tall, no need for stepladders.

3) His mom just sent him home with homemade tamales

4) He just thanked me for fixing the latch on the back door.

5) He is totally game for throwing my art on the living room walls and doing some cool projects around here. Our kitchen is going to be amazing..

6) And the icing on the cake? He plays a game called SMITE and he is Hades!

It must be late Friday night.

As the sounds from the bars in the neighborhood I am housesitting in die down it's getting peaceful. 

Earlier tonight as I left the place I will be living I realized that it really is an insulated bubble with houses buffering my house on all sides. Way up on the main street I hear the sound of dogs going wild followed by shouting. It's not just a couple of dogs and it sounds like a crowd! I actually wondered for a moment if it was a dog fighting scenario. Within minutes I heard sirens, lots of them. As I pulled out of the neighborhood it looked like every cruiser in town was there lights flashing. There were a lot of people milling around and a lot of cops. First excitement in the new hood and I'm not even living there yet!

When I moved from Fresno to the bay area I left behind a few people that I adore but I've never regretted leaving the central valley. 
I suspect that I am going to look back and see leaving Oakland as one of the best choices I've ever made. 
I will miss a couple of special places and some dear people, but I don't think I am going to miss Oakland or even the surrounding communities. 
I am so delighted about the changes in my life!

After a brief trip up to sort and unpack some things I realized I was hungry so I drove around until I discovered a Chinese restaurant that looked busy. I stuck my nose in and it smelled good so it's my first official take out in the new hometown. 

I mean spicy peanut butter won ton? Not passing that up!

While I'm waiting for my food I notice:

There's a giant lucky cat and a big fat Buddha on the counter. The Buddha has a pyramid of grapefruits so fat and round that they come all the way up to his big Buddha belly. The plates of food are huge and the wait staff is tiny. Little short people zipping around with mass quantities of steaming, delicious smelling food! It's mighty impressive to watch. Chinese food on a Texan scale of BIG!

VERDICT: Spicy Peanut Butter Won Ton is made of YUM!

I paid my first month's rent today and made it official!

I can honestly say I think I adore my new landlady. And I don't see that as likely to change. 
No slum here. In fact, it's a nice, well maintained, safe place. 
Reasonable rent for a fair price. 
No bizarre wildly fluctuating utility bills. No crazy people or druggies. 
In fact sane, likeable landlords and housemates. 
No sign of a mood swing in sight.
 Woot! I cannot wait to start living here!

While housesitting in an area I had always thought of as a boring place I wouldn't want to live I discovered, hey there's much to like about this area. I found a craigslist ad and went through an amusing text exchange. It seemed unlikely to work out but I took a gander at the place anyway. A magical hidden treasure, lovely owners, terrific housemates. I pay my first month's rent and a partial deposit on June 10th. I probably won't start living there until the end of June. When I pay my money, then I will breath a huge sigh of relief!