I signed the lease today on my new one bedroom apartment with the ocean viws.

Lions and tigers and bears, OH MY! I'm scared.

Experts say moving is one of life's biggest traumatic events. I've been in my place for almost 8 years. I've been happy here for the most part, except for probably the last two years. Things just became progressively worse over the two years, and then circumstances lined up which made living here intolerable as well as impractical. I probably wouldn't have moved had it not been for the noisy neighbour upstairs and my needing to work at home.

I can see myself at the end of my life musing that the path and journey I took to get to my new apartment was fated to be. I was ready to make the change, but change is hard so life got in the way and forced me.

I know I am moving to a roomier and quieter place. I have parking, which is just unbelievable. Most apartments in SF don't come with parking, or landlords charge you extra for it. My parking was included as part of the rent. I am on the top floor of a two-story, four apartment building, so there are no apartments on either side of me and no need to worry about noisy neighbors except for the person below me. The place is carpeted, but I'm putting my own carpet in anway just to block noises coming from below my apartment.

I met my new neighbour who lives across the hall from me. He seemed a nice older man. He was wearing a puka shell necklace, which he told me he got as a present from a friend in Hawaii. Just seeing the puka shell necklace and hearing Hawaii mentioned made me think maybe this was a good sign that I had found a good place to live. I hope so.