A Little Italy

My plans to move to a far away land have been temporarily delayed, or maybe forever delayed. I took the foreign service exam and then I did not pass. I have no idea why I didn't pass. They do not release your score. They just email a letter telling you know if you qualified for the next round of questioning. I felt as if I had passed the test, but apparently not. It's kind of mysterious. My friend, who passed the bar and is a lawyer, did not pass either, nor did someone else she knew. I guess it's more difficult than I thought. It didn't seem that difficult at the time. I am undecided about whether I will take it again. I wanted to be sent to Rome or just about anywhere in western Europe, preferably Rome.

This leaves me in Ann Arbor. Actually, this leaves me in Ypsilanti. : ( I have tried living in Ypsilanti and I just can't do it any longer. It's bad for my health. I don't care if rent is cheaper. I have to drive forever to do anything I like to do. I have to drive 10 miles to get decent coffee. I feel like I'm living in the middle of nowhere. And the distance from nowhere to somewhere is about 500 potholes and 15 lights. I also miss the luxuries which I believe are necessities: my own bathroom and a spacious walk-in closet....and vaulted ceilings, to be honest. Seriously, the acoustical effects in a room with vaulted ceilings are just so much nicer.

I never wanted to leave nice quiet gentrified and yuppified northeast Ann Arbor, but I definitely need a roommate to be able to afford to live there. I thought I'd never find someone in any short period of time, but the next day (the day following my official rejection letter), a friend of mine emailed me and asked if I knew of someone looking to move to that area. She even specified the specific apartment community that I wanted to live in. Long story short, I'm moving in a couple weeks to a wonderful new apartment with vaulted ceilings and I'm paying even less than I thought possible for an apartment like this. We picked the paint colors and the nice people will paint everything before we move in. Alexandria beige. Rosemary green. Amazon soil. I think my dream job would be to be the person who invents the names for paint colors.

I'm really looking forward to moving. My new roommate even has similar taste in decorating and she's planning a trip to Italy in February. I just might have to tag along. : ) I haven't been to Italy since something like 2003. It's time to go back. She specifically wants to go to Capri, which I love. I went there in 2000 and haven't been back since. And we are having a wine and cheese tasting party as soon as we get settled in.

I've moved so many times....it's exhausting. I wish I didn't have to move so often, but things happen. It would be nice to feel more settled. I think this next move will be the best situation yet.