10 years, 7 moves!

This is a little off topic, but with the house closing today I've been doing a little thinking about the notion of "home" (can you guess the musical cue?)...  In particular, I started thinking about the number of different places I've lived--and the number of different places from/to which I've moved! For my last post from 72 Union, I want to turn back the clock: the moves of the past ten years.

#1: From Seduva to Bloomington, 1998 Leaving Lithuania after 1 1/2 years as an English teacher, and starting my Ph.D. program in Indiana. I moved from the bendrabutis across from the high school to a garage apartment walking distance from the university.  I hauled back my life from Europe and set up shop again in the Midwestern USA.  Loreta & I were married during the tenure at North Lincoln (yes, she sobbed seeing the sight of this place, and there were not tears of joy, I assure you).

#2: From North Lincoln to Orchard Glenn, 2000 Our lease ran out Summer 2000, and we had a fellowship in Lithuania after I passed exams.  The net result was some vagrancy (cat sitting!  Lois' basement!) that got us to a place on Bloomie's west side for a few months.  We managed to squirrel away some stuff at Loreta & Vit's until returning from LT.

#3: From Orchard Glenn to Vilnius, 2000 I think I had additional stuff stored in my departmental office (books and such), as we went for about nine months to live a charmed life walking distance from Old Town.  We may never live this rich again.  We lived pretty minimally, although the apartment we rented was furnished.  We blew out the Belorussian stove almost immediately, thus eating a lot of boiled stuff that year.

#4: From Vilnius to Bloomington, 2001 Back to Bloomie only weeks before 9/11--the culture shock was big enough before Sept. 11, thanks.  Two years on South Lincoln, blocks from Loreta's work, and an easy bike ride for me to school.  This place had some interesting storage nooks, which got the best of us soon enough.  I did follow-up research in LT in Summer 2002, and it was so hot that Loreta swore we were outta there once the lease was up .

#5: From South Lincoln to Steeplechase, 2003 Air conditioning!  A pool!  (After our car got dinged, and we raised hell) a garage!  The only way we could make this really work was with the aforementioned car, although we did our share of public transportation from South Sare Road as well.  We actually lived there longer than anywhere else, other than our parents' homes, come to think of it.

#6: From Bloomington to Bridgewater, 2006 Dissertation defended!  My brother and Loreta's sister get married (not to each other)!  First trip to LT in years!  A bona fide professorship!  2006 was awfully good to us.  This was a hair-raising move, though--we contracted with a truck to drive our stuff across the country, but first the truck had to be able to park.  I wonder how the new saplings and lawn are doing there at Steeplechase.  IU buddies helped us out the door, and IU buddies helped us unpack in Massachusetts.  Hoosier pride!

#7: From Bridgewater to Sandwich, 2008 So today we're signing papers on our new house, and tomorrow we're moving in.  This time around we're driving ourselves, although it's more than an in-town move.  And this time we've got BSC buddies pitching in, for which we're eternally grateful.  As I look around: bags and boxes.  And more boxes.  And chairs from Indiana that Loreta bought down the road--go figure.  

We're hoping it will be some time before I feel the need to write a "moving post."  Cue cheesy Motley Crue!