Gee, where do I start? I am sitting in my new apartment in Palmyra, New Jersey, just a shout across the river from Philadelphia. It's a small apartment, in a small suburban downtown, on the same block with a police station, across from a fire station, one block down from a ball field, on a bus route, and right next to a train track which features twice daily freight trains. The building is old but well maintained, and the rent is cheap. The apartment is on the rather cool basement level, next to the storage and laundry rooms, and I have relatively quiet neighbors.

     I like it very much.

     About half my possessions got jettisoned during the move, which is a Very Good Thing. Everything fits, with a bit of room to spare, and Spodie and I are comfortable. What he loses in running space he gains in a kinetic view of the world outside, rich in sound as well as sight.

     Narice is no longer with me. It was not possible to bring her, and she went to the animal shelter. I'll probably write more about that later - it's a bit upsetting.

     Now I am roughly half an hour's drive from work, a third the previous commute, and there is so much more going on around here. I'm looking very forward to exploring.

     Across the street is a vacuum and sewing machine repair shop, and very soon I'll drop off my three year dysfunctional Singer for a fix up. Then I'll be able to make clothes that actually fit.

     Sometime this week, I'll go open a bank account that I can get to via internet, one with a teller card bearing a credit card logo, one that is open until eight most weekday evenings, and one with lots of local branches. Soon, I'll go to a credit consolidation company and start tidying up the mess that my finances are in.

     Things are coming together, and I feel stronger for all the adversity of the past year. It feels good to be making progress.