No, I'm neither pregnant nor planning my wedding, and I've also not bought another cat (or a flightless bird, for that matter) - I'm going to move within the next month.

My current landlord is happy to be paid rent, but entirely unwilling to actually do something for his tenants unless they remind him of it at least three times (the last time announcing to curtail the rent). He always promises to attend to their complaints (like, say, pay for the electric power consumption of the industrial dehumidifier that ran in my apartment for two weeks after my apartment was flooded in August due to the stupidity of the tenant one floor up), but then simply waits for the problems to disappear over time, and I've. Had. It.

Plus, the bar on the ground floor regularly stinks up my bedroom with huge clouds of cigarette smoke wafting up through their ceiling (which happens to be my floor).

I simply couldn't stand it any longer. One week ago, I sat on my bed, close to tears, and resolved to move so I could sleep again without almost suffocating over night.

I spent the last week squeezing as many apartment showings as possible around my workday (I must have seen 10 to 15, and I'm so fed up with it all), but hello! miracle! on Friday I actually found the apartment I wanted. I can't sign the lease agreement until the beginning of next week, but it's as good as a done deal.

I'll get the keys at the end of next week, although the lease won't start officially before January.

Due to almost everyone going home to their families for the Christmas holidays, I've decided to move on the first Saturday in January - 03 Jan 2009. The Stammtisch group has promised to help (hey, we're almost professionals at it by now!), and I've got to start organizing transport, packaging material etc. Oh joy.

Anyway, new apartment! Pretty new apartment! Pretty new apartment only 5 kilometers away and much, much closer to work!

:::knocks on wood:::

I won't take a deep breath until the lease agreement is signed. Oh boy.