Gabi's House North

The story of 2007 begins with a move up north. It was an awkward time, as so many of my times have been in the past 34 years, but a growing and learning experience nevertheless. My scheme to move to Baltimore began innocently enough. I had planned to go work in the DC area as an environmental economist, or something similar, or whatever my strengths in the workplace would get me as far as a job. It was on my list of places to check out and then I started dating someone who wound up working in DC, so I figured, OK, this is where the Fates are pointing me to go.

By last September, it was pretty clear that my relationship with said boyfriend was swirling around at about toilet level. To summarize, we had some serious communication issues. We hadn’t lived in the same state since Jan. 2006. I won’t go into details but it’s enough to say, I wanted to see if there was a chance that we could make it through a tough time and the only way I’d find out is by going up there.

Of course, I had “Friend Insurance.” Hello, I’ve been single most of my life. I wouldn’t dare let my friendships fall by the wayside or move to a place with no friends in the vicinity when I suspect my love relationship might crumble like a year-old moldy cookie. I moved to a place where there were friends from my old job- namely Liz, Tina, Cooper, Lenny, and then the ones I met once I got there: Jason & Allison, Mike, Scott, Craig, Wayne, and his brother Glen- the last 3 on that list ran the neighborhood liquor store, which was a fine place to visit and convenient as there was no need to name a designated driver since we’d walk home. Conveniently, Liz lived 5 miles from the school I’d be attending (I was completing a bachelor’s in economics with an emphasis on environmental science) and let me live with her.
Therefore, without further ado, allow me to introduce Gabi’s House Baltimore, which I only inhabited for 5 months, but still, if we’re going to document 2007 we have to cover 3 houses and this is the first. In June all the trees were covered with leaves, flowers growing everywhere, and a screen on the front door.

At Liz’s house we had Codie the cat. I had a few names for him- specifically, Codie the Cowboy (because he kind of ambled instead of walked) and Codie Bear (because he always wanted to snuggle). Codie was there for me when my ex was being difficult and when we broke up- about 3 weeks after I arrived, and just before Valentine’s Day (of course). When the weather was cold and I was sad, Codie would come sit with me and be adorable and comfort me. What a sweet cat. He also had a sister, Dorrie, who was not really into snuggling. Every day, Liz would pick her up and she would struggle to get away. Liz would tell her, “But Dorrie, you love being held!” but it never seemed to convince her.

I was so lucky to have Liz around with all the excitement of the breakup and moving to a new place. She’d draw maps for me to help me get around town and even fixed my computer a few times! Also, there was the emotional support. We both had the goal of eventually leaving the area- she because she had a chance to move to the mountains, and hello! Of course she wanted to do that, and me because what was I going to be hanging around for? I could get a job anywhere now that the Ex-B had exited the stage, and I wasn’t wild about snow- so it was time to think about going south for the summer, or to the Pacific Northwest, where I’d tolerate snow just to be there, depending on who hired me. So we were both coming up with a Baltimore Exit Strategy, and it was good to have each other to talk things over with. Mine took about a week, as you’ll learn in the next installment of Gabi’s House- the Move Back to the Swamp.