So, back in April 2025, I posted my third most viewed blog of the year about moving to a new apartment in Decatur. (“Blessed and Thankful For Many Things”, which was a travelogue and being fortunate to travel so much, is the most viewed. “You CAN Go Home Again” is now the second most viewed.)
I’m glad I’m a much better weather forecaster than a psychic when it comes to predicting my future.
God and the cosmos laughed about two things I wrote in the April blog: “My new work contract runs through April 2028 and I hope to stay another 18-24 months after that and then consider retirement.” and “So, I hope I love the new place and we don’t move again until Miss Xanadu and I ride off into the sunset!”.
As many of you know by now, I’m no longer at WAND and Central Illinois. And, I didn’t love the new place and would’ve moved at the end of my lease in February 2026 anyway.
The apartment, which had a balcony the lime tree and tropical plants loved, was sun-facing most of the day with no shade. With the relentless heat wave, my apartment stayed in the low-to-mid-80s all summer long because the cooling system couldn’t keep up!
I’m now back in the Quad Cities, where I spent 11.5 years from Thanksgiving 2005 through May 2017.
I’m the “new” “old” morning meteorologist and co-host at WHBF, the CBS affiliate, where I worked for four years from 2013-2017. I’ll spare you the drama of why I left Central Illinois in this blog because I posted that on November 21st in the aforementioned entry, “You CAN Go Home Again”, which you can read by clicking here:
https://anthonypeoples.wordpress.com/2025/11/21/you-can-go-home-again/
After getting the new job, I came back to the Quad Cities in late-September to look at apartments and one house. I used a company that’s been around since 2012, but many of the properties I looked at were recently acquired.
None of the pictures posted on the website looked like the dwellings in real life. Like some people on apps, the photos were many years old (and probably many tenants ago).
Of the eleven apartments (mostly in Moline and Davenport) and one house (which should be condemned and torn down) I saw, only one didn’t have a big “X” in my notes, so I took it.
I’m betting that when the apartment complex was built in the 1970s, it was upscale. However, the wear and tear and lack of pride from tenants has taken its toll.
The building seems sketchy, but luckily we’re at the far end and I don’t have to visit the rest of it except to get my mail. I have no plans to do laundry here and I’ve already found a laundromat!
The neighborhood is nice and Xanadu loves walking and exploring with sidewalks. There were no sidewalks where we last lived.
Once I got into the apartment, I realized it was much more spacious than I remembered. And, the views are incredible.
This is from one living room window (and the window views from the bedrooms) when we moved in in early November.
The other windows in the living room and the dining room have some evening sunshine and the views are also wooded!
Since we moved in at the beginning of November, it was time to decorate for Christmas! That was a week late for me since I usually have my decorations up three months from November 1st through January 30th!
Xanadu didn’t help with the decorating (actually she did by supervising when she wasn’t sleeping)…
but, she definitely took part in the spiked Egg Nog!
Who knows? Maybe this year, I’ll leave the tree up until March 1st! 🙂
I already know what I’m doing with that window when it comes down. I’m going to buy four matching planters and have an herb garden in the window!
To have fresh basil at my fingertips or just to have it on my fingertips sounds splendid!
Now, I want to share a few quick stories about the move — some funny and some scary that turned out okay!
While I’ve moved many times, I’ve always hating transporting my car behind a big truck. I ordered a 20-foot U-Haul since I was getting rid of my sectional sofa and only had one mattress and boxed springs to take.
They called and said I had to take a 26-foot truck since they only had 20-foot ones for local use! While I understand their logic of making more money by keeping the local trucks and renting them by the day, it’s just stupid. Truck drivers go to school to drive 26-foot trucks and U-Haul just signs them over to the general public!
I paid for extra insurance to have one of their people put my car on the tow dolly since they’re “professionals”! When I got to Moline, hours later, this is how I found the front passenger tire!
Luckily, it stayed on the tow dolly and didn’t fly off and kill anyone!
This is my honest reaction to this horrible overall U-Haul experience.
We made it safely and the next day, I got everything inside.
Oh, the local moving company forgot to book me for that morning even though they took my down payment/deposit. They arrived over an hour late after I’d already moved a lot of my boxes and stuff up to the second floor. No, they didn’t offer any discount for the inconvenience.
BREAKAGE
Considering I had a larger than life U-Haul truck and not enough stuff to fill it, I only ended up breaking two things: my garden pasta bowl and the handle on a Christmas mug (I’m still using it for the holidays even without a handle!) 🙂
And, there was a chip on one of the lamp globes.
I actually broke more packing in Decatur.
UNPACKING…
Now that I was in the apartment, it was time to start sorting boxes, setting things up, and putting things away.
It’s incredible how many times I moved boxes from one place to another looking for something and then having to move them again to find something else!
At first, I couldn’t find the sheets I took off our bed in Decatur because I was going to put them back on since I just washed them.
Then, I was distressed because I had just bought 200 stamps before the price went up again — a $146 purchase.
But, I did come across this. Didn’t even know I had it!
Finally, I found the sheets and the stamps!
In the spare bedroom, I set up my CD and movie shelf and then my bookshelf. As I was sitting on the floor putting my ties in the closet, I heard a huge crash behind me!
Luckily, the bookshelves missed me and Xanadu and it didn’t take long to set it back up and finish the room!
WHAT TO EAT!
Many times when I move, I pick up a rotisserie chicken, crusty bread, and wine and that sustains me for days.
Here, my first meal was one of those pre-prepared food dishes you order online. It was Smoky Gouda Chicken with Roasted Red Potatoes & Parmesan Green Beans. Two were given to me by a former neighbor and my sister gave me one. (I added the salad, bread, and wine!)
Those were my meals the first week.
Our first weekend here was cold, so I made a pot of vegetable soup in the Crock Pot and the second week, I baked chicken thighs, made a pot roast with butternut squash, potatoes, and onions, and made a boxed Almond Cake with Caramel Latte frosting.
NEW BEGINNINGS
With the move, I treated myself to a new couch and chair for the living room.
ENTER “EXHIBIT LR 1.0”!
I loved the sectional I bought back in 2018 when I moved to Duluth, Minnesota, but after seven years and four homes, it was time to retire it — especially after the drama of getting it in and out of the last apartment, where it would only fit in one cramped space!
Thankfully, the couch arrived a few days after I bought it (my first weekend in town), but the chair didn’t arrive until this Wednesday!
Xanadu immediately claimed it as hers!
ENTER “EXHIBIT LR 2.0”
Once the couch arrived, it bothered me that I couldn’t watch TV and see the Christmas tree at the same time. You know me well enough that that was a total buzz kill! Once I get a thought in my mind, I might as well do it because I’m going to obsess over it.
So, Sunday afternoon, I moved the couch, the coffee table, three lamps, and two pieces of wall décor.
And, I have to say I love the new more spacious set-up — I can see television and the Christmas tree and I can move around in the living room.
Thoughts — LR 1.0 or LR 2.0?
DECORATING
Decorating is taking forever for a couple of reasons — waiting on the chair and there were many things I wanted maintenance to repair or replace and they did a great job.
NEW FRIENDS & NEIGHBORS
The first person I recognized on my return was Kyle Kiel, a meteorologist at one of the other Quad Cities stations. He actually worked with me at WHBF during my first time at the station (2013-2015).
On a solo walk while Xanadu was napping one day, I met Phineas, a fawn pug, and his human, Leslie. A few days later, Xanadu and I were walking and I looked up at a window and there was Phin. Leslie invited us into their fenced yard and the rest is history.
Xanadu and Phin are besties now and she even met his brother, George, and is going to their 4th birthday party this weekend!
PROGRESSIVE NEIGHBORHOOD
One thing I realized the first time I moved to the Quad Cities was how progressive it was. I didn’t know what to expect moving to the Midwestern Corn Belt.
Upon moving back, it’s so refreshing to see Pride flags in different iterations and signs promoting inclusivity!
We need more tolerance and love in this country and world!
FIRST HOLIDAY IN THE QUAD CITIES
I worked Thanksgiving morning, but came home and cooked myself a feast. Miss Xanadu even dressed up for the occasion and enjoyed a sample of veggies.
WHITE TRASH DRESSER
Now that I’m in, I definitely need to treat myself to a new dresser.
I had my old one since 2009 and it finally fell apart as I was packing the truck in Decatur.
In case this apartment turns out to be like the last one — unbearable once summer arrives and I have to move again (God forbid!), I didn’t want to get rid of too many of my boxes.
However, I didn’t want to look at them all the time in the spare bedroom.
So, I got creative. I have the empty ones stored away in the closet and I’m using them as a makeshift dresser for now. 🙂
Some may say “I MacGyvered it”. I say, “I white trashed it”!
Thank you for coming along for the ride and for visiting our new place.
Anthony
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