Apartment Life

So I have lived in my apartment for approximately three weeks. It hardly seems like that long, but the stress of SOLs, exams, grades, moving and getting ready for Christmas cloud the time span.

(My couch covered in a tye dye sheet for now, boxes piled behind, but I did get my thimbles up) So what's it like? Well I like it. It is neat to have my own place with all my own junk. So far I have not minded being by myself or felt lonely. I haven't been bored (I have lots of stuff to do). I haven't really gotten a routine, but this time of year is not conducive to routine starting.

I live right down the street from the coffee shop, but I am trying (frugally) not to frequent it. On Christmas Eve I walked into every shop on Main Street wearing a Santa hat and my Rudolph fleece pants, just because I could and because I felt like it. This included visiting Chelsea and Raymond at the coffee shop. I only put the Santa hat on because my hair looked funny and I didn't feel like wetting it down. That and I had to go to the post office and people usually get cranky waiting in that long line, especially around the holidays.

My bedroom with the wood floors. I love this space despite some its built-in-the-1900s-drawbacks like old single paned windows that keep it cool. I do like that none of the floors are flat or straight. I like the old doors and doorways. I like the old wood floor, the rounded windows, and high ceilings. I even like the gray carpet. The tan walls are growing on me, despite the urge to cover them with art.

It is set up kind of funny so there are lots of doorways. I don't really shut any of the doors that way I can walk through the bathroom to get to my closet. Or walk through the closet to get to the kitchen or whatever. (This is the view from the closet looking through the pocket door into the bathroom and through the odd space where I have house my computer desk. The screen is turned because this is also my exercise space until my TV is delivered from friends. You can also see the door to the hall closet. )

There are labels on all the light switches because I am still trying to learn where and what they all are. A lot of the rooms have double light switches. That and I jump every time I accidentally turn on the garbage disposal instead of the light.

Here's a view of the kitchen from the living room. The kitchen is all moved in and organized in a way I like. I have baked and cooked and made some stuff... so the layout makes sense to me. I ran the dishwasher once (after putting practically everything I own dirty or not in it) and it ran forever. I just stopped it and then emptied it. Later I determined that the soap didn't even release... so I will continue to use the dish drainer. It's more practical for me anyway. The fridge was ghostly empty for a while, but I have put some stuff in there and spread it out so it looks fuller. No need to pack stuff well at this point.

Sometimes I can hear the creaking of the wood floors in the apartment next door. I have never heard anyone in the shops downstairs. I can hear people talking on the street, more noticeable at night, but so far I don't mind it (besides hearing that one guy puke his guts out on the sidewalk that one time and that was kind of amusing. I suppose if it was a regular occurrence I would complain). I don't even here the train anymore. Well I hear it, smile, and ignore it. The traffic on Main Street is a little more annoying. Between the noise of morning traffic and the light coming through the windows, it is impossible to sleep late. I suppose I should be getting up anyway.

I have too much stuff. I knew that already, but it is starting to annoy me - all the boxes laying around. I have pretty much filled the closet and the hall closet and reorganized them to stick more stuff in them. There is still some unused space, but it hard to get motivation to unpack some more. I do like that I can SEE all my clothes. My students noticed because I wore some things that I had not at the end of the year. I really do have a lot too many clothes...

But I cannot do much with all the boxes because I don't really have anywhere to put the rest of that stuff at this point. James has graciously built me a neat bookshelf out of reclaimed pine and a display out of wormy chestnut that will help a bit, but soon I am going to have to buckle down even more and go through and toss stuff. I have already made several trips to Goodwill, but more are the future.

If you noticed... I didn't even really show you the piles of labeled boxes... partly because they annoy me and partly because I am hiding the amount of floor covered in scrap booking stuff that I am also hiding. Back to work for me...