Apartment Living Week One

Just over one week ago we closed on the house we had been living in for the last four years. When we first bought that house we thought we would be living there pretty much for the rest of our lives. Then the house started to need unexpected repairs and we were sinking a ton of money into it. And then our neighbors started to annoy us, especially the ones that would have expletive laced fights on their front porch and the others that yelled at us for parking in front of our own house (which was across from their driveway - ridiculous).

Last year an opportunity to build our dream house landed in our lap so we took it - but said house is not scheduled to be finished until October. Thinking it would take a couple months to sell our house, we put it on the market in late May. To our great surprise we had two offers within 24 hours of listing the house, which is why today I write to you from the corner of a dark living room in a little apartment, which will serve as our home until the house is finished. 

Ok, that is kind of an exaggeration. The apartment is nice. It is much nicer than all the rodent infested 200 year old buildings I have lived in before in the city! The girls each have their own bedrooms, which is a blessing, and there is a decent amount of living space. This whole situation works though because I would say 80% of our personal items are now in storage. We only brought with us minimal furniture and about two boxes each full of clothes, and you know what? That is all we really need! It is amazing how much junk you accumulate over the years that you think you need, but now that it is out of sight it is totally out of mind. 

I could get used to living in close quarters with my family. I bought one of those old lady metal shopping carts (like I used to have in the city) so that I don't have to make multiple trips up the elevator from the garage after shopping. If anything breaks I can just call someone to come fix it. There is a little playground on the property for the kids, and they even have a swimming pool! It's like we are living in a hotel, without the housekeeping and room service. It is not too shabby!

The things I am not loving about apartment living are the following: 

- Having to take my dog out throughout the day. I got used to having a backyard at the house and being able to let her out to pee when she needed too. Now I have to leash her up, and actually take her for a walk. 

- Hearing my upstairs neighbors have sex. Yes, this happens. 

- Hearing the doors in adjacent apartments open and close. 

- Having to lug my trash to the trash room which is about 1/4 mile away from our unit (at least it feels that far)

- Trying to keep the dog and the kids quiet so that we don't get kicked out because we don't have anywhere else to go right now!

Other than that, life is great here in Hotel Mama J. Oh except for the fact that my contractor hasn't called me back in a week and we are so far off our schedule that we might be living in this apartment longer than expected!! That drama I will save for another post...