We moved from a 4 bedroom house into a two bedroom apartment when we moved from KS to PA. For the first 9 months or so we had a lot of our stuff kept in storage unit. However, it didn't take us long to realize how much money we were spending to store our stuff. So we sold alot. We put our practically new washer and dryer on Craigslist and sold it in two days. I had the mother of all garage sales and sold over $800 worth of stuff including a book shelf, patio furniture, end tables, coffee table, books, videos, kids clothes, toys, AND SO MUCH MORE. It was a great sale and it felt really good to get rid of stuff. We then took a bunch more stuff to good will.
In the basement of our apartment complex we have a storage area. It has a door on it and a lock (not that we ever lock it). It is not very big (compared to the unit we were renting) but it is nice to have. After all of our selling we managed to literally cram everything into this unit. However, it is tight. In fact it is impossible to get anything else into it or out of it because it is jammed packed from floor to ceiling. This drives me insane. Mostly because I can never find anything that I am needing/wanting and usually just have to forgo it but also because it is so packed some things have gotten broke. What is the point of having these things if I can't ever find or use them. What do you ask is in the storage unit? Our Christmas tree and decorations, the crib and dresser, Emily's toddler bed, a toy box full of crap, lots of kids clothes that are now to small, other holiday decorations, our China (from our wedding), my wedding dress (it is in a sealed box), other wedding stuff, a tub of maternity clothes, books (Bret's mostly classics and good books for our someday library), a gun cabinet (yes there are guns in it), poker table, card table, high chair, toys that we want to reuse someday with our other kids, luggage, camping stuff, and so much more I can't even begin to list it all.
So where do we go from here? Part of me wants to continue to get rid of everything and the other part says no just hang on to it. I wonder sometimes if I would really miss having the kids clothes when we have another child. I have gotten rid of so much and what I have kept I have let other people borrow. UGH!!
So last night I was frustrated because there were several things that I wanted and I knew that asking Bret for help was pointless. He hates going into that storage unit and refuses unless I beg, plead, cry, and threaten. So I decided to take on the unit and find 1) Easter decorations, eggs, and the kids' baskets, 2) My wedding stuff so I can have some things that I promised SIL she could borrow, and 3) the maternity tub and a kids outgrown clothes tub to add some things that people who borrowed had returned. I was also hoping to find my tostone board but that was hoping big.
It was a nightmare and although I was making my way through things at one point I had an avalanche and although nothing broke and I was ok...I was trapped. The poker table happened tipped over and I was behind it on the opposite side of the door. Then several boxes tipped over on top of that and literally I was trapped. The kids were playing outside with some of the neighbors and I knew that even if I sat there and yelled no one would ever hear me. I also didn't think I wanted them to come find me because it was a weird situation to be in. So I did what anyone else would do. I dug myself out of that hole and crawled out. This was the straw that broke the camels back. I am once and for all going to sort and organize that unit if it kills me. I used to be the person who hung on to everything well there is nothing like living in tiny living quarters to make you change that habit fast.
Showing posts with label apartment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label apartment. Show all posts
3.24.2009
12.15.2008
Wait it can't be Monday yet...
I still have so much to do. My weekends have not been what I have wanted/needed them to be. Bret has worked the last two weekends and works this upcoming weekend as well. I usually use my weekends to get the house clean, catch up on laundry, run errands, get groceries, etc, etc. This weekend just got away from me way to fast and my usually on top of it attitude was no where to be found. I realized Saturday was not going to be a productive day the moment my throbbing head reminded me that I don't recover quite so quickly from a "night out" the way it used to. Of course we had a birthday party to go to with a ton of kids running around and squealing with joy at having so much fun making me insane with a nasty hang over. The one good thing is that both of my kids were actually looking forward to nap time today because they too had stayed up late the night before and were wore out from running around at the bday party. So of course we all took a wonderful afternoon nap. We then took dinner to Bret at the hospital came home and went to bed.
Sunday continued to along the same path of unproductivity. Emily had her church's Christmas pageant and I have to say I was a little disappointed. The pageant was cute but Emily's class (pre-k) only rang bells as they came into the gym and then again when they left. THAT. WAS. IT. I was surprised b/c at that age they can learn a short song or saying or anything. So Bret, Palmer, and I sat for over an hour to see her ring a bell for 2 minutes. At least a 3 minute song would have felt worth it. At least she look cute in her adorable Christmas dress. After lunch I went running. Yes I said running. A good friend of mine was really into running and lost all of this weight as she training for a marathon last year. Since then she has sort of gotten out of the habit and the weight has crept back on. She is now starting her training for a half marathon and needed someone to go with. I have this rule with myself that if someone asks me to workout if it is at all possible I never say no. So thus I ran 4.2 miles in just under an hour and survived. I am not a runner. I am 5 ft tall and have never been "in shape" let alone capable of running but in the past year or so I have gradually worked my way into not hating working out. That is about the best I can say for exercise. Needless to say that upon my return home I found my kids have just fallen asleep and my post call husband heading for nap. Let's see take a nap with hubs or clean the house or do laundry.
It is not like our house is a dump or anything it just needed cleaned. I have about 5 loads of laundry to do and we need groceries. I hate having to try and catch up over the week. It just adds stress. Hubs know how crazy this drives me so last night he calmed me down by promising to pick up groceries on his way home and helping with cleaning while I tend to the laundry. This made me feel loads better but we shall see what actually gets accomplished. If there is one thing I have learned in our crazy life is that sometimes something has to give. Rather than it being my sanity, fun with the kids or hubs, I have learned that it is ok if there are dishes in the sink for a day, or that the vacuum can wait. So after my 3 mile run tonight we may or may not have clean socks to wear tomorrow and that is ok.
Sunday continued to along the same path of unproductivity. Emily had her church's Christmas pageant and I have to say I was a little disappointed. The pageant was cute but Emily's class (pre-k) only rang bells as they came into the gym and then again when they left. THAT. WAS. IT. I was surprised b/c at that age they can learn a short song or saying or anything. So Bret, Palmer, and I sat for over an hour to see her ring a bell for 2 minutes. At least a 3 minute song would have felt worth it. At least she look cute in her adorable Christmas dress. After lunch I went running. Yes I said running. A good friend of mine was really into running and lost all of this weight as she training for a marathon last year. Since then she has sort of gotten out of the habit and the weight has crept back on. She is now starting her training for a half marathon and needed someone to go with. I have this rule with myself that if someone asks me to workout if it is at all possible I never say no. So thus I ran 4.2 miles in just under an hour and survived. I am not a runner. I am 5 ft tall and have never been "in shape" let alone capable of running but in the past year or so I have gradually worked my way into not hating working out. That is about the best I can say for exercise. Needless to say that upon my return home I found my kids have just fallen asleep and my post call husband heading for nap. Let's see take a nap with hubs or clean the house or do laundry.
It is not like our house is a dump or anything it just needed cleaned. I have about 5 loads of laundry to do and we need groceries. I hate having to try and catch up over the week. It just adds stress. Hubs know how crazy this drives me so last night he calmed me down by promising to pick up groceries on his way home and helping with cleaning while I tend to the laundry. This made me feel loads better but we shall see what actually gets accomplished. If there is one thing I have learned in our crazy life is that sometimes something has to give. Rather than it being my sanity, fun with the kids or hubs, I have learned that it is ok if there are dishes in the sink for a day, or that the vacuum can wait. So after my 3 mile run tonight we may or may not have clean socks to wear tomorrow and that is ok.
12.11.2008
The heat is on
In our apartments we have radiator steam heat (yes they are over 100 years old). The good news is that we don't have to pay for our utilities but the bad is that steam heat is a hard thing to manage. It doesn't have a thermostat so you can just set the degree temp that you want and let it go. No instead you have these little knobs that you can turn up or down. Even when they are all the way off they are sometimes still warm. We have covers on everyone of them in the apartment so don't worry the kids are still safe. During this time of year where the weather is changing it is increasingly difficult to regulate the temperature in our house.
I am almost always warm. I prefer to sleep in a less than warm room with loads of blankets on top of me. I would rather wear a sweatshirt and slippers in a cool house than be sweating. I hate to be hot and my body temp is almost always a little warm. Bret is usually normal temp and doesn't get that hot or cold except at night. Unbeknownst to me I am told that I sometimes take more than my fair share of covers during the night. I have this little habit of tucking the covers and then rolling over so they are pulled away from my loving hubs. Bret is a very heavy sleeper and the one thing that has been able to disrupt this sleep is waking up in the middle of the night FREEZING with no covers in sight. Besides trying to find some extra covers he also usually turns the heat up in our room. An hour later I wake up SWEATING like crazy and realize that the room is way too warm even though by this point my socks are off and the covers are thrown back all before I wake up. Something I never really understood about radiators before we had them is that they are not gradual. They are cold, medium, or hot and they immediately get that way. If you are freezing cold in the middle of the night and half asleep you simply turn the heat up and whala the room is warm within a couple of minutes literally.
So here we are pissy with each other for waking the other up and now fighting with the heater and not getting any sleep. So rather than continue with this ridiculous fight I grabbed my pillow and favorite blanket and headed for living room and the best couch in the world and had a peaceful rest of the night in a nice cool room. Bret came out at the crazy early hour that he gets up and ready for work and tells me that I am the stubborn one. Needless to say we are going to have to have a lengthy discussion on how to "manage" the heat in our room tonight. My plan is to threaten to open a window if he touches the heater again. Or better yet maybe we can have separate blankets so I don't hog them. Ahh the joys of married life and living in a tiny old apartment.
I am almost always warm. I prefer to sleep in a less than warm room with loads of blankets on top of me. I would rather wear a sweatshirt and slippers in a cool house than be sweating. I hate to be hot and my body temp is almost always a little warm. Bret is usually normal temp and doesn't get that hot or cold except at night. Unbeknownst to me I am told that I sometimes take more than my fair share of covers during the night. I have this little habit of tucking the covers and then rolling over so they are pulled away from my loving hubs. Bret is a very heavy sleeper and the one thing that has been able to disrupt this sleep is waking up in the middle of the night FREEZING with no covers in sight. Besides trying to find some extra covers he also usually turns the heat up in our room. An hour later I wake up SWEATING like crazy and realize that the room is way too warm even though by this point my socks are off and the covers are thrown back all before I wake up. Something I never really understood about radiators before we had them is that they are not gradual. They are cold, medium, or hot and they immediately get that way. If you are freezing cold in the middle of the night and half asleep you simply turn the heat up and whala the room is warm within a couple of minutes literally.
So here we are pissy with each other for waking the other up and now fighting with the heater and not getting any sleep. So rather than continue with this ridiculous fight I grabbed my pillow and favorite blanket and headed for living room and the best couch in the world and had a peaceful rest of the night in a nice cool room. Bret came out at the crazy early hour that he gets up and ready for work and tells me that I am the stubborn one. Needless to say we are going to have to have a lengthy discussion on how to "manage" the heat in our room tonight. My plan is to threaten to open a window if he touches the heater again. Or better yet maybe we can have separate blankets so I don't hog them. Ahh the joys of married life and living in a tiny old apartment.
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