Confessions from a Sticks and Bricks 

That last post I wrote was pretty lame: all the what and whens and none of the feelings behind our current transition. Here goes my attempt at getting back to my regular, emotionally driven writing style.  Gee, aren’t you excited?

You Can Now Buy Our Airstream

I found it listed on Cofax, and what a bare listing it is, indeed.  The year and model and a few photos, but nothing about the solar panels we added or the expensive lithium batteries or anything that makes it valuable.  

About the liabilities, only that it’s been damaged by hail, with one picture of a ping. What a crap shoot an individual would take buying that trailer!  Heck, an RV dealer, as well.  And there it sits in the lot where we dropped it off. So so strange.  

Want to buy it?  I think the bid is $50 right now.

Apartment or House?

My confusion used to be about where we’re buying stuff for and where we’re putting it all: the Airstream, the apartment, or storage? Now that we (will very shortly) have a house, the list has shifted: delete Airstream at the left side of the timeline and add the house on the right side. Even after we close on the house, we can’t move anything in yet because the floors need to be refinished (and the kitchen and upstairs bathroom renovated), so now the apartment and the storage unit are dumping grounds for what we need for the house. 

The house will need a few things in it, like somewhere to sit while we wait for and talk with tradespeople, right?  That’s where the camping furniture will go. And toilet paper. Everywhere needs toilet paper. So I’m making that list, along with so many other lists. 

I was all excited about my list of things I’d like done in the house, along with my photo albums of renovation ideas, until I showed them to Tracy and he introduced me to reality. Which is: The essential work will use most of our money, leaving little for renovations. And the rooms are way too small for what I have in mind, anyway.  Bummer on a plate, is what that is, but Tracy is right. I’m still keeping the list and photos, because for sure I’ve learned that stranger things happen in this world than contractors not needing as much money as you expect.  Well, maybe not stranger than that. 

Here’s my bit from the title: odds and ends I’m learning from living in the apartment.

Apartment Lessons

The dang water flows so strong from faucets. And so hot!  I’m using the water, believe you me. But Jiminy Cricket is there a lot of it all at once when you open a tap. We keep spraying everything in sight by accident. 

Speaking of which, I can’t keep track of when I last showered.  I will not shower every day (it’s a waste of water and is bad for your skin and hair). Which means I need to write it on my calendar?  I dunno how to remember this, seriously!

You’d think a one-bedroom apartment wouldn’t be so big you’d lose stuff in it, but you are not me.  I’ve bought this handy craft bag that I keep loaded with essentials, and I move it into the living room/kitchen in the morning, then into the bedroom at night. Smart, huh?!  I guess in the house I’ll be moving that sucker up and down the stairs all day long. 

Worse Sleep

Although the apartment gives me somewhere to go at night when I can’t sleep, my insomnia has been worse than ever. I still don’t have an appointment with the sleep neurologist, despite bugging them with daily calls. And I have a new diagnosis: hyperthyroidism, which means I’ve got extra hormones that make my heart race at night. And when I finally do get to sleep, it skips around and wakes me up.  Oh joy. The endocrinologist is doing more testing but I hope I can get treatment, for that at least, soon.

Banjo Update

She has less nervous energy than she did at first, and she’s enjoying lying on the carpet and being able to choose her room of slumber.  I’m looking forward to taking her to the new house: I doubt she’s ever been inside such a big place.  Hmm, that makes me wonder if we should get runners for the stairs so she doesn’t slip down them.  So I don’t slip down them.  

Meanwhile

All this nervous energy I have I’ve been putting to these silly little cross stitch patterns of national parks we’ve been to.  I have eight more to go, I believe. I was going to make them into Christmas tree ornaments but I can’t find a way to do that, yet. We did buy a box of vintage ornaments from an estate sale, like the ones we grew up with, which might be enough. Then I don’t know what I’ll do with these national parks. 

We’ve also been sitting on our balcony in our chairs we bought for cheap at an estate sale.  They’re ancient, and the cushions need a second serious scrub, but they will look great on the new porch. I have no idea when we’ll patch up the wood frames and repaint them, but sometime, sometime.  There’s a loveseat, too, and a storage bin for the cushions in the winter.  

I keep saying this, but closing is on Friday!  I’ll excitedly post pictures of the house once we own it, woohoo!