the [lighter] side of french toast: [old to new ep. 2: settling in]

Get excited for episode two of the moving saga! This one has PICTURES.

Okay here goes.

Monday night I slept on the sofa. Sleeping on a leather sofa with no A/C is not a comfortable experience. Sure I managed to sleep, but not consistently. I kept waking up to literally peel an arm or a leg from the leather. I also woke up around 3 AM because apparently my neck had been bent at an angle which no neck should be bent at. And it had been that way for some time because even when I sat up it stayed that way. Thankfully my neck returned to normal and I fell back asleep.

Tuesday I was back at work but not before getting a great surprise around 8:20 AM. I had been fervently hoping that the landlord would show up with my A/C unit while I was at work, mostly because we're not supposed to have pets and I really didn't want to awkwardly have to explain why despite three warnings about no pets the feathered ones had taken up residence in my apartment with me. Thankfully the landlord didn't seem to care. And yes he did see them; he commented that he used to have birds. Naturally I decided to set up the A/C unit the instant the door was closed. 9 AM start time at work be damned, I was gonna have A/C again. Somehow I still made it to work at 9. I honestly don't remember much--it was kind of a blur. I do remember taking time during a bathroom trip to count the bruises I acquired during the move.

There were 52 of them.

Fifty.

Two.

The worst of the 52 was on my knee and was the result of falling up the marble steps of my new apartment. Don't fall up steps. It hurts. A lot. And leaves giant bruises on knee caps.

Don't worry though, I shouldn't bruise so easily in the future: I'm on an iron regimen now, which I apparently desperately need.

When I got home, I was disappointed to discover that the A/C unit had done minimal in terms of cooling the place down. As it turns out, the optional window attachment was not so optional. The unit, although portable and free standing, vents hot air out the back. If a hose is not attached to carry the hot air out the window, it sort of cancels itself out. As it also turns out, the window vent attachment is a finicky creature that really requires two people to attach properly. Since I was only one person I fought with the thing myself. I sweat buckets. I swore so fiercely it would make a sailor blush. But eventually I got it hooked up and running effectively. From there I unpacked a few more boxes and decided to try out my new loft, which was clearly built for someone taller than me. Reaching the ladder to get down requires a good deal of leg stretching on my part but after about a week of doing it, I think I'm getting the hang of it.

Wednesday morning I decided the A/C was in the wrong place and needed moved to a different window. Apparently I'm just a little glutton for punishment so I fought and swore and sweated a little amore. It is not being moved again.

Wednesday after work I decided to hang up the metal rods that hold some of my pots, pans and spices. They were originally a decorative feature at the old place, but at this place they're a necessity due to my aforementioned lack of cabinet space. I've had to get really creative to make everything fit. Since I have a built-in bookshelf, I've turned my old bookshelf into a bar. The closet also doubles as a happy crap (read: holiday decorations) and linen closet. The thing that was once my nightstand also doubles as extra curtain storage. Everything pulls double duty that can. But I digress.

So there I was, hanging my metal rods. I get the pots & pans one all screwed into the wall. I put every single pot/pan hanger on it. I hang one pan. I hang a pot. I hang another pan. I hang a second pot.

CRASH.

The whole thing, pots, pans, hooks, rod and screws comes crashing to the floor. I look back and forth between the gaping holes in my wall and the jumbled mess of metal at my feet and think, well that's not how I envisioned this working. I picked up the whole affair and set it on the table to be dealt with another day. It stayed there until Saturday.

Thursday was a rough day at work so I did a whole lot of nothing when I got home. Well, I watched the Olympic so that was something. I had already unpacked everything though. The only thing I had left to do was clean and hang up artwork. Even though Friday was a better day, I didn't do much other than go for a run after work.

Saturday was a different story. I was busy as a bee on Saturday. I scrubbed. I decorated. I got those darn racks hung up in the kitchen. How you ask? Wall anchors. Those little plastic buggers are life savers. I'm proud to report that when I left for work this morning, the racks hadn't so much as budged since I anchored them in on Saturday.

Since I'm all out of things to say, after the jump are some pictures taken with Ginger of the new place. Stay tuned for REAL pictures. Eventually. And by eventually I mean when I do a bit more closet rearranging and can access my good camera.

Sideways chair, no longer sideways.

Mom's awesome solution to no storage space

The living-dressing-bed-office room. And that pink lamp? It's just for show. It's not plugged in to anything.

I has a bar!

Look at those pot racks. Look at how sturdy they are. But don't look at the silverware on the table. I still need to get the silverware holder for the metal cart.