The layout

I was trying to describe the new apartment layout to my mom and told her it would just be a lot easier to post a link to the floor plan. So here you go.

The bedroom windows face east, the living and dining room windows face west. We have a fireplace in the living room but not one in the master bedroom. In fact, I wish it were the other way around because I think that angled fireplace complicates the living room floor plan. Oh well.

We are on the second floor; our one car garage is underneath the second bedroom. So the entrance leads to a small, first floor foyer and then directly up the stairs. The balcony is off the living room and has french doors that lead into the living room. It's covered but because it faces west, we should get enough light for our potted herbs and possibly a tomato plant as well. I'd also like to have a couple of pots with flowers, flowers that can take sunlight.

Back to packing, and I'll update more later.

This and that

I have a strong dislike of paper towels (or napkins) with anything printed on them. They are far too cutesy for me—I’m not looking for my paper towels to add anything to the ambiance in my home and I think the ink is just a waste. But I inadvertently bought a two-pack of paper towels with the awful printed crap on it. Normally I use very few paper towels because we have seven really good dish towels made by Kent’s grandmother. But I’m sure using these as fast as possible. Out, out damn towels!

I resisted making beans from scratch for years because somehow I got it in my head that prepping and cooking dry beans was a huge chore. Wrong! Most of the prep is passive—the beans need to soak and it’s not like I have to do anything to them while they soak. And then they have to cook; they can be cooked on the stove (faster) or in the slow cooker (slower) but again that barely takes anything from me. Dry beans are also much, much cheaper than canned beans plus the packaging is minimal. So far, I’ve only done black beans but pintos are up next. We do love “refried” beans—I put it in quotes because they aren’t actually fried. Who wants all those calories? Instead, they are mashed.

The holes in our walls and ceiling are covered with plastic. We’ve mostly moved our furniture back into place with the exception of our armoire. It normally stands on the wall with the holes and under the big hole in the ceiling. Wally loves to eat plastic and we think he’d get on the armoire and figure out how to bite the plastic up there. That plastic isn’t entirely smooth because of some drywall that comes out just a bit (there used to be an ash dump there from the building’s fireplaces).

My lungs are mad, mad, mad at me. I hope that covering the holes will help with all the crap in the air here in our apartment because the coughing is driving me crazy. I don’t have a cold, I don’t feel bad at all—I just can’t stop coughing and I’ve had to use my inhaler every day.

Here's a random, totally gratuitous picture of the boy cats:

What’s new with you?