APARTMENT LIFE

Nothing like moving into a new place to live and having to learn a whole new way to do things. I sure don't mind, but I just never know when I am breaking a rule or two..

... DON'T FLUSH at night! Around my building I have NEVER heard a person flush a toilet at night. IS that weird?? Granted I have only been here a short while, but so far the rule has stuck. Everyone has their own schedules and lives to lead, but common courtesy is NOT to flush in the middle of the night. I have heard showers run in the middle of the night but NO FLUSHING...just plain strange.

...ALWAYS ASK before you make changes in your apartment walls. Some places, I have been told, do not allow nails or any type of puncturing of their wall surfaces. I got lucky.. it was pretty lax here but I haven't pushed my luck just yet. Starting over I don't have a whole lot to add to the walls. I made a trip to the local GOODWILL store and bought some small snack plates I thought were charming. Very appropriate for the season. I thought how neat to look at them all the time. So I hung them up. Tiny nails and plate hangers. Guess that didn't break any rules. As you can see the walls are WHITE and boring and I have no earthly idea how I am going to decorate them so far. I guess I will know when the time comes though. (The plates, by the way, were collectibles and ended up being worth at least 10 times what I paid for them. I was very happy when I looked them up on EBay. I love a bargain!)

Sure miss all the stuff Mom had at our house that I could not keep. We decorated for every holiday. It's fun though finding all the things that make a place your own. Looking forward to the holidays and already got my turkey.. well not edible anyway. This bird was handmade by a local artisan in 1979. I will be using it as a centerpiece this year on my table. 

Next will be finding new things for Christmas, stores already have their decorations up, should be easy to do. Apartment life is a work in progress right now. Never know what you will do or find next. I also hung this up on my wall so I could see it every day..it says what I think about where I am right now. It's something I do every day.

HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A HAPPY WEEK!!

LIFESAVERS

Crazy week so far, busy and strange...

Every single thing here I have used this past week. They truly are

lifesavers. All this moving has made the old body pop and snap and so

I am using any and everything I can to get by.  I bought a new grocery cart that 

surely will come in handy this winter getting groceries inside my place. The less

trips the better I say.. NO lifting either. Wonderful idea! 

Kept hearing banging and thought someone was fixing a roof to the building.

When I went outside I saw that the balcony on the other side was being torn down.

TERMITES! Oh that made me feel creepy. I mean what about the rest of the building?

Needless to say, they are inspecting the whole building. Erected back in the early 70's

these places need updating anyway. Having a balcony patio that gives way is very scary indeed. As I stood and watched them working a neighbor came and introduced herself to me. She said that I was the LUCKY ONE.. I guess they nicknamed me

that. I was the one with an almost NEW apt. All new carpets, floors, bathroom etc. It

wasn't because of me.. it was because the older lady lived here sooo long. She was here for 24 years!!! She said that EVERYONE wanted the apartment that I was in. Well, I guess I am lucky then, because I got it instead of someone else being re-located.

LUCKY ME.. This is the one and only plant I have in my apartment so far, it has traveled FAR..for many years to get to this place. The only plant left that my mother had. I placed it in the East windows and it seems happy there. The hula girl was a present, she shakes when the sun hits her.. very entertaining!!

HEARTBROKEN

MY prayers to his family who must be heartbroken over his death. The world mourns the loss of his great heart and loving gentleness. We will laugh for years to come with a sense of sadness. Rest in the Peace you find out there among the stars in heaven. WE WILL MISS YOU

EVEN ANIMALS LOVED HIM.......

MOVING ON Part Two

Part Two is made up of two parts... One moving stuff in and getting it settled and Two getting used to apartment living again. I LOVE IT! 

I had the help of some of my gal friends and I managed to get a lot done this past week. There have been many delays.. the weather for one, my exhaustion for another. Making so many trips to the apartment by the car loads just plain wore me out. I know that at the end I will be more than satisfied that I did it mostly by myself and that I accomplished a lot. I didn't really have any furniture to speak of. Some small things and a lot I will be picking up along the way. I gave away a lot when I had no place to store them and others kept them safe for me. It was good to see them again. This chair was found at an estate sale. My girlfriend and I got it into her car and took it to it's new home. I love to rock in it. Matches things great.  We stopped by this large sale and saw many things there priced really low and some really new. I was excited to say the least. I learned that the children were selling the whole house full after their last parent, their father had died not three weeks before. I sat in the chair and it was so comfy. I really appreciated how clean and new looking it was. The lady teared up and said" I can see my mother rocking in that chair." That is all it took.. I started crying myself. I told her that I would take very good care of the chair and cherish the memory of her mother.It was a moment I would never forget. I have spent many hours in it so far...thinking about new life and new beginnings.
                                                           

SALT.. a clock.. a hammer...soap,how could you forget these things?? Well I did..I found myself without a lot of small things. Scissors, a screw driver. I remembered so well where they were in our old home. How many we had of each kind... all gone now. Starting over at my age is not easy..there are a lot of bumps along the way but I will get there sooner or later.. There is more to come...just have to take time to tell you all about them..it's a real story.. LIFE over again... hopefully for the last time moving too.

JULY UPDATE...MOVING ON

July is almost over already..hard to believe it. We had such a long winter, I am enjoying the warmth so much. Not the humidity mind you, but the warmth.  In all the crazy goings on with my sister's illness I got a  cellphone call while she was in ICU..sooo unexpected.I almost did not answer it. I went out in the hallway and answered it. I could hardly believe it. A manager of an apartment complex was calling about an apartment that I had been on a waiting list for a long long time.  Did I still need an apartment?? I spoke up and said YES, trying to speed up the conversation and get back to the ICU. Sis was completely out of it with her blood being totally out of balance so I had to be there. She said she would call me back, that one was now available but there was some glitches that would have to be worked out. GLITCHES??? I could only imagine. 

I left the hospital and waited for her call. It seemed that I had to rent the apartment by July 1st or lose it to someone else. All the paperwork, deposits and etc. had to be signed by July 1st. That only gave me 4 DAYS to get things together. In the meantime I had to get Sis back home from the hosp and settled and then run like crazy to get all the other things in order. It was hot on June 29, I sat in the office of the manager for 4 longggg hours..  Soo many interruptions made it hard for her to finish my paperwork. Everything had to be done so fast. I got the keys on JULY 1st but the place was still being cleaned and touched up. Seems the woman who lived there was there for 24 years and so they had to completely clean and renew all the carpets and flooring and etc..The manager told me that all the tenants were jealous of my brand new place. I was happy..nothing OLD about it. So I began moving some things over and then  

OUR POWER WENT OFF AT HOME FOR FOUR LONG HOT DAYS. 

I used the apartment fridge for storage for most of our frozen food. The apartment is in another town 15 minutes away. We stayed there in the day time with a fan running and rested up from the hot nights at home. The whole thing was like a crazy story that was hard to believe. Sis was weak but the apartment was on the first floor so she could just walk right in .. NO STEPS.. we both were happy about that. Waiting for the oil base wall paint smell to go away, I moved load after load of my stuff there in our car. Very time consuming and tiring. As I unpacked,  I was reminded of how many of my things were from my friends and family. We do cherish our memories and I have made many.

I brought in a  camping table, sure has come in handy, I got phone calls about what things I would need or want. I was shocked that so many had items they no longer wanted. In no time at all I would have an apartment full.  Stay tuned for part 2!!!