Apartment Living

This is where we are living!  I am completely unpacked (all 7 suitcases...Whew!).  I think I have probably said 20 times in the last year, "I wish I could throw all of my kitchen stuff away and start over," and now I have been given precisely that opportunity.  The apartment was not quite as equipped as we were led to believe, unless one considers a kitchen with 3 plates, 3 mugs, and one spinner of the crustiest utensils ever seen as functional.  I do not.  I have new dishes, new pans, new dish towels, a new toaster, a new iron, new sheets and pillows, and a new microwave.  I'm like a new bride except for I've no delusions about permanent happiness.  We still have a few things to pick up: some pans for baking, a comforter, and a serious bunch of groceries.  The owner of the place seemed quite delighted to point out to us the satin bedspread and millions and zillions of animal print throw pillows, but I'm of the mindset that a) there is nothing as useless as a satin bedspread (It does not. stay. on.  I'm freezing my rear off at night.) and b) Satin bedspread + Animal Print Pillows= Hugh Hefner City.   I've been around and I know darn well the difference between a nicely equipped apartment and an apartment filled with stuff the owner deemed "unacceptable" for her new penthouse.  Ours is the latter, and it's only reinforced every time the seat falls off my office chair, which is frequently.  There is no dishwasher, but no one has one of those, so it's not like I'm deprived, but when Kiki tried to tell me this morning that she needed a plate to eat a banana, words were exchanged.  I have a washer and a dryer.  They are definitely small, and the wash cycle takes well over an hour, but that's nothing compared to the dryer.  I swear to you that in the time it takes to dry a load of towels glacial movement is visible.  Laundry will be an ongoing chore, because if I fall behind I will never catch up.  I used the stove last night, but I will need to pull out the manual for the oven because I can't sort out the dials to save my life.  Also, I do not understand Celsius temperatures or the entire metric system.  The apartment has lot of closets and storage, for which we are grateful. 

Quirks aside, we are happy living here.  The apartment really is nice now that I have it cleaned and situated according to my own preferences.  The girls love the pool, and we are located very close to Bruce's office so he can come home for lunch.  We have eaten at several extremely tasty restaurants and I have started to make some friends!  I purchased a map (I'm a visual learner) and a calculator (add the currency exchange to the list of things I don't understand) and am officially equipped for some exploration.