Temporary Housing

It has been a little over a week since we moved into our temporary housing in Texas. While we are waiting for our house to sell in Virginia, and my Hubby is working in Texas, we will be living in a 676 sq ft apartment ( about 1/10th the size of our house). See floor plan below:

The apartment is in a great location, about 5 miles from my Grandson, so I give it the most points for that. Yes, we are also happy to be near my Daughter and Son in-law. We are on the ground floor, and right across the drive from the office, workout facility, and pool, more positive points. The ground floor makes taking the dog out easy. We have a very large bathroom, a decent size closet, and a washer and dryer in the unit, more positive points. We were able to get a garage for my car to protect it from the brutal hail storms, and we are getting another garage for my husband`s car when it is shipped next month. Major positive points!

Now for the challenge of apartment living.

 First: The Queen Size Bed:
 We have had a King bed  for over 31 years. Ok, some of those years we had a king waterbed, but it was technically a king bed. We like our sleeping space and so does our dog. Edy is sleeping in a crate in the apartment and not too happy about it. When we moved into the apartment the bed was shaped like a taco and we had to hold onto the sides to keep from rolling to the middle. If that wasn`t bad enough, the box springs were made out of a cardboard that would make this horrific noise when you sat on the bed, or moved while sleeping. I had to sleep on the couch for the first 4 nights, so Hubby could get some sleep for his new job. Yes, I am a wonderful, caring, thoughtful, considerate and loving wife. A phone call to the housing company with constructive feedback (complaining) and we had a new mattress and box springs in a few days. The bed is not bigger, but much more comfortable and we are now sleeping (together). At least until the dog upstairs wakes us up at 5:30 every morning.

Second: The Crazy Upstairs Dog:
The weekend after I moved in, a young girl moved into the apartment right above us. As she was moving in, with her parents help, she would leave the dog in the apartment alone while they were going back and forth from her parents to the apartment. The entire time she was gone the dog would bark, howl, and would jump and push the crate against the floor (our ceiling). It sounded like a jack hammer. This dog is not a cute dog. The dog looks like the hyena in the Lion King that had the voice of Whoopi Goldberg. I have no idea what the dog`s name is, so I call it Whoopi. Whoopi`s owner's first day of work was last Monday, and Whoopi barked, howled and bumped for 8 hours straight. I turned on the bathroom and microwave fans to try to drowned out the sound. After a while I had to just leave to keep my sanity. Each day she got better, with one exception, every morning at about 5:30 Whoopi runs back and forth upstairs and it sounds like she is jumping off furniture, or maybe they are playing ball. This goes on for about 45 minutes. I don't have to get up at 5:30 am (EVER), so I am hating on Whoopi and her owner.

Third :Headlights:
The parking spaces are right outside our living room and bedroom windows. Whenever anyone comes home or leaves the apartment at night, their headlights shine right into the apartment. This is something I guess we will get use to in time, like hearing traffic noise from the street.

Fourth: Pooch Poop Bags. We have a little dog and she makes little poops. This she does exactly twice every day, right after she eats. In Virginia and Indiana she would go out to the yard, do her business, and we would let it be. Now, we have to put her on the leash, walk her to some grass, ( not far), let her do her business, bag it up, take it to the apartment and deposit in a trash bag we have on the patio. I want my yard back.

Last: Trash Compacter:
Is it strange to miss your trash pickup? I had no idea how much it meant to me until it was gone. We had a trash can in the house for regular trash, and a pull out drawer trash can for recyclables. They would fill up, you closed the bag, carried it to the dumpster in the garage, once a week wheeled it to the curb, and a wonderful truck came and picked it up.

Oh, how I miss this truck

 Currently, we have a trash can in the kitchen that takes a 13 gal bag. Between the kitchen trash, bathroom trash and the outside patio pooch poop bags, I have to take the trash out every few days. We are not near the trash compactor, so I get to walk across the complex carrying our trash several times a week to feed the compactor. Not Fun!

Well, I need to get to bed, 5:30 comes around way too soon and Whoopi will be bouncing off the walls and on my head. I sure wish someone would buy our house, I need  Permanent Housing!