apartment life

It has been just a little over a month since we sold our house and moved into the apartment.

We call it 'the apartment' but it is quite big.... it is about 1400 sq ft... 3 bedrooms 2 baths... about 70% of our junk fits into it.



It is starting to feel like home. The movement and the patterns of 4 bodies shuffling around this new space are more fluid and habitual now...

Besides all the normal things that take a bit of getting used to in a new house ....like light switches, neighbor noise, new cable channels to memorize, this particular apartment has one little problem with it that I hadn't noticed when we signed the lease here.

There is no microwave in the kitchen.

This has changed everything. From Braden's breakfast taquito with soy sausage to lunches of bean burritos to dinner... things are different. I have to be a much better planner when it comes to meal times. No more last minute thawing or warming of anything now.

Which leads me to the most interesting aspect of this situation. With no microwave it has become harder to warm up leftovers. There is something about and oven that doesn't lend well to quickly heating something up. The stove top can sometimes be used, but it must be an acquired skill that I have not quite learned. Plus frozen meals take up to an hour to cook. Which is no problem if you remember to pre-heat the oven at 3:30 for dinner at 5pm!

Also it seems quite backwards to me that long ago, before the arrival of the microwave more people ate at home... and now during the days when it is cheap, convenient, easy and fast to eat a good meal at home... no one does.... everyone eats out... WHY? With a microwave you can have a whole lasagna in 15 minutes!!! Just enough time to throw a salad together.... What a waste of time, energy and money to schlep everyone out the door to go eat.

But it only works - if you HAVE A MICROWAVE!!!