HJ Waxing Moon

I can't say I'm ENJOYING moving as often as we have been, but I will say that it's been informative. This time thankfully we have officially 6 weeks to move. We get our keys to the new place Dec 20, sadly have to pay double rent for January (and let me tell you how stressful THAT is), but by all rights have access to our current apartment through January 31st. We still intend to finish moving in a timely manner and cleaning up our "old" place so that wall repairs & carpet cleaning can happen to rent it out as soon as February 1st. But at least we can wait until the Christmas Crush is through at Mr. Moon's work to worry about packing & moving in earnest. It also has the benefit of giving us time to snag boxes from food & liquor deliveries at his work and local businesses. No paying for boxes this time! And since we're not paying for boxes, a) I feel less inclined to keep them sitting around awaiting our next move; and b) I got to splurge a bit...

The Living Room - 0% done -  View from the door View from that hallway doorway  Damage on the door from previous tenant. :( Damage in the carpet from previous tenant :( The nice thing about this living room is that it is BIG. South-facing windows let in a lot of natural light, but also a lot of heat. I will be surprised if we ever have to turn the heat on in here or the kitchen. That doorway you can see on the left of the top picture is the hall that leads to the bedroom and bathroom and closets. The doorway at the right of the bottom picture is toward the kitchen and dining room. To Do: EVERYTHING--This room has all the boxes, and most of the furniture. It will be the last thing finished. But that's OK! The Kitchen/Dining room - 60% done -   Dining room   Kitchen with gross-orange-wood cabinets.  Aren't these liners just to DIE for?   At least the cabinets don't waste any space. All the headsp...

I mentioned last Monday that we were doing a little project to determine where we're falling behind in the kitchen, to turn that B+ into an A+. So how did our week go? Sunday night: Not bad! Pretty good for a Day 1. Let's see what we left out. Bag by the stove, a big dish left on the stove that should have been washed, a towel over by the toaster and a cutting board there as well. The pile of stuff to the left of the sink is a bit bad, but mostly that's empty bottles that need to get their labels soaked. Trash and compost could have been emptied. But the dishes got done and the sink was empty, and the kitchen was ready for cooking breakfast. Monday night: Yayy! Just a couple things on the counter by the stove, and otherwise only some dishes drying. Those bottles are a Wednesday project. A+! Tuesday night: Hmmm could have been better. A towel, some bags, half a crockpot, a basket, and some croutons that all should have been put away. BUT! The dishes are done and...

My partner and I hate top sheets. Neither of us has used them since we were old enough to stop putting them on the beds. I had a tendency to kick them off in the night, while keeping the comforter firmly in place. But of course, when you buy sheet sets, they come with this huge piece of fabric. Bonus fabric! What do we do with them? Curtains: If the "head" end is sewn on the sides, just snip a couple threads and you have a curtain panel that matches your sheets. Pillow cases: A few seams and you have extra pillow cases or even a body-pillow case! Cut it up for "family cloth" or cleaning rags or whatever else suits your fancy. Face cleaning cloths! Couch covers--when you have OCD and three cats who shed badly and a flea infestation (though we got both those figured out, phew!), you want couch covers you can remove to wash easily and regularly. And my newest favorite: Bed skirt. Put the flat sheet under the mattress, on top of the box spring. If you have a f...