Adjusting to life in the rental...

Adjustments. Life is just one big series of adjustments, don’t you think? Thankfully, our latest adjustment, moving into a rental house so that our renovation can begin, has been pretty darn easy. The girls have been troopers – just like I thought they’d be – embracing our new digs and enjoying the newness of our little adventure. And the rental house is just perfect for what we need. Quite a bit smaller than our other house, but it will suffice for the six or seven months we’ll be living here. Because it is smaller, there have been a few changes to our routine that I’ve had to make…but everyday, the changes get easier to negotiate.  

1) A New Napping spot – Johnny’s home office (which he works out of full-time) now occupies half of our master bedroom. Sure, it’s not ideal, but we’re lucky that the room is big enough to accommodate what we needed to bring, and Johnny’s a good sport about making it work. The only issue that arises is that of my afternoon nap between 2-4pm. I have to take it, but Johnny still has to work, so napping in my bed isn’t an option most afternoons. I anticipated that this might happen before we moved, so instead of bringing Deirdre’s loft bed to the rental, we brought a trundle day bed that has two mattresses. She thinks her new “bed away from home” is super cool, and since it has the second mattress, I use it during my nap. (Dee doesn’t nap  - she just has quiet time – so her quiet time is now in the family room.)  The first day, I thought it was too complicated to pull out the second mattress, so I just slept on Dee’s bed. The second day, I pulled out the second bed, but didn’t use a pillow or sheets. By day three, I had a spare pillow stashed in Dee’s closet, an extra set of sheets in her dresser, and a little sweater if  I get cold. It works perfectly, and Darwin and I are consistently enjoying our new napping get-away.

2) No Kitchen after Dark – The kitchen is in close proximity to the girls' bedrooms, so close, in fact, that after the girls go to bed, working in the kitchen is pretty much off limits. What does this mean? It means we have to do our after-dinner dishes “after dinner”, instead of our typical 2 hours later. And my semi-nightly baking has to be done before they go to bed, too. I used to look forward to an hour or so after they went to bed when I could relax and bake a batch of something sweet. But it just isn’t worth the risk of waking them up. While it's been challenging to shift my baking time, it's actually been a good thing. Since I can no longer fuss about in the kitchen after 8pm, it paves the way for an on-time bedtime!

3) Bruises – This is actually what got me to thinking about writing this post in the first place! Since we’ve moved, I have managed to rack up bruises everywhere. With a new floor plan and a new configuration of furniture to maneuver around, there are plenty of opportunities for clumsy old me to bump into things and bruise myself. And you know it doesn’t take much for this thinned-skin lupite to bruise. Thankfully, I'm starting to learn where all of the new corners are, and the bruises are beginning to fade. Just in time for our trip to California!

4) Wall oven – Oh, how heavenly this has been. The rental kitchen has a wall oven that sits right at eye level, and reminds me why I insisted on making room for a double wall oven in my to-be-renovated kitchen. It is super convenient - checking on food requires a lot less effort, and taking dishes in and out is a cinch compared to a lower oven. I'm so glad I get a trial run and am thoroughly convinced!

I’m sure there will be more adjustments to come, but for now, I’m quite pleased with the way we’re settling in. Bumps, bruises and all!