Fourth of July

One of B's buddies came home on the 4th.  He came over to the apartment and hung out nearly all day.  Poor kid was exhausted, and wound up passing out on the floor for four or five hours.  We just let him sleep.  He woke up just in time for the fireworks display at 2130.  B, me, Pup, and two of our neighbors (Sarge and Ash) sat up on the roof to watch the show.  It was good :-)  Everything about it was good.  We had good folks over.  I had good food cooking on the stove.  Pup had some good songs playing on his cell phone.  And we had a good view of the entire show right from the roof of our great little place.

I made fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and sauteed asparagus.  B likes asparagus!  I'm still in shock!!  It's green!  He eats nearly nothing green.  *insert fanfare*  There is hope!!  LOL

I know I've been rather remiss in my posts this past few weeks.  Honestly, there just hasn't been time.  Once I got the go word, I was gone like a shot from a cannon.  Once we got here, there was plenty to do immediately.  Now, even though things have slowed down, there's still work to be done, and the internet connection I can snag from the housing office a block away is kind of weak.  I'm going to walk down there some time and try to play catch up on all the things I've been slacking on around the interwebs, but that'll be for a day that I don't have much to do around the apartment.  

Speaking of which, I haven't told you about it, yet!  It's really a great little apartment.  I say little.  It's really not that little.  I think it's bigger than the last house I lived in.  It's three floors, for one thing.  Two of the floors are dedicated living area, and then there's a basement utility area for the water heater, laundry, and breaker box.  The main floor has three entrances.  One directly into the kitchen, one into a small foyer that has a half bath and a good sized closet, and one that goes out to the back yard.  There's a living area, dining nook, and a nice little kitchen with a PANTRY!!!!  *grins* Ms. Terri, you know I squealed when I saw that!  It's not a big pantry, rather narrow, but deeper than it is wide.  It's got several levels of shelves, and it's right by the fridge and across from the stove, so it's in a really convenient location in the kitchen.  I've got cabinets and drawers a plenty for all my kitchen goodies since none of the dedicated kitchen area has to go to dry storage.  The stove is a gas stove, which is awesome to me, because I learned to cook on a gas stove, and have been using a gas stove for the past year.  I've always been more comfortable cooking on gas than electric.  That's also good because the only bill we'll have any fiscal responsibility for is the electric.  If we go over our ration, we have to pay the difference.  So I can cook up a storm and not worry about running up the bill (as long as I remember to turn the thermostat up before I start storming).  

The basement is primarily unused empty space.  Sock some shelves up down there, and the whole thing could be a pantry of sorts.  It's something like 500 sq ft down there, give or take some, with only the hot water heater and washer/dryer taking up floor space.  There's plenty of lighting down there, dim at the moment but replace the bulbs with something else, and it'd be plenty of room for all kinds of possibilities. 

The upstairs has two bedrooms and a spare room, each with their own closets.  There' s a linen closet in the landing, and a full bath.  The foyer, bathrooms, and kitchen are all tiled with that practically indestructible stuff they use in government housing.  The rest of the house is honest to gods hardwood floors.  They squeak happily when we walk through the house.  I like it.  

The door from the kitchen opens up into an enclosed patio area.  It's not covered, but walled on all sides with four foot walls.  Along the wall that faces the street, there's a privet hedge.  The backyard is privacy fenced with a gate.  All the apartments have back gates, so it's super easy to go visit your neighbors.  There's a little storage shed out there, too.  I tell ya, if I ever fill all the nooks and crannies in this place, I'll have more stuff than I'll ever have any need for.  There's a 12x12 patio area in the back yard and a shade tree.  

It turns out the Great Place is a great place so far.  B still has things that he takes issue with, but that's to be expected.  This is his work place, and everyone has something about their job that they complain about.  It'd be weird if he didn't.  But, I think his misgivings about the place were twined up with his complaints about his job.  So far, I'm honestly tickled to death.  I didn't raise my expectations too high, because I've seen family housing on multiple installations, so I figured I had a good idea of what to expect.  This apartment exceeds that.  The people we've talked to, community wise, seem to be really nice.  We hadn't even gotten started hauling anything over from the hotel, and one of our neighbors came over to introduce himself, tell us when trash day is, and give us a standing invitation to come hang out any time.  He says they spend most evenings out in the yard with the neighbors on the other side of us.  

I think it's going to be good here.  I think we can make it great here.  Grow where you're planted, right?  Or, to quote Terminator "There is no fate but what we make."