Writer's Cramp

So back at the end of April, we moved into a new house. Honestly, had the owners of the last house not decided to sell the house, we'd still be there. We wouldn't be enjoying the benefits of a huge fenced in backyard (the first yard either of dogs have ever had free run in. If I had to do over, I would never have attempted to house break a dog in an apartment. Stupidity at its finest). We wouldn't be within walking distance of the outlet mall, grocery store and library. We also wouldn't know the joys of having to wheel our dishwasher back and forth either (I'm not sure I even knew portable dishwashers existed before we moved to this house).

Our last house was quite a bit bigger but still left a lot to be desired. We love our new home but took a significant hit in space. Like my stand mixer now shares storage space with my oxi clean and the chips for Husband's lunch. If we close all the doors to rooms that aren't Monkey proof, we create a great space for racing around in a circle. Our home is a perfect square.

With such limited space, you can imagine that finding a place to write is rather difficult. While we did break down and buy our first real couch, it's hard to get anything done on it. It was made for snuggling babies and dogs under sherpa lined blankets. Occasionally I'll sit in bed and write but at some point I look around and realize I've sunk ten inches into the mattress and just give up, roll over and go to sleep.

So here I sit at the kitchen table, like a sixth grader stuck on their algebra homework. It's not a a bad set up. We could probably do with a smaller say card table sized. Besides the portable dishwasher, Monkey's high chair takes up the other part of the kitchen with any amount of space. It might be time to look into one of those space saver high chairs that sits on a chair. We tried using one of those travel high chairs that latches onto the table (NEWSFLASH: DO NOT ATTACH A TRAVEL HIGH CHAIR TO A TABLE WITH A GLASS TOP AT A VACATION RENTAL. IT WILL BREAK AND YOU WILL BE CHARGED BY THE ASSISTANT GENERAL MANAGER WHO IS WONDERING HOW MANY KINDS OF STUPID ARE YOU). Monkey thought that the gap between the chair and the table meant that he was supposed to feed his dog. Very little food actually made it to his mouth during that time.

It's a functional space, both for cooking and for writing. It's not exactly right out of the magically impossible world of Pinterest; more like Pinterest's long lost cousin, Tapediterest. It does have place mats, though. I won them at a Chamber of Commerce luncheon my boss took me to. They match none of the other decor in my house but they were free and I needed them, so now they're my favorite thing I own. It's the little things.

This is really my kitchen. Just so small. The portable dishwasher doesn't even fit in the picture. (Source)