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)

Stop and Go

Well I'm not even sure where to begin. Our scenery has completely changed. At the beginning of this month, we made the move from apartment to house. Still renting, but I enjoy that someone else is footing the bill to replace our exhaust fan and fix our kitchen light. The girls are enjoying have a yard and lots of square footage to sniff. Also, Melodie has become a fireplace whore. Husband is enjoying having a basement office (and let's not kid, so am I; anything to do with cable and been banned on the main floor). I'm not sure what I enjoy most, it's kind of a whole package thing for me.

We finished cleaning the apartment on Saturday (just the carpets, everything else was scrubbed to within an inch of it's life last Sunday). I have never been so happy to be done with a place. When we left our apartment in California, I was sad because we had such great experiences there. With the apartment here, I knew we should have run away screaming when the very first day we were there (less than 24 hours), we had water coming in through the bathroom ceiling fan.

Now, the girls can have crazy zoomies and I don't have to worry about the people underneath. Also, we have a real couch now and my back has never been more grateful.

Where does that leave me and the blog you ask? Why has it been so badly neglected that the number of cobwebs make it look like the Munsters moved in? Glad you asked.

Every since I started blogging, I've struggled with finding a balance between it and real life. I tend to have obsessive tendencies and miss out on things. In an attempt to maintain doing what I love (posting here) and doing what is necessary (apparently it's frowned up to let dogs walk themselves), I will only be posting once a week. My hope is that by only posting once a week, I will be able to produce quality work that someone would actually want to read.

I'm editing my post to add that while I feel like I completely personify The Undomestic Goddess, it drives me bananas that my name doesn't match my url. Since I have no desire to pay for a web address or switch platforms to find one that will allow me to be the Undomestic Goddess, I've decided to create a huge headache for myself and match everything to be Domestically Challenged Grrl. Oh what fresh hell I've stepped in.

So, here's to the new year and whatever it may bring (as long as it's alcohol)!