Unpacking

On Friday, our furniture and boxes were delivered by the movers. Now, what once appeared to be a fairly spacious apartment is filled with the mess of moving. In fact, it's very clear to me that my previous thought that this apartment was bigger than our last place was false -- it was just empty.

The unpacking is slow, since we have little closet space (we need to buy a wardrobe -- good thing we've got wardrobe boxes for now) and no dresser. And no coffee table, entertainment center, stereo, TV, filing cabinets, nightstands, etc., etc. It was nice to have a real bed to sleep on, but our bed is so big compared to the air mattress that it made me realize how small our bedroom is compared to our old bedroom in Oakland. In fact, our furniture (at least the few pieces that we have) really accentuates the slant in the floors, which I'd noticed before, but didn't realize how prominent it was until I saw how crooked our bookshelves look. I guess it's good that we're not in earthquake country anymore, although I do keep thinking "Wow, this will really be a problem in an earthquake!" only to then realize that such an event is unlikely here.

And then there are the low ceilings in the bedroom and (small) living room. The ceilings are of a normal height in the kitchen, bathroom, office, and extra room/closet/workout room. I don't know why they are lower in the other rooms, other than just general funkiness. We're not hitting our heads or anything, but I don't exactly have to get up on a chair to change a lightbulb, either. The lack of ceiling height is also accentuated by our bed, which sits up high. We bought it, of course, when we were living in our place in Oakland, which had freakishly high ceilings. They were so high, in fact, that changing lightbulbs was an adventure. I was known to have to stand on books on top of a chair in order to barely reach the ceiling fixtures. Yes, this was not the safest arrangement and I should have just gotten a ladder. I certainly don't need that ladder now, though. Good thing there are no ceiling fans or we'd have some real problems.

Because of all this, I am now obsessed with ceilings. When we go to other people's apartments to look at furniture they are selling on Craigslist, it seems like everyone has higher ceilings than we do. So my refrain after leaving these other apartments (too often, without furniture) is "Now those were some high ceilings!" So I'm basically beginning to sound like a freak. Or at least a little obsessed. And maybe I am.

What I really want are some elves to come in the night and put away all our stuff, get rid of the empty boxes, and maybe even wash a few dishes while they're here. I wonder if the Keebler Elves are available. Then they could leave me some cookies, too.

I miss our old apartment. Now those were some high ceilings.