Home

An old man was on an airplane in the middle seat.  A younger guy sat down in the aisle seat next to him and struck up a conversation.  They talked about this and that, and the young guy asked, "So where's home?"  The old man smiled at him, nodded to the woman sitting in the window seat, and said, "Wherever she is."

I've always loved that story.  It rings especially true now, since "home" seems to be an ambulatory concept.  We have a house with a lot of our stuff in it in Colorado Springs, lots of our stuff--some of it important, some of it not--in a storage room somewhere else in Colorado Springs, 64 boxes of stuff somewhere between Antwerp and Moscow, and an apartment with some of our stuff in it in Moscow.  (George Carlin did a great routine about stuff, but he didn't mention home.  Anyway...)

So for now, since Karen and the kids are here, this is home.  It's small and lovely and will do just fine.  Here's the grand tour:

Front Hallway

This is our entrance hallway.  It's a bit dark.  Lots of wall space for pictures and such.  At the end of the hallway, we have a large-ish china cabinet and a window.  At the window, you turn left.

Left turn hallway

When you turn left, you face two doors.  There are doorbells at each of them, indicating to us that our one apartment used to, in fact, be two separate apartments.  The master bedroom, laundry room, a full bathroom, and a small anteroom/hallway are all behind the door to the left.  Those pictures are below. 

When we first arrived, we had a full-size bed.  I am not a small man, and so we sent an e-mail asking for a larger sleeping space. 

Master bedroom with new King bed!

Where the King's clothes get clean!

The King's throne room!

They didn't have one in storage, so they had to order it from IKEA.  It arrived, they assembled it, and here we are.  Karen's thrilled because it means we have a fresh, clean mattress without any cooties on it.  I'm happy because it means I can get all of me on the bed.  The anteroom is big enough for the desk at which I am currently typing and, we hope, the piano once it gets here.  It also has a large built-in closet which will not only be useful but also very full.

The other part of the apartment has the kitchen, the living/dining room, and the two kids' bedrooms.  When we first arrived, the china cabinet was in the living room, and there was no dining room table.  This made us sad.  We asked for a dining room table, and it appeared as if by magic.  I got help from one of the other new guys to move the china cabinet, and now it all works.  This makes us happy.  See below.

Hallway to kitchen

The kitchen to the hallway will be lovely for hanging artwork or putting up shelves for more storage.  The other bathroom is along the right side of the hallway.  It has a shower and sink in one room and a toilet in the other.  This separation is a good thing.

Throne room #2

At the end of the kitchen hallway is the kitchen.  It's a small, European-style kitchen with enough room to cook or eat, but not really both.  The fridge is really hard to get into if someone is sitting at the table.  But it's functional, seems to have enough storage space, and I don't think we'll starve.  A nice part of the kitchen is that it sticks out past the other walls and so has a decent view to the north and the south.  There ain't much to see to the south, but the view to the north can be quite nice. 

Kitchen

Moscow to the north

The rest of the apartment is three good-sized rooms: the living/dining room, Addy's room, and Izzy's room.  We've painted Addy's room.  It's a nice grey-ish blue color that when he's in a good mood will tell you is blue, and when he's grumpy he'll tell you it's grey.  It's kind of like a mood ring.  We've gotten one wall of Izzy's room painted a nice, soft purple, and we're hoping to find time to get the other walls taken care of.  Once their rooms are done, we'll attack the living room.  The goal is to have the walls painted before our shipment arrives.  If we didn't have to do the whole work thing, it might actually be possible.  Fingers crossed!

Living Room from the entrance

Living Room from the window

So that's where we live.  It's where we go after work, and it's where we sleep at night, and it's our home because of those things.  It doesn't really feel like "home" yet, but it'll get there.  The walls are all kind of asylum-y right now, and that will all change once our shipment arrives.  Pictures will go up, artwork will go on the walls, books will fill in space...it'll make it feel more like...home.

Addy's room

Izzy's room

   The Spanish have a saying about home as well:  "Mi casa es su casa."  The couch in the living room is a fold-out bed, Addy has a full-size mattress on order, Izzy will inherit the twin bed that Addy is currently sleeping in, and other beds are only an e-mail away.  Come see us.  We'll give you the real grand tour.