BITCH SESSION
The lack of motivation and disdain I feel for this house grows on a daily basis. I have already started a list of the many things I notice here which I plan to use as a guideline for my next place. Light is at the top of my list and is the greatest hindrance to my being able to photograph the children whilst they are here. It also pains me to see them having to turn on the lights in their rooms in order to do anything even in the middle of the day when the sun is shining brightly.
I remember looking at the listing for this house earlier in the year, noting the amount of light in the backyard. What I failed to realise was that the photograph was taken at a time when the trees were bare, thus not seeing the shade caused by all of the leaves. The trees and the covered porch make it impossible to have a container garden. As such, I have not revived any of my herb plants or bothered with any of the other containers which now stand languid in front of the house.
I was enticed by the new 'wooden' floors and kitchen appliances thinking it made a difference. For years I had wished for the French-door type refrigerator but since moving in here and actually having one, I have decided never to get one. Not only do you have to open both doors in order to get to the large bottom drawer where the cheese and butter are located but the doors are too light to close on their own so they remain open until someone notices.
Today was one of those days when I saw one of the doors ajar. Most likely one of the children was getting a bottle of water and did not press tightly on the door. Then I looked inside and saw ice crystals form on the back of the top shelf. Though the beep of the LG refrigerator in my old house was annoying at times, I see now how useful it was.
The new gas stove cooks faster than I have ever had any stove cook. As I finish putting away the sugar in the pantry after having added two teaspoons to the water in the briki for the coffee, I turn around and notice the water approaching a near boil. Though it makes for a quick pot of coffee it does not help when you burn the lentil soup as I did tonight.
It did not occur to me that at a setting between low and medium, the water in the pot would have disappeared so quickly. Granted I was distracted upstairs searching for flight options but every other time before I could leave the soup pot on the stove for over two hours with no problems. The children refused to eat the soup though I somehow made myself eat a bowlful before deciding to toss it all out in the end.
Then there are the outdated globe-type faucet hardware in the bathrooms. Yesterday when we returned from being out for hours, I noticed a steady stream of water coming from the children's bathroom. It must have been on for hours and it was at that point I saw how difficult it must be for the children to turn the faucet knobs seeing how they were also difficult for me to turn with wet hands.
Last night's incident with Sage locking the bathroom door ended with my having to remove the door knob since the generic key was nowhere to be found as was the small screwdriver I could have used instead and one I found an hour after it was no longer needed. If I had the proper tools I would also remove all of the doors as the constant slamming of them by the children is grating on me daily.
These issues are merely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to tonight's bitch session about this place but I realize there are always lessons to be learned. In this case, a decision made in haste will almost always come back to haunt you. Certainly the decision to move into this cave was a very bad one indeed. For now, I look forward to not spending most of the summer here but in the well-lit apartment of my boyfriend and his roommate. Though smaller than my place, I prefer it much more to this darkness.
