Something is not quite right...

Let me begin by saying that I love our little apartment. It's cozy, finally looks how I want it, and most things have found a way to be organized. I love living there and being there with my husband. It really is great.

Downside - serious lack of insulation. Serious. There's a place on the floor where, if you set your feet about a foot and a half apart, you can tell where the basement and the apartment below us divide. How? One foot is merely cold, the other foot is frigid to the point of frostbite.

Another favorite spot we have recently discovered is the back door. We don't really use it much and it's basically just another part of the wall that we don't pay much attention to. However, it came glaringly into our vision the other night when Nate noticed that the bottom part of it looks like the inside of a freezer you haven't cleaned in awhile. Yep. At least a half inch of frosty ice on the piece of metal at the bottom.

The plastic sheeting over the old windows is foggy most days and the new windows have ice on the inside.

The furnace can't keep a constant temperature to save its life and the little space heater is trying desperately to make up the difference. Not working out so well but it's sure trying.

All told, we spend most of our time in several layers and wrapped in blankets. At night, we pull the space heater into the bedroom, crank the heat up to 70 in a last ditch effort before turning it back down and then close the door behind us. A new TV and VCR provide reason enough to retire early and the chance to be warm for a bit is incredibly enticing. We've even fortified one window with a spare blanket and used another two as thick rugs on top of the carpet.

It's an adventure and a good topic to blog about. I don't really mind all that much. It's when I can't feel two of my toes even after wearing socks and slippers all day that sort of gets to me.