I’ve just finalized a plan with the apartment manager to host Monday Morning Brunch every week in July. It will be at 10am, and I’ll probably spend about $20 for food supplies each time. I’ll leave a jar out for tips/donations, but won’t actually ask for any money from anyone who shows up. If folks come and have no money to spend, I’ll be just as happy to host them. I don’t doubt though, that probably some will feel glad to give a dollar or two, or maybe more. In my experience people are usually generous if they can be.

I’ll serve a simple menu of inexpensive things that can feed a crowd. I’ll have a variety of offerings so folks of different dietary needs won’t feel excluded. I think I’ll offer scrambled eggs, toast with jam and butter, oatmeal with nuts and raisins, bananas and peanut butter, coffee and juice, and muffins or some other kind of home baked treat. I may offer different things on different weeks depending on my mood and my finances.

I’ll be sure to have a newspaper available for folks to browse, as well as maybe a cartoon video for kids to watch. I want this to feel like a big family gathering where people can gently wake up and socialize and get excited about starting a fun summer week.

Denise (the apartment manager) will put a notice in the monthly newsletter to residents. Maybe we should put out a sign/flyer by the pool as well? I’d really like to attract at least 10-15 residents, including kids. 20-30 would be even better. If I get more than 30 people I’m sure they could still get fed, but they would not have quite as much choice as the first attendees. They might have to make do with just oatmeal and coffee. (Which is no bad breakfast, at that.)

Besides brunches, I hope eventually to host cookouts, group dinners, and cooking classes. I hope to do some of these things even this month without much advertising. I’m getting to know more neighbors every week, and the more I know the happier I feel in my new home. This place is really wonderful. 11 months ago

Yesterday I got those last few things out of my old place. It is now perfectly empty, and I feel free.

One awesome idea I had to pass along: (This might work especially well for folks in apartments.) Instead of taking a pile of stuff to Goodwill, I took it instead into the back yard. I told a group of kids to take anything they wanted. Their parents came too, to confirm the kids weren’t just stealing stuff, and I said “Please, yes! If you don’t take it, I have to haul it to the dump.” Everything disappeared!

I was very gratified to see old treasures of mine not just abandoned to a faceless company, but actually making children and neighbors happy right away. They saw what I saw. These were good things. Beautiful in their own way. I gave away necklaces, candlesticks, pretty pillows, tools, toys and other decorations and stuff that I know I’ve just outgrown. Folks came and celebrated their good fortune at receiving such treasures for free. Little girls decorated themselves with all the necklaces they could carry. (These were mostly paper bead necklaces I had an obsession for making some time ago.) The pillows were hugged and danced with all the way home. The knickknacks were ooohed and aaahed over, and everyone kept asking me if I was seriously giving it all away for free. That made me feel really good about letting it all go.

If I’d had a garage sale I’d have had to supervise it, and it would have taken time, and I’d have had to struggle to price things and give change and see folks picking over and dickering about whether something I loved was worth twenty-five cents or not, and in the end I wouldn’t have really made much money. As it is, all I got was pure joy and freedom, and a bunch of happy neighbors who will remember me as a generous person.

11 months ago

Yesterday I had a good friend help me finish the little stuff that needed dealing with after the major move-out last week. There was stuff still in the fridge, and opened bottles of cleaning supplies, and various random little things that just never made it into boxes at the time of the big move-out. We sorted, packed, and moved about four carloads.

My friend was a ROCK. She stayed upbeat and helpful all day. It took us a good eight hours to get the place from shockingly gross to well-sorted. I still have a few things to move today either to Goodwill or the dump, and then there would be the final cleaning of all surfaces. I cannot thank my friend enough for her energy and ability to keep moving through the crud yesterday, especially when my own ability to deal burned out.

The thing about moving is that for the move-ee it is very emotional. It isn’t a choice. One does not sit and decide to reminisce about every scrap of paper or crumb of art project. But the mere act of looking at a thing and knowing its history brings those memories flooding back every time you see it. To have to look at everything you own in quick succession is spiritually exhausting. To actually have to touch it, and pack it, and move it, and maybe even throw it away!! is virtual torture. Maybe there are people in the world who can stay detached and calm about moving their own things, but I am not one of them. I had eight years of life ground into the corners of that home. My children went from ages 3 and 12 through ages 11 and 20. That is a significant chunk of life. And I had to have it all flash-flood over me in just these few days. I suppose I may be forgiven for having broken down a few times and needed a good cry or a few moments of glassy-eyed staring into the middle distance from overwhelm.

I succeeded better when I handled objects with less emotional baggage attached. Packing dishes and food was much less draining than trying to sort through my children’s old toys. Throwing away obvious garbage like old wrappers was much easier than trying to decide if something was garbage just because it was a little bit broken or a small piece was missing. Whenever confronted with a “maybe” that drained my energy more than a moment to decide, I decided to pack it and sort through it later. I won’t have such a time pressure/crunch later, and can space my emotional drainage over a longer period so I can handle it.

Meanwhile at the new place I have to deal with all these new boxes full of “last-minute” stuff to unload. Obviously one cannot delay dealing with refrigerated food for long. I’m experiencing some minor panic because there was at least one important letter which I now don’t know where it is after all this confusion. If I don’t find it today I’ll have to go back to the source and get new information either today or tomorrow.

Seeing these last boxes arrive at my new place has had a depressing effect on me. What used to be quite clean lines full of generously open space is now like a plaque-filled artery. My home has gone from feeling light and free to feeling slow and heavy. All the more reason to be ruthless in paring down old belongings and trying to keep only those few things I absolutely cannot live without. By this weekend I hope to have lost a few hundred pounds of excess clutter.

May my body get the message and follow suit, letting go of excess fat it no longer needs and finding a new streamlined lightness to celebrate! 11 months ago

Today I found chicken on sale, probably because of Memorial Day coming up on Monday. So I bought a couple of packages. I also found some lump charcoal, which I’ve been dying to try ever since I heard Alton Brown rave about it on Good Eats. Besides, I just took the trouble to move this old stinky grill of mine all the way here from my last place, where it sat in a shed for years never being used. So now I decided it’s time to use it.

The smoke from the wood charcoal smelt wonderful! I didn’t use lighter fluid either, so there wasn’t that gasoline smell happening. I sat out in the back yard and waited to hear the neighbors commenting how nice it was to smell a barbecue happening.

Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Then I started to feel bad, like maybe the smoke was going in people’s windows and bothering them. So I moved my grill farther away from the building, where it wouldn’t likely bother anyone too much.

I couldn’t stand cooking six giant chicken breasts just for me and my son, so I knocked on my neighbor’s door that I met the other day and invited her and her two little girls to eat with us. We all dragged folding tables and chairs outside and had a nice get-together. After the chicken was all cooked we also cooked up a package of hot dogs, just to give them the smoky flame-grilled flavor even though they would mostly be put straight in the fridge and reheated later. I was shocked that several of them did get eaten, though. Fire and smoke do good things to people’s appetites.

Sharing a meal with my new friends felt just like a little princess tea party, only with chicken. We had lots of fun. I hope to meet and share similar experiences with others of my neighbors soon. 11 months ago

Moving Day went well. Allied/Spaeth moving company did a very good job for me. They were professional, courteous, quick, strong, and efficient. I mostly stood around and directed traffic, telling them which rooms to park stuff in. Even so, by the end of the day I was exhausted. I don’t know how those men lift and move so much stuff! And to do it every day is even more amazing.

Right now I don’t have a bedroom. I used my bedroom as a “junk” room to catch everything that didn’t have a clearly assigned other room to be in. Though this apartment is 1024 square feet and my last was only 900, the layout of the last was much different and more open. This one feels much smaller. The storage space is MUCH smaller. Of course I knew I had a lot of clutter I’d have to purge eventually, but now I know I have to do all that purging right away because otherwise I will never have a bedroom again.

Still, that’s just a matter of getting appropriate shelving solutions, and maybe some different furniture. The important thing is that I LOVE the new location! I am a quarter-mile from Fred Meyer (my favorite superstore) and only a block away from Lowe’s, which should have most of my shelving and home improvement needs. I can bike there on my Yuba Mundo and bring home anything I can strap to the back. I may need help with longer pieces, but I can carry sacks of gravel and potting soil no problem.

Yesterday I built a new herb garden for the children of the neighborhood. Denise, my apartment manager approved it. I got some pretty planters that I could screw in to the wooden fence (on the beams, for strength). I bought seven or eight nice starter plants of all different varieties children may enjoy either for their scent or fruit. I’ve always found children are fascinated by picking the leaf of an herb and crushing it between their fingers to release the scent. I’m pretty fascinated by that myself. I gathered as many children around me as possible to help build the garden and plant the plants, firm in the potting soil and water it well. Afterwards we used sidewalk chalk to label each plant by writing on the wall above it what it is. I located the planters quite low down so even the young children can reach and enjoy them.

I’m making a conscious effort to meet all my neighbors. I’ve met all the families on my floor already, and one above. The weather has been excellent for the past few days, so that helps. Everyone is out playing all the time. It’s good to feel that I’m part of a community that all knows and likes each other.

I still need to clean the last of my small things out of my old place. When the moving company came I still hadn’t packed absolutely everything, though I did get most of it done. But some small things, like cleaning supplies and bathroom things are still over there. Monday and Tuesday I have friends who say they’ll help me with that. It just needs to be all cleaned up and out by the end of the month and I’m fine.

We’ve got at least a month of unpacking to do here, still. Every day we’re making progress so far. We’re organizing shelves, sorting clothes, making beds and finding out how our new home works. We’re all very happy here. I think we all see this as a serious opportunity to change our lives and leave bad old habits behind. We’re working hard to maintain the cleanliness of the new place while we break it in. We’re doing chores regularly, and picking up after ourselves. Nobody wants to break the spell of beauty and happiness here. The views out of every window are of trees, flowers, and sunshine. We all feel blessed. 11 months ago

Today is the last day before “The Big Move”. The movers come tomorrow to handle all the big stuff, and to move anything that isn’t on their “do not move” list like opened bottles of cleaner, etc.

Of course, if they spend their time just lifting and moving boxes, that will be very simple, quick, and inexpensive for me. If they have to spend their time packing boxes it will take a lot more time and I will pay a lot more money. So today my motivation is to get EVERYTHING packed that isn’t the food I’m eating today and the bed I’m sleeping on tonight. I’ll probably do a sucky job of it, just cramming stuff in helter-skelter, but that’s probably all they’d be able to do either. So I’m no worse off.

I have a friend coming soon, who will help me for a few hours. I’ll have her drive me around to do a few errands, then we’ll get packing. This afternoon my daughter will be able to help too. So today is all about just PICK IT UP AND BOX IT!!.

On another note, my daughter has been camping out at the new place since we got the keys four days ago. She’s feeling very independent and grown-up. She’s gone shopping a few times for small things, and had her boyfriend over and got to play hostess and cook dinner for him. She says it feels great having this space and freedom. I hope she doesn’t resent it too much when her brother and I come to live in “her” house! Well, at least we come with plenty of furniture and phones and computer and all, so that should soften the blow. 12 months ago

For all my whining yesterday, some progress has been made on this move. Two large boxes have been given to Goodwill, and the space left over from the three loads we’ve taken is very useful in organizing the remaining items in this house. I feel good about this.

Today my daughter’s new boyfriend is coming over to help us move. He has a truck, so that should be very useful. We may even be able to move a few bookcases, as well as any more boxes we can pack. I like making use of him. I haven’t met him yet, and this is a very favorable light in which to meet this young man who wants me to look kindly on him pursuing my little girl.

12 months ago

I feel nearly exhausted, from just two hours of work! My friend had a hatchback car and we were able to load it twice with small things for the new apartment. I carried most of the things, certainly all of the heavy things. She’s a bit older and has bad knees so I was grateful just to have her drive, and maybe help unpack a few boxes. But that loading and unloading and walking up and down hill or stairs really wore me out. My sciatic nerve is twanging now, and I know I’d better rest before it gets any worse.

We managed to pick up a bunch more boxes from Spaeth, who will be doing the official move for me on Tuesday. They are very kind to let us use old boxes others recycled for free.

I have maybe strength for one more trip this evening. I have someone helping maybe for one trip or so tomorrow evening, and somebody coming on Monday for a few trips.

What I’m afraid of is that these trips are taking care of some of my packed boxes, sure. But I still have so many things around unpacked, and I have hardly any idea how to pack them! I’m afraid the moving company will have to come and pack them for me, and that will cost lots of extra time and money. I don’t know how to handle this in a smarter way.

I’m trying to pack things today. It feels like trying to use a spoon to cut steak with. My brain is just not sharp today. I don’t know if I’m ever very bright in this area. And I’m the one everyone turns to for the answers here! It’s bad enough not knowing things for myself, but it’s worse when I have to use my own stupid head to solve others’ problems for them, because others’ decisions are even stupider than mine!

Stupid people. Stupid moving. I hate this stupid day. 12 months ago

I got my keys!

Today I started moving in. It was more symbolic than anything else. I just walked to the store from my house, bought a few groceries and things, and stocked the appropriate shelves. Now when I go there I know I’ll have a little food and sundry items welcoming me. :D

I also got the chance to meet a few of my neighbors. they seem like nice people. Everyone seems happy to say hello.

I had another thought for using the “semi-public” part of my “backyard”. At the other end of the building there is an isolated corner that is a bit roomy, but is only hard bare dirt. If a little landscaping gravel were spread there it would make a nice place for a freestanding porch swing. Maybe even a barbecue. I wonder if I could get permission to set that up as a little mini-park for us? It is not visible from the road or in anyone’s way. It could be a special “bonus” area for our building.

BTW, I spoke to the apt manager and she LOVED the idea of me hosting cooking classes! She even volunteered to get a few supplies like measuring cups etc. for the cabana out of petty cash.

Yay! It is beginning. 12 months ago

Part of why I’m excited to move to my new place is that I’ve discovered they encourage opportunities there to meet and share with your neighbors. They’re having a pool grand opening party on May 26, with a barbeque cookout. They’re participating in National Night Out. They have a neighborhood Art Walk planned, for folks to bring out their home creations and just share their talent.

I’m very enthusiastic about finding ways to connect and share with my neighbors. I’m starting to think maybe I could host weekly “open dinner” nights at the cabana. I could make a big pot of beans or stew or something, and just share with everyone. Another idea I had was that maybe some folks would like to learn “slow food” cooking techniques, and I could show them how I do that.

This idea sprang up because I noticed my little boy is growing a bit fatter than I think is right or healthy for him. He’s not quite 12 yet, but has developed belly rolls that extend to his back. He didn’t have those rolls a year or two ago. I know it is my fault, because so often I felt unable to take the time to cook, so I let him eat cereal or hot dogs. Pure sugar and fat right there, with nearly no nutrition. So I decided I need to start making some type of convenience foods ahead that he can grab whenever he needs them and I’m not up to it. I could make tamales, casseroles, meat pies, turnovers, muffins, soups, and all kinds of stuff!

Thinking of making those convenience foods made me think probably other people out there could use that help too. I can’t afford to buy ingredients for everyone, and legalities make selling home-made foods tricky, but I could at least host workshops to help people know how to make them for themselves. Maybe we could eventually pool together to make big batches to share. Then we could save money by buying in bulk. Maybe we could even afford to buy really good pasture-raised meat and eggs and organic vegetables. 12 months ago

Today I walked my new place with the landlord, and talked with her about my garden plans. She’s very enthusiastic! She thinks it will be possible to get the gardeners to trim some overhanging branches of trees nearby to give me even more sunlight.

However, I am disappointed that I cannot have quite as much garden space as I’d hoped. I must keep my container garden small enough to not be visible from the road. That means instead of having the full width of my apartment, I only get perhaps 10 feet. Still, it is something! And if I’m lucky I’ll get permission from my next-door neighbor to encroach some of my containers in front of HER back door area. If I keep them beautiful and full of nice things to share, I bet it won’t be a hard sell.

The other thing that surprised and disappointed me was that I learned I’m not allowed to keep guinea pigs! I could have a cat or a dog, but not a guinea pig. Not even on the porch. That just seems bizarre to me. No guinea pigs, lizards, snakes, ferrets, or hamsters. Someone must have a really strange phobia about little caged pets.

Finally, I’m not necessarily allowed to keep an awning over my bikes. That is the strangest thing of all. She said I might have luck if I put it up and keep it where it doesn’t show at all. But it would have to be a small one, like maybe 6’x4’. I’m not even sure that’s big enough to cover both my bikes anyway. I’ll need to do more measuring and shopping to see what my options might be. I can only guess my final resort might be to have to pay for a covered parking space, which seems a bit overkill for a couple of bikes.

Two more bits of good news, though: she liked my idea of putting a little fountain in the front of the house, with maybe even some pretty plantings around it, as long as I keep it looking nice. And she also approved of my idea to plant alpine strawberries on a bare hilly spot by the playground area, so it will form a nice ground cover and provide treats for the kids.

So all in all, I’m very enthusiastic about my new home. I picked up some boxes today and hope to spend the weekend filling them and getting ready to move them next week. 12 months ago

Today I got the rest of the paperwork done necessary to move in to the new place. All that’s left is for BHA to inspect it and declare it fit for habitation, and I may take possession any time after that!

I hope my neighbors are nice. I want to try to meet them quickly. I hate that generally I never know most of my neighbors in these apartments. I know the guy who lives upstairs, and have a nodding acquaintance with two or three others. I hope in my new place the neighbors don’t mind the sound of washing machines after dark. I rather like the sound of water swooshing, myself. Sometimes “late” is the only time I’m able to get around to doing anything, and if I have to wait until “daytime” it might not get done.

I hope to make connections with people. It would be nice if a few could become my friends. Maybe I’ll invite them to join me in the cabana to do yoga or something. Maybe they’d like to learn how to do one of my crafts, like soap making or doll making or container gardening. Maybe they’d like to join me to write and read poetry.

It’s a good-sized community. Probably eight buildings with 12 units each, that’s possibly 100 people to choose from. In any group of 100 people, if even 10% liked me, that’d be ten new awesome friends!

Ten is a LOT. I could have a BUNCH of fun with ten new friends!

At the risk of my dreams getting ahead of me, I’m starting to feel something like Julie McCoy “Your Cruise Director”. I think it would be AWESOME to plan and coordinate lots of fun activities for people to do and meet each other. 12 months ago

I’ve been fretting about the furniture layout because the new bedrooms are smaller than our current ones. Trust me, a 9×9 is a LOT different from a 10×10! When your rooms are this small, one foot can make a vast difference.

I woke up this morning with a bright thought of how I could build a raised bed for my son. And me too, come to think of it. Not a loft bed (which is like a bunk bed only without the bottom bunk) but a bed simply raised a few feet off the floor. It will greatly increase our storage down there, and also provide a nook that a small boy will enjoy playing in! I’m sure it will improve the overall feeling of smallness, by giving a second level of access.

I just did a quick Google search and found this design, which shows about the height I’m going for:

I’ll look around to see what other cool ideas I might incorporate! 12 months ago

I put the first down payment on the apartment today!

My friend J drove me around, and we got all the paperwork lined up at the three different departments that needed it, using two other places to get necessary information/documents, and one stop for a latte. We did GREAT! The entire round trip only took an hour. INCLUDING stopping at the grocery store to return something and buy bread.

I’ve never gotten so much done so early before!

So now I can relax a bit and know “my” apartment really is being held for me, and will not be rented to any other person before I get there. 12 months ago

I’m thinking in my new place I want to build a water feature, and look into keeping guinea pigs instead of rabbits. I want to make a nice “parking space” for my bikes which will probably include some gravel and/or sand plus an awning. I want to have as many different things as possible in my new small space. I want there to be LOTS of reasons to go outside every day and take care of things, and enjoy the little “nano-homestead” I’ll be making.

To me the difference between a mere garden and a “homestead” is that a homestead feeds the family, and a homestead will also have circular looped systems. So what is considered a waste in one system becomes a resource in another.

For my water feature I think I want a fountain that makes pleasant noise as the water splashes over rocks. But I also want to look into the possibility of keeping a tiny tank where I could grow water chestnuts or something. Maybe I’ll even keep a few fish there. I like fish as pets.

I’d like to get a lot of diversity into a tiny environment. 13 months ago

It occurs to me that I will be moving to a place within walking distance of several restaurants and a movie theater. I should ask around and see whether they have used buckets (maybe for pickles or something) that I can have.

It would take much longer, of course, to accumulate the 100 I want, but at least it would be free!

Here is a fancy idea for a self-watering plan.13 months ago

I got a floor plan from the new apartment manager. I re-drew it on graph paper to get a scale that made sense to me, and then was able to play with little paper cutout furniture and come up with the plan for how I will arrange my things in this new space.

It took some finagling, but I managed to work out at least an intention which looks promising. Sadly, it involves having all the (twin-sized) beds crammed right into the corners of each bedroom, because otherwise there will not be room for anything else. I’m not happy with the loss of space for a bedside table. But I did manage to give each bedroom a dresser and a study table.

My really weird thought is that I could give the master bedroom to my daughter. I really want her to feel happy living with me, and not be tempted to move out. I think if I crammed my 20 year old into one of these tiny new bedrooms, she’d chafe. I’m the one who’s all into downsizing and the tiny house movement. Besides, she often has her best friend sleep over. It makes more sense for her to have the extra space to be able to keep her couch for that purpose. They’ll also really enjoy having a private bathroom.

I do rather wonder whether this will play havoc with the power structure of our family. Will my daughter get spoiled and start acting uppity to me? It seems out of character for her, but one never knows. It just seems a bit arbitrary and selfish for me to automatically assume I MUST have the master bedroom when I’m not married and have little idea of ever having a new spouse. Why should I necessarily have extra space? I will have room for my sewing machine. That’s all I really need. Plus this way I’ll get the bedroom with more light, so I could put plants on my windowsill.

After the rush of “falling in love” with a new place, I feel the pinch of recognizing realities. This new place isn’t perfect. There will be things I will probably gripe about. But I think in general I will be opening myself up to a lot of new possibilities in life, which will make a big difference to me. The location is 100 times better than my old one. I’ll be much more able to lead an active life, so that means we’ll all be much happier.

BTW, does anyone know of a source where I can get about a hundred 5-gallon buckets, for me to plant my new container garden? 13 months ago

Today I took an official tour of the same apartment/complex I looked at last time. There are a few minuses involved in moving to this new place. But the plusses far out weigh them!

I got the forms I’ll need to fill out. I was shown a particular apartment which will be vacated by the end of this month, which is the unit I want. It is ground floor, and has space in the back which gets some sunshine, and where I’ve been told I’m quite welcome to plant any sort of garden I like!

I plan to put in a container garden full of all my favorite easy to grow vegetables. I even have a chain link fence I can use as a trellis! Also, there is plenty of space for me to park my two bicycles. I’ll want to buy an awning eventually for them. At least I’ll need a proper tarp. But they should be safe. It is good to have a little bonus space!

To move I will need to give my apartment 20 days notice, and I must wait until the first of the month to do that. I can also give part of my security deposit to Griffin Glen to hold the apartment for me.

I’m concerned that the bedrooms and closets seem a bit smaller than the ones we have now. I don’t know how we’re going to sort through our possessions enough to be sure we can fit properly into our new smaller digs. I don’t know where I’m going to set up my computer. I don’t know if I’ll have room at all to set up my sewing machine. I don’t even know if any of my current furniture will fit into the new spaces.

I guess these are all issues I’ll just have to work out. 13 months ago

Yesterday I toured a place I could potentially move to. It is an apartment complex right across from my favorite grocery store. The rent there is almost exactly the same as here, but they have a POOL, and a much better playground, and lots of beautiful trees, and paved paths, and COVERED PARKING. I want to move there as soon as I can.

The apartments are within easy walking distance of the store, but are not actually in sight of it. So from our windows we would see trees, not traffic, which is great. It would virtually eliminate my issues with getting groceries, since the distance on a bike is so short and there would be no major hills to climb on the way. My bike would also be much more useful in getting nearly everywhere else I want to go, because I’d be several miles closer and on a flat stretch of road. It would make just plain riding my bike much more of a pleasure instead of an exhausting chore.

There is a bus stop handy, so we’d still have just as much mobility as now for going other places out of bike range.

But the truth is, in the same complex as my grocery store there is also a gas station, a dollar store, a couple of restaurants and other amenities, so I’d really be putting myself within walking distance of most of the things I’d ever want to go do. There’s even a movie theater on the next street over! The area is upwardly mobile. Other strip malls in town are deteriorating and businesses are moving away from them. This is the only one I know where people are excited to move TO there.

Besides wanting to live there, I hope once I arrive I can sort out my issues of housekeeping by eliminating a lot of my clutter. Naturally I want to pare down my possessions FIRST before I bother moving them. Once there I want to install plenty of appropriate shelving to be sure the things I do keep are accessible, not crammed in closets.

Also I hope that once there I can have the courage to meet my neighbors and make friends. I know I could probably start some kind of crafting club to raise interest. Maybe even make a cleaning club where we mutually support each other doing chores! Apartments are notorious for being impersonal. I think I could change that if I make a real effort. I could hang door flyers if necessary. 13 months ago