In our own place -- finally

(Post from November 6)

We finally got into our new apartment last night. Trying to settle in today. Although the apartment is furnished, there's still lots of things to buy, including a sofa and bedroom set for Isabel. Plus, we don't know where shop for good quality at great prices -- so it does complicate matters. And everything always seems more expensive than we expect.

The owners are great and very helpful. But I was getting a little nervous when they were explaining all the gas related stuff. Did you know in Spain you have to turn the gas range on with a match or lighter? The system here does not have the automatic clicker thingy. That means lots of burned fingers until we get the clicker gun.

We also had an interesting night. First, there was no consistent hot water. We had to do funny things to get it to work. We thought maybe we didn't do something right, but it turns out the gas company had come last week to fix something and made it worse. In addition, the bathroom sink is leaking and needs a part, which is packed away with the owner's stuff. Plus, the lights in the bathroom have to be fixed as they shut down after a few minutes. And, there is hardly a curtain for the whole bath, so when I took a shower this morning, I walked out on a flood! Then, I was in the middle of giving Isabel a bath and I couldn't get the stopper out. Then the light shuts down (you have to wait for it to recycle) and water is going all over the place while we are in the dark. All this while the telephone company is installing stuff and the painter is finishing up the paint job. Just a bit of the craziness of the day.