a few of MY firsts

When I blog about '"firsts", it normally has to do with some milestone that one of my children has met.

Well, there just happen to be a few firsts of my own that I wish to point out today.

1. My first time living without a garbage disposal. I never thought/wanted this to happen. It will take some adjusting because I hate the thought of food in the garbage due to the smell and the germs. Yuck. I'm sure I'll accidentally scrape food into the sink out of habit.

2. First time living without central heating/air. It's bearable, but I'm still getting used to it. We have window units in various rooms and plan on buying a couple more. Anna Scott's room gets pretty warm. I have always dressed the kids in long jammies because I like to turn the thermostat way down at night. I'm thinking I may need to buy some short jammies because this is what Anna Scott has looked like most nights:

Dressed in an unbuttoned onesie because she's too tall to button them and a pair of bloomers so she's not tempted to take off her diaper. She's been dressed sparingly at nap time and has woken up sweaty a couple of times. Jack has a window unit in his room, so he can wear his long jammies and stay comfortable. Our landlords say they barely use their AC. They leave their windows open at night and close them at around 10am the next morning and that keeps their house cool enough for them. I guess Ben and I have lived in such a warm climate our whole lives that we're used to running the AC all of the time and feeling the cool air on our skin. Plus, I grew up with a mother who froze the house at night, so I did the same thing in my own house when I grew up. I'm used to sleeping in a really cold room under really warm covers.

3. First time living so far away from family. While I am loving where we are right now, I'm sure the distance between us and our loved ones will get harder to endure. We can't just load up in the car and make a 4 hour drive. We have to totally plan ahead to make the 13 hour drive. (I don't even think I could handle all of that in 1 day, much less drive it by myself with the kids.)

4. First time living with avocado green appliances. I am actually loving the appliances because I love green! But, the dishwasher sucks. I could do without it. (Not without a dishwasher, in general. Just the particular green one that I have.) The fridge is actually in wonderful shape and very clean. The one downside is that there is no ice maker. I don't normally use ice, but Ben will definitely miss that little luxury. We have some ice cube trays to help him get by.

I'm sure there will be many more firsts for this family while we're here in Hershey. All I've got to say is that our first few days here have been fabulous, despite the dreaded unpacking and settling in. I am loving our surroundings. I am loving our weather. Who knows....I may be converted from a southerner to a Yankee.

Or, maybe I've confirmed my idea that I would become a "snowbird" when I'm older. Live in the north during the summer and migrate south for the winter. Sounds like a good plan to me. Maybe I can get Ben on board with it.