If...

Okay, so yesterday morning Brian's car got a flat.  This meant he took my car to work and Monkey and I spent the only sunny day this week in the house.  Today it's going to start to rain and apparently finish up sometime around Sunday - yay.  So, because I'm tired of taking pictures of monkey in his exersaucer and because not much post-worthy has happened since yesterday, today you get to read about my thoughts.  And what else would I think about being house-bound but the loft?

If I was younger... if I was cooler (even more than when I was younger)... if I was childless... if I was single... if I only had one cat... and if I worked full-time then this loft would be a fabulous place to live.  I mean it.  I could throw cool parties.  I could pretentiously tell people I live in a loft. My one cat would love sitting in the one window to watch the passersby.  I would have the itty bitty closet all to myself and the neighbors wouldn't bother me because I would either be partying with them or spending the night at my rich boyfriend's apartment in Midtown (come on, if we are doing fantasyland, let's do it right).

Instead, I'm older (not yet old), not as cool as I once was (which really wasn't that cool), with child, married, 4 cats, a stay-at-home mom and loft life really isn't that fabulous.  At the risk of sounding like a "whiner" let me tell you the downfalls of loft life in my current situation... it's loud.  I mean really really loud to my 35 year old ears. Because the ceilings are like 25 feet high and everything is exposed metal or brick (even the stairs are metal) there are a lot of echoes.  The TV echoes, the cats echo, and a baby echoes.  So, when the baby is sleeping (behind thin doors) I'm constantly worried about waking him up (even though a freight train couldn't wake up that boy).  And, for some odd reason, there are no acoustics in this place. For instance, if Brian is not looking at me when he is talking to me I honestly can't hear him.  Makes me feel like I'm 90 years old.

What else...

• Being in the same room all the time can make for a little boredom (for baby and me). 
• There is no storage so everything is out - coats on a coat rack, briefcases up against a wall, baby paraphernalia stocked wherever there is space.  It can make someone who is kind of a neat freak a little on the edge. 
• I'm too old to hear my neighbors having sex. 
• I'm too old to listen to college students party. 
• With no walls anywhere, my entire house smells like what I'm cooking... and in some cases what I cooked the night before since there are only 2 windows and no cross ventilation.
• It's hard to keep a concrete, cinder block, and brick house warm. 
• If you don't put everything away as soon as you are done with it, the place looks like a bomb exploded.
• Personally, I'm not a fan of having my kitchen wraps (Saran, Reynolds, etc) stashed on a shelf in the bathroom because the kitchen is too small.
• I can only buy what I need.  In most cases that is a good thing... but this also applies to things like toilet paper.  Did I mention no storage?
• There isn't enough room for the cats to really play, so they get destructive.  They get bored too.

There are some benefits.  The first is what lies beyond my front door - the city is at my disposal.  So far city living is fabulous. The other benefit is that I do like being able to put the baby down and wherever I am I can see him.

And it isn't like I'm living in Guantanamo Bay or anything - the loft is a really nice loft... if I was younger... if I was cooler... you get my point.