We're running out of room.

We're growing out of our little two-bedroom apartment, we really are. There's enough room if we remain anti-social and with differing schedules. I don't know what we're going to do when Sara's computer is finished being pieced together. I don't want it in her bedroom, but there is no room in the living room with ours. We need more bookcases for both books and our media stuff. But there's nowhere to put more bookcases, really.

I love our apartment, for the most part. I think the long useless hallway is well, useless, but it's great for spacing the noisy areas from the bedrooms. Our living room is a long rectangle and split between a living room, den and dining room. Our bedroom doubles as a library. Sara's room is hers and poorly laid out. But for the most part it's pretty good for us. It has fit us well over the past 3 years.

But now that we have Sara full time it's starting to fit like last year's jeans after a growth spurt. She got these wonderful toys for Christmas, but they require space to open them up and play. Space we just don't have. To do my Physio exercises on the floor I have to tuck myself between our computer desks and the kitchen table. I can't even imagine how sardine like it'll become once Sara starts bringing friends home with her.

Ideally I'd love for us to have a room the size of our living room dedicated to the computers and all the crap they need. Hell I'd even make it into a cubicle farm. I'd love to have a bedroom slash nothing else for everyone. The idea of a guest bedroom thrills me. I'd say that a library would be nice, but I know we'd never keep our books contained to a single room. A play/work room would be heavenly as well. A corner for Sara's big-ass toys and a corner for my various projects. (I think part of the reason I find it hard to work on my projects is they have to be unpacked and repacked every time I work on anything)

Eventually we'll buy a house and get some of those spaces I crave. Until then we're stuck in rental land. So I've been thinking a lot about getting into a 3-bedroom apartment or townhouse somewhere. Use the third bedroom as a computer den and free up the living room to be a living room. I've been looking across the street at the big red building and the 2 empty apartments and thinking it might be nice to live over there.

Then recently our next-door neighbours moved out. Their apartment has been mentioned to me before by Fritz. He's told me about the three bedrooms and the dishwasher. I've wanted to get in there to take a look for months. I never wanted to intrude while someone lived there but there's nobody there now, right? So I jumped at the chance to check it out quickly yesterday when I caught Fritz heading out after doing some painting in there.

It's more a two bedroom, two den, two bath apartment than a three bedroom. The bedrooms are on opposite sides of the apartment with a bathroom right beside each one. The kitchen is the same size and layout as ours, but with the fabled dishwasher right across from the (avocado green) fridge. The living room is the size of our current one, but there's an offset den area leading to the master bedroom. There's a separate room section leading from the living room to the master bedroom that would work as a computer den.

The biggest downfall for me is that the master bedroom is it's all french doors between it and the dens. If someone was playing on a computer or watching TV while someone else was trying to sleep, the poor sleeper would hear everything. The carpet is cheap, and of course and as usual with this landlady the place is dirty. Plus we'd lose the balcony.

But there's more space. We could start separating out the work areas from the social and play areas. Sara's room would be bigger. There are two bathrooms. But then again it's remaining under the "management" of this incompetent idiot. Not to mention paying her more money to do shit all. There's the hassle and adjustment of moving even when it's just 30 feet down the hall. We'd still be just outside of Sara's School's catchment area.

Debates. Debates. And that's 30 minutes according to the new super-silly cat timer.