Heat.

Our apartment has heat!  Our apartment has heat!!

It's been a few days of topsy-turvy, plaster-dust-covered, drills-roaring mess... but Apartment Lucy is warm.  And just in time, as the balmy, sunny weather of the last few weeks is turning to rain and the temperatures are steadily, ominously dropping.

I am so thankful.  So thankful I can hardly sit still.  It's astonishing what the end of this project feels like -- as we slowly mop up the debris and adjust to the new industrial-looking pipes running the length of the walls and get used to this new reality... of 25 degrees Fahrenheit warmer in our apartment tonight than it was this morning.  Oh yeah.

So, a few things that will take some getting used to:

1) Gas heat = hot water in the kitchen!  But I still found myself headed to the bathroom with the dish tub in hand to fill up after dinner.  I guess some habits take a bit of time to break.
2) Leftovers will no longer stay naturally refrigerated if we leave them in the pan on the stove.  Sad.  But on the plus side, butter will soften if we leave it on the counter! Whoa.
3) I might find places to sit other than bed for the next three months when reading, writing, or otherwise not moving in our apartment.  As I write this, I'm on -- wait for it -- the couch.  The one by the window.  With just one blanket.  And hatless, I will add.  This is revolutionary.  (I won't tell you how many blankets are on our bed.)
4) Our laundry will dry! Our laundry will dry! And it won't start to mold as it does so!
5) Getting out of bed in the morning, or exiting the shower, or putting on clothes, or washing my hands, won't evoke gasps and frantic rushing about in an attempt to recover from shock.  I can't even begin to describe how happy this makes me.  Mornings just got so much brighter.

Oh man, y'all.  This is really exciting.  I'm astonished, and thankful beyond words, to all of you who support us financially -- because you made this happen.  You helped us install heat in our apartment! And now I'm going to invite lots of people over to share the love, including all of you if you can make the trip.  And even if you can't, I just want to say thanks to each of you, oh lovely people scattered across North America -- today you have really really really made me smile.