I know... I'm kind of a slob.

I took some pictures of my apartment. I didn't clean it up on purpose to prove a point. It looks like blogspot cut off the right half of them, so if you want to get the full picture just click on them and they'll take you to photobucket.

This is my kitchen. On the left side, you can see my dishwasher up against the wall. It's about half the size of a normal dishwasher. It's not really worth running, but seeing as how I bought the soap for it, I'm going to use it until I'm out of soap. Then I'll probably just use it as a place to put clean dishes after washing them by hand. I bought a broom that I haven't used yet. I have a nice pan that is just like the one that came heavily recommended to mom by some random lady at Costco. It's currently dirty, I wash it when I need to use it. It does not go in the dishwasher. The far left is my stinky fridge. It smelled of death when I moved in, and it's gone down a few levels to merely puke. Well, at least maybe it doesn't smell so bad, maybe I'm just getting used to it. I think the vinegar and the baking soda have helped somewhat.



Here is my box collection room. I'm afraid to throw away decent sized boxes because I'll need them in 8 months when I leave here. The powerade bottle (partially filled with water) next to the shoepolish and rag is my boot shining station. A little water, a little kiwi polish and a lot of buffing get my shoes reasonably shiny.



This is my front door. In the corner I have a big box that I keep filling with trash. I'll get around to emptying it eventually. There isn't anything rancid in there, it's mostly plastic. This is also the area where I dump everything I'm carrying when I get home from work. My gym bag and towel are on the floor there, and I do not want to inhale any fumes from that in my bedroom when I'm sleeping.



Next 2 pictures are my "home office/dining room" I have space to put a bowl or a plate of food in front of my keyboard. The chair is the only place I have here to sit down other than on the floor.




This is my bedroom. That is an 8 dollar inflatable mattress from Walmart on the floor. It's actually not too uncomfortable, and it holds air good enough that I only need to put a few puffs into it every few nights or so. I blew it up with my lungs on my first night here, when it was 100 degrees in here at 11 pm. That sucked. Lightheaded and burning up.




Last is the bathroom. I looked at 5 or 6 different apartments before coming to this one. This wasn't even on my list, I just saw it as I was leaving a different nearby apartment. This is the only one I found with a washer and dryer already in the room. It has been a life saver! I do at least 1 load every day, usually 2. If I was doing this at a laundry room, even one on site, I would have shelled out a fortune so far, not to mention spending hours and hours away from my apartment keeping an eye on my laundry. It washes larger loads than you would think just from looking at it.




I'm doing pretty well. Today is Labor Day, and we didn't have any school. I went out and ran at one of the city parks that has running trails. 4.15 miles in 34 minutes. I ran through my mile and a half in 10:35 today which is putting me on track to come close to my goal of 9 flat before the academy is over. I have lost a considerable amount of weight, and I'm pretty sure it's going to continue when we start having to do PT in bunker gear. That reminds me, looking at the FD website, they show some of the cadets wearing bunker gear. They have first initial and last name across the bottom of the coat. I'm going to be A FOX. That ought to be worth a few laughs at my expense, even if I am a handsome man.

I just want to say that having to take care of myself has opened my eyes a little more. I already knew I was married to the greatest woman I ever could have hoped for, but she takes care of me, which is a big job in and of itself, and she keeps 5 kids mostly clean and usually out of trouble. I don't know where or what I'd be without her. She doesn't give herself a whole lot of credit, but she is really one amazing person, and I am the luckiest guy in the world to have her in my life. I am counting down the days until Thanksgiving, and I am excited to be able to provide a life for her that she has always deserved. I love you Jenn, you're awesome!