An English-style, roof-top garden; breakfast on the porch swing overlooking the city; and a spacious, studio flat filled with color and natural light - sounds very picturesque, doesn't it? Those are the descriptions of the apartment where I helped Hayley move last weekend. She has been house sitting a dog(Frodo) and his apartment for the past 6 weeks for a family from her church. As they are coming home and her parents are coming next month, she has found and started renting an apartment for her and her parents to live in.

Having packed the stuff she had yet to move in the car, we drove to the apartment at 9p and were blessed to find a front row parking spot. It only took us three trips to carry all the stuff up the stairs to her third-floor apartment. Each time, we punched the timed light at the bottom of the staircase and hurried up each flight, determined to reach the top before the light turned off. The first time - we failed. The second time - we failed. Third time's a charm. Encumbered by her awkward, weighty suitcase, we poised at the bottom, each holding an end. She hit the button and we scuttled up the stairs, twisting as fast as we could around each corner. We made it - with time to spare. But she had dropped the keys three landings down so we had to go back and get them. After we were done, we collapsed on her new chesterfield and feasted on the no-bake cookies we had made earlier that afternoon!

It was only after we awoke with cricks in our from the understuffed, down pillows that we began to realize some of what we were missing. The two most important items were a toothbrush and a can opener. Toothpaste on your finger only works in a pinch, not as a long-term arrangement, and it is difficult to get into the tuna you have bought for lunch if you don't have a can opener. Despite the urgency of both those items, breakfast comes before lunch, and we were hungry. So we improvised to make a temporary counter in her little kitchen corner and started making breakfast. Then it was off to the store to buy the first two housewarming gifts for Hayley's apartment. A toothbrush and a can opener - don't start a home without them!