No More Looking

We found an awesome place about two weeks ago. We made a move on it, saw it this past Monday, put in our applications, and were informed today it was ours! We start the move on the twenty first of April.

So the details...

I know we were looking for smaller, but we settled for bigger and more well planned space instead. It is also cheaper than what we pay now; not insanely cheaper but worth every penny of rent.

We found another three story, two bedroom two bathroom townhouse, but there are some amazing differences. With this place we will have a two car tandem garage with tons of room for storage and for Collin to have a little techie nerd work bench. At the back of the garage there is a door out onto an okay sized porch with a little fenced in "yard." The yard is pretty much NO maintenance which is cool, I am not sure what we would really do with it.

On the second floor is the kitchen, dining room, and living room. I LOVE the way the rooms are laid out. The living room has a gas fireplace and some built in shelves. The kitchen has a PANTRY!! So I can actually use my huge bookcase for books! Off the living room (which is in the back part of the townhouse) is a GINORMOUS deck. I can totally see a couple chairs and a table out there with our grill.

On the third floor is the washer and dryer and two huge bedrooms. The master has an attached bath and then the second is out in the hall right next to the second bedroom. There is a walk in closet in the master; which I am not sure what I will do with it having donated most of my clothes to Goodwill....

There is a ton of storage through out the place and it is only .7 miles from where we currently live, and that is .7 closer to my work and the Max. I am so glad we were able to find something in the area we have fallen in love with. Also, one of my really good friends from work lives like four houses away! So, we lose the nerd domicile/man cave (that really didn't get used), and all of our toilets are still on the third floor, but we gain roughly two hundred square feet for LESS than we pay NOW, and we stay in the area we love (and is convenient for our life right now). Oh, and did I mention we yet again managed to find something that backs to a park/green space. Yes, our views consist of gorgeous trees!

I am beyond happy and relieved. Lord willing, this will be the last time we move until we are ready to buy! I don't want to have to look at rentals again, next time I want it to be for something much more permanent.

I feel like I am missing some details but there will be pictures after the move. Distracted by dinner. We are celebrating.

Pizza!

I Know...

Stress. It’s a known fact of life. Everyone has to deal with it. 

It hollows you out and fills the empty husk with toxic sludge. It cracks a door for its cousins; guilt and fear. Stress opens a window to let in the chill air of depression. It cuts you down to nothing and makes you feel useless.

You do what you can to beat it back and hold it at bay, but it wears you out and robs you of sleep. And when it allows you to sleep it brings you visions of despair and hideous nightmares.

It feeds on your spirit and makes you feel weak. More often than not, by the time you realize what it has done to you, the recovery appears like Everest. You know it can be done and others before you have reached the peak. Stress whispers in your ear doubts and what-ifs. Finally something inside snaps and you break through.

A spark. A tiny hungry flame inside you ignites. You realize that the voice telling you this is an insurmountable task is the stress. It’s afraid. All its hard work has turned on it. A warm breeze blows, bringing the scent warm sun, grass, and that earthy smell of spring.

It’s not easy, but you find the strength. You struggle. Somehow, that flame is now an inferno. You burn your way out of the rut. With a fiery desire you turn the stress into action and planning. You are the stronger of the two.

Let go.

You can achieve it all if you just let go.

Remind me to read this next time. There is always a next time. I am sure some times will be bigger and harder than others, but this will always be a constant.

Bridges Are Looking Tempting...

Want to know what I hate more than moving?

Bitching about looking for a new place.

It's true. I hate it. But I am going to do it anyways.

This shit is getting old. It just kills me seeing THREE ideal properties, and having to wait it out. I know I would be wasting my time even contacting them at this point since all of them are available NOW. Patience is slipping away from me.

The alternative of course is to not look until we get closer... Lesson learned, that doesn't work either. There was this other townhouse we had eyeballed the listing for but it was above what we originally were looking for price-wise when I still had the miser goggles on. It was in a perfect location and good size, cheaper than what we pay now, and it wasn't going to be available until mid- April... Yea, it's not listed anymore...

I need to cut up the brownies for work tomorrow... Probably should taste test them with Collin... Don't want to take mediocre goodies to work. LOL.

*~*~*~*~*~* (you know this == intermission music at this point, right?)*~*~*~*~*~*~

Done. And I did the dishes!

This last weekend we skipped out on the running group. It was Magic Mile. We spent Saturday sleeping in, and then sleeping more. Seriously, we took a two odd hour nap after being up for about four or five hours. I think we needed it. With his schooling, and everything else we desperately needed a break from it. We did accomplish some stuff though. We spent a couple hours going through more stuff that needed to go to Goodwill. Which is where we went Sunday. Twice. A Ricky was loaded to the gills both times. It was kind of nice to get rid of more stuff. Our bikes have also found new homes. Mine to a good friend at work and Collin's went to Goodwill.

Monday I did something to tweak or pinch my sciatic nerve so about a quarter mile into our run I couldn't run anymore. We walked for a bit more and then cut it short and made our way home. It was actually quite frustrating. I wish I knew what I did to it. Today it is mostly feeling better, but as to not further derail any training we are only walking after work this week.

I am trying to save myself for when it counts at this point, which in this case the distance run on Saturday is when I really want to be able to run. We are slated for eight miles this weekend. This run will be tied with the furthest we have walked since starting the program last year.

I am excited, which sounds a little sick, I know. Especially when you consider that it is ALL uphill from here. Not literally, but distance wise.

I am getting sleepy and distracted so I should go before I start babbling nonsense that is more nonsensical than what I normally babble about... LOL... So before you say anything about glaring grammatical errors or misspellings, know that I am half asleep and this is taking me forever to type so I have no intentions of proofing it. Bite me.

Cornbread.

Changing The Game

Or maybe it's the plan...

As much as I want to be a miser and hole away money and pay shit off fast so we can hole away money, I am thinking I will have to be a little more flexible to find a place like what we want...

We were supposed to go see two communities today after work, but after I told Collin how rude one had been on the phone he didn't even want to give them the time of day. I don't blame him. The chick was a bitch about it like we were taking time away from her by coming in for a quick chat and maybe a partial tour of the community. If that's how they treat potential residents how nice do you think they are to the people who already live there?

We did see the other one though. I wish it was more of what I had imagined it to be because the price was dead on for what the stingy bitch inside of me was looking for. Key word being was. It was poorly laid out and everything was beyond dated... Plus there was very little natural light. Also, the pack of kids running around and screaming like little psychopaths was a big turn-off for me.  Yea, I was saddened by this tour, but not too much. It gave me much needed perspective on what I want out of our next place. If this means we pay closer to what we are paying now (but still less!!!) to get better quality so be it.

After I post this I intend to resume the hunt, but with new, less miserly eyes. Wish me luck... It's March first and that scares the crap out of me...

Another thing that pissed me off at the place we did see: the dude who gave us the tour kept calling Collin, Carl. AND we had to keep telling him over and over when we were hoping to move in! And I mean like at least four or five times... At one point he even tried to correct me when I said our current lease ended April 30th, he's like, "You mean March 31st." And I said, "No, our lease ends at the end of April which is why we would like to start moving in the weekend before the last weekend of April so we can take our time."

Yea, after the shit day I had at work I was not in the mood. Plus I don't think I would like coming home to that place after a shitty day at work. I'm sure it's a nice place, and it is totally affordable, but it's not the right place for us.

So here I go again (on my own! Going down the only road I've ever known! Like a drifter I was born to walk alone....). Please tell me you see the funny in this... If not then I know my parents messed me up more than I thought... Google it.

Crimini Mushrooms.

Heads One Minute...

Tails the next...

I feel wishy washy, and flip floppery.

One minute it's like, "House only! Absolutely no apartments!" But, the more and more I look the more and more I am realizing that an apartment would be the best bet for the time being.

I must admit (even though I have seen some really nice apartments) I am utterly terrified that we will get into a lease and have these super wretched neighbors. I have hope that in the communities we would be interested in the possibility of truly nasty neighbors is far more limited than, say, where we lived in Salem...

I guess there will always be sacrifices until we are able / ready to buy.

I will be extremely picky about apartments though. It's not just about the money we would be saving, I still want to have some of the amenities we have here. Okay, most of the amenities. Like a washer and dryer in the unit. One thing I could totally do without? A freaking fireplace. Sadly, they appear to be pretty standard in the "nicer" complexes. We have not used ours at all... Oh, and did I mention we are fairly certain there is a wasps nest in the chimney? The floo is tightly closed. I am hoping they don't wake up until AFTER we move.

We are on the precipice of no return. I am dropping the sixty day notices off tomorrow; one in the mail and one in the "Manager's Box."

That freaking balloon is still all floaty and shit... The balloon Collin got me with the arrangement from Edible Arrangements is still at full "power." Two freaking weeks later! Cah-razy... Mylar.

Last night was one of those bastard nights where I just could not switch off my brain. I didn't fall asleep until sometime around midnight. I honestly don't know when exactly it was; I just know that it was a fitful four-odd hours of sleep (if you can call it that) that was mostly made up of flashes of "dreams" and tossing and turning. My plan is to go to bed here in the next hour or so. I might read for a little bit. I just know that I must get a full night's sleep, or I am going to be even more worthless tomorrow than I was today.

I need to start the dishwasher, and then I am going to look at some places until I am sick of it for tonight...

Brownies!

Like The Weather In Oregon...

Give me a few minutes and I will change.

This morning was fantastic! Over six and a half miles; that's half of a half marathon! I felt wonderful after the run (legs are still a little tired almost six hours later...). New shoes totally made the difference; my legs weren't nearly as fatigued as they have been and my feet didn't hurt! Even though they were wet due to a slight misjudge and wrong turn I was still comfortable. What made the run even better?

The freaky, jacked up Oregon weather! It was raining when we got to Lake O, drizzling when we left the truck, rain some more, then about mile two it was starting to get a lot of chunk factor (that's to say there were some flakes involved... In fact as I type this there is some chunky precipitation falling from the clouds), and then between miles three and four the freaking sun came out! The sun was with us up until about the last half mile or so.

All in all, we had a great run!

Last night I ordered some compression sleeves for my calves. Combined with the new shoes I should be invincible! Okay, not so much. Ideally, though, the two things combined should make my post run recovery even faster, and the running itself better.

Since we were already in the area, after the run we drove by the place we were lusting after... Note the past tense... Yea, it's a no Jim. We might as well rent an apartment. The hill to get up to the place was insane. If there was any, and I mean ANY ice we wouldn't be able to go out. The parking area was meh, and it just was not what I expected based on the photos. It is a most certainly no to that place. Which is kind of nice. Now I won't be sad when it's gone... After driving up there I don't think I would want to live in that area at all honestly.

We have come to the understanding that if it gets close to the wire and we are not finding houses within the price range we are looking for we will consider apartments. But, dammit, if we are going to live in an apartment I will not pay over eight to nine hundred dollars per month, and I want it to include water, sewer, garbage, and the inevitable pet rent... If it comes down to an apartment, so be it. All the faster we can pay off our debt and do the stuff we want to. I am not giving up on the hopes of an affordable house / townhouse /  duplex, but I am trying to keep an open mind to the other option.

I have a almost a full load of stuff to go to Goodwill. Four bags of clothes (along with some accessories), a box of random kitchen crap, a box of old work out gear (I should throw in the DVDs, running is my thing now!), a box of random crap, and a couple of space heaters. I need Collin to go through his clothes, and all of his shit in the nerd domicile... I swear, I have no idea where all that stuff comes from...

Now it's sunny again. Collin thought I was having a Liz Lemon moment... There is a plastic bag in the tree outside our neighbors place... He couldn't see it at first and thought I was imagining it... Ass.

Hot Chocolate.

This Is An Illusion

My mind is a dangerous thing right now. One moment it is calming and reassuring and the next it is screaming and slathering with frustration and fear.

I think I am holding up pretty well... I am not good at not having a plan. It just creates this overwhelming loop of scenarios. Every time I am on here looking at places I feel extremely bi-polar. One moment I am excited and hopeful of all the prospects and then I am suddenly angry or depressed because of the whole time thing.

I know, this probably sounds like a repeat of some post... Like my last one... LOL. That's just the way it will probably be for the next few weeks at least. I use this more as a vent / method of processing my thoughts / outlet for otherwise abnormal thoughts and/or feelings. It is also for the entertainment of the reader, but at my discretion. In layman's term: if Alicia suffers so does the audience! Yea, think about that for a while with the knowledge that I am also getting ever closer to the half marathon....

Just imagine the posts that will bring... Actually, I think they will be positive messages of awesomeness and excitement... Just this one little hurdle of where the hell will I be living when I get to that half marathon. Just a minor detail.

We discussed it and if the place we really are lusting after is available still at the end of March (or if by mid-March we can convince the rental company to do it) I know I can budget for us to be able to pay rent on that place while we finish out the lease here. Basically, we would be paying a rent for both places in April... It would make the moving in process nice and leisurely. Whatever... I think I need to just let that place go... But I don't think I can until it is seriously taken, and gone...

Dammit. I hate moving. Especially with the deadline to give our sixty day notice is fast approaching. In fact it is Leap Day. I am hoping that this will be a thing of luck... Lucky Leap Day, right? (Just lie and agree with me, okay?)

Once we have a place on lock down it won't be an issue... And I will stop rambling on like a broken record about the mental and emotional instability it is causing me.

Crap, I need to go print the map for the run tomorrow. Part of the route is unfamiliar to us. Six and a half miles, and it is NOT around the lake!!! Score.

I just ordered a pair of compression calf sleeves to hopefully help with the shin splints / leg fatigue / post run recovery. That is what they are meant to do.

Avocado.