The Golden Squirrel Award Rides Again

Distracted doesn't even begin to cover my life in the past six weeks.  There's been plenty of travel for work and skating along with some rather challenging life decisions that have kept me away from the blog. 

There is one thing that I know about myself; when my life is feeling out of control, I don't write or journal anything and that creates this vortex of not writing and not feeling in control that goes on incessantly.  I need to have the Moonstruck Cher slap me and tell me to "snap out of it!" 

So I'm back to start writing again. I have to - this is like therapy for me. 

My diet is totally off track and I haven't been working out. I'm running out of clothing that fits and I don't want to buy larger sizes (because I'll only be wearing them a short time because my diet starts tomorrow! - Ha!).

The biggest distraction has been my search for housing. I made the decision a couple of months ago that I had to move out of my sister's basement before I was a size 20. I blame her great cooking and the endless supply of Little Debbie Nutty Bars.  

I haven't had to do an apartment search for many years and I had never done one outside of the metro area. I was spoiled by the abundance of apartments in the Twin Cities area and the guidebooks that help you find them. The Rochester area lacks both. 

I started with an Internet search and found out that "luxury" means expensive and small, but with underground, heated parking.  I already knew from my years on St. Paul's Grand Avenue that "classic" means it's an old apartment with several coats of paint covering all light switches and outlets. 

I toured three beautiful luxury townhome rentals, all out of my price range, but so convenient to work that I was trying to rationalize signing a lease.  One of the three advertised "resort-style living" with lots and lot amenities at top dollar.

I started contacting realtors to see if they had properties that had been on the market and not moving that they might want to rent out. My brother-in-law has connections in the construction industry because of his plumbing business. He checked with a couple of his buddies and found me a two bedroom townhouse for $725 a month! Wow! It was a 55+ community, but they had some flexibility.  Unfortunately, when I drove past the place, there was a LARGE banner on the side of the garage that read "Elderly Rental Townhomes." Elderly??!! Who is doing their marketing? I know 90-year-olds who don't want to be called "elderly." Crossed that one off my list. 

Then a co-worker suggested searching for property management companies.  I did and I found all new places not on any other lists. I found a house three block from the office that was a bit higher in price, but what I would save on parking and gas easily made up the difference.  There was also a beautiful classic apartment five blocks away from the office that had hardwood floors and parking included, but neither the house or the classic apartment had a washer/dryer in the unit. Deal breaker!

And none of the place I had looked at allowed dogs. Cats were fine, but dogs weren't allowed. I don't have a dog, but I want to get one.  I don't understand why cats are allowed when they stink up the inside of a place and dogs generally don't. (news alert: I'm not a cat person)

Finally, I found a two-bedroom condo for rent that is on the bus line, has a washer/dryer in the unit, attached heated garage and allows dogs. I found out today that they accepted my application and starting July 8th, I will have a new home! Yeah!!!

So now this distraction is done and the new "getting ready to move" distraction will start. 

And oh, yes, that little detail of selling my St. Paul condo...

This Week's Golden Squirrel Award Goes To....

Each week, I award the Golden Squirrel Award to the person, place or thing that distracts me the most.

This week's winner is larger than a breadbox, but smaller than my sister's garage. This week I'm being distracted by 990 square feet of living space with too many reminders of the late 1980's. This week's biggest distraction is my condo.

Home sweet home. Home white elephant home in a time when existing home sales dropped 27% in one month. (I've heard that the sales of non-existing homes is even worse!) Now, I'm facing the scary reality of trying to sell my condo during a weak economy.

www.nataliedee.com

But that reality alone isn't the whole story. It's the little voice in my head that reminds me that my condo, while charming in many ways, has some "issues." The condo was built in the late 1980's when the "hip happin' colors" were dusty rose and mauve - otherwise known as pink and light purple. Not colors you see used in many homes these days unless you're decorating a pre-teen girl's bedroom.

Only two items remain in the condo that would clue you into the original color scheme: the mauve carpet and the pink kitchen counter tops.  Yes, you read that correctly - pink kitchen counter tops. Pink counter tops are not something you see every day, but I've kept enough clutter on them to distract me from really seeing the pink. 

Should they stay or should they go?

Beside those two low points in the home tour, there is one other BIG item that is constant debate as to the value they add or the liability they cause. To make the living room look bigger, the builder put in one wall of mirrors that go floor to ceiling. Since the ceiling is about 15 feet, these are very big pieces of glass. How the heck do I get rid of these? Without causing years of bad luck?

On the positive side of the scorecard are the cathedral ceiling in the living room and kitchen, a roomy kitchen and dining area, newer appliances and a bathroom with a new ceramic tile floor.

I meet with the Realtor next week to start the process. He sent me some paperwork to get the process started. Page and pages and pages.

I'm stressing about a stranger walking through my place and critiquing it. I'm sure he will be thinking, "...really? Pink counter tops?"  Oh, please be gentle.

The 1st Golden Squirrel Award

This week was filled with travel to Chicago for a work conference, but I managed to squeeze some fun in the evenings. The weather was hot and humid - yuck! We did manage to wander onto the set of Transformers 3 that is being filmed in Chicago right now. Lots of trashed cars and Styrofoam rubble (see photo on the left) and production assistants telling you to keep moving. We perhaps dawdled  in order to snap some photos. I was using my iPhone and it wasn't until we were far away from the set that I remembered that I had my Flip video camera with me. UGH!

Now it's my vacation time and I thought I would jump the gun one day and announce the first winner of the Golden Squirrel award. (see my 7/23 blog post for a complete description of this prestigious award)

It's not a person this week, although it might technically be human. It's the one thing that has distracted me for almost as long as I can remember.

It's my hair. In the love/hate relationship that is "A Woman and Her Hair," this week has been mostly hate. The humidity in Chicago didn't help.

My hair has been nearly every possible natural color from blond to goth black.  It has been straight to curly (courtesy of smelly Lilt perms with its sponge wraps).

The worst was when I tried to highlight my hair in junior high school. Clairol had a new product for doing your own highlights; (Frost n' Tip) it was a cap with thousands of tiny little holes and, using a plastic crochet hook, you were supposed to pull your hair through the holes.  It's off the market now, but you can find it still being used in Gitmo for an alternative torture device.

We didn't give up the idea of "frosting" my hair, we just did it without the cap. Portion control was the issue with this - instead of thin strands, we grabbed chunks. It was awful! My 9th grade photo is the only proof I have and I keep the only copy of it locked up and hidden away. I suppose I should destroy the evidence.

I can link my ADD to my variety of hair styles. Unlike other parts of my life, I could control my hair and whenever I was bored with something, I would color or cut or torture it.

Right now my hair is long, but that could change. I colored it this morning and now it's very auburn. 
I picked up an over-priced hair style magazine at the airport yesterday and have started marking the pages. Not sure how short it will go, but it's going to be cut next week regardless.

Then I'll be able to stop being distracted by my hair.

At least for awhile...