Happy Belated July 4th.  Oh, what a weekend.  I am happy to say that I actually completed the work I set out for myself.  It was a little ambitious, but then again, I had nothing to lose, but time to gain.  I got through a lot of work this weekend, and through next week, I may even feel less pressure.  What?!?! Less pressure?  What’s that?  I am still stressing about work, keeping up with work, and finding a place to live.

I think I am very close.  After actually deciding about a place, I need to think of the financing, which is really related to finding a place.  I sort of made a list of my monthly payments to see if I can afford what I like, and we will see.  I need to figure out the car payment and insurance, which I think I will see if I can get an estimate.

K and J got me the pictures, and I have not seen them yet, I wanted to stay off my computer just so I had some down time.  But holy cow!  There are 7 DVDs.  J put the pictures in a program, better than the powerpoint.  Maybe this will be my project next weekend.

Besides that, nothing really happened this weekend, but me working.  A few thunderstorms.  Killed a bug in the apartment.  I can’t say “condo” for this place.  Which makes me think of the condo I may purchase.  Do I want a condo? Do I really want a townhome?  I need to email my real estate agent and take a look at some places.  We’ll see.

Will keep you posted.

Rabbit rabbit

One day that will work and I will win the Powerball.  I would definitely increase my chance by 100% if I actually buy a ticket.  {sigh} I just need to get to it one day and have some cash on me.

Let’s see. What has been going on?  Not much just been working and looking for a home.  I did hear that my stuff from the UK is clearing Customs in Norfolk.  Interesting.  As long as everything is fine, my things should be on a truck heading west.  Just have no place to put it.

Anyways, I have been making lists upon lists to try to get all my work done and be caught up.  At least not drowning in audits.  I also have been doing interviews to hire someone in Lake Charles.  I hate that part of the management world.  I have set up an aggressive and ambitious plan for myself.  I’ll let you know how far off I was in getting things done.  J told me that I would be overwhelmed and that when he first started it was the same way.  But hopefully, I can get things on track and reach my goals.

Okay, you all could stop laughing now. Seriously, stop laughing.  Okay, maybe if I stop laughing, you will.  A girl can dream, can’t she?  Oh well. 

K and J are on their way to CO, and they have the pictures from their visit, which would mean I really need to get some blog entries done for them.  It is really exciting.  J set up the pics on a program, so it will definitely be better than the powerpoint.  Can’t wait to see them.

Later . . .

Today did not start off very well.  It was barely dawn when I finally got some sleep.  Of course, I slapped my alarm and woke up later than I wanted to.  And of course, I had a huge work load.  I was talking to my peeps, yep I have peeps now, and we jokingly said that I would some day be caught up where I would be reviewing their work while the audit is being conducted rather than weeks later.  Hopefully, cross your fingers.

So, if you noticed I added a little something to my blog title.  I guess this may help some of my readers realize that I have moved back to the US.  Thanks for all who welcomed be back, either in emails, in person, or on my blog.  I still have not figured out a name for it.  I am sure it will come to me in a dream or something.

I asked my peeps what they wanted to call our region.  It seemed pretty pretentious of me to call us, Ingrid’s Region.  So, I made it a contest.  Either I will win, or Jonathan will win.  So, I have the casinos in Colorado and Lake Charles, Louisiana.  So, my input was the CoLa Region.  Get it?  CO and LA?  Too bad it couldn’t be LoCo, that would have been sooo much better.  The LoCo Region, we are LoCo about everything!

Anyways, it may end up being something like The North Lake Region.  But who knows.  I thought CoLa was pretty neat, I thought of that just when I was falling asleep, and had to remind myself to write it down the next morning.

Well, got some more work done.  What else is new? 

I may have to take Cousin Dan up on his offer and let him make the decisions for me.  {sigh}

Well, that’s all I got for now. I’ll be sure to let you know what I decide.

Just so you know, there are two blogs before this one if you are reading this in order.  I wrote these three in one night, and then realized how I had more to say than just the average blog.  Did not want anyone to fall asleep reading it.  So, if you want, you can read starting on Friday…don’t worry, this one will still be here.  Go ahead, scroll down, I’ll wait for you.  get it?  ha ha ha 

{elevator music plays while waiting for readers to come back to this entry}

I hate Mondays.  Okay, maybe that was too specific.  There are some good things about Mondays.  Federal holidays sometimes fall on Mondays.  It’s the only day of the week that starts with an M.  Hmmm. That’s about it.  Maybe I hate Mondays because it’s the end of the weekend and the day makes me wonder what I did.

Sunday…I am drawing a blank.  I know I wanted to work and get stuff done, but I honestly don’t remember what I did. I remember getting up and doing a phone interview.  Then I remembered taking some ibuprofen and sleeping.  I was hurting, and I vaguely remember taking the ibu a few times.  So, maybe that’s why I was sleeping all day.  And can’t seem to remember doing anything.

So, now it’s Monday.  I went looking at places this morning/afternoon.  These places were less than the Westwoods and were older.  All were a smaller square footage about 300 square foot.  Is that a room?  Anyways, was not so impressed.  Maybe I had stuck in my head about buying a new place.  But I think it’s a little different from my skewed opinions on condo vs townhome. 

If I buy the Westwood place, I have to get the AC installed and then buy a fridge and washer/dryer right away.  I would hate to have to move in without AC.  Then again, I am not sure about the timing of everything.  If I buy it, will there be a sale?  It’s already July 4th, and after that there will be no sales.  I think I am thinking way too much.

Then again, that’s just me.  So, with this week, being a short one, to most people, I will need to decide sooner than later.  Although the company did sign this apartment for 2 months.  Damn..still need to buy a car.  Will have to visit the car dealership and take a look around.

{sigh} So, much to do, and all these choices are starting to get to me.  When did I think this would be interesting and fun?  Well, it may be better if I had a partner, and did not have to do all of this at one time.  You know, house, car, movers, shipping, phone, cable, TV, broadband, computer, etc.

Oh well..

I have been realizing that I really can actually babble on in my blog.  I was writing four days in one blog and realized, that it was way too long, and need to break it up.  So, here’s what happened to me on Saturday, or today, depending on how you look at it…

Okay, since I am not a morning person, it’s does not take much to piss me off.  So, what happens?  I went to the bathroom to take a shower, and I can’t get it to work. 

SIDE NOTE:  One would believe after all the places I have stayed, this would not cause me a problem.  But holy cow!

I called S and she said I had to wiggle the thing and pull.  OMG.  It was so hard to pull to get the water to come on.  Then on top of that the “H” and “C” were on the wrong side.  So, thinking it should get colder, it was hotter!  Anyways, I know this is TMI, but I had to forego my shower in the morning to get to see L on time.  I was really pissed off.

I got up early and went to see L.  I made an appointment to see what she could tell me.  I gave her a second chance because she was seeing me on a Saturday.  I asked the same questions as C, and basically I got the same answers.  She ran the closing costs for a couple scenarios like C did and the cost and such, I think I began to freak out.  Anyways, it went okay.

So, I can decide by going with C or L.  I will need to decide on that soon.  But I need to decide on the place first.  Did you know that a condo was harder to sell than a town home?  Anyways, the place is a condo on the top floor, there are only two floors.  At least I would be on top.  Can you believe there is no AC?  What is up with that? It’s considered an upgrade.

Anyways…after that I went shopping for more food.  I only got the basics on Friday night.  Also I went to a few places to price shop, not sure why, I ended up at Target anyways.  As I was sitting at the light, it dawned on me that there was a Bed, Bath & Beyond across the street.  Totally forgot about it. I like that store.  One year, I got all my Christmas presents from there.  I had so many coupons, I had to get one gift a day for a week, before I got everything.  Oh well.

What I also bought was a clock/radio.  It was pretty quiet.  I am defintely used to falling asleep to something.  The AC was humming along, but it turned on and off all night also.  Plus, if I wanted to listen to just the radio, I can’t.  Anyways, I was going to go really cheap, but then, I figured I would take it with me.  So, again, if I have this one, and if I still had the ones from the UK, I think I would have had 5 alarm clocks.  Maybe I should do a garage sale.

So, now I am pissed, hot, sweaty (because it was another scorcher of a day) and very tired and I was getting a headache.  So, I took a cold shower.  After finally getting the water on! 

So, Saturday night, I was so tired and I must have had heat stroke or something because it was not difficult to fall asleep.  I had more trouble staying asleep than falling asleep.  {sigh} I am back to getting up almost every 2 hours.

{sigh} I am soooo tired.  Need to stay asleep.

I left early from work because I went to see a mortgage guy at US Bank.  I also was moving to the corporate “condo”, so I was meeting the agent there so she could show me around.  So, I went to the mortgage guy (C) and he was really nice and patient with all my questions.  I did not feel that way with the other lady (L).  Maybe because we were corresponding by email, but then I did not really initiate anything with her.

So C gave me info and answered my question and did not pressure me to “sign” with him.  He did pre-approve me for the amount of money I needed to get the place in Arvada, the original place I was looking at.  But he said, there should be no problem and ran some scenarios telling me that a conventional loan was my best bet, and that I would more than likely qualify for some kind of money back on the $8k incentive.  If not all of it, it gets prorated, so maybe I would get something.

After that I went to the corporate “condo”.  Maybe I expected way too much from this, but I had in my head something like the Marriott Residence Inn.  Since I have not ever been to these corporate places, my boss mentioned that they deal with people like me all the time, the relocator, or the traveler with nothing.  So, like I said, I expected something pretty neat.

So, I got to the place, and met the agent, S.  Well, the place is on the third floor, which would not have bothered me too much if I had not had five bags with me, three over 50lbs.  Then the “condo” was on the other side of the building from the parking spot.  I not only had to go three flights, but across the building.  Was not too happy.  Did I mention that it was in the low 90’s?  It was hot, and I was sweating.  I mean not just the literal, light sheen that makes a lady glow, I mean dripping wet, where my hair was soaked and sweat was dripping from my face and into my eyes.  Hot and sweaty, and that was only getting up to the place.

Okay, so I am thinking that no way is this a condo.  If it is, it just solidifies my opinion that a condo is a glorified name of an apartment.  This place I think is more of an apartment than a condo.  It’s a one bedroom place, and totally looks like my place I used to live.  It’s one bedroom place.  S told me it’s her best one.  After being here for a couple of days, I had to think, if this is her best one, what does the others look like?  I mean it’s not bad, but I don’t think it’s exactly posh.  Not sure what this place costs, but I wonder if we are getting ripped off and wonder if the Marriott would have been cheaper?

Probably not, but then again, with Marriott, I would be getting maid/cleaning service and sheets and towels changed a couple of times a week.  Here, I have one set of sheets and 2 sets of towels.  Now, one would believe that I would get at least another set of sheets.  There is a closet for it.  At least there’s a washer/dryer in the place, rather me carrying it up and down those stairs.

So, after getting all my stuff up the stairs, I was sitting there and definitely turned on the AC.  I sat there thinking how tired I am, but I need to buy some food.  I looked around and figured out there is no hair dryer or iron and ironing board.  Of course, I called and she said there is no hairdryer, and there should be the iron and ironing board by the washer.  Nope.  So, I had to buy them myself if I wanted to dry my hair or iron my clothes.  S did say she would reimburse me.  So, just so you know, if I took them with me, I think I now have 3 ironing boards and perhaps 3 hairdryers, if I actually brought back my stuff from the UK, I would have 5 hairdryers.  Go figure.

So, just let me say, I think I sweated off at least 5 lbs.  But I probably made it back by eating those juice pops.  Hmm, they were mighty tasty after all that heat.  Let me tell you, I was pretty tired.  Then I looked at the alarm clock, no radio.  It was pretty quiet in the apartment.  I can’t get myself to call this place a condo.

What else is wrong?  The kitchen table looks more like an outdoor table. I think it is ceramic tiling, and the chairs!  Who the hell thinks that wicker-like chairs are 1) sturdy? and 2) comfortable?  These chairs are not even wicker!  It’s like a weird kind of twisted strings of metal all entwined.  I mean I think I have those wicker-like lines embedded on my ass now.  So, what I did was take one of my few towels and put it over the seat.  I was soooo tempted to by one of those pillows for the chairs.  But if I did, what would I do with it after?

After all this, I refuse to give S anything extra for this place.  One would believe that if you are meeting the client, first impressions would be paramount.  S came to see me with jean capris, and a T-shirt, and she wanted my business.  After that, I was somewhat put off, and glad I was using Michelle.

Anyways…still looking for a place to live..

Okay, this entry will be me whinging for awhile.  I think I need this to get some stress out of my life.  Although, winning the PowerBall will take a lot more stress out, this I guess is the next best thing, okay maybe second best after chocolate, or flan, or cheesecake, or fresh baked bread with butter, or maybe Oreos, or even Golden Oreos, or a honey stick, okay, okay, so there a lot of other things I could do other than whine about my life on my blog.  But just in case all of you forgot, it is my blog and all about me.

So, here’s all the stuff that are stressing me out:

1. Work
2. Finding a home, or more so deciding on which home to choose, and committing myself to a home
3. Work
4. Getting financing for my home, I’m getting this bad feeling about who to trust or even more so, if I should done this or that, instead of the other
5. Work
6. Hiring someone for one the regions, okay, so this is part of work, but the one thing I know I am not good at is the human resource part of the job…and yes, Tim, I told you this way back when
7. Work
8. Moving to the condo, I mean, she has not gotten back to me on how I am suppose to get the keys, at least I have an address
9. Work
10. Did I mention work?  Can you believe Work is stressing me out?
11. Packing, I hate packing
12. Work

So, if you skip every other one, maybe my list is not so bad.  I had to take 10 minutes this morning and just put everything down on paper.  You know me and my lists.  It only depressed me even more.  I just need to get things done one after the other.  It did not help that the system would not let me do my job.  But I am getting there.

So, here’s my moaning about my body, argh…my leg has been bothering me since I got back from London.  It must have been all the walking and standing we did while sightseeining.  I keep thinking it’s going to go away.  I may need to see someone about it.  Good thing I have insurance.  I have been getting these hives.  I mean last year I had a really bad hive reaction to the sheets, now it’s been a little here and a little there.  Some on the back on my hand, some on my arms, have not seen them on my legs.  So, I am not sure, probably the stress.  I think I need more chocolate.

So, I think that’s about it.  It’s sort of late and I still am thinking about work.  Always work.  Okay, I think I will get some packing done.  My dinner is just sitting besides me getting cold, as I pick at it.

I think that’s about it.  Need to get things done.  Every time I think I should do something for work, I look at the time, and then think I should go to bed.  Oh well.  Later.

Today was a scorcher.  It was hot hot hot.  I think it hit around 90F today, if it didn’t it sure felt like it.  I continued my housing adventure by meeting a real estate agent today and she had some places in Belmar.  Let’s recap, Belmar is an area in Lakewood that has a lot of stores and restaurants, which the place was going through re-gentrification a few years back.  I wanted to live in the area a few years ago when I started looking, but alas, it was too expensive.  The 2 bedrooms were starting around $320k.  Holy cow.  I guess it’s true, location, location, location.

Anyways, the places I was looking today were around $250k.  It is the high end of what I am willing to spend.  So, the places were really nice.  However, these places were around 1200-1300 square feet.  I did not like the first one I saw because the balcony was very open and if I wanted to I would be able to walk on the roof and go see my neighbor across the building.  It reminded me too much of a burglar being able to just break in.  You know me and being on the first floor.

The other building on Custer was more interesting.  A couple of the condos were ranch, while the others were the master suite on the second floor, more of a loft area where it was pretty open.  I could live with it.  But then there was no door to the second bedroom, how weird was  that?  There was almost no dining room, but the windows and scenary were really nice.  But there was no attached garage, but there was a parking structure.  Not sure I liked that for the price, but then again, I guess it was the more of the location.

So, with the real estate agent, we went to Westwood Villas at Broad Lake.  Broad Lake is in Arvada and the place where I put down some money and waited until they were ready to build. And waited and waited and then I moved.  So, now that they have finished building, they are trying to sell everything.  There were three floor plans, and the best one I liked was the Cantebury model.  Which of course, was the one I put money down on. So, I went back and looked and it was nice.  I chose the one on the 2nd floor, ranch style, around 1600 square feet.  Definitely more for my money. It’s in a decent neighborhood, and there is a small strip mall across the street with a supermarket, a couple of fast food places, a fitness place, gas station, etc.

If you want to take a look it’s… www.chateaudevelopment.comlook for Westwood Villas at Broad Lake.  I am interested in the Cantebury floor plan, I saw the Meadows and Twin Peaks.  One thing is kind of weird for me is that the air conditioning is not included and is considered an upgrade.  Could you believe that?  Michelle, the real estate agent, suggested that I look for someone to do it.  All the vents and such are there, but there needs to be the unit installed.  Also, there is a fire place, which I will probably never use.

So, isn’t it ironic after all this looking, I am back where I started 2 years ago. I will need to think about this.  My real estate agent is going to start negotiating tomorrow to see what else I can get from the development. We’ll see.  She also gave me a name of a banker from US Bank, so I can compare rates and such.

Anyways, I may be close to actually making a decision.  WOW!   Okay, kind of tired now.  Later.

Just a quick entry to let you know that there is not much going on.  I cleaned/fixed my office space.  I am in the back of the room, which is fine with me.  And I unpacked all my boxes.  The cleaning crew was really nice to me today because they took my trash away for me, instead of me having to bring it all upstairs and then to the dumpster.  I started small and stacking the boxes by the door to get them out of my way.  I think it was five trips total.  I know I had a stack of 4 boxes, the first go, then I had 3 big DHL boxes, then 2 bags of trash, then I had a bag and box, and then the last trash bag.  Good thing they had their trash can on wheels.  I sure threw away a lot of crap.

I also disinfected my desk, phone, and anything else that was laying around.  I even wiped down the inside of the desk.  You never know where those buggers can be . . . get it? Buggers? germs? bugs?  Anyways…me and my humor, as long as I can laugh at it.

So, that’s about it. I am about halfway through with a project I almost forgot about.  I need some more info, so I need to see if it’s around the office or if I need to come in tomorrow or very first thing Monday to find it.

There is so much going through my mind, things to do.

Oh, by the way, I was surfing through the internet and the Belmar places that I wanted to see, I found some floor plans and for the places, which at least I think they are for these places, anyways, they look very interesting.  They are a 2 bed 2 bathroom place, where the upstairs is more like loft area, but is the master bed and bath, or owner’s suite as the floor plan calls it.  Hmmm…is that interesting?  I have not seen that before.  So, according to the floor plan, when you go upstairs to the bedroom, there is an open area that is above the living area. 

How interesting is that?  One the first floor there is another bedroom and bathroom, and there is another walk-in closet and work area.  These places look very promising.  It’s on the high end of my price scale, but then it’s a nice place, in a very nice area with lots of stuff to do and eat.  One thing I heard was that there was a Whole Foods store.  Personally, I have not been to one, but a lot of people are telling me that I would like it.

Anyways, will definitely put an entry in on Monday night when I come back from looking at these places.

So, I can’t remember if I mentioned that I looked at Hometown in Arvada, this is the place I saw last Saturday.  The timing is right, but I was very wishy washy of the floor plans.  I was contemplating if I like it or not, and the different floor plans they had.  So, I had time to mull it over.  The lady was nice, not too pushy.

Yesterday I went to see Dancing Willows townhomes and condos.  The townhome person did not even work there, so was “covering” for someone, and could only give me a brochure.  There was only one model also.  I was put off on their townhomes, and I think they were the high end of my price range.  I guess this is what the economy is doing to the builders.  But I went to see the condos, and I’m glad I did.  There were 3 models and the sales lady took us to see where 2 were going to be and a new build, which is slightly different from the model.  These were southwest, in Littleton.  Nice area.

So, I went back to the first place to see if I could get a handle of what I want.  While driving to the other place, Sarah and I was talking about why I want a townhome vs condo.  Good question.  I think it had to do with not growing up in a house.  In Brooklyn, my family lived on the top floor of a 2 family house.  You don’t see that in Denver, or at least I have not seen it. 

So, my perspective is a condo is a glorified apartment and a townhome represents more of a house.  Both has no need to landscape or garden. But there are some “townhomes” which are ranch style where the floor plan is all on one floor, so is there really a difference?  Also, condos are less expensive, but can have the same square footage as a townhome. Wow, I thought to myself, I guess there really is no real difference. Huh.  What a revelation. 

So, we get to the first place, and unfortunately we could not look through the places since they were sold and could no longer let us in.  So I was talking about the floor plans and Sarah was looking at it with me, and I was telling what I liked and did not like with the floor plans.  At least in my head there were things I liked and did not like.  And as always, if I am going to spend that much money, I would like to have what I want and not necessarily settle.

So, again, Sarah says to me, well, it sounds like you will be compromising a lot to spend that much money.  Why not spend less and have what you want more or could live with.  I know, ultimately, I have to make the decision because I am going to live there.  {sigh}  Yet, again, there’s a small light in the head going off.  Why would I spend all that money if I have to settle, when I like the bottom half of one plan, and the top of another?

So, I was driving around thinking about what I could do next.  Now, before I left for the UK, I did but some money down on a place, and they are building, and still selling.  So, I am going back to see what there is over there.  Now there was this place that I really liked the floor plan, I mean it called to me.  So, I finally found out that the place is in Stapleton, way too far for work, which is too bad.  Living there would mean my commute would be 1 1/2 hours and that’s not counting on traffic.

Anyways, part of that process, was that I ended up talking to a real estate agent.  In the morning, when I checked my email, she had emailed me a few places to look at and gave me some advice.  I mean I had called her around 9pm, which I did not realize how late it was, and she sent me the emails around 10-1030pm.  Wow, she did some stuff without asking.  And the places she found me was really nice.  I mean she emailed a couple of places in Belmar, and Dancing Willows and suggested I compare prices since I was going there anyway.  So, I figured she did that for me, she was not pushy, so I figured what the heck.  I’ll use her.

SIDE NOTE:  I looked at Belmar myself and at the time there was no way I was able to afford it.  Everything seemed to start around the $350’s.  Holy Cow!  So, when she gave me a couple of places where the description said have not been lived in, I was really ecstatic about it.  That’s another reason why I am using her.  Wow, Belmar.  Let me tell you this place is like yuppie-ville.  But it’s hip, trendy, has the best stores.  There are a lot of restaurants and shops and lofts and condos, and townhomes. This part of time was being “re-gentrified” and the developers are building to last and attract.  I  mean there are lots of stuff to do, there’s a movie theatre, bowling alley, PF Chang’s, Elephant Bar, and a lot of other places all within walking distance.  I am really excited about it and the possibility of living there . . . cross your fingers. 

So, anyways, I always have a Plan A, B, C, and then D, E, and ultimately F.  So, I am in between A and B and C.  So, A was to just look at new builds by myself.  B is use a real estate agent and begin looking for places that are around 0-3 years old.  C is using the real estate agent for places that may not be on the market yet.

Oh okay, not getting all my hopes up.  I am being somewhat resigned to the fact that I may not buying something absolutely new.  But then, you know, loving the place and the location, is the compromise for buying new.  At least the places are less than 2 years old.  I figure that’s a good compromise.

I called her today while walking from one building to the other, and asked her to help me find some stuff.  About an hour later, so I had 3 emails and a list of places that were for sale, in my price range, less than 2 years old, and west of I25.  Wow.  So, she told me to take a look and let her know what I thought about them.  She added a few older ones, but she wanted me to see what was out there.

I’m looking at Belmar late Monday and I asked the agent if perhaps there will be something new in my price range.  Everyone is saying it’s a great time to buy, and why not ask.  Worse case scenario, they don’t have anything, and I am not worse off for it.  Will let you know how it turns out.

The others I will have to get to on Wednesday, because we are starting late on Monday.  Tuesday I have a couple of conference calls, and I think Wednesday I’m back to looking at the other places.  Maybe, by the end of next week, I will be able to decide on a place and begin the buying prices.  But I’m getting ahead of myself.  I need to get through looking at places, then worry about financing for the place. 

You know me, I worry about everything.