Year in Review ... 2012

Tomorrow we'll welcome 2013.  This has made me a bit reflective.  It's been quite a year for me, both good and bad.

The good -- I accepted what has turned out to be a good job opportunity.  I attended not one, but two, very good professional conferences, one in Austin, one in Anaheim (which made me a bit nostalgic for the days I lived in central CA).  I got to make one more trip make to tiny town in Illinois, and stay one last time in my father's childhood home, before we sold it.  I'm still a little sad about that and will miss my summer visit there, but it was totally the right thing to do.  Christmas in Louisiana was particularly good this year (especially the food), even if the weather was bit dreary and rainy. 

I'm cooking more, which I'm finding I enjoy.  For a variety of reasons, I've been experimenting with dairy free cooking, which has led to some vegan cooking, and vegetarian cooking and I've found I like it.  I've gotten a couple of cookbooks and found some blogs and have made some changes that have turned out very positive.  I'm trying to blog my adventures in cooking and I'm trying to ramp up my food photography as well, though not always with my anticipated results.

The bad -- well, on some levels, the job hits both lists.  Wonderful opportunity and every day I know why I took it.  However, the organization, not so good.  It could be worse and I'm super grateful I have a job, especially in today's economy, but unfortunately, it's not a job I want to keep till I retire.  And, while I'm getting used to my new town, it isn't where I want to live forever either.  Sometimes you just connect with a city and sometimes you don't.  I've been blessed.  In all of my moves, this is only the second time I haven't really connected with a city.  So, I guess that's a positive of sorts.

The other huge negative is my apartment, which is fixable.  I had only two days to find a place to live (I will never not take a house hunting trip again).  I actually like the apartment itself, however, it's the poorest built place I've ever lived and the noise from above is just something I'm not going to be able to handle long term.  I don't really blame my neighbors -- they are young and they have a puppy and well, the apartment building is not well built.  I hear every bump and thump and they make a lot of bumps and thumps; it's more than just walking - it's not uncommon for the ceiling to shake due to one of their bumps or thumps.  So, I've been looking and have just about decided on a place.  I have a couple of things to ask the property management company and am not sure it will work out.  But, I have seen a few places that would work.  The thought of moving again makes my teeth itch, but the lure of quietness is too much.  Oh, and a solid surface for working out and doing yoga.

All in all, while this has been a somewhat disconnected year for me, I can't say it's been a bad one.  Just one full of learning  about me and what makes me tick.  I'm looking forward to what will come in 2013.

Best wishes to everyone for all good things in the coming year.

I leave you with a picture of kitty enjoying the mild weather:

Once again...

It's once again time to renew my lease. This will be my third lease renewal since moving to Maryland. I'm not sure whether I consider this a milestone or not. I've been here 2 1/2 years and really have no complaints if you take distance from family and how much of a pain in the butt it is to travel by air. I also have no true complaints about my apartment. Especially during this time of year, I realize I made a good decision renting here. Other apartments may do just as well, but truly this complex takes snow removal and de-icing of sidewalks and parking lots seriously. Last week we had sleet and ice. No delay to get into work. The sidewalks and parking lots at the complex were good. The roads were good. The parking lots at work were good. The sidewalks at work were solid ice. No cleaning had been done that I could tell. I did manage to get into the building without falling. A good amount of snow (3-5 inches) fell last night. We did have a two hour work delay this morning. When I left, the complex was clear. They had even cleaned between the cars in the parking lots. I still had to do a bit of work to clear the car, but the sidewalks and parking lot and even the streets were pretty much cleaned.

Side note regarding the weather: While I don't relish cleaning three inches of snow off of my car, with the Prius, if you get what's on the top of the car to a certain point, it all just slides down to the hood and off the car. That was nice. I also learned from last year's blizzards and got snow boots and a snow shovel. Loving the boots and while we haven't had a ton of snow, the shovel has come in handy.

Back to the apartment. They handled last springs bug problem well and have been kind enough to go ahead and order new mini-blinds for my bedroom even though they don't see a problem. Well, they don't close all the way. They do close, but not a solid close so cold air still gets in as does light. I face the street so this leaves me with random street light at night no matter what I do. This year I even got a window insulation kit and with the help of a friend, insulated the bedroom windows. It helps some, but when temperatures drop into the 20's or lower it still gets to be 58 or 59 in the bedroom at night. Fortunately, between a ton of blankets, newly rediscovered flannel sheets, and a fluffy kitty, I stay warm. It's that or leave the heat cranked up at night and I'm not really ready to do that, though I have adjusted it so it doesn't go much below 58. Good thing one sleeps better in a cooler room.

I've decided to go with the one year lease (18 month was not offered this time). It still goes up a bit, but not much. I also learned that with the new lease there is no pet rent, so the rent should be about $5 less overall, assuming I've done the math correctly (I get an employer discount as well which is not figured in the quoted rent amount in the lease renewal letter). So, the rent goes down a bit and kitty cat doesn't have to get a job, not that she ever looked, no matter how much prodding I did.

Moving forward...

It has been so very nice to not have house related bills to pay this month. In light of finally separating from Texas with the sale of the house, I'm moving forward with the adventure in Maryland. That has involved quite a few things.

The biggest decision was deciding to sign a new lease at my apartment. Yes, I decided not to move. I looked around and found several that were probably "better" than what I have, however, when all was said and done, the bedroom sizes weren't bigger and in one case the living area was smaller. Found several really lovely kitchens, but the trade-off wasn't really worth it. In the end, not one that I saw said "move here!" That coupled with the fact that the thought of moving just curled my toes led me to the conclusion that I should just stay. A decision which just seemed even more right when I was offered a very nice discount to renew the lease.

When making this decision, I decided if this was going to be home for awhile, then I'd make a few changes. So far, the biggest changes are in the bedroom. That room does not heat or cool well at all. Trying to help this out, I've hung insulated curtains in there, though not over the whole window because I enjoy the view. I had to hang rods from the ceiling because the windows are literally wall-to-wall. So, If I'd hung curtains over the whole window, it would have been funky and would have taken most of my view. Kitty Cat seems to enjoy lounging behind them.

I also had a ceiling fan installed in the bedroom. I was told I'd have to pay for the installation, but figured it would be worth it. I selected a nice one from Home Depot. Nice in that I like it; it was one of their "lower end" models but a reasonable price. Three globes and it came with three CF light bulbs. It took a bit to connect with the electrician, but he was a really good guy. Since this building is old (40+ years) and there was no light in the bedroom, the wiring had to run up the wall from a junction box placed on one of the outlets, over the ceiling and to the fan. It doesn't really look bad, but I wouldn't care if it did. I love having the fan in there and having an overhead light is just so very nice in the morning. The electrician also provided a remote for me. So far, I haven't been billed. I don't think I will. The apartment complex has vacancies and I think they are throwing this in since I signed another lease and also because I'm trying to find a way to cool that room down. I'm not questioning it.

The other big thing I did was finally getting new furniture. I'm excited. I'm getting a new love seat and a recliner. I'll donate my current furniture to a local charity. Because I selected the fabrics, I haven't received it yet, but I think I'm only about a couple of weeks from it coming in. As much as I love my current furniture (love seat, over sized chair and ottoman), the new furniture will be much more streamlined and will really open the room up.

Since I've been here a year, I'm starting to see ways to re-arrange and re-organize, especially my office. That is the next project.

the good, the bad, and the odd....

I'm still settling in. I got all the boxes unpacked and things basically organized and then slowed way down. I'm still doing a little here and there. The biggest project left is hanging pictures. I don't think I'll be able to hang all of them, but that's okay. It's just a matter of deciding what to put where and then storing the others until such a time as I have more walls.

The good. Well, for the curious, I was able to rent my house in Texas. They moved in at the end of August. It wasn't planned, but my former place of work recently hired someone from Australia and she was still in a furnished apartment. So, I offered (which is so unlike me) and she accepted. Apparently Australia also has land that is prone to shifting, so my cracks weren't daunting to her. I expect sooner or later she'll find her own home, but until then, this benefits both of us.

In the meantime, home builder, Pulte, fired my Warranty rep and his manager, then created a spin off company, then hired one guy back to be in charge of the problems in my neighborhood. There are over 40 driveways to be repaired and probably four to six houses needing foundation work. I spoke with the warranty guy last week and the soil samples show that there has been movement on my foundation, so there will be repair work there. He also confirmed that they will fix all the damage, inside and outside, caused by the movement. Still don't have a time frame, but at least they are working on it and I guess having a guy focused on just this is for the good. Also, I'll come out of this with a lifetime warranty on the foundation, which should be a nice selling point when that time comes.

The bad. Not much really here except I've discovered I don't really like having no carpet. Really, I don't. Who knew? I could just carry the Swiffer around with me all the time. However, hopefully, once I find rugs or carpet remnants or something, it won't be as bad. I will say it's nicer to walk barefoot on that carpet after it's been down for a while. Also, I'm not real thrilled with the parking lot. But, that's life. For the most part the one I park in isn't crowded, but since visitor parking is street parking, it gets a little close on the street in front of my building. And, with the recent boat show (apparently a very big deal here), it was even tighter. I miss parking right in front of my door, but I keep telling myself that exercise never hurt anyone. Well see how that line goes down when there is snow and ice on the ground.

The odd. A couple of those. The stove being in the corner of the kitchen hasn't really posed a problem. Neither has the lack of drawers. I got a little four drawer cart and that's working out fine. The biggest odd is the dishwasher. I looked to make sure there was one. I even opened it. What I didn't notice is that when you open the dishwasher, you block the sink. So, if one is to rinse off dishes before putting them in, then one is leaning over to do it. Not a huge problem, but definitely something I'll pay attention to when looking for my next abode.

And then there's the heating and cooling. Apparently something needs to run all the time. The weather cooled off nicely, so I cut the air off. Got a nice musty smell, mostly in the bedroom, for my effort. My mom and several others have pointed out that this an old building. Okay. Then there's the humidity. If it gets humid outside, run something cause it will get humid inside. At one point I had 60 percent humidity inside. Ugh. Now it's cooled off, so I've kicked on the heat. Boy, does it work. It's gas heat and when it's running it blows some very hot air out of the vent in the living room! I got back from working out this morning and had to open a window a tad because it really warmed up the place. Really, if I say it's too hot, trust me it's too hot. I'm having to figure out exactly where to place the thermostat to not roast and to not freeze.

These are all minor and I'm sorta laughing at most of them. Mainly because every time I move I think I know what to look for based on previous moves and I'm finding that that ain't so.