Getting a lot done (I'm so tired....)

I have to keep reminding myself that I have just grounds for feeling so tired.

1. I've moved to a new time zone: one hour difference, but it doesn't get dark here until almost 9 pm so I am really not winding down for bed time as I should.

2. We keep staying up late watching the Olympics. Staying up until midnight here is like staying up until one am Texas time...and I usually am in bed by 10. Why do I do this? Why should I care if a teenager can walk on a board or a guy can swim really fast? I don't know these people; I should just turn off the TV and go to bed.

3. I haven't had a work-out in over a week. The more I don't work out the more tired I become. And sitting on the couch for four hours a night watching TV is not helping. Nor is sitting on the couch blogging helping either.

4. I have put my house up for sale and moved about 2,000 miles away from home. 'Nuff said.

5. I will start a new job in about nine days. I haven't even met my boss yet in person.

6. Hart spends the night running in circles on our bed like a track star. He uses our heads as hurdles. I don't want him watching the Olympics anymore.

7. Tiggie spends the night stalking Meowsie. If we lock him in our room he spends hours scratching furiously to get out. Meowsie has now been locked in Jeff's room at night, after Tiggie went into Jeff's room at 4 am and launched an all out attack on Meowsie. Cats screaming next to you at 4 am is a horrible way to wake up. Jeff has told Tiggie that he does not like him. Tiggie doesn't care.

8. Everything that is mine is in two duffel bags and a back pack. I don't want to unpack because I don't want to repack in a day or so. Finding undies is a challenge.

Everything I own is wrinkled...and we keep meeting with a real estate agent that looks kind of like a teased hair apricot blond version of Reba McIntyre, with a boob job, three carat diamond rings, and she wears sleeveless turtleneck shells with pearl and diamonds stitched on them. Her arms are fit. Her jeweled sunglasses coordinates with her outfit each day. And she wears high heels that are gorgeous.

I am slumping around in wrinkled white crop pants, black and white striped cotton tee shirt from Walmart and black Crocs. I feel like a Raggedy Ann doll standing next to "Real Estate" Fashionista Barbie.

I'll be danged if I'm going to break out my professional wardrobe just to drive around town and to be getting in and out of cars in 95 degree heat. Instead I just dig through the duffel trying to find something both cool and nice looking. Since I can't really come up with anything that looks uber glam and cool both, I opt for cool and comfortable.

I try to not wimper too much before we go to meet with her. No more than 20 minutes in a fetal position in on the bed. Honestly, at age 54 you'd think I would do better than this. I keep telling myself: I am still on my first marriage. I don't have to color my hair or get a boob job. I have an advanced degree.

The real reason I am sniveling is because I am exhausted. I don't want to sit in the back seat of her Mercedes and listen while she chats with my husband. I feel like a kid. She asked what I do for a living. I told her I was a librarian. She didn't say anything more to me. I felt like my coke bottle sized glasses just got thicker and "Dowdy" got stamped on my forehead..

At least I am not dripping with sweat because of humidity.

I am seriously thinking of buying a couple of whopper CZ rings to wear when working with real estate agents. I am definitely going to start wear my Master's degree ring. Maybe she "earned" trophy wife status jewelry; I earned some important jewelry along the way too.

(I keep reminding myself I wouldn't be this bee-itchy if I wasn't so tired. I miss my chummy Jersey girl real estate agent back home)

9. We are trying to figure out what apartment to rent until the house sells. We looked at one complex on Sunday. It was nice, and had apartments that are already furnished. On Monday we look at another complex that had waterfalls and ponds, and a club house to die for, but the apartments were unfurnished.

We spend time on Tuesday looking at other complexes. Another complex was perfect, but no cats were allowed and oh...nothing available either.

We decide to just go with "nice" just because the idea of arranging for furniture is exhausting. It is exhausting to consider moving the cats again, and then again when the house sells in Texas and we buy a house here and move again. It is tiring to decide if an extra hundred or two hundred a month is worth spending when we don't know how long we will be in the apartment and still making mortgage payments on the house.

10. No offers on the house in Texas. I try not to think about how long it will take. We have lowered the price 10K. I try not to think about how low it might have to go. Or if the price might actually be perfect, but the right buyer just hasn't come along. Or...????? Average days on market for Riverchase is 60 days. We are at about 45.

We decided that taking control of some of our situations would make us feel better. We decided that we would go and to rent the furnished apartment on Wednesday right after we took a "look and see" at some real estate, just to get a feel of areas and to see what various price points might look like.

That was to happen on Wednesday. The agent set up showing at about six houses based on certain specifications, (price, location) and off we went.

Looking at houses is so interesting. One lovely house had smoked mirrors flanking the fireplace, gold veined mirror ceiling in the inset above the dining table, more gold vein mirrors in the inset above the BED; and (wait for it) gold veined mirrors above the huge tiled jacuzzi tub in the basement.
We nicknamed it "The Swinger House"; it also had a huge granite steam shower and sauna, and a gorgeous water fall feature in the backyard...oh it was so tempting to take pictures!!! Totally affordable, but no views (save views of yourself) and a slightly busy street.

My must haves in a house are:

1. Quiet street,
2. Mountain view.
3. Two car garage.
4. Master bedroom in the back. (I hate fussing with window curtains when I pop in to change my clothes.)

Anyway, we looked at split levels where you walk up steps (I'm afraid of steps outside in snow...) and where the front door opens to a set of stairs going up and another set going down. That kind of first view feels like bad fung shui to me. Not that I know a lot about fung shui, but I do know when something makes me feel confused and that sort of half way up/halfway down totally loops me.

All six houses: No views....I am so disappointed.

After seeing all the houses the realtor had scheduled we were driving back through a neighborhood and passed a small red brick ranch style/ramble house with dead weeds in the front yard and a For Sale/make offer sign in the front yard.

Our agent asked if we wanted to take a look at it...it had but a one car garage, but would we like to take a look just for the heck of it?

It was priced originally out of our reach, but was heading for foreclosure.

Nice quiet cul-de-sac street. That was good.



Plantation shutters...another plus.

The agent opened the door. We saw hardwood floor.

A cute kitchen....





And then this:



The agent went "WOW!"
We all went "WOW!"
I can already picture having my morning cup of coffee at my round breakfast room table, and having dinner looking out over the valley floor, the city lights twinkling in the distance.



Does the Master Bedroom have a view too?
Yes it does.....from the WINDOW SEAT!
I love window seats!

These windows face north, and frame where the storms come in.
I love storm watching!



Last October I said I felt we would be in SLC by next October. And in my mind I could see myself sitting on a deck, feet propped up, looking over my toes at a mountain turning purple in the twilight.

I think this is the deck and mountain that I was seeing....



The deck view look over the city, downtown and the valley floor.





We told the agent to get the details on the house, and the next day (Thursday) we went back to take another look with Jeff and with a contractor. We wanted to get some prices on some minor changes (making a second upstairs bedroom into a walk in closet, much to Jeff's disgust-too "Texas" for his taste), adding a shower to MB powder room, plus adding a carport.

The owner is two payments behind; he is willing to lease the house to us until our sells. Today we will meet with the agent again to work though more details. It isn't a done deal yet, but it is a strong possibility.

We will wait until we know before we make any moves to lease an apartment. Jeff is graciously amendable to us staying with him until Sept 1st, at least, which would be the likely move in day on the house.

So yesterday we were very, very excited.

We weren't even planning on buying until after the first of the year, and definitely not until our house sold. But if we can lease, and have the lease payments come off our down payment...I think we may have a great option.

Plus another house in the neighborhood that is smaller and NO view is going for the same price as this one.

OH my GOSH...the VIEW!

Enough about why I am tired. I am still tired, but very happy too.

Here's a photo journal of the rest of the week:

I am a sucker for how mountains look in the sunset. This is the view over Jeff's fence on Monday evening.

Tiggie continues with his snoopervising duties.

Jeff and Bernie played golf on Monday at Jeremy Ranch Country Club, as part of a fund raiser for a children's charity. I drove B. there, and it was my first time navigating around the area on my own. Driving on winding mountain roads in a rental car is nerve wracking!

Jeff played golf Monday, Wednesday and Thursday for his company.
What a life.
And these golf tournaments give great gifts to the players too!

One of his coworkers broke her ankle on Sunday, so B. was drafted at the last minute to make up the foursome.

Mowsie is being an absolute gentleman about having two Texas yahoo boy cats in his house. Old Tiggie tried to put the bite on him and just got a mouthful of Mowsie fur for his efforts.



If Jeff is not fond of Tiggs anymore, well, who cares. Tiggie is able to make friends elsewhere as needed.

As is "Old Elevator Butt" Hart. The boys seem to enjoy company!



The tight dahlia bud was at this stage on Tuesday.

Bernie's bonsai's arrived safe and sound. My few straw hats arrived tweaked out of shape; I spent some time steaming the bents and crumples out of them. Note to whomever: U-Haul boxes do not stand up to UPS shipping.

I shipped my African violets in a glassware box, the kind of box with dividers. It came with styrofoam sleeves that were just perfect to slip over the plants. I transplanted the plants into large plastic dixie glasses to make them lighter for shipping.

They were in route for five day...and look: the plant still has flowers even!



I had filled the box with styrofoam peanuts on top of the plants. I thought I mention how I shipped them just in case anyone else out there needs to ship plants.

Jeff has new tile on his floors.

Tiggie approves.

The old linoleum was a mottled gray that went well with Meowsie's coloring.

Tiggie coloring is much better, don't you think?

A tree with leaves that are snow white on the underside.
I must get a book that identifies area trees, flowers, butterflies and dragonflies.
Soon.

Purple red leaved trees are everywhere, and they bore a walnut sized red fruit that has mostly been dropped now. I tasted one; it was a delicious, sort of like a plum.

And the dahlia opened on Thursday.

An interesting cloud, the only cloud in the area, hovering over the montains.



Yesterday it was 98 degrees out. Perfect weather to shop at a ski shop sale.
Ugh.
We got four knitted beanies and a pair of ski pants for B.
Great prices. Glad I don't ski! Too cold in winter on the slopes, too hot in summer in the stores...

We got a great dinner at an Indian restaurant; there are great little hole in the wall restaurants all over SLC. Then we went back to the house to watch the sun set from the deck.

Click to enlarge this picture and you can see a sliver of silver on the horizon to the left of the mountain. That is the Great Salt Lake simmering in the distance.

Just as the city lights were coming on, B. stood up to look at a gap in the siding, commenting it might need a bit of repair. He touched his finger to it, then yelped: He got stung by a wasp.
B. is allergic to bee and wasp stings, so we headed right out to find an urgent care or hospital. I was so thankful that we came across an Urgent Care that was open right away. He got the shots needed to keep him from going into shock, and after a bit we headed on home.

We will meet with the agent again today to work out a few legal/technical details. I have no other plans for the day; tomorrow I might go to a home improvement show.

Or sleep in all day long....