Turning Bad Neighbors Into a Positive...

I have long been thinking about delving back into the great big world of home ownership!

I'm a single girl. I'm scared. Plus I have a pretty pimp apartment, spacious, beautiful, and only 6 miles away from work. One mile from my hair salon. Centrally located to every important thing in my life. I've become pretty happy here.

And then, my ideal duplex neighbors moved out. And I have spent the last year of my life cursing the day my new neighbors moved in. They are in their early 20's..not ideal neighbors in any situation. 

I hate them. I find myself talking about their asshole-ness out loud when I am home alone. I complain about them at work. I facebook their dick moves. They annoy me on a daily basis, and I can no longer consider my home my peaceful sanctuary!

I read a very timely quote this week that read "never wait until you have enough money to have kids or buy a house it will never happen".

I've always said this apartment was my last stop before home ownership. I have moved a billion and one times, and I am not moving, only to move again. 

I'm done waiting on "the one" to come along so we can buy our dream house. It's the millenium, who needs a man? I'm a 38 year old successful single lady, and I'll buy my own dream house. I'll enjoy everything there is to about being a home owner, and stop worrying about the negative parts. Things always work themselves out. 

I'm getting all of my ducks in a row, because for real this time... I am going to buy a house! I am looking at a pretty sizeable stock payout this fall, and with that, and all the work I have been doing on my credit score, I will be ready.

I knew that 2014 was going to be my year, and when I achieve my goal, I'm leaving those asshole neighbors a thank you card...because they are the last straw that  forced me to finally get off of my ass, and start planning my future!

Not to mention, I've promised Mr. Magoo a doggie companion upon said home ownership..and he's pretty excited!

Here's to another big adventure! I couldn't be more motivated!

Winter Can Suck It...

I know I live in NE Ohio, and I am use to cold and snow, but the past few winters have been really mild. The return of real winter this season is a total bummer! A person shouldn't feel real hatred towards school kids who have had so many days off, that they are trying to pass a new calamity bill to get more days.

Back in my day, we were lucky to get one snow day in your entire school career.

Or, for all those people down south who get a dusting or a couple of inches, and everything shuts down! (my own sister included!!)  Yes, I understand snow is tragic when you are not use to it, but when you, yourself are going to work at -40 wind chills, or in over a foot of snow and ice, you start to feel some kind of way about people staying at home in their jammies.

Last night they said 3-5" overnight. That's no biggie. I had to get up super early to be to work at 6:45 for a super big meeting at work. However, I woke up to about a foot of snow, and left 45 minutes early to drive my very short 6 miles to work. This should have been plenty of time.

Needless to say I got stuck halfway out of my driveway and into the street in about 5 inches of ice. I was outside, in my work clothes, hair perfectly curled, sweating my curls out, cursing, and using a garden shovel to try to break up the layer of ice to get out. People passed. No one helped. If this were any other day, I would have said "FUCK IT!" and went back inside.

A man on foot walking past me actually said "C'mon April, right?" You have no idea how bad I wanted to hit him with my freaking shovel.

Did I mention I also have PMS? I should come with a warning label at this point!

After 35 minutes of struggle.. the guy who lives next door (the one who gave me the cat clock a while back....yes, weird...) came out, without a coat on to ask if I was stuck...he helped push me out of my ice hole. I had almost lost faith in humanity. It took about five minutes of his time, and I was only half an hour late to my meeting.

Chivalry is not dead!!

In all of my in and out of the house getting different shovels, salt, and kitty litter...I forgot to lock Mr. Magoo back up in the kitchen for the day.

Mr. Magoo was "home alone"

Luckily he didn't do much damage. He ate all the cat food, rounded up his toys, the cat treats, a paper towel, a copy of a picture of himself, and some rawhide bones. He kept his mess pretty contained, and still went into the kitchen to use his potty pad.

I don't often dislike living alone, but today was one of those days. But I don't blame being single, I blame winter!

So I Like TV Shows....?

He is kinda dreamy...in a total phsycopath sort of way!

Jenkies people, it is February, and I have no idea where the last two weeks have gone!!

That's a total lie. Being snowed in makes way for things like binge-watching on Netflix. "Just one more episode, I can stop after that..." is something I often tell myself.  Yes, I am one of many people who sometimes fall victim to binge watching, and it's 'years worth of series' at your fingertips' charm! My latest addiction...is Dexter. 

It's so good that I am losing tons of sleep over it. I watch way past my bedtime. I watch way into the morning hours... I counted the moments at boot camp tonight until I could get back to my TV!

I even had a dream this weekend that Dexter was my boyfriend. It was a slice of paradise! And in waking life I really think he'd make a great boyfriend. Aside from that serial killer thing, he pretends to be a great guy...really well! Better than most men pretend to be! He's always there for his girlfriend, and he's pretty awesome with her kids. I mean his biggest strike for me was all the animals he killed as a child. (Ok I think killing people is bad...but I can't help sympathizing more with animals...it's what I do)

The fact that I actually typed out that paragraph probably has a lot to say about the fact that I am famous for choosing really poor partners in life.

I've been down the binge-watching road before. There was also Scandal. Orange is the New Black. Hemlock Grove. Breaking Bad.

I think in the near future, there are going to be support groups for people who can't seem to stop pushing "next episode".  Until then, it's me and Dexter until the bitter end!

Plus...watching show after show is pretty easy when you have a pile of adorable animals always willing to snuggle at a moments notice...Just look at those faces!

Mr. Magoo managed to sneak in the cat bed unnoticed!