settling in

I love my new townhouse. It is just the right size for me. Yes, I still have way too much stuff and I still need to purge but I like it. I love the neighborhood. I haven't really gotten out much yet but just watching all the activity is great. Ray even seems to like it, as I find him looking out the windows at the dog walkers.

New home

I bought a condo. It's a tiny townhouse in an extremely nice community in Arlington called Fairlington Villages. I love it so far. It is relatively quiet, meaning I do hear my neighbors a bit but I can drown them out. There is a real community feel to the area. I see people of all ages walking their children and dogs. My condo is near a pool so I can have outdoors in the summer.

I do have projects in the condo. Although it has wonderful hardwood floors, the walls are all beige. So I'm planning on painting. Picking paint colors is not fun. I wanted to get a couple of rooms done before the move but I couldn't decide on the colors so now I will have to paint around furniture. Ick. Also both the kitchen and the one bath need some up dating. The kitchen cabinets and countertops are old and need replacing but the appliances are new. And the bath was last renovated in the 70s or 80s. Everything works well though so there is no hurry on renovations.

Moving is not fun. I'm sick of being stiff and sore from lifting and moving boxes. And living among boxes. Admittedly if I really examine it, I have been living among boxes for almost four years now since I moved from my house in Knoxville. I have cleared space in all of the rooms now. I have also sorted most of the boxes into the correct rooms. I now have to move more boxes into my attic which unfortunately is not as functional as I would have liked it due to the heat pump blocking access to most of the attic. I also really need to get ruthless about purging some of my belongings. I have way too much stuff and more in the storage unit.

Enjoying NoVA

Wow, so much has happened. I got a new job back in May, started in June and love it. I work for  a great organization with great people and I could not be happier. I'm not wild about my apartment situation as my apartment is a bit far out, not within walking distance to the Metro, like I had thought, plus my upstairs neighbors are elephants. Luckily I don't have too much more time left on my lease so I need to give notice and find a new place. I'm looking at buying a condo. Yes, putting my toe into the water again. I saw a really nice townhouse in a great area that my realtor was supposed to get back to me on the comps. It isn't huge but it has a good size living room and master bedroom plus it has a small walk-in closet which is unheard of for condos of this size. I will need to get rid of more furniture but that is okay.

I have been trying on-line dating. HATE IT. Most of the men that express an interest in me, I have no interest in as they either have no education, wrong religion or something else and most of the men I have expressed an interest in have no reciprocal interest. I have also run into the scammers, which is a whole other world. So far, four of them that I know of have targeted me. I had one coffee date that went well but I don't know if I have any real interest in the gentleman although he would like to see me again and I got stood up for another meeting. Two other guys have expressed some interest but I don't see those going anywhere. So I'm giving up on it. I think I may try matchmaking.

As for quilting or stitching, it hasn't been happening. Although the lightening situation is better here than when I was in Paducah, between my noisy upstairs neighbors and the extra boxes I never unpacked due to no place to put the stuff (mostly my art), it isn't a comfortable place or conducive to creativity. I have been trying my hand at needlepoint but again, my living situation sucks for creativity so I mostly read or watch TV.