Is it Monday Yet?

Monday, April 28, 2008

I don't know how I'd keep track of the day of the week were it not for cell phones.

I woke up at 4:00 PDT -- I think my brain is still trying to adjust to central time, but come on! We were only in that time zone for 2 weeks! At any rate, let's get on with the adventure.

Carol and her daughter showed up at my house about 6:30. Jamie was driving us to the airport. I'd almost forgotten to print out my boarding pass (still managed to get A59) but I had it! I did cut down to my smallest suitcase -- I'm only going to be here 3 days, after all. (LOL I just reread that paragraph and I'd spelled Jamie's name as Jaime. I should have left it so everyone could ask Jaime if he'd taken us to the airport! For you non-Farmers people, Jaime is one of our IT guys)

We made it to the airport and through security without incident. Carol was A46 for boarding but she managed to pick a row that was completely empty. A girl who was 2 people in front of me snagged the aisle seat so I took the middle -- but it wasn't too bad! Fortunately the other girl was a skinny little thing. (She's moving to SF from Portland for a teaching job-3rd grade. Her brother lives in SF)

Our flight attendant, when she was delivering our drinks, said to me "you look just like my friend Patty". Many of you know that I hear this ALL the time. Not the Patty part, but the "you look just like .. " (Lynda, Justin, Joan -- you know what I'm talking about) When she came back later she remarked on it again. I asked if Patty was nice (yes!) and she said "she just turned 50". "Oh!" says I. "I just turned 60." "REALLY?" says she. "Well, you look a whole lot better than she does!!" I have Carol as my witness.

During the course of our flight she made some jokes about my family roots being well spread and just before we deplaned she asked if I had any family in the Las Vegas area. Said I've never been there. Carol heard her say, "well, maybe your father or grandfather were there!"

Our friend Magellan got us safely from the airport to the hotel (Extended Stay America). This hotel does NOT have automatic doors at the entrance. AND they just renovated 2 years ago!! What is up with that? We're on the 3rd floor (top) in non-smoking rooms. Unfortunately, we have to walk through the heavily smoky-smelling hallway to get to these rooms! Either the smoke from rooms below us has permeated the floors and walls, or the smokers have to smoke in the hallway!! YUK

I do have a kitchenette, but no dishwasher. No closet doors (??) and a small TV (19-20") AND believe it or not, they charge $4.99 for internet access!! One-time charge, but still. Apparently they don't realize everyone else offers it free. There are no buffet breakfasts here either.

Carol's brother lives in Aloha (next town over) and her sister-in-law offered to drive us around to leasing offices and invited us to their house for dinner. The first place we went to is one Gary found on the internet, the Colonnade (3bdr, 3ba, 3 story), but they had nothing available. They sent us to a "sister property" called the Palladia. She showed us a unit that is available, same floor plan. End unit--the living room window looks out over a small city park (grassy area, benches, flowers and shrubs) and there is a lot of cupboard space in the kitchen. Internet access in every room. TV outlets in every room. Gary's bedroom and bathroom is right off the garage. The unit small .. in that every floor is about 500sq ft, but it's bright and has a lot of windows. Single car garage with parking in the driveway for a 2nd car. Plenty of on-street parking for a 3rd car. Price is $1385 plus $10 for trash and we can lock it in if we sign up by 5:00 pm. They can change their pricing weekly -- on Mondays -- and it can go up or down.

We went to a second property that is practically next door, same floor plan, but more expensive (!!) and the buildings were dark and every until looked out on pavement. They tried to entice us with one month free rent, but it's a 14mo lease and parking for a 3rd car is dicey. We decided to go back to the first place and put in our application. Didn't even bother looking anywhere else. The extra bonus for this place is we are practically across the street from an outdoor mall, the Streets of Tannasborne.

Remember when the "thing" was indoor malls? Here in Oregon, where it rains 80% of the time, they get all excited about an OUTDOOR mall!! Go figure. Anyway, Margie drove us through the mall and there are lots of restaurants (PF Changs, Macaroni Grill, Rosie's, etc) and -- Deb, Lynda, Marci, Barb -- there's a Brighton's!! Also Coldwater Creek and J Jill's. Carol and I are excited about our location. On the map it looks like it's close to the office too. We'll check that out today. We're not far from a movie theater complex either. There's a walking path on a green belt around the complex.

They're supposed to run our credit check this morning. We couldn't add Gary to the lease yet because he has to sign the paperwork to authorize the credit check. They assured us we can add him any time, no problem. They'll let us know sometime today if we are approved, then we have to get a PG&E (Portland Gas and Electric .. how funny is that) account number and proof of renters insurance before we can move in. Hopefully we can get all of that taken care of today or tomorrow.

There was a security deposit of $300 and a move-in fee of $200. They charge $200 for a holding deposit but they apply that to your move-in fee so for $300 and the first month's rent -- we're in! Since it's not available until the 2nd, they knocked off $45. The bummer is that I have to pay the first month's rent on my own since I'll be living here for a month before Carol and Gary come up. That will put a serious dent in my savings, but that's okay! It's a relief to have this wrapped up in time. As I'll be driving up here on Sunday, it's nice to know I'll have an apartment waiting for me.

After all this excitement, we followed Margie to her house. Didn't put the address in my Magellan because we were following someone. In a green SUV. Car turns left, I said "Oh, I didn't think that was her car", but we follow. Car pulls into a driveway, Carol has to drive past and do a turn-around to park in front of the house. As we're parking, someone gets out of the passenger side and looks at us! Margie didn't have a passenger. We followed the wrong car!! I'm laughing. Carol's still trying to figure how she lost Margie. Her phone rings and her sister-in-law is wondering where the heck we went. We managed to hook up with her again and made it to her house. Dinner was great, by the way (BBQ ribs, beans, hot potato salad, green salad -- YUM)

Which reminds me, Barb, when I got on my scale Sunday morning, I was up just 1.5 pounds! YAY

There was something else Carol did at the airport and I said "this is going in the email, you know". For the life of me I can't remember what it was but when I do ... you'll hear about it.

I need to go put on some makeup. Keep your fingers crossed that the credit checks go through quickly and we can get everythiing wrapped up today. I'll let you know how it goes!

TTFN