For Sale! 2 BR/ 2 BA Condominium - $235K

Wow! I can’t believe it’s been a solid 2 weeks since I’ve last blogged. Time flies when you’re out living life…

In any case, my condominium is now officially on the market. I’ll post pictures soon. The work that Spelunker and I have put into fixing up the place has really paid off even though we have missed our morning strength training sessions for the past week.

The biggest challenge from here on out is to make it look like we aren’t really living in my condo. What does that mean? No dirty dishes, laundry, and everything must be kept in its place like shoes and hats and the electronic equipment that we just finished using.

Then there are the cats. I’m not sure how they’re taking all of this. First, we locked them in the bedroom for 3 days while we painted the living room. When we finally let them out, we had re-arranged all the furniture and the room still smelled like paint. They were understandably a little upset by the changes we had made and decided that staying in my bedroom was a better option. However, after dealing with the smell of cat litter in my bedroom, I wanted it outside. So, now the cats are required to trek outside to the balcony to potty, drink water, and eat. I have to leave the balcony door open all the time, but that is a small sacrifice. Then I locked them on the balcony when the carpets were steam cleaned. At that point, the cats were angry with me since my thumb got chewed up in the process too. Now, I’m boarding them and all their shenanigans for this weekend and next, so that the unsuspecting buyers have no clue that I have cats (well, except if they are allergic – uh, oh!) during the open house sessions.

Apparently, this market downturn hasn’t affected the condo market in my neighborhood excessively since 12 condos have sold in my community since the beginning of the year. Now the prices might not be as high as they were a year ago ($260 - $270), but they’re still selling. I’m probably going to have to provide seller closing cost help and perhaps a home warranty or a credit towards carpeting, but otherwise, I’m still cashing out on my equity stake at way more than double what I paid for the place.

I don’t expect to sell the place this weekend – in fact, I would prefer not to. However, I would expect to see at least one contract in the first month. I can only hope…

Fixing up my Condo

As if I don’t have enough on my plate with marathon training and weight watching, I have determined that after 8 years in my comfy abode that it is now time to upgrade to roomier quarters (could it be that Spelunker is cramping my style?). Of course, I started off wrong – I started looking at all the neighborhoods that I would like to live in first, instead of preparing my condo for sale. And although, at first, I believed that I didn’t have much to get the condo ready, my error has now been corrected.

First, I bought 2 new appliances: a dishwasher and a dryer. I only bought those because I didn’t want to go through the hassle of replacing the stove, I wanted my dishwasher to match the remaining kitchen appliances, and wanted my dryer to match my washer that I purchased 2 years ago. Then, I rented a 5’x5’ storage unit and packed up all my clutter to deal with later in a bigger home.

Next, my realtor, Alan, looked at my place and recommended that I install granite counters to increase the re-sale value. At the moment, I’m willing to part with $3K of my hard cash to get a re-sale value that is $10K more than it would likely go for. I’m also replacing the stove that I initially didn’t want to deal with.

Spelunker and I painted the living room last weekend, which was a monumental task, but the payoff is fantastic! I chose a neutral cashew color and painted the trim a hi-gloss white, and immediately discovered that my vertical blinds for the balcony match the paint exactly!

The granite counters get installed tomorrow, and Spelunker and I plan to paint the kitchen and my master bathroom this weekend with a semi-gloss gray. If we have time, we will also paint the office with the same cashew color as the living room. Since I bought 5 gallons of the stuff, I plan to hold onto whatever is left over and paint the next place I move into since I like the color so much.

I’m thinking of putting in a tile backsplash behind the granite, but want to see the counters first before I make up my mind. The only other chores that remain are calling a steam cleaner for the carpets, getting my dad to install new linoleum in my bathrooms on Aug 9^th, and optionally, re-painting my bedroom.

At this rate, maybe my condo will be on the market before Labor day….

Marathon Training Report (16 Weeks Out)

I never thought back in February when Hoover first asked me to train for a marathon that it would take me this long to get back into running form. Here it is, the beginning of July, and I can finally say that I am fully prepared to embark upon my 16-week training schedule.

But I’d like to take a moment to reflect on what I’ve done to get to this point:

Feb – March: Struggled to run 1-2 miles 3xweek

April: Returned to my gym for 30min workouts 3xweek

April 13: Joined WW at 220.2 lbs

May: Continued struggle to run 3xweek; upped mileage to 2-3 miles

June: Started speed workouts of 4 ¼-mi repeats; upped mileage to 3-4 miles

June 17: Weighed in at under 200 lbs (psychological milestone!)

July: Fully developed 16-week marathon training schedule; began running 5xweek

July 12: Completed 1^st long run of 7 miles in 1:21 – average 11-12 min pace

I’ve lost 30 lbs to date, which I am immensely proud of. I’ve set myself a goal weight of 150 lbs for the marathon.

Weight Watchers has been a great system to live by and I have to admit that I enjoy my meals much more now than I did previously. Who knew that eating fresh fruits and vegetables 5xday would taste so good and keep you satisfied?

The only negative side-effect of the WW lifestyle is that my hash weekend drinking is severely curtailed. I still manage to fix some mixed drinks and drink a couple of beers throughout the day, but the majority of my fluid intake is in the form of water. Does it make me less of a hasher? I hope not. My greater level of sobriety provides me ample brain cognizance to remember everyone else’s crazy antics.

I'm Really Losing the Pounds Now!

Well, I am steam-rolling through this weight loss now - 30 lbs to date! In the last 4 weeks alone, I've lost 13 pounds, when it took me 8 weeks to lose the first 17. I think my early morning strength training 3 days a week is finally starting to pay off now that I have built that solid muscle tone. Of course, the T.I.T.S. weight loss camp may have assisted in my weight loss (just kidding! There may not have been enough food for others, but I was always satisfied.

Mysterious Rash

For the last week, I have been suffering from some mysterious rash that is itchier than PI (since PI doesn't really make me itch much) and hurts to high heaven after I itch it. My primary care doctor and the ER could not identify what caused my rash or the subsequent swelling that forced me to take my class ring off to prevent it from cutting off circulation to my finger.

I look like a diseased leper, especially on the left side of my body. I have no idea if it is contagious, but since it looks like hives have spread all over my legs and arms, I'm hoping it is simply an allergic reaction.

The hospital put me on antibiotics and steroids since they couldn't tell if I had a bacterial infection or an allergic reaction. Today is day 6 of my ordeal and although the medication has resolved the swelling, my rash is spreading to the right side of my body, while inexplicably (and thankfully!) skipping my torso.

Hopefully, tomorrow, I can get an appointment from a dermatologist to figure out what is causing this rampage across my skin.