I love my new home, but not my one neighbor

I'm so tired and worn out, physically and mentally. My eyes are bloodshot, and my back and boob hurt. However, I am in my new home, (slept here four nights now) and it's so much nicer! Even though the weather has been horrible the past week, the view is still amazing. Watching Puget Sound with white caps is pretty awesome. I am sleeping a little better because it's quieter, and the building is so much better insulated, I don't freeze. At the apartment, it was like there was nothing in the walls, so then I'd crank the heat up and get too hot. 

Moving is so hard. I've decided this is it. I'll die in this place! It's been challenging trying to figure out where to put stuff. I have more storage, but I am quite sure the living room is smaller, so furniture placement has been a bitch. Now I'm trying to figure out where to put a Christmas tree!

The only negative has been the weirdo woman directly below me. I'll call her Kim (not her real name - I'm afraid she'd sue me). Apparently everyone in the building has experienced the wrath of Kim. My God, there are only five units, but I think she is determined to make life hell for the other four homeowners. 

I couldn't get my beautiful pink bike into my storage locker, as it's too long (many of you have seen it - a pink cruiser with a basket that Abbey will ride in)! So, I talked to Chuck and Tessa, my wonderful neighbors across the hall, who are the treasurer and secretary of the association, respectively. They suggested I park it in the lobby since it's so cute. The lobby is secure, and there is only one unit on the ground floor, and the owner spends most of her time in Hawaii, so is rarely there. She doesn't care, either.

Then the first curt e-mail came from Kim. She wanted me to remove my bike because it's common area, and doesn't belong there. I responded that I really didn't have anywhere else to put it, and that I was a recent cancer survivor, and didn't have it in me to carry it up three flights of stairs. I also pointed out that Chuck, Tessa, myself and the lady in Hawaii is okay with it, so the majority didn't mind.

Then on Saturday, Kim sends me an e-mail, (mind you, I'm right upstairs) to let me know that to "help" me out, she put my bike into the storage area. I flipped. She set it in the middle so no one else would be able to get into their storage lockers, and where it could get all scratched up. That bike was the last really cool gift from Mom and Pop before they died. They bought it for me after I graduated from college in 2005. (Yes, I'm a late bloomer). So it has special meaning to me, too.

Kim says in her e-mail that Chuck is "not in charge of managing the building." 

I was livid, so with the help of my new friend, David, we moved it back into the lobby. I e-mailed Chuck, Tessa and the gal in Hawaii of the latest developments. Chuck sent Kim a message, which he copied to everyone, saying she's right, he's not the building manager, but neither is she and he said "if you do not specify a CC&R or by-law, your commands and threatening language carry no weight." I had e-mailed Kim pleading with her not to touch my bike again, that it is neither ugly, nor in the way. I also mentioned my donation of a much better rug for the entrance to the building - a real nice stormchaser rug from LLBean.

So, this was yesterday. I go out to recycle some more boxes and paper as I'm unloading, and my bike is gone from the lobby - again. That bitch shoved it back into the storage unit. This time I hauled it out, put it back in the lobby, and I left a note on her door (since she didn't answer when I knocked loudly - and I know she's in there) that if she touched my bike again I'd call the cops.

I had barely put the note up, when she's at my door pounding. I opened the door, and our first meeting began as a shouting match. She's crazy. She is trying to sell her unit – I looked at it over a year ago! It's overpriced and smells of her old dog. She's convinced that my bike in the lobby will deter potential buyers for her unit. Really? How about dropping the price and change out the carpet?

Kim went on about how we're all rule breakers, and how awful Chuck is. I shut her right down. Chuck and Tessa are a lovely couple - they even sent me a gorgeous Christmas floral arrangement as a welcome gift. She was just screaming at me, how she was going to get a lawyer, call 911, it was horrible. I asked her why she couldn't just be neighborly. She said I wasn't being a good neighbor, etc., then she crossed herself (like Catholics do). I looked at her and asked her why she was crossing herself - did she think I was Satan? Her eyes got huge, and she said, "oh, you're not a very nice person." I felt like saying, and you are a bitter, nasty woman.

At one point she said to me, "well, honey, I'm dying." I asked her what was wrong with her, and she said it was none of my business.

To make a horrid story short, we both finally calmed down and came up with a possible solution. The fifth owner, Catherine, is in Florida until Dec. 15. Kim said her storage locker is empty. If Catherine will let me put my bike in her storage locker, great. If not – get this – Kim says she'll take all of her stuff out of hers and we can put it in there. I said, "are you kidding, it means that much to you?" 

She said it did. She's absolutely nuts. I truly pray to God she sells. Every single person in there has been attacked by her on some issue. She said she's selling because the building has changed, with all of us "new people" who don't follow the rules. When she finally got out of my face I was shaking and crying. I had to take 1/2 a Xanax and drink some wine to calm down.

So, other than that (!!) it's all good. My bathroom turned out beautiful, I got new towels, shower curtain and rug, and with the gorgeous new tile, it looks pretty. Abbey seems to like the place. She likes looking out the big window at the world below.

Also, I've had four dates now with David, who I guess I shall refer to as my new beau. He's so sweet. I saw his home briefly Saturday night, and I was in awe of the Beatles memorabilia he has – he's like me! We have some of the same Beatles posters. He also owns eight beautiful guitars - nice ones, Fender, etc. His home is in the Mt. Baker neighborhood, a very nice area near Lake Washington on the west side. He is into classic sports cars, music, and he has a Harley-Davidson, which I can't wait to ride on when the weather gets better. 

I called him crying after the whole run in with Kim. I was so upset. I hope I didn't scare him off! He helped me with a few honey-dos around the condo, too. 

And I am so grateful to Nina for the fine job she did on everything for me. She's a wonderful person and very competent contractor. If you're in Seattle, look her up - Velvet Hammer.

So, more unpacking and getting a Christmas tree up are on the agenda this week in addition to work. Colleen is flying in Saturday night for a short business trip, so I'm going to have her help me hang art, since she's got the interior designer eye going on. 

She flys out the 13th, the day I have the remaining fat necrosis removed from my boob. It's a short surgery, but I will be IV sedated. David will take me and drive me home. He's such a sweetie.

I was supposed to have a massage yesterday, but I rescheduled for Friday. I was just too frazzled. So I have that to look forward to, along with Col coming, David and then of course my baby Taylor coming for Christmas.

If you're on my Christmas card list, and don't get one this year, it's because it's just too much right now. I've never missed a beat on this, but I need to allow myself to let it go if I get too stressed out. That doesn't mean I love any of you less.