Monday Musings in May

How the heck is it almost the middle of May already?  How has it been four weeks since I last blogged?  It is crazy how fast time is passing.

My brother and I have gone out looking at places with our realtor on two Saturdays and a Tuesday evening.  Nothing that screams "home" yet.  I think we have figured out what we want/don't want.  Of course we increased our budget.  Random thoughts about the places we have seen so far:

 - we want a townhouse/duplex style condo
 - ideally a three bedroom with at least one and half baths - two full baths would be awesome
 - a basement (finished or unfinished) so my brother and I can have our own spaces
 - we have been focusing on the south side, with quick access to the LRT and downtown
 - garages are a great bonus - but you often have to give up the basement space (especially in new condos)
 - we are willing to do some painting, and maybe replace some floors, new cabinet doors etc - but we don't want to have to gut and completely remodel kitchens and/or bathrooms

My parents are working on getting their home ready to list.  Many areas around the house have been fixed/touched up with paint.  There were a couple of cracks (from the house settling) that needed filling first.  The garage is cleaned, trim was added, and then it was painted white.  Many things have been transferred to the storage unit or the dump (we had a Bagster that was picked up this morning, we took some things to a big bin event this past Saturday, and we will have a shredding company come with their truck once my dad finishes going through boxes of papers).

Kristine and I joined a fun, casual bowling league.  We play three games of 5-pin on Friday nights.  I did ok on the first game, but went downhill from there.  My leg/butt muscles were sore on Saturday.  I am looking forward to playing again this Friday.

My dad's 50-year old cousin had a mild heart attack this weekend.  She has been having trouble controlling her blood pressure and cholesterol (and was on medication).  She was been under a lot of stress lately with her husband possibly losing his job, not being happy at the school she teaches, and then her eldest son was treated for alcohol poisoning and tried to keep it from his parents.  She is in the hospital here in Edmonton (they are from Red Deer), and will be having an angioplasty today or tomorrow.  So far she is doing ok.

I completed a boot camp for one of the sections of my online course.  Read the textbook, studied, and took the test in two weeks.  I need to check and see if I got my results back yet.

Work was so busy over the past two to three weeks.  Issues with clients and the contract publications we produce for them - including a new magazine.  Plus month end accounting and normal data entry etc.  May will be busy too, but hopefully not full of problems.

On top of all that I twisted my ankle two weeks ago, and it was super sore for a few days.  It has healed now.  Thank goodness I still have my ankle brace from when I broke that bone in my foot.

We celebrated Easter, my brother's 31st birthday, my parent's 39th anniversary, and Mother's Day. 

I could really use a mini vacation.  Thank goodness this weekend is Victoria Day - and is three days long.  I am also glad the weather (I think) has finally stopped being so back/forth and up/down (cross my fingers).

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