Merry Christmas Eve and other stuff

Another Christmas Eve is here. I really think I enjoy Christmas Eve more than Christmas Day. The anticipation was always more fun to me--Besides when I very first woke up early in the morning Christmas Day when it was still dark outside and saw the glow of the Christmas lights and all the huge presents under the tree and my stocking STUFFED with fun things. I always loved opening my stocking presents the most. But Christmas Eve was always when my family did the dinner and the parties and the fun stuff.
This year I am working from 8:30AM-3:00PM (which doesn't make sense) and then we will be heading to the annual Christmas Eve open house at a friends house for some wine and snacks. Then the usual dinner at my parents house and most likely an annual viewing of "It's a Wonderful Life"--the BEST Christmas movie!

Anyway, I missed mentioning a lot of things the last month.

November 17th Spokane saw the worst storm since the ice storm of 1997. We had a wind storm that knocked out power to over 100,000 people. (That included me and my parents.) Trees went down everywhere. Heck, people even died by trees falling on them. I was only out of power for 28 hours. But my parents were out of power for a full week. So, I held them hostage at my house for a few days. It was actually really nice! The power should go out for a bit every year just to remind people that electronics are not the most important thing in the world--family is. Heck, I know that I realized how reliant I was on my phone and iPad. And I only lost power for one day. I was DYING not having my phone fully charged. Or having Netflix. We were so bored at night that we went to bed at 7PM! Very sad. But it was a good experience.

November 17th happened to also be the same day that I switched property management companies. The owners switched from a laaaarrrrrge company to a small company. So far the experience has been interesting. I learned my lesson and realized that I must not EVER spend my own money on work related items.

Hmmmm, what else....

Last night was interesting. Every year there is a house on Glenrose that synchronizes lights in their yard to Christmas music. It's a fun little thing. Last night Josh and I were finished at the gym and got the wise idea to drive to the house in our gym clothes and of course we were driving in his 1980-something manual BMW beater car (which he insisted upon because it is the only of the 2 vehicles with snow tires and he believes it is safer...LOL). It is snowy outside. He parked and turned off the car and we listened to the show for maybe 5 minutes before we decided to leave. During the show, the car kept inching forward and down into a dip by the fence-line. (I do not understand why manual vehicles do this. Apparently they can't handle small hills.) Anyway, Josh tried to turn on the car and it was dead. LOL. The crap battery died after 5 minutes. So ridiculous. We had to call my parents and they came and jumped us and then pushed the car out of the snow. What an adventure. I learned that my husband gets angry very quickly. I thought it was funny. He did not.

I look forward to New Years Eve, as my best friend Christy is coming to town with her boyfriend and the 4 of us will be spending a night at the Davenport downtown and doing wine tasting and bar hopping. I can't wait!!!!

I am very happy that Christmas Day is on a Friday this year, as is New Years Day. So, I get 2 three day weekends in a row.

BOOYAH!

Merry Christmas

The most annoying human things

1) Clip my nails. I HATE clipping my nails. I get so annoyed when my nails grow out because I seriously hate standing there in the bathroom and clipping them and filing them. I almost would rather not have nails. I've never had fake nails. That sounds freaking miserable.

2) Cutting my hair. I hate when my hair gets long and is in my face and takes forever to wash in the shower and to dry. But I also hate going to get a haircut because it costs a lot of money and they always tell me "Oh you should be cutting your hair more than once a year because your ends are so dead".... well you know what, all my hair is dead. It's all dead. And I just hate it. I hate that I have to brush it. I hate when it is in my face. I hate when I have to sit there and pay someone to cut it.

3) Wearing make-up. Okay, this is not a thing that every human must do. Just women. Society has pressured women into believing that they must have make up on to be pretty. They've even done surveys that determine that women look to be more intelligent and trustworthy if they are wearing make up. It is even in my dress code at work that "make up should be worn." I just hate that. Haaaattteee wearing make-up. I think everyone should just have a clean face. CLEAN.

4) Shaving. It just takes forever. I know I have to shave though because I cannot bear the thought of having hairy legs or armpits or.... yuck. I just don't like the act of shaving. It is time consuming, boring, and very dangerous! Think about it...

At the end of the day, the only human thing that I have to do that I LOVE to do is eat and sleep. I could ditch the rest.

Whidbey Island

For the weekend of my 26th birthday my husband and I got a groupon for a 2 night stay at "The Captain Whidbey Inn" on Whidbey Island. It is this old old Inn that is 108 years old, built in 1907, in Coupeville. The Inn was soooooo cute! No televisions in the rooms, lots of antiques and you have to share a bathroom with everyone who is staying at the Inn. There are only about 12 rooms in the Inn. Downstairs is a huge fireplace and a small restaurant which I would consider "fine dining." Cuz daaaaang my filet was fine! So good!
We spent the weekend playing board games in our little room, exploring Oak Harbor, Anacortes, Deception Pass, and even drove to Bellingham in the afternoon because it was only an hour away. In Bellingham we went to the museum of electrical invention. At night we went to a haunted house at Ford Casey (the Admiralty Lighthouse). The following day we went back to Fort Casey to see what it looked like during the day and it had amazing views of the water and Port Townsend (at least I think that was Port Townsend I could see?). It was a quick weekend trip but a great trip. Hope to go back some day. I was telling Josh that I could definitely live on Whidbey Island, if we haaaaad to move to the west side.

 Captain Whidbey Inn

 Downtown Coupeville

 Delicious freaking Filet dinner at Capt Whidbey Inn

 Cannon at Fort Casey, Coupeville

 Josh at the Admiralty Lighthouse, Coupeville

 On the Ferry to Whidbey. Josh's first time on a ferry

Sister Times

My mom and I flew down to Nashville September 10th to surprise Karen for her 23rd birthday! We showed up at her work and she was so surprised and we all cried. It was all the awesome feelers.

We toured the Grand Ol Opry, the Belle Meade Plantation and the Jack Daniels distillery. We ate at Cracker Barrel, had some good pulled pork an drank a lot of wine. It was a quick 4 day trip. I wish it lasted longer! It was awesome. The weather was good. The food was good. The company was good. The only bad thing is the drivers. People canNOT drive in Nashville! AT ALL!!!! My rental car got a boo-boo :(
We left early morning September 14th. Leaving sister was hard. I wish she would come home.
Here are some photos from the trip!

 Mom and I on the plane on our way to Nashville

 Karen and mom crying. What BABIES! ;)

 The Grand Ol Opry. So magical!

 Belle Meade Plantation. Lots of AWESOME history there

Confessions Of A Property Manager pt 4

11) I feel so powerful when residents actually do what I say. For example: The community is about to have some asphalt repairs done tomorrow. I sent out reminders last night telling them all vehicles need to be out by 7AM tomorrow. I go outside today and see everyone is already mostly out and parked along 51st ave. I'm so...powerful! Dance, monkey's, dance! Mwahahaha. Little do they know there aren't really asphalt repairs to do. I just want to see how many people read my notices... lol! JK.

12) I love when residents bring me food.

13) I love when residents bring me literally ANYthing besides a complaint

14) I love when residents think I am funny and laugh at my jokes

15) I love when past residents come back upset about being sent to collections due to damages and they want to dispute them. So, I send copies of the photos and the actual invoices to my receivables department and the resident ends up owing MORE than I originally charged them! LOL

Guitar

I have been really stressed the last month. The stress is about 99% work related. After a long day of work I come home and just feel drained and miserable. I could turn to alcohol and food but....no, wait, never mind, let's just go ahead and admit I will always do that because I am an emotional eater and have a constant love affair with food.

But my point is that I've started doing something that I haven't done in a long long long looooong time. I picked up my guitar! I stopped playing YEARS ago. Why? I actually do not know. I guess I kinda stopped when I went to college. Perhaps I stopped in high school. I can't quite remember. I suppose I had other things to do. I stopped having the patience, diligence and time that it takes to practice and learn. Heck, I still don't have a lot of patience. I have found the time. Less Netflix/TV. But at least I now have something to look forward during my day. I look forward to coming home from work so I can sit down, release all thoughts of the day and just focus on my beautiful purple instrument. I've noticed that it is very therapeutic to spend all my brain energy on learning a new song. I actually get to focus and think about something that makes me happy.

So rarely am I able to do that. Just be happy, that is. Working does not make me happy. I do not feel an ounce of genuine happiness from the time my alarm goes off in the morning until the time I come home from work. That's not to say that I do not like my job or that I am necessarily unhappy. Because that's not true. I would say I am indifferent. I certainly do not feel that passion or fire the way I thought one should feel about their choice in life work... Anyway, I digress...

I LOVE to sing. Singing is my most favorite thing to do in the world! Since I was a little kid nothing made me happier than to make sounds with my voice. Ask my mother. I was a loud child, whether I was happy or sad. Oh, how I miss singing with a group of people! I would literally get tears in my eyes while singing with other people. I miss that feeling! I feel a hint of that again when I pick up my guitar and sing. I feel that emotion and that passion and I have fun! Every other thought and worry just disappears when I can just pick the notes and sing.

I am going to try to work on my Youtube channel and post some things for fun.

Netflix

Netflix is hands down one of the best things ever invented. Thanks to Netflix I never want to see the light of day!
But, Netflix, what do you mean "are you still watching American horror story?" Uh.....yeah.....I wouldn't just sit here for 3 hours and quit like that. Don't make me bend over for the remote. Why do you do this to me?

Confessions Of A Property Manager pt 3

Let me start this one off by saying I looooove animals. Anyone who knows me knows that I adooooooore animals....

But it really bothers me as a property manager when....

7) a resident gets themselves an animal, whether it's a restricted breed or not, and they bring me in their "service animal" documents that look completely fake. Do I actually do anything about it? No, because I don't have the time to research or argue. Plus, no one wants to deal with the fair housing thing anyway.

8) Oh, is that your service animal I just witnessed urinate on your carpet right now?... And then fast forward a few months to when you move out and wonder why I had to charge you for carpet replacement...

9) Residents are too lazy to leash their animals. Yeah, it's really cute that your dog almost got hit by a car...

10) when residents leave their dogs on their deck. You just know he's going to end up peeing. C'mon, he deserves soft grass to pee on and your downstairs neighbor doesn't deserve a urine shower....(well, I'll determine if they deserve it or not...)

Confessions Of A Property Manager pt 2

Other things that grind my gears in property management:

3) When prospects schedule appointments to tour and they never show up. Especially when they schedule it during my normal lunch break. Even though I've said 'well, I normally take my lunch break then but I would be happy to show you around if that is the time you prefer"..... and being the jerks that they are they say yes, they need that time. So I sit around and wait while my stomach growls....and they never show. Of course.

4) When other apartment communities call for rental verification's and then get in a huge huffy when I don't get it done within 10 minutes.

5) When I'm in an appointment with a prospect and a resident comes in and ignores the fact that I am with someone and starts blabbing about their own issues. They don't even say "Oh, excuse me" or "I'm sorry" or "Do you have time to speak privately for a minute" Nothing like that. Because THEY are number one. Always. Forever. In their dreamland.

6) When I'm on a tour with someone for well over half an hour. And then talk to them on the phone more than once. And then show their family the community. And then correspond via email multiple times. And they never rent. Ever.

Confessions Of A Property Manager

This will be fun. I really need to write down everything that happens daily in my line of work that makes me laugh. This will be ongoing rant so that when I'm retired in 50 years I can look back fondly on these memories

1) When people put in work orders for a long list of things. They want it done NOW. But they don't want you in their apartment unless they are there. They are not currently home. Hmmmm, maybe they will be home in 2 days. Okay let's schedule an appointment for 2 days from now at this specific time that THEY choose. Two days later, we come a-knockin and they don't answer the door. We can't go in because they told us not to. So, we can't get the work done. And then they get pissed that the work still isn't done......

2) When people complain about how they can't pay rent. Or they can't make it into the office to pay in time. First of all, we are open 6 days a week. You can pay early, you know... You can bring it in one, two, three weeks before rent is due. A month in advance. On the 1st. 2nd. 3rd. or 4th of the month! Maybe getting off your butt and coming to the office is too much for you. This is why internet was created. We have a website. Didn't you know? You can pay online with a credit card, debit card, e-check and you can even have it automatically come our of your bank each month. Or you can have your bank mail me a check. The options are amazing! The only thing I cannot do is accept cash. But there's always that one person who makes everything difficult.

They say (but don't really say): "Oh my gosh, Sarah! It's 4:45PM on the 4th, I know rent is due in 15 minutes and I've literally had my entire life to figure this out but I've waited until just now to think about it. How can I pay my rent?"

I say: "Bring in a personal check." 

They say: "I don't have a checking account!" 

I say: "Go get a money order." 

They say: "I don't want to pay the extra money to get one!" 

I say: "Pay online." 

They say: "I don't believe in the internet."

I say: "Set up bill pay with your bank so that they mail it to me each month."

They say: "They will send you a check when I don't even have the money in my account!"

(I say in my mind:"JUST SHUT UP ALREADY. FIGURE YOUR OWN LIFE OUT")

Then they keep on talking "Oh I just can't get there in time. I've had so much going on. My car broke down and my boyfriend cheated on me. My brother's girlfriends sisters cat died and we had to have a funeral in her yard out in Kennewick a week ago and I've just been so busy..... FINE I'll bring rent to you in cash right now."

I say for the one millionth time "I don't accept cash"

They say "WHY?"

(I say in my mind: "Do you even have a brain?")

They say: "Whatever, I'll just figure it out. Can you wait an hour past your shift for me to deliver my rent to you so that you don't charge me a late fee? I'm on my way right now!" (that last part was fluffed up a little bit....)

(I say in my mind "No, you idiot, I'm outta here. It's dinner time.")

I say out loud: "I do apologize but the office closes in 15 minutes. I really must leave but if you can get in first thing in the morning I'll see what I can do"

...So they huff and puff and agree to try really hard to arrive in 15 minutes or to meet me at my office door first thing in the morning to avoid a late fee. Well, first thing in the morning arrives and look whoooooo isn't there, of course. They get a late fee. And they are mad at ME because they are late. 

Repeat this scenario every first week of the month. 

#lifeofapropertymanager

Living Up To The Stereotype

Let me just make some things clear on the blog I posted a few days ago.

I am a woman. I am the stereotypical female. Meaning, yes, I change my mind one million times. Some days I am happy. Some days I am sad. Some days I just don't care about anything and other days I care about everything. It literally takes me hours to decide what I want to eat for dinner....

I hope that none of you think that I am gearing up to leave my life. I AM happy with my husband and our home and our dog and our little life we live. Together we want nothing more than to be able to quit this life and just pack our things and travel to Alaska, Ireland, Italy, England.....and just leave! We BOTH dream of that stuff and we plan do it together.  We have both agreed that we are going to do those things together before we die.

I am crass. I am loud. I am stubborn. I am opinionated. I'm honest. I often do not take the time to filter my thoughts before they leave my mouth. I'm not afraid to let my wet delicates dry out in the open for everyone to see. 

Please don't think that this blog is my cry for help. I'm not in need of a psychiatrist or a divorce lawyer...

My blog is for me. These are my thoughts. MINE. They belong to me. Writing in a diary took too damn long and gave me hand cramps and I kept getting annoyed with every pen that died.....

LIFE IS GOOD. LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL.

Just sometimes I hate it ... LOL

;)