Normally, I’d have a lot to say about how wonderful the past few days have been and how excited I am about the upcoming days. Today, however, I’m writing because the past few days have really sucked. In my last article, I described how awesome birthday-versary has been in the past and how this year, since we’re on a budget, I expected fewer gifts and trips. I also discussed Ycombinator and what a great opportunity it is if selected. Well, I wasn’t selected by Ycombinator and I didn’t do anything for my birthday.
Thursday, I received the generic “We’re sorry, we don’t want you, and we hope the best for you” email. At first, I was really upset because I am so ready to start my own business and get out of FREAKING Orlando. I wouldn’t say that my current job sucks, but it’s just SO boring. We don’t have anything to work on; so for 10 hours a day, 4 days a week, I surf the net. This seems like a dream come true, I know, I thought the same thing at first. I would catch up on all my blogs, plan my workouts and diet plans, you know, get other things accomplished. This worked for maybe the first week. It’s been months now and I’m truly over it. I want something to do, something to keep me occupied for 10 hours. That’s a long time to sit at a desk with nothing to do. I really like the people but I absolutely do not want to be there anymore. Given my intense dislike for my current situation, you can see how I’d be upset. But, I gave it some thought and decided it’s their loss. They are missing out on the millions of dollars they would have made after my exit. I also decided that I was trying to take the easy way out by just filling out an application to basically get a ready made company. Everything would have been handed to me; they would tell me what to do next instead of figuring it out; they would bring the investors to me instead of having to seek them out . So, while being accepted would have been awesome, not being accepted won’t kill me or my company.
As you can see, I was really trying to stay positive so close to my birthday, which was the following day. I wanted to be happy about the day’s events. Now, here we are on Friday, “It’s my birthday!!” My boyfriend wakes me with “Happy Birthday Baby.” (Aaaawww so sweet.) I knew that today’s events were going to be no where near as extravagant as they have been in the past, we’re on a budget, but I still expected to have fun. I opened my cards and they were nice, very thoughtful. He also gave me a couple of DS games, one of which I already have so I’d have to return. I didn’t really expect gifts, so it was a pleasant surprise. Now, before I describe the rest of the days events, I’d like to give a little background info. I love my birthday. It’s a day I don’t have to share with anyone; it’s all about me. I want November 6 to be unlike any other day that year. I just want that day to be special. Since, I wasn’t sure that my boyfriend would be able to plan something on a budget (it’s not his normal thing), I asked him to let me know if he couldn’t come up with anything because “I don’t want to do dinner and a movie for my birthday.” Those were my exact words. Well, guess what we did… lunch and a movie. It wasn’t even a movie that I wanted to see. The movie was actually ok, but I’ve been begging to see another movie that he keeps avoiding. The least he could have done was taken me to see that. After the movie, I tried to liven up the evening by calling a couple friends to hang out with us downtown. I like them and enjoy hanging out with them, but it just didn’t feel like a special day.
And there you have it, that’s how my f@&*ing birthday sucked a$$.
Blah November 8, 2009
BIRTHDAY-VERSARY November 3, 2009
WOOOOO HOOOOO!!!!!! Well, it’s that wonderful time of year again. I am so excited. In case you’re unfamiliar with this awesome week of celebration I call “birthday-versary”, it’s the week surrounding November 6th, my birthday, and November 11th, Damian’s and my anniversary. It’s usually a week of gifts, excitement, surprises, fun, trips, and more gifts. This year, however, I’m afraid we’re going to have to tone it down. The economy has been rough on us too this year. Nevertheless, I’m expecting it to be fun and exciting, just without so many gifts and trips. As usual, I don’t know what Damian has planned. Last year, he surprised me by sending a girl in a chicken (cock, as Damian likes to say) costume to the office to wish me a Happy Birthday. It was pretty funny. Because my coworkers seemed to like it too, I think it turned out to be a gift for everyone . He also surprised me with a trip to the Bahamas. It was wonderful, so relaxing. I must say that my boyfriend is the best ever. He treats me like a queen. He’s definitely a keeper. At first, I thought the special treatment would only last during the courting period, but here we are 4 years later and he’s still great.
This year though, there’s one more thing that we’ll hopefully be celebrating. Y Combinator does seed funding for startups. They get you to the point where you’ve built something impressive enough to raise money on a larger scale. Then, (the best part), they introduce you (OH SO IMPORTANT!!) to LATER STAGE investors. “Cha-ching.” That’s when you get the millions of dollars to run your company. Given that Ycombinator has done this for over 180 companies, I know that they could help me as well. So, I applied and on November 5th, I’ll know whether I made the first cut of companies. Making the first cut affords you the opportunity to travel to the Bay area to meet with them. Then, if you make that cut, you’re in and the program begins in January. I think I have a great idea and I’ve built a prototype, therefore, I’m very optimistic.
I WILL be celebrating 3 things this year, birthday, anniversary, and making the first Ycombinator cut.
“What’s going on?”, you ask October 27, 2009
So, the last time I wrote a post, I was excited about shirking my “adult” responsibilities and contemplating the idea of going back to Aruba. Three months later, thankfully, I still have no responsibilities but, unfortunately, I haven’t been back to Aruba. A lot has happened in the past three months. I hope I can fit all the juicy details into one post. We’ll see.
In August, I bought an annual pass to the Disney water parks. I was kind of surprised the price was so low, only 100 bucks. If you don’t already know, everything is expensive at Disney, so this was nice. My first trip was with my Aunt, Uncle, and 2 little cousins. I love anything that involves water, so I had a great time (minus one thing). My Uncle is not my favorite person on the planet. In fact, I’ll just be honest; I don’t like him at all and most times I try to avoid being around him at all costs. But I love my Aunt and little cousins, so I sacrificed a little to spend time with them because I don’t get to see them as often as I’d like. My second trip was with my bf and a family friend, Grant. To give you a little background, my Mom loves kids and since she was only able to have one, she takes in other kids when they need help. Grant is one of those kids. He lived in my hometown, St. Augustine, with his mother until she decided to move to Philadelphia to further her career. However, she didn’t want to uproot him from the school he was attending because he’s autistic. My mom volunteered to allow him to live with us until school ended. A few months turned into almost two years, so now he’s like family. Now, he’s thirteen and hitting the age where he likes girls. Unfortunately, I’m one of those girls, so this trip was uncomfortable. I think it’s hard to explain these sort of things to children in general, so explaining it to an autistic child wasn’t a piece of cake. I’m really glad I’ve decided not to have any. I didn’t like explaining why his feelings were inappropriate; I can’t imagine having to explain something worse like sex to my own kids. Yet, another responsibility averted. Score: Me – 2 Adult Responsibilities – 0 GO ME!!!
There is one responsibility, however, that I’ve recently acquired, of which I’m rather proud. One year before I graduated from college, my parents bought me a Honda Accord Coupe. It’s black with black leather interior and a 6-speed manual transmission. I love it. I also love that it’s completely paid for. It’s awesome. My parents made the payments for the first two years and I made the payments thereafter. I made the last one in March of last year. But, I never got around to transferring the title. When I decided against buying the house, I still wanted to own something, so I transferred the title and ta-da, I’m a car owner.
I’m still working on my “secret” project. However, it’s not so “secret” anymore. I entered a contest to win a ticket for Demo Fall and I won. Demo is an event where companies pitch their ideas to an audience of investors and potential customers. It’s a great promotional and networking platform. I attended as the founder of Gibzi, a retail transaction platform that allows you to make in-store purchases with your cell phone (i.e. secret project). I made a lot of contacts and even spoke with an angel investor who seemed interested in my idea. One session I really enjoyed was the serial entrepreneur panel discussion. Basically, about 10 people talked about how they built and made successful not one but multiple companies. It was informative and inspiring. Overall, it was a wonderful opportunity and a great trip. I hope to attend the next event in the Spring.
That was in September. This month, I attended my 10 year class reunion. I can’t believe it’s already been 10 years since I graduated from high school. It was great to see all my old friends and pictures of their kids who seemed to look just like them. They were so cute. It was also really cool to see how many high school sweethearts actually stayed together. My favorite part though, was seeing all the people who disliked me in high school. First, let me preface the following by saying, I was and still am completely open to the idea of letting bygones be bygones. However, I knew that they wouldn’t be open to such things. Blunt background info: I was liked by all the boys and all the white girls. All the black girls disliked me except for 4. And no, I did not bring this on myself. It was more so just the fact that I was cute with long hair, had enough self esteem not to f*%$ every man in sight, and their boyfriends liked me. So, to prepare for the reunion, I dieted, worked out, and bought a new dress, ( a little black number, as they say). I looked awesome. The “haters” as I call them were all fat and looked as though this was our 20 year class reunion instead of 10. The haters even tried to heckle me from a corner by shouting things like, “Don’t take her phone number” and “Don’t talk to her.” What they fail to realize is that, I no longer care what they think. I actually like the attention they give me and the jealousy they exude. I know it’s sad to say but that is what I was looking forward to most. Well done haters. Thank you for a wonderful evening.
That’s it. You’re caught up. I’d like to say that this hiatus will be the last, but I won’t lie to you. I’ll just leave you with, “I’m trying.”
Laid Off… But No, Wait July 21, 2009
I should have waited until this week to give you an update on my life. So much has happened since my last post. On Thursday, I got laid off. At first, I was so excited. I know it’s not the typical response, but I was. As you know, I’ve been working on a “secret” project and I thought, “this is it; this is my chance to start my business.” I can take this time to launch a start-up. I have two ideas; one that will need funding to start and the other that will just need my awesome dev skills. My bf and I decided that I would take the next month to look for funding for the first idea, while developing the second idea on the side. That way, if I hadn’t found funding by the end of the first month, I would be able to launch the second idea and hopefully start generating some income there. Thursday would be the beginning of something exciting, something new. It was going to be what I was missing in my life. I was going to have it all. I was already day dreaming about how wonderful my life would be. I would wake up, whenever, workout, then go to the office (right across from the kitchen at home) and start work, in my pajamas mind you. Then, work until I got sleepy and start again the next day. And this would not be any ordinary work. This would not be work someone else asked me to do. This would not even be development using someone else’s architecture design. THIS WAS GOING TO BE MINE AND I WAS GOING TO MAKE THE DECISIONS!!!!!!!
There was, however, one down side of the whole thing; I would no longer be able to buy the new house. All the months I spent finding a contractor, picking out carpet, tile, cabinets, etc. would be down the drain. The years I spent finding the perfect house to buy, all wasted. And OH THE WAITING. I don’t like waiting in line at the grocery store much less waiting for months for other people to make decisions. But wait, there’s a silver lining. Secretly, I had already started to feel torn about the decision to buy a house. I tried to brush it off because I’m supposed to be “growing up, making the hard decisions, and living life more responsibly instead of so carefree.” But every time I thought about that 30 year mortgage it made me feel nauseous. 30 years is a LONG TIME. Plus I’d have to live there for at least 3 years to avoid repayment of the tax break. So was this really a down side? Nah, there will be other houses to buy and I’ll be able to back out of buying the house and no one will fault me for it.
Well, by now, I’m sure you’ve noticed that all of this talk has been in the past tense. So, I’ll tell you what happened. On Friday, my boss called and asked, if my job became available, would I want it back. Right now, I’m sure you’re saying… “OMG” or “WTF.” I know, I said the same thing. I really hadn’t given that idea ANY thought at all. I didn’t think it was an option. I began to think about all the people without jobs, and how could I just turn away a job? That’s just dumb right? So, I said yes and today, Tuesday, I’m back at work. I’m still working on my project, still hanging out with friends at work, still getting paid, AND I have my carefree life back because I’m still not buying the new place.
WIN WIN!!!! Aruba anyone?
General Life Update July 15, 2009
I haven’t written a post in a while. So, I’m going to just write an overview about what I’ve been up to. My life has been pretty boring since my vacation to Aruba. It consists of training, working, sleeping, and eating pretty much.
My training has been pretty lax, probably because I haven’t actually signed up for an event. I haven’t raced in over a year (Horrible, I know). But, I can’t seem to bring myself to sign up, to commit. I’m nervous and I’m not quite sure why because it’s not as though I’ve never done this before. Plus, I continue to train at the same level. I don’t seem to be improving. Last year, I was in a triathlete club. Then, I started a new job that required me to have set hours, 7am – 6pm. So, I quit the club because we trained from 5am – 7am. I’ve tried to keep up the training on my own, but the training (as I’ve recently determined) was NOT sufficient. Two weeks ago, I decided to cycle with the club on the weekend. We road from UCF past Fort Christmas. On the way out, I was fine. I never even got dropped. On the way back, however, I felt as though I was going to die. Most of the people in the group turned back to do another loop. Seeing that I already felt like crap, I continued on the path back to the start. Total, I rode for about 3 1/2 hours and OH MAN was I sore after. I haven’t worked out with them since. The problem is, I’d like to have at least one person with whom to train. My bf is not at all interested nor are any of my friends. I love the sport and will continue despite the fact that no one else wants to participate but it would be nice. 
Anyway, so I got a trainer. He’s going to help me kick it up a notch.
Work is definitely the same. I don’t think I can even come up with much to say about it. I’m bored. Nuf’ said.
Sleeping. Aaaaaa sleep. It’s my favorite time, but I don’t get much of it. I’m up at 4:30am and training by 5am. I don’t get home from work until 7:30pm. Then I work on my project (top secret, I’ll let you know when I launch) for a bit and have dinner. I should really be in bed by 8:30pm to get a full 8 hours of sleep, but I’m lucky if I ‘m asleep by 10:00pm. I’ve tried taking naps in my car, but it is SOOO HOTTT outside!!! And I live too far to go home for a nap. I’m not complaining because I made this schedule, but man it would be nice if there were more hours in the day.
I love to eat. I’m pretty sure that my eating habits contribute negatively to my training, but I like foods that taste good and can be prepared quickly. So, if anyone has any ideas on how to “have my cake and eat it too,” let me know.
That’s it. That’s all you’ve missed. Lame, isn’t it? Things have gotta change.
Aruba June 5, 2009
I just got back from 7 wonderful days in Aruba. It was absolutely A_MAZING!!! I’ve been to other Caribbean islands but none of them were like this. This island had just the right amount of sun and wind to make the weather perfect. The water temperature was just right. I would play volleyball on the beach, work up a sweat, jump in the water to cool down , and start all over. There were even days that I didn’t do anything. I just lied underneath a palm tree, listened to the water and the palms rustling in the breeze, and napped the day away. It was so relaxing. And to think, I wanted to go to Bora Bora. My boyfriend made the decision to go to Aruba.
The Soul Beach Music Festival happened to be going on when we arrived. We were able to get tickets to the Jamie Foxx Concert that night. I’m not his biggest fan but it was something to do. And actually, I really enjoyed it. He’s an ok entertainer but the part I really liked was that it was on the beach. The next night was a concert by Common and Robin Thicke. Again, not a big fan, but Common was really good. He rapped a lot of the oldies like Bonita Applebum. I like that song. Oh and Biz Markie was there too. Robin Thicke was eh. The thing I remember most about his performance is that he just could not stop sweating. It was gross. His shirt was soaked.
We stayed at an all-inclusive resort called the Riu Palace. It was really nice. They have a great pool with a swim-up bar and drink service for the rest of the pool area. Their fitness center sucked so I had an excuse to workout less. I did run on the beach, however. Running is one of my least favorite aerobic activities but somehow the beach makes it better. Our room was on the top floor in the center of the hotel so we had a great view. My boyfriend’s birthday was on the 25th; they left a bottle of champagne and two glasses with a happy birthday note in our room. I wasn’t impressed with the food. There were 5 restaurants on the grounds, 2 buffets, a Japanese restaurant, an Italian restaurant, and a gourmet restaurant. The buffets sucked. I hate buffets so I guess you could take that opinion with a grain of salt. The food was dry from sitting under the heat lamps and I’m pretty sure the items on the buffets were left overs from the restaurants the night before. The Japanese restaurant was ok. They didn’t have a sushi menu. They just gave an assortment as appetizers. The Italian restaurant was just ok as well. The gourmet restaurant was good. I had the lamb, one of my favorite things so I may be biased. Overall, I liked the Riu. I’d stay there again.
We did normal couple things like dinner on the beach and spa treatment. We also rented a jet-ski and went tubing. The most exciting thing I did was learning to kiteboard. It was awesome. I flew out of the water a couple of times because the kite but it was exciting nevertheless. I’m going to post some pics from my trip on flickr. Check it out.
Finding A GC April 17, 2009
I mentioned earlier how the property needs a “little” work. In most people’s eyes, the place doesn’t actually need any work. But, I want the place to look much more modern. It was built in the 80s. Basically, I want to keep the floor plan and gut everything else. I’d like to remove ALL the flooring, start over in the kitchen and all the bathrooms, and paint. Oh, and I want to knock out a wall to add a wall to wall folding glass door. (It’s going to look awesome when it’s all done. I’m so excited.)
I want all this work done prior to move-in. So, I’ve decided to go with a 203k loan in order to roll the cost for this into my mortgage. Sounds great right? The catch is I have to find someone to give me estimates for work on a property I don’t even own yet. Well again, one would say, in this market contractors must be begging for any job. Alas, this is not the case. I did a walk through with a contractor 2 months ago and still have yet to receive his estimate. Needless to say, I won’t be using him even if he does finally give me an estimate. Last week, I finally got an estimate from another contractor, after a month mind you, and it’s extremely high. TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS for the demolition alone. Are you kidding me? Give me a sledge hammer, I can do it.
My plan was to continue looking for GCs but now that the contract has been approved the countdown til closing starts. Not only must I have the mortgage financing together by the closing date, but the GC has forms to complete to get approval from the lender by the closing date as well. And I’ve already seen how lackadaisical banks can be. So, I won’t have time to wait for another GC to give me an estimate.
What should I do? Why are these things so expensive? Are these prices normal? Is there a manual somewhere with the basic cost for things? (I know the answer to this one… but there should be.) How am I supposed to know whether I’m getting screwed?
AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!
The Waiting Is OVER April 17, 2009
Isn’t it ironic? Wednesday, I complained about the waiting. Yesterday, my realtor told me I got the second bank’s approval. WOOO HOOOO!!!!!! I’m officially (kind of) a home owner. I’ve never been so excited to spend so much money. But, strangely, I am. For me, this signifies real adulthood. I now have responsibilities. I actually will own something of value.
One would think that by now, age 27, I’d have lots of responsibilities, like rent or something, but I don’t. I basically live with no thought about what “could” happen if I buy this now or go on this vacation. I SPEND FREELY!! The best part about it is that I never even look back. I buy whatever, whenever with no remorse. I realize this will have to change, but I’m looking forward to it. It’s a time to prove all the naysayers wrong.
Everyone who’s close to me (or has met me briefly for that matter) thinks that I can’t do it. They think that I won’t be able to curb my spending habits. My own parents and boyfriend don’t even think I’ll be able to do it. But every time I think about those naysayers I smile, and say to myself (in a Mexican voice) “YOU CAN DO IT!!!” I know that things are changing, but it’s for the better. Yes, I will have to consider my budget before I buy things, but it doesn’t mean that I can’t ever by anything. I just have to show a little self control. And that, you cynics, is something that I can do.
Plus, look at all the extra/bonus baby that I’ll have if and when I sell the place.
extra or bonus baby definition:
The amount of money I have left after I’ve paid my bills (credit cards, cell phone) and myself (savings) that I am going to definitely spend. Some people would suggest saving this “extra” or “bonus baby”, but not me. I’m going to spend it. (Those naysayers I mentioned earlier, hate my definition of this money.) LOL
Waiting Sucks April 15, 2009
Every part of the home buying process has been long and difficult for me. I’ve been looking for a place on and off for about 2 years now. My realtor should have given up on me, but he didn’t. He’s been awesome. We finally found a place. It’s downtown. It’s a 3 bedroom 3 1/2 bath townhouse with a great floor plan, but it needs a little work. Luckily, I’m getting it for half of what the seller paid for it. It’s a GREAT deal. But with this deal, of course, comes a few drawbacks.
The property is a short sale. It had been on the market for almost a year when I submitted my offer in February. So, I thought of course he wants to sell and he did. The next day I had a signed contract from the seller. But with short sales, the seller’s bank has to approve the offer. So, the waiting began. After a month, the bank finally approved my offer. WOOOHOOOO!!!!! But wait, surprise! The seller has a second mortgage, so there’s a second bank from which I need approval. It’s been 2 months now and still nothing from the second bank.
Waiting for anything sucks. Waiting to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a home sucks even more. Maybe it’s just me and I shouldn’t feel this way but, in this market, shouldn’t banks jump at the chance to get something rather than nothing? If the first bank forecloses on the property, the second bank won’t get anything anyway.
