House woes and Artistic throes...

I feel bad about not posting. Not much going on except work, running and now, the house. What about my house? Well...it's a long story. My cousin had been living with me since late October, and we signed a year-long lease. She had a harder time finding a job than she anticipated, and finally found one with a firm that has her in a territory up to 2 hours away every day. The commute was killing her, so she moved into a house out in one of those random NC counties. Seems good for her, and her company bought out her half of the lease, so her rent is paid here until the lease expires November 1. I thought I had another place lined up, but it fell through and I was having second thoughts anyway - I love having a yard (the new place didn't have one), and I love the old-school charm to this house as well as the awesome location - less than a mile from work. I WANT to stay here, but can't afford it on my own. To top it all off, the landlord REALLY wants to sell the place. I think he anticipated flipping it for a huge profit, then the market just dried up after he had sunk $100k worth of repairs into the place. Beautiful, up-to-date house...but there's a glut of them on the market in Charlotte. I'd buy it myself, but I'm not in a position to do so. So the guy just basically gave the realtor/management company the go-ahead to sell the house at a loss if I don't sign a lease. If I go month-to-month, I risk the rent going up or getting kicked out on my tail at closing if it sells. So I have to look around for another place. It REALLY just stinks. I love this house, and I won't find another fitting my needs so close to work for such a great price. Threw a hail mary pass tonight in desperation, but I don't think I'll be here after November.

Worst part? Well, it's leaving a house that I really like. But the second worst part is that I AM SO SICK OF MOVING. I have moved FIFTEEN TIMES in 13 years. I'm ready to NOT be a nomad for once. Guess it might just take another move.

As Colonel Mustard would say...hauur!

I also started painting again this weekend, which made me realize how much I'll miss having a studio. I've been a bit spoiled with one for the past two years, even if I didn't use it much when I started working corporate again. I'm hoping to use it every day until I move now...just to get my money's worth, I guess. I found this website and it looks interesting. I think I'm going to take the challenge and see what I can get out of it. Won't sell any work, but it'll be interesting to see what comes out. I really like those kinds of assignments, the "variations on a theme" rather than "let's see who can make their painting look exactly like the photograph." Sadly, I'm actually better at making it look like a photograph, so I'm hoping this will expand my repertoire a bit. I've realized that the work I've done where it LEAST looked like a photograph seems to get the most praise...while I don't do it for praise, I think I might heed that kind of direction more in the future.