Say hello to my little friend...

We met on my way to work on Friday morning.

When you move downtown, you pay extra. They call it ambiance. LOVE IT!

Vibram Five Fingers

For Christmas, my parents gave me a pair of Vibram Five Fingers. For those uninitiated into the wonder of Vibrams, they are like gloves for the feet. It feels like you are running barefoot, but you are protected from the heat of cement and the sharpest of rocks.

I was really excited about them. The first time I ran in them, I ran 3 miles. Well, you can't heel strike in Vibrams. And since I am usually a heel striker, this means that to run in Vibrams, I have to change my whole stride. Needless to say, I couldn't walk the next day. I was in the process of acclimating when the Vibrams fell victim to fire.

I have finally replaced them and took my first run yesterday. They are so fun to run in, that you really can't help yourself. I knew to take it easy. But your feet are stretching out and you just want to take little leaps, it is so fun. So guess who ran too far in her Vibrams yesterday, so that she can't put her heels down now?

It was worth it though and I'll do it again.

Keeping Score

As evident in my last post, I was mad with a capital M when we got the letter from Nationwide. And then I got even more mad when Paul called our agent yesterday and the agent didn't return the call. I mean, Paul called at 8:30 am. The receptionist said that our agent (who I should mention, I have known since I was about 14) would be in within the house. Either he came in and didn't bother to call back or he just didn't come in. Either way, it is a good thing that we weren't holding our breath for his call back. My anger rose a notch or two over this.

And then I realized...Nationwide didn't stick it to us. We stuck it to Nationwide. We have owned our house for less than five years. I don't know exactly what we pay in homeowners insurance, but let's just assume it is $2000/year. That means that as of the date of the fire, we had paid approximately $9000 in homeowners insurance on the house. As of today, Nationwide has written checks for $170,000. Not a bad return on our investment, huh?

Don't get me wrong, Nationwide shouldn't have sent me the letter. And they certainly shouldn't have put it on letterhead that said "Nationwide on your side", but now that I know all the rules to our game, I know that we can play a little rough. And as it stands, the score is Nationwide 9000, Katy and Paul 170,000.

MA241

When I was a first semester freshman at NC State, I took MA241. It was the second in the three class series of engineering calculus. Well, my professor was horrible. Literally, he explained that derivatives were like babies and integrals were like mamas. That was his total explanation. Needless to say, when we started doing problems with sin waves and manipulating them, I struggled. I would always study with my friend Henry. Our tests were on Fridays, so on Thursday nights, we would study. We always joked that the professor just told us to "assume the position".

Well, after a fire, you start feeling like everybody has told you to "assume the position."

The day started when our contractor told us that, oops, the kitchen cabinets were going to cost 115% more than he thought originally and the countertops were going to be about 75% more. No explanation, he just emails about it. I was irate. I got to work later than usual because I was drafting an email manifesto on the subject. I am livid.

So then we got a notice that our insurance is not being renewed. Now, I don't really care about the fact that Nationwide is ditching us. But the principle behind this is really bugging me. We have a lot of insurance--we have for years. Literally the only claim we have ever made is for the fire. Seriously, you make one claim for a couple hundred thousand dollars and they show absolutely no loyalty. Want to bet that I can buy some loyalty from Liberty Mutual or State Farm? What company has that commercial about doing good things? Maybe I'll pick them. Certainly not the company with that little lizard. He creeps me out a little bit.

I just need some business ethics right now.

Aunt

I'm going to be an aunt. Couldn't be more pleased. I've known for a bit and Melissa is officially out of the closet: http://livinwiththelehmans.blogspot.com/

I think that Kathryn Stewart would be a wonderful name.

Surreal

Do you ever look around your life and think, this can't possibly be my life? Not in a bad way, just in a surreal way. In my mind, I am probably about 21 years old. It is amazing to me that I am a lawyer. And not a baby lawyer any more. When I first started, mid career lawyers used to ever-so-gently remind me of my baby lawyer status by asking "well how long have you been practicing?" That doesn't happen anymore. They still go behind my back to senior partners when they don't like the answers I give. But I remember. And I am patient. And one day, when they really need a favor, I am going to remind them that pay back is hell. Petty, maybe. But sending a catty little email would be more petty.

Same thing with the condo. How did I come to be living in a downtown condo? And how is it that we have been in the condo for nearly three months? Hard to believe.

The fire was three months ago today. So, three months ago at this exact moment, we were blissfully unaware that our lives were about to get run over by a mack truck. That night, while Paul and I lay in our twin beds at the Marriott (our home for three nights), we talked about looking back on this experience and knowing that we made the most of it -- that we made lemonade out of lemons. So, surreal or not, we are on our way!

Evolution

I love to read. LOVE LOVE LOVE to read. This fits in nicely with my job as I spend about 90% of my time either reading or writing. I love to read frivolous beach reads (think Nicholas Sparks) and murder mysteries (think Phillip Margolin). But I also like to read non-fiction (for the non-bibliophiles, this means true). When I was younger, I largely devoted my time to WW2 books. I know more about the concentration camps than I should. And then I went through a phase of interest in polygamists (who in their right mind wants to be married to more than one person)? And now I find that the books on my shelf are even more varied.

I don't have any of the books from before the fire--they are somewhere in Cary in storage. But I am looking at books on faith, the financial crisis, food, politics, WW2 and biography. I love Amazon and even more, I love seeing the box arrive with the books so neatly packed inside. Sometimes I read the new book that night. Sometimes I wait for weeks or even months.

It appears that my taste in literature is not the only thing that is changing. When we bought our house five years ago, it was modernized classic. A made of style to be sure, but I'm going to imagine that you know what I mean. We had the cabinets finished in a nice distressed white. We painted the kitchen green, the dining room red, the living room cream, a guest room brown, and so on. Well, now that we have a fresh canvas, we are going transitional/contemporary. We have yanked out walls, we are painting muted shades of gray and we are looking forward to a whole new feel to the house. I hope that we NEVER have another fire, but I could get used to starting with a fresh canvas every five years -- just like starting a new book when the old one gets stale.

Beach

We're at the beach with the family for Easter. Small problem...Paul and I don't really have any summer clothes. Had to scrounge around for a swim suit and I don't have a pair of shorts to my name. So far, this has not been a huge problem. Perhaps I didn't really need all that stuff to begin with (not that it will stop me in the future, but this is something to think about).

Appliances

We are going to replace our appliances. The appliances that we had were not damaged in the fire. We are making this decision for aesthetic purposes. I have never bought an appliance before--unless you count a dorm size refrigerator. I have learned two things during the process. One, appliances are expensive. Two, if you want something special, the appliance will be even more expensive. For example, we want a counter depth refrigerator. This means that the refrigerator will be more shallow. Nonetheless, counter depth refrigerators cost MORE. Smaller, but costs more. Genius marketing; a total rip for consumers.

Throughout life, there have been several instances where I have felt like I was getting ripped off. Exhibit 1 -- wedding. If you are buying anything for a wedding, it suddenly costs more. Birthday cake = $100. Same cake for a wedding = $225. It seems that we have arrived at another, similarly expensive juncture.