Georgette's Condo

Greg and I are going to our realtor's office this afternoon to draw up an offer for the condo in east Orlando. It's a cool condo -- it's more like a duplex or a townhouse than a condo, really. It's in a quiet community (lots of old people), on a little lake, close to the pool... It only shares one wall with neighbors, and it has a big attic. It has mail delivery to the front door, and trash pickup at the curb.

The one deal-breakingly bad thing about it is the kitchen. The condo was built in 1974, and the kitchen literally hasn't changed a bit since then. It has a gold and white vinyl floor, avacado colored appliances (including a trash compactor), and white/yellow/orange wallpaper. It would be fascinatingly kitschy if it weren't about to be mine.

It's also a galley kitchen, which is a big negative for two people who want to be in the kitchen at the same time. If Greg and I wanted to cook dinner together, it would be a challenge... especially with a cat underfoot. It's also completely closed off from the living room, which I really hate. When I'm in the kitchen doing dishes or cooking, I hate feeling closed off from the rest of the house.

But it's still the best place we've found. It has a great sun room in the front, big windows in the living room, two full baths with lots of counter space, tons of storage, a patio (that's just waiting to be screened in) overlooking the little lake in the back, 2 big bedrooms and a big living room. It has a little dining area that is mirrored, which sounds kind of bad, but it is opposite big windows so it's actually pretty nice. It has ceiling fans and an alarm system, and quiet neighbors.

It's a very small complex too, only 44 units. It'll be a great place to go for walks in the evening after work. Plus it's not at the top of our price range, so we can still afford to replace all the carpets with hardwood or ceramic tile, buy new living room furniture, and get the back patio screened in.

It's owned by a little old lady named Georgette, she's 84 -- the same age as my mom. She keeps the hot water heater turned off at the switch, and never turns on the A/C. She wears a plastic necklace with an alert button on it. She's never had a job, she used to fly planes, she loves sunflowers, and speaks several languages. She's originally from Peru. Her daughter lives in Spain. She doesn't have any pets, but she has a stuffed motion-sensor cat that makes a meow noise whenever anyone walks by, and she talks back to it.

She's very sweet -- she's selling her condo and moving to an assisted living home in downtown Orlando. Maybe we'll have her over for dinner one day.