Our Condo

I love our condo. It is in a nice area, we have a balcony where we can grill out and it is in a very central location. The only catch is the people who live in our building. Somehow, when Mike was shopping for housing in St. Louis, the realtor regretted to inform him that the majority of people that lived in the condo are older widows who have very little to do with their time. Oops.

Let me introduce you to Cookie. She is a widowed grandma, who I have to equate to the nosey neighbor across the street. She actually really reminds me of the mom on "Everybody Loves Raymond." When I was in Mississippi I thought Mike was exaggerating when he talked about how much Cookie (or the Cookie Monster, as she has been dubbed) seemed to know about his life. When I moved up here, everything was verified. Mike orders a lot of books about Criminology that are delivered through UPS. Packages that people receive are left in the mail area for everyone to see. Cookie stopped me in the hall one day and said, "My! I noticed that Mike sure is getting a lot of packages. What is he ordering?" I think she thinks we are drug dealers.

Cookie also likes to inquire about my job situation, or lack thereof. Since the answer is always the same, I have started avoiding her when I see her. I run to the stairs rather than taking the elevator, or wait until I know she is gone before I leave our condo. (That's kind of pathetic now that I write it out.) Anyway, last week I posted a flyer advertising my babysitting services on the community bulletin board. Don't worry, today I saw Cookie. She trapped me while I was getting the mail. (Thank goodness no packages for Mike today.) "So you're babysitting now? Why in the world are you doing that?" Ugh. She makes me feel so positive about my life.

Finally, Cookie has a posse. She and several other women in the building get together for dinner more often than not. Before I moved up here, Mike was invited to join the dinner parties! In fact, one lady continuously left notes on our door inviting him to dinner - just the two of them! Mike made up excuses to avoid dinner until I was physically here. One evening, after another offer had been extended, we walked down the hall for a glass of wine. No one knew I was here and I'm not sure they realized he had a girlfriend. Those cougars!

We sat down and all three ladies began asking Mike questions about his coursework. You would have thought he had discovered electricity by the way they were oohing and aahing over him. I would try to throw some comments in, or maybe a story, but I was ignored EVERY TIME! I was annoyed - I am usually a big hit at parties! Eventually, I just sat there with my arms crossed. We have not been invited back.

The only younger person I have seen in the building is a guy who seems to be about Mike's age. The only problem is that everytime I see him in the elevator, I am doing something odd. I was caught wearing pajamas with boots slipped on over the flannel bottoms so I could help Mike unload the car, and was also sighted wearing those pedicure flip flops they give you when it was about 20 degrees outside. (I was carring my shoes and socks). I am pretty sure he doesn't want to be friends with us.

So for the time being, we will stay in our little condo in the corner. It has definitely been an experience so far!