THE BEGINNING

Years ago someone asked me if I would like to buy a condo?
My answer was NO.  Living in a condo has all the problems of living in and apartment and all the problems of home ownership.

That was YEARS AGO.

Now, after years of living in a small, drafty, moneypit of a house, Jerry and I decided it was time to simplify and move into a CONDO.
The price was right.  The time was right, so mom, Jerry, me, Sonia the Cat and Buster the dog went off to the Hi Rise in the sky.    2000 square feet of space overlooking a park, complete with a pool and both heat and air conditioning covered by the maintenance fees.
One drawback was that the building was about 40 years old and the previous owner, now dining with the fishes, was the original owner and had not brought the condo up to date in all that time.  The ancient stove, sink, fridge and wall paper screamed - GUT ME.

So we did.   And after two months of rehab hell, we had the home of our dreams.  Sort of...

The first inkling I had that something was off, was the phone call from Sarah.  Sarah was the VP of the Condo Board.  But she called to ask how Jerry was doing.  He apparently was ill as he had not taken the condo shuttle to the grocery stores for over a week.   She said " We miss him."

"He is under the weather but should be back on his feet soon."

"Good, we look forward to seeing him,  But I understand that you rehabbed your apartment.  People tell me it looks great.  Can I come up and see it?"

Nonplussed I said, " We are still finishing things up here.  When everything is ready, I will invite you over for tea."

"Oh, I thought I would come up now."

"No, that is not possible.  But rest assured, I will invite you when we are ready."

It turns out Sarah never met my husband.  She got her info from other condo-mates and simply was going to take it upon herself to inspect my home using whatever story she could to get me to say yes.

----------More later