Category Archives: Everyday Life

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Strike While the Iron is Hot

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Okay,  today I have reached my limit.  I had a mommy tantrum the size of China.  I’m seriously considering going on strike.  I mean it.  I’m at my wit’s end!  This tantrum has been building for a while.

What was the last straw?  The L word: laundry.  I know I’ve written about this before.  Maybe I should make my kids do their own laundry, but we have a family of 5 and I could see the “do your own” eventually ending with someone getting either stuffed in the dryer or getting smacked upside the head with the iron.  Why?  Because ultimately the girls will each be down to their last pair of undies (they are clearly professional procrastinators) and favorite jeans and then the race to the washer for the dual of the century (which would occur about once a week – hopefully).  This would not be helpful in reaching our goal of family unity and harmony and world peace.

So back to the part where I do the laundry – I fold everyone’s clothes, put them into neat piles outside their bedroom doors.  I do not put clothes away (except my own) – that’s my line in the sand.  Okay, so I do a load of laundry every day, thus there are clean clothes for the kids every day – little stacks that would take about 5 seconds to put away.  Instead, this is what happens outside the doors of my daughter’s rooms:

“I don’t have time to put my perfectly folded clothes away!”  “I’ll do it tonight (2 days later, see pic above).”  “I have too much homework!”  “I’m tired.” “I had to work tonight.”

I’m getting angrier and angrier as I’m fixing dinner.  Guess what I made for dinner?  Curry shrimp and rice with broccoli.  Yep, shrimp.  I’m standing in the kitchen removing the shells and the shit from 2 pounds of shrimp for my ungrateful, spoiled girls!  I should have just left it in there – I don’t think anyone has died or contracted a deadly disease from a little cooked shrimp poop, have they?

Arrrrggghhhhhh!  Do they think I do all of this stuff for shits and grins?  That’s when I started fantasizing about going on strike.  Do you know how quickly this place would lapse into total chaos without my daily attention?! I started thinking about all of the little stuff I do that no one notices (I’m sure many of you can relate) – fill the soap dispensers, the toilet paper holders, keep the house tidy, keep the house stocked with food and their favorite snacks, make doctor appointments, manage their schedules, pay the bills, etc.  You get the idea. Hmmmm….. What would happen if I went on strike, ran away, or disappeared??

After wallowing in their own filth and dirty underwear, would they start crying and begging me to come back so they could apologize to me?  Would they all magically start respecting what I do, putting their things and laundry away, doing the dishes, taking the dog for a walk all with a smile and a “I love you, mommy!”?? 

I know, I know.  But it’s part of the fantasy.  A girl’s gotta have something.

I have thought about getting each of the girls a laundry basket and just throwing their clean clothes in there unfolded.  They end up like that anyway – then they can fold their wrinkled clothes on their own time.  Hmmmm….   It would save me time.

Okay, tantrum over…until next time 🙂

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Shut your Pine Mouth!

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Okay, many of you maybe like “Yeah, whatever!”   BUT,

since I’ve been inflicted by this insidious “taste disorder” as labeled by the FDA (read prior post, “Doc, I’ve Got What?!” to get up to speed), I’ve been whining and suffering!  I love to cook, but now, I have no desire for food.  However, I must eat to live, correct?

This weekend, I even did my 2-wk menu planning (as I usually do) and went to the grocery store which you all know I hate (if you read my blog).  I REALLY hated it today.  I was starving when I went (because eating makes me sick), and I resented every moment.

Is this my permanent hell?  Okay, that was a bit melodramatic, but I love to cook only to be turned off by food.  That has to be the 10th circle of hell, right?

In doing my research on this infliction, I discovered that there is a Facebook Group for sufferers named “Damn You Pine Nuts” which, of course, I’ve joined.  It was so reassuring to know that there were others like me – even from other countries.  Then I found this link to a blog that belongs to someone doing research on this phenomena – www.pinenutsyndrome.wordpress.com.

I have to say that this has been the freakiest thing that has ever happened to me – EVER. 

What I haven’t figured out is if I will ever be able to eat pine nuts again.  The articles have hinted that it might be an allergic reaction to pine nuts which I mostly discount since I have eaten a shit-load of these nuts up until now.  I am leaning toward the China invasion of pine nuts – they are mixing edible ones with inedible ones.  That has to be the problem, right?

The pine nuts that I purchased from my local grocery store was a 2 oz package of pine nuts with the Fishers label (blue  & white packaging) and distributed by John B. Sanfilippo & Son (Elgin, IL).  It clearly stated on the package that some of the nuts may be from China!  Don’t buy these nuts.  I’m serious!

I know that this is temporary.  I’m hoping my Pine Mouth experience will be very short-lived.  I’m in the 4th day of this and very disgusted.  I can’t imagine my symptoms lasting 4 weeks (which is longest time-frame that I have read about).

All I can say is, “Beware of the pine nuts!”

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“Doc, I’ve Got What?!”

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This all started innocently on a typical Monday evening.  Dinner is on the table and the menu is Salmon baked in sweet vidalia onion dressing, cous cous with pine nuts and dried cranberries, and a salad.  Yum!  Everything was devoured with gusto except the fancy cous cous – it  was enjoyed by only 3 1/2 out of 5 of us (my son, who still thinks I walk on water, suffered through the cous cous because he knew it would make me happy.  Gotta love that kid!). 

Then, by Wednesday morning (yesterday) something weird was going on with my ….. mouth/palate.  I ate my Honey Bunches of Oats as I do most mornings and it tasted really funky (it had a metallic aftertaste).  Maybe it was stale?  I made my mug of coffee (as I do each morning) and began drinking my coffee on the way into the office.  It tasted really bitter – that’s weird!  I must not have put my usual 3 packets of cancer-causing sweetener into my coffee mug.  I suffered through it anyway because I needed my daily infusion of caffeine.

Now, it’s lunch time on Wednesday.  I bring my lunch every day (saving those pennies!) so I brought the leftover salmon and cous cous concoction from Monday night’s dinner.  I started eating it and it tasted burnt/bitter.  I pulled out some of the overdone pine nuts because I thought that was the issue.  It really took all I had to finish my lunch which is unusual for me. 🙂

Dinner time!  It is sandwich night because, well, my day did not go as planned (we were going to have baked chicken thighs with roasted cauliflower), but as you will see below that plan was not executed. 

My afternoon:

3pm – Home in time to greet son just off of the bus.  He practices piano while I race around the house changing into my workout clothes, packing my husband’s workout bag (so he can meet me at the gym), and packing my daughter’s piano bag.  I also spent about 15 minutes looking for my hubby’s iPod to no avail.

3:45pm – Run out of the house with my son and all of the various packed bags.  I head to the middle school to pick up my daughter for her piano lesson (both my son and daughter have piano lessons on Wednesdays).  Pick up daughter at 3:55pm and race to lessons which begin at 4:00pm.

4:00pm – Maddie goes first.  I hang around until 4:30pm then rush her home (Jack is now in his lesson) so she will be ready for her 5pm carpool to soccer practice. Then I run back over to piano lessons for Jack pick-up.

5:00pm – Take Jack over to my in-laws where my husband is visiting with his parents.  He has decided not to workout with me (he was confused by my invite to exercise together).

6:20pm – I get home from workout and am way too tired to make chicken and cauliflower, thus sandwiches.

For dinner, I make myself a nice roast beef sandwich dressed with mayo, avocado, cheese & tomato.  I also have some strawberries and few chips.  Yummy!  I take a bite out of my sandwich and……YUCK!  It tastes like CRAP!  Strawberries – disgusting!  Chips – downright vomit-inducing! What the hell is going on?!

Now, I’m thinking I’ve got some deadly disease since everything I’m eating tastes like bitter metal (not that I eat a lot of bitter metal, but if I did, this is what it would taste like).  I go to WedMD and guess what I have???

PINE MOUTH

(hubby was calling it nut breath – I don’t think so!)

I’m not kidding – watch the video.  This guy could be me!!  My symptoms started exactly two days after eating those damn pine nuts!   WebMD Pine Mouth Video Link. 

Also, read this article from ABC News – ‘Pine Mouth’: How Pine Nuts Can Ruin Tastebuds for Weeks.

No one else in my family is suffering from it – thank goodness.  I can’t imagine listening to my kids whine about their bitter food (now, they all have to listen to me!).  According to the article, this is temporary but can last 1 to 4 weeks!  Oh brother.  For the next four weeks, my food will taste like sh*t!  Maybe I’ll be one of those lucky ducks that only has these symptoms for a week. 

It’s now Thursday and it has gotten worse – I wish I could explain how horrible my Honey Nut Cheerios, my coffee and my sandwich tasted today.  I am now forcing myself to eat which is really a new concept for me.  I’m really not looking forward to dinner which is going to be the baked chicken thighs and roasted cauliflower.  I love this dinner – it’s usually tasty (and very quick & easy), but now I know it’s going to taste really, really nasty.

My sister thinks this might be the newest diet miracle and it’s all wrapped up in a tiny inedible version of the pine nut from China (read the article)!

This new development means no more pesto, roasted pine nuts on salads, etc. 

However, it could be way worse, right?  At least I still have my health!

Unknown's avatar

What’s Everyone Been Up To?

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It has been well over a month since I posted something.  Why?  I’ve been thinking about that and it’s come down to a few things:

(1) Work has gotten busier (this is busy season in my industry) and the thought of sitting at the computer at night after sitting at the computer all day gave me the willies.

(2) There has been so much going on in the news and in my small world that it was too much and I just couldn’t keep up – my brain got clogged with so many thoughts and blog ideas that it literally crashed.  Just like a computer – the blue screen of death.  I need to start carrying a Journal so I can keep up with my thoughts.

(3) I’ve taken up a new hobby that has completely worn me out to the point that I am falling asleep on the couch at around 9:00pm (and sometimes earlier – getting old sucks).  What is this hobby?  Exercising!

Let’s address these obstacles one at a time:

Item #1 – This won’t go away until January 1, 2011 arrives, so I will just have to deal.

Item #2 – Below are just a few stories and items that have caught my attention over the last couple of weeks:

Toys – Since I still have an elementary kid in my house, we watch a lot of Nickelodeon and, thus, are subjected to a series of ridiculous toy ads (and they are really ramping up due to the upcoming holiday season).  These two toys really caught me off guard.  They seem REALLY silly to me and had me wondering “What the Heck?”  What do you think?  Am I just getting old?

Matchbox “Stinky the Garbage Truck”

Barbie Video Girl

News Items –

Did you hear about the woman driving around Los Angeles with a mummified body in the passenger seat?  Click Here for the Los Angeles Time Story.

The political ads are driving me crazy.  I was in Massachusetts visiting my sister and in one of their political ads the opposing candidate was referred to as “kooky” – it cracked me up!  Also, what about the Christine O’Donnell thing (kooky?)?

Then, there is the lethal injection drug controversy in Arizona – click Here.  Apparently there is a shortage of FDA-approved lethal injection drugs, so Arizona had to purchase a supply from an overseas company (huh? I didn’t realize that we were executing so many people in the US that we have generated a shortage).  The concern is over the safety and quality of the lethal injection drug purchased overseas (again, huh?).  Well, I suppose that if you are going to put someone to death, you want to do it right the first time.

Item #3 – Exercise.  If you have been reading my blog, you will know that I have started running.  I had a rocky start, but I’m back at it.  Since it’s starting to get colder (and windy) out, I have been running inside – this has been great!  The track is cushy and there are no weather elements to deal with.  This has allowed me to get up to a 30 minute stretch, running 3 minutes and walking 2 minutes.  That is progress for me!  Hopefully, next week I will be doing the 4 min/1 min combo.  I have also been swimming two mornings a week – I’m helping a friend of mine train for a sprint triathlon.  We are up to 1000 meters per swim.  This new exercise routine  is definitely contributing to my narcolepsy at night – the swimming days seem to be the worst (it’s hell getting old!).

Well, that’s what I’ve been up to!  I have missed blogging (it can be very cathartic) and will try to do better.

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Dear Neighbor…..

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This article, Dear Neighbor, Read This Note!,  in The New York Times has inspired me.  Maybe you’re wondering how? 

We have a neighbor that has an unusual compulsion – this compulsion involves the daily use of  the beloved leaf blower.  Neighbor has this noise maker out almost every day (Winter, Spring, Summer & Fall).  If I could tack a note to Neighbor’s door, it might sound a little like this:

Dear Neighbor,

We’ve been neighbors for a while now and have developed a healthy respect for your desire for a super squeaky clean yard (& driveway).  I wish we could support your year-round longing for a spotless yard; however, we are very busy with work, family and well, life, so we are unable to maintain our yard to that admirable level of perfection. 

Thus, we are apologizing for being bad neighbors in that we don’t pick up the lovely trinkets blown into our yard by your awesome yard machine.  It has to be frustrating knowing that some of these items end up back in your yard because we can’t get to them immediately and the wind brings them right back to you.  I know that this is the cause of your daily leaf blowing ritual and this really causes us pain. 

Maybe, if you bagged the unwanted items yourself, it could save you enough time every week so that you could pursue another hobby!  Maybe something like, bird watching, painting, golf, etc. We would definitely miss the daily high-pitched, humming and whirring sounds of the leaf blower, but, this is a sacrifice we are willing to make.

If we ever find ourselves swimming in money, you can rest assured that our first priority will be to hire groundskeepers.

Sincerely,

Your Neighbor

I’m sure that these same neighbors could write us a “note” asking us to keep our yard free of debris!  (I do want to point out that our yard always looks fabulous and we get a lot of compliments on it.)  My husband doesn’t usually start raking and bagging leaves until a majority of them are down, otherwise, he would be bagging leaves every weekend from mid-September through the end of November.  Due to this leaf-raking philosophy, some of our Fall leaves do end up in their yard (I’m not sure what’s being blown around in the Winter, Spring & Summer though).  But, what will our kids remember most?  That dad kept a squeaky clean yard or that he was at their soccer and baseball games?

Back to the article, I can relate to some of the issues that the notes addressed in the NYT article because I grew up in an apartment complex (1st thru 12th grade).  You experience things that you don’t experience living in a single-family dwelling in a typical neighborhood.  There is extreme turn-over in your neighbors so it could be a new experience from month to month (good and bad).

I’m sure all of us could write a “note” to a neighbor – people are quirky!

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The Not-So-Secret Life of the Suburban Housewife

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Hey, people!  Yep, it’s me.  It’s been awhile since I’ve been able to post anything on my blog!  School started and “Boom!”, my life is no longer my own.  I’m a slave to no man, but children are another story!!  Whoever said the line that you get to do what you want when you grow up was a LIAR!  My kids somehow think that’s true (as I guess most kids do).  I’m tempted to share the secret of the Big Lie with them, but then I think, “Let them find out on their own!”

 

 

School time is the time my double life emerges:  Insurance Consultant by Day and Taxi Driver by Afternoon/Night. (You can also throw Chef in there somewhere!).  School has started and, thus, Fall Sports and After School Activities. 

I get home from work in time to get my youngest off of the bus, change my clothes, wait for the girls to get home and then I put the Taxi-in-Service sign on the family truckster.  Now, we’re ready to take off – Soccer practice, piano lessons, elementary to retrieve forgotten homework, library, etc.  I literally drive around for 2 hours dropping off and picking up various little people and NEVER leave my city!  It’s no wonder my ass is getting wider – I’m in a recliner all day.  So, in order to prevent me from showing up on the People of Walmart web site,  I’ve decided to take up a new hobby that requires me to actually move – I’m taking up jogging.

I know, I know – why?  Well, a couple of things:  (1) my schedule does not allow me to visit a gym or take a class on a regular basis; (2) doing tapes at home is nice, but it’s not effective when the kids are yelling, “mommy, mommy!” while I’m hopping around, breathing irregularly, and sweating profusely; and (3) I needed to find something that I could pick up do anywhere without fuss or a lot of equipment.  Running seems to fit the bill – we’ll see.  I mean I do have 45-year-old knees.  Maybe they won’t like running :).

Still having my birthday money (because I don’t have time to shop for myself), I did a lot of research and bought myself some really nice running shoes and no-blister socks!!  I also found an 8-week training program – by the end of the 8 weeks, I should be able to run for 30 minutes straight.  This particular web site said not to worry about the miles, but the time.  Sounds good to me! 

Today was Day 2 and so far so good – no pulled muscles, twisted ankles or weird aches.  I consider that a good sign.  If I can maintain progress without serious injury, I should be able to run 30 minutes continuously by the end of the week of October 11th. 

Hopefully, this will be something that I enjoy doing and can keep doing.  If I’m going to continue my not-so-secret double life (I don’t see it ending any time soon), I would like to do it without my booty becoming two axe handles wide (an old saying by my dad).

Wish me luck!

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A Tribute to the State Fair

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One of our MANY family traditions is the annual trek to our State Fair.  We know a lot people who avoid the State Fair,  but our family is weird and we love it!  It’s a fusion of awesome “bad-for-you” food and compelling people-watching.

This is a pictorial of how we ate our way through the State Fair – our motto is “Eat ’til you Puke!”  We usually have a list of must-eats and then add anything else we can fit in.  However, this year, we did not get in two of our mainstays – corn on the cob and lemon shake-ups.  I think this happened because we added too many new things – what were we thinking?

Okay, here we go:

Cheesy Beef on a Stick (2 shared), Sno-Cone (1 for each kid), Kettle Corn ( 1 shared), Gyro (Jen), Jumbo Smoked Turkey Leg (Jack), Stuffed Baked Potato (Rachel), Corn Dog (1 each for Mike & Maddie), Deep Fried Cookie Dough (1 ordered shared), Elephant Ear (1 shared), Chocolate Milkshake (1 for each), Deep Fried Veggies (1 order shared), Cotton Candy (1 bag shared).  All of this was over a span of time from 2:30 pm until 8:00pm.

The Elephant Ear and Stuffed Potato are not actual pictures of our State Fair food – my son almost single-handedly scarfed down the elephant ear and it was gone before I could take the picture (the rest of us had to do defensive eating on the Ear)!  And, the stuffed potato?  I was too busy eating my Gyro and forgot to take the picture!

Now, people-watching at the Fair is awesome and I wish I could have taken pictures of some of the patrons of the Fair.  It just would have been too intrusive and awkward, so you will just have to picture the People of Walmart – VERY similar imagery.  I have to say that my stint at the State Fair has inspired me to get off of my fat ass and do some exercise.  My next self-improvement project is jogging – that is a subject of another post.

We love all of the sights at the Fair – the animal barns, Our Land Pavilion, Horticulture Building, Home and Family Arts Building, etc.

In the Our Land Pavilion, they have the Cockroach Roach Races (see the picture of the “fans” – they are cockroaches, too), Cheese Sculpture, and the Sand/Clay Sculpture.  Our Fair is celebrating the “Year of the Pig”, so everything is themed around the Pig.

In the Horticulture Building, they show all of the award-winning vegetables like the State’s largest pumpkin (see pic below), you can buy honey ice cream, you can sign up to be a member of the Gourd Society (woohoo!), and this year it’s also the site of CANstruction.   CANstruction is a fundraiser for local food banks.  Businesses team up and create sculptures out of canned food cans which are  then donated to a local food bank.  It’s pretty cool.  My husband’s firm participated this year and below is their project (remember the theme is Year of the Pig).

 

In the Home & Family Arts building, they have pies, cakes, cookies, cake decorating, sewing, quilting, painting, etc.  See the painting below?  This is the painting of a classmate of mine from my oil painting classes – this is her second painting EVER and she won 2nd place.  Please see the painting next to it – its MY second painting ever.  Maybe I need to take up another hobby!

 

 

 As we do every year, we enjoyed our day at the State Fair 2010!  A lot of giggling, eating, oohing, aahing, and sore feet!

 

Here are some other various pictures from our trip to the State Fair.  Enjoy!

 

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Engledows Unplugged?

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pic c/o http://www.actoutmystery.com

Someone sent me this joke via email the other day and it struck a chord with me:

 Last night, my kids and I were sitting in the living room and I said to them, “I never want to live in a vegetative state, dependent on some machine and fluids from a bottle.  If that ever happens, just pull the plug.”  

They got up, unplugged  my laptop and threw out my wine.    

They are SO on my shit list…..  

Okay, here I am at my computer, but I’m drinking diet cherry coke tonight!  And, they haven’t unplugged me 🙂  

Recently, I’ve seen more and more tweets and blogs about people unplugging a bit, especially from Facebook.  I can understand that.  Since I have FB, Twitter and both home and work email on my iPhone, it does make it way too easy to check and see what people are up to.  I am very connected and maybe overly so.  My dad even told my middle one that he thinks I’m on my cell phone all of the time!  

This post got me thinking about technology – Reflections on Happiness.  The author of this post was talking about limiting TV Time and Computer Time in her life.  I’ve been mulling it over since I’ve read the post.  It’s definitely not a bad idea.  She also briefly touched on some of the cons of Facebook.  How many “friends” do you really want to (or can you) keep up with?  It’s weird, I’m connected with more people than ever, yet I don’t really feel personally connected.  Do you know what I mean?   

I wonder about my high schooler.  She has maybe close to 300 hundred “friends” – what about when she goes to college, then her job?  We’re talking exponential growth here!  How can she possibly keep up? What is the definition of a friend?  I think it can vary depending on whether you are a teenager or a middle-aged housewife.  For my daughter,  if she had science class with someone, then he/she is a friend even if this person is not within her circle of influence or in any of her other classes.  Huh?  That seems to be a stretch for me.

Maybe our whole family needs to unplug a bit.  It will be easier once school starts.  No one has time to do anything, but homework, sports and carpooling.

Of course, since I’m the grown-up, I guess I’ll have to start first to, you know, set the good example!  I will try to stay off of my phone unless absolutely necessary, limit my TV time, maybe start exercising again, finish my 3rd painting, and read more books. 

Okay, that’s my plan and I’m not afraid to use it!

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Who’s the Real Slim Shady?

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My husband sent me this video  from YouTube.  Have you seen it?  My husband could have been in this video!

 

It made me laugh out loud at work so I had to share!  I hope you find it as funny as I do.

ENJOY!

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Home, Sweet, Home

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Okay, it’s official!  I am in-hate with my house.  I’ve always been its greatest fan (even more than my husband) and this is the thanks I get?  Another repair bill?

We dealt with the breaker box incident (no power for 8 hrs on one of the hottest days of the summer) and the water softener snafu (all of dishes were covered with a nice film).  But, yesterday I’m cooking for my mom’s 70th birthday dinner and everything was running smoothly.  I had a sink full of sudsy water for the dirty dishes (I’m one of those cooks that cleans as I go).  I’m chopping, stirring, etc. when I noticed my sudsy water was gone.  What the heck?!  I look under the sink and found the missing water.  Lovely.  So, I look under the sink at the drain and tug on it a bit.  Bada boom bada bing!  When the drain fell into my hands, that solved the mystery of how the water in the sink was now under the sink.  Great.  The side with disposal was still functioning so at least I could continue my meal preparation for my parents once I cleaned up the soggy mess.  That did put me behind a bit, but the meal did eventually get on the table!

We bought this house 9 years ago on a whim – it was the biggest impulse buy we’ve ever made.  We weren’t even really looking for a house and then one Sunday night, a friend of mine called and told me that her neighbor across the street was getting ready to put her house on the market the very next morning.  She said it would be perfect for us and we should consider it.

We had just had our third child and we lived in a house that was a bit of a tight squeeze but manageable, but it didn’t  have a basement.  How nice would it be to have a basement for all the toys, Barbie tent, Bob the Builder work bench,etc.?!  I coerced the hubby into just looking – what was the harm, right?  (It’s similar to looking at puppies – don’t look unless you are ready to commit!).  Well, we called our realtor the next day and were able to go look at the house on Wednesday.  Long story short, two other couples had looked at it as well and made offers (just 2 days after it had been listed!).  We had to make a decision literally after being in the house about an hour – did we want to make an offer or not? 

It was love a first sight for me and I was hooked.  But, the hubby usually has to do market research for about 6 months (consult Consumer Reports, etc) before buying let’s say, a  DVD player so he was freaking out!  Our realtor and I literally talked him into making the largest impulse buy of his life and we started the offer/counter-offer merry-go-round.  We ended up sealing the deal by offering $5,000 above the list price.  Yeah, we won!!

It’s our third house since we’ve been married and it has been my favorite one.  I’ve never wavered in my love for my house (until yesterday).  Yes, it was as old as the hills and yes, it did need an interior make-over when we moved in, but so what!?  Nobody’s perfect. 

Now, I’ve had just about enough!  Everything seems to be falling apart and it started last year.  Last year – water heater replaced, our chimney rebuilt, the kids’ shower re-tiled, wet spot in kitchen ceiling fixed, etc.  When we returned from our vacation last week, we had our water softener fixed ($200), breaker box rebuilt ($1700) and now today, the kitchen sink (see above – $470).  I mean, my goodness!  I know our dryer needs something done (it just squeaks), we need new windows and I’m just waiting for the dishwasher to poop out. 

It’s not a money pit, just old age, right? 

I’m definitely not ready to give up on this house (I have vowed never to move again), but I’m not blindly in love any more.  My eyes have been opened.

Homeownership is not for the flighty or the squeamish 🙂

Update:  Part of the plumbing bill from yesterday was a fixing a drip in our master bathroom shower (which was fixed properly).  But, this morning my hubby jumped in the shower only to find out that our cold is hot and our hot is now cold.  Oh, brother!  Now, I have to wait around for the plumber all day tomorrow to get our mixed up shower straightened out.  Aaahhhh!