"This Old House"

In the scheme of things "This Old House" isn't really very old.  I mean in Europe and Asia there are palaces and hovels that have been around for centuries!  That is old!

Our place is only about 20 years old, not much more than an infant as houses go!!  We have owned (well, we share ownership with the bank) for only 13 years.  We moved here in November, 2000.  Everything was in pretty good shape back then.  I'm sure the previous owners did some touch-ups and upgrades to make it all pretty and shiny and looking like new; after all they were trying to sell it!   The bottom line, however, was that there was nothing that needed doing!  That was okay with Mikey!  In the previous houses we had owned the Big Guy had done LOTS of projects!  He had put in new bathrooms, modified closets, put in hardwood floors, tore out walls, completely remodeled two kitchens, laid carpet, wall papered, painted, laid tile, put in a window seat, and so on and on.

He pretty much did all the work himself, but for the most part he was a bunch younger for the bulk of those projects.   When we came to Austin, we were both "somewhere between 40 and death."  (lol!  That's one of my favorite lines from the play, "Auntie Mame.")  At any rate, when buying this house we were thrilled there were no outstanding projects needing attention and Mikey, especially, was glad of that, as he had very little energy or enthusiasm for starting remodeling on yet another house!

As it does though, time passed and took its toll on our house.  Certain things are becoming obvious in their need for replacement, repair, or updating.  First and foremost, we must replace the roof.  Yuck!  That is one of the biggest projects one can have for a house.  But this is a project that you definitely call in a pro for!  It isn't that Mikey couldn't do it or wouldn't do a great job, every project he has undertaken over the years has turned out beautifully.But this is the ROOF!  It is HIGH (!), steeply pitched, and big!  The idea of my Big Guy climbing around up there, doing the hard work that roofing requires in the heat of an Austin summer just gives me (((shivers)))!!  To say nothing of the fact that you make one little misstep and SPLAT!!  That is definitely a sound I don't want to hear....ever!

Anyway, the result of all that is that we have had 3 different roofing companies out to give us an estimate and talk about the whole process.  My only input to those discussions was to help choose the shingles we will use for the new roof. After all, what do I know about roofs???!!   The first company's estimate was pretty high, the second was a lot lower, and the third was in the middle.  We really liked the 3rd company the best, VERY knowledgeable and responsive. Besides we contacted that company based on a personal recommendation from a contractor who had done work for a friend of Mikey's.  So we chose the third company!  We don't have a start date yet but the project will undoubtedly begin sometime in August.  The man we talked to (one of the owners) thinks it will only take 2-3 days to do the whole thing.  That would be great, but of course, it depends on weather and  unforeseen problems which might kick in.  Still they sounded like they really know what they are doing so I am hopeful they can handle whatever turns up in a minimum amount of time and disruption.  Keeping my fingers crossed.

Now all we have to do is convince our HOA (homeowners association) that we cannot replace the roof with the exact shingles that are up there!  The color will change because no one appears to make a shingle even in the same color family!  After all, that roof was put on 20 years ago or more!  The HOA can be pretty picky (I'm being nice here!)   They have a rather obnoxious approach to keeping up the standards of the homes.  Mikey hates dealing with them because it never seems to go well.  Crossing my fingers and holding my breath on this part!!!

Another victim of age and the Texas sun is our deck.  I like our deck a lot.  It's an interesting shape, not too big, nor too small, but it appears to me that the cedar was never sealed, so the wood is rotting out in several places.  It doesn't seem safe any more and I'm afraid someone (maybe me!!) will crash through the wood and break a leg or worse!  So we don't use it anymore.  I miss it.  I love sitting outside when the weather isn't boiling and enjoy the peace and quiet while I read and relax.

The existing deck has a small section close to the back door where the roof extends out over the deck a bit, so there is a tiny bit of shade at certain times of the day, but it is small and by mid-afternoon the sun has moved to that side of the house and the little covered section is just too small to do any good.  The Big Guy and I have decided that a Pergola  over the side of the deck would be the perfect solution as it would provide some shade and style.

(Hmmmm, did I warn you this was a long post???  Sorry, but it is!)

So as long as we had to replace the roof, we thought we could do the deck next and depending on final cost either do the Pergola too or do it separately a little further down the road.    We have had 3 different contractors out to give us an estimate on that too.  Even though it's been 2 weeks, I think, none of the three have yet provided us with an official written estimate.  They also need to prepare a drawing of the finished project.  But gee, how long can it take??  We need to decide and then provide the info for the deck to the HOA too.  

The difference in the responsiveness of both the roofers and the contractors is pretty widespread!  I don't get it.  They all came out pretty quickly to see the property and talk about what was needed to bid for the job. But only one of the six different companies has been super responsive, providing us more information when asked, quick answers to emails, etc. etc.  He's got the job.  The others??  Well, they'd better get moving or we just might have to start over with a whole new set!!

I know, I know....I may be just the tiniest bit  impatient, but either they want the job or they don't.  And "This Old House" definitely wants its pretty new roof, comfy and safe deck, and a pretty Pergola finished!  So do I!!  I want to get to the fun part!  Accessories!!!  

"Bits and Pieces"

Just a few bits of this and some pieces of that in my world on March 14, 2012....

 

1.  Last week it was hinting at Spring.  Bare trees would pop into colorful displays practically overnight.  As I drove about the city.  I would suddenly see wildflowers that weren't there the day before.  Landscape nurseries appear to be filled with brand new plants covered in blooms and buds.  The temperature weren't terribly cooperative.  It would tease us with temps in the high 50s and low 60s and then dump us back into winter at night.  Then it would throw in a couple of cold, grey, rainy, dreary days in the mix and everything just seemed to lose its vitality and good cheer.   It's been a yo-yo effect, up and down, up and down.   It's almost impossible to know how to dress for this kind of mixed message.

 

But yesterday?  Yesterday it happened!  High temps in the mid-70s, bright sunshine, gentle warm breezes rustling through the trees and suddenly it felt like Spring!  Real Spring, clear, bright, comfortable, awakening Spring!   Ahhhhhhh............. It was still here today and  I hope it will still be here tomorrow!  I am really tired of my "winter" clothes!

2.  On a related matter, I just love Daylight Savings Time!  I know its an arbitrary choice that a lot of people don't like, but I'm not one of them.  Being a late riser (which results from being a late go-to-bedder) having more sunlight/daylight into the evening is very helpful to me and it just makes me feel good.  I think it is a good way to negate the affects of S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder; it's why I get depressed in winter....not enough sunlight!!)  So from now until sometime in October, I should be a happy camper!

 

3.  Things I have learned about our house guest this week:

• For a little dog, she sure takes up a lot of room in a bed!!
• For a little dog, she sure puts out a lot of heat!
• For a little dog, she sure can hear every little sound...no matter how quiet I'm trying to be!
• For a little dog, she sure can jump fairly high!
• For a little dog, she sure still wants to explore our whole big backyard repeatedly!
• For a little dog, she sure has a loud bark!
• For a little dog, she sure is a cutie!!

4.   Several days ago I wrote about helping stage a house for putting on the market and it's practically instant sale.  Well, today the seller of said house and I went with her realtor to see a few houses that are on the market.  The whole reason she was selling was to move to something smaller with less land and work!  But now with the sale, she has to find someplace to live!  She has some time, possession of her house won't happen until May or June, but she wanted to get started looking.  She asked if I would go with her when she looks at houses to provide another pair of eyes!  I love looking at houses, so I happily agreed to help out.  We saw four houses today one was a dump (really!!  icky!), a second needed some work, but was on a hill and the driveway and walk to the front were both very steep, a third was lovely, beautifully updated, nice yard, great layout, but it was kind of a split level and there were a LOT of stairs, the fourth was a bit small but very attractive; unfortunately, the neighboring houses were all practically on top of each other and it felt like there was no privacy at all.

 It was fun, but we didn't find her dream home.  From what we learned from her realtor, she can expect to have lots of choices coming up in the market very soon.  She'll just need to make a decision right away.  Evidently her house is not the only one that sold quickly.  All of a sudden Austin has turned into a hot real estate market.  Things are selling fast, so if you see something you like, you have to move on it right away or it will be gone.  According to this realtor it is anticipated that Austin will attract around 90,000 new residents this year! (I think that's what he said.)  90,000!!  Yikes!  The great news for home sellers, but there are all sorts of downsides to it as well!  But boy, what a change from the last few years!  Realtors are dancing in the streets!  Sellers are finally finding buyers!

The rest of us?  Not so much!  "Why not?" you might ask.  I can give you the answer in three words....traffic, traffic, and more traffic!   More traffic??  Peachy!

And that just about wraps it up for this version of  "Bits and Pieces."

"A House is Not a Home"

I am not (nor have ever been) a professional decorator, but over the years many people have told me that I have good taste and that our home looks lovely!  That's always so nice to hear.  Frequently friends or relatives would jokingly ask if I would come and decorate their home.   I helped Ratchlet decorate parts of her home and gave her input when she recently re-did their kitchen and baths.  Now I have no credentials for doing such a thing, but I do enjoy putting a room together or updating as time goes by.  It's fun and it doesn't always cost a fortune either. 
Recently, I was contacted by T.A.'s mother.  She also lives here in Austin.  She is a widow and has been living in a rather large, very spread-out house on a huge plot of land for the last 8 years.  The size of both the house and the yard have gotten to be too much work for her and she decided she wanted to downsize.  A very logical decision.  She's very active, loves to travel and does a lot of it, and she'd rather do that than spend her time taking care of the garden and the house.  (I wouldn't mind doing that myself some days!)

TA's mom has never been one to spend a lot of time and effort on "decorating".  She freely admits she knows nothing about decorating.  This is mainly due to the fact that she and her husband spent nearly all of the married life serving in the  US Foreign Service.  He was an agricultural advisor and she was a public health nurse.  They have lived in many different countries, mostly in South America, Central American, and Africa. usually in the poorer countries where help is needed the most.  They always lived in Government owned housing, and had very little funds or need for decorating!

So when she decided to put her house on the market, she asked Ratchlet to help her "stage" the house for the listing pictures and for showings, but Ratchlet said "My mom is a lot better at that sort of thing than I am!!"  (Isn't she a sweet girl??)  So then TA's mom asked me if I would be interested, and I agreed to try and help.

T.A.'s mom and I spent a rather intense afternoon in talking about possibilities, making decisions and choices.  We rearranged rooms, moved accessories to different places, re-oriented the focus of some rooms.  After we did as much as we could with what she had, we decided to go shopping for a few things to help update the house.  We didn't spend a lot, but we did buy a couple of lamps, some colorful new towels, a coffee table to replace a wicker piece that wasn't working and so on.  There had been a small extra refrigerator sitting in the laundry room, but it wasn't really very workable in the space and it didn't provide very much extra cooling space, so it went out into the garage.

To fill the resulting empty spot in the laundry room, we bought some very pretty hanging hooks mounted on a decorative plaque.  The best thing we found was a small white bench (complete with seat pad) and three cubical sized openings below, suitable for baskets, or just open storage for gardening shoes, rainboots, etc.  It fit the open space perfectly and easily transformed the laundry room into a small "mud room" as well! 

All of our purchases were at Target.  I just love Target....they never let me down!  We were able to get everything we wanted to help warm up the space.

I had a creamy white Flotaki rug that had never been put back in place after its last cleaning, so I lent the rug to TA's mom, to put under the table in her breakfast area.  It really warmed up the space and made the space functional, attractive, and more than just an after thought.  I arranged her displays on the mantel, a baker's rack, and some small shelves.  All in all, we made no big changes, we just made a lot of little changes that brought the rooms into a more focused and usable arrangement. 

When we were finished, there were several additional things that needed to be finished, but TA's mom had house guests coming for three days and the rest of the staging work would be completed after the guests left.  I would go back one day this week to help if she needed it.  Evidently she was able to get the rest of it done on her own, because she sent me the pictures taken for the listing and it shows nearly everything finished just the way we discussed and agreed to. 

She seemed very pleased with the result and the house looks good in the photos.  (I'm not sharing the photos because they are not mine to share.)   I was so pleased to be able to help make her house feel more like a warm and inviting home!  

With the housing market and economy being what they are, it's impossible to predict how long it will take to actually sell the house, but she was being realistic though hopeful  that it wouldn't take too long. 

Well, it didn't take long!  Nope, not long at all!  She put the house on the market on Sunday (2/4), had several people come through, and received THREE bids on Monday, plus one MORE bid expected, but not yet received.  We got a call from Ratchlet today telling us that one of the bids had been accepted!!   In two days!!  For significantly over her asking price!!  WOW!  How amazing!!  I'm so happy for her!

Now I am NOT saying that my staging efforts really had anything to do with the quick sale, but on the other hand......I guess it didn't hurt either!  lol!  Maybe I should start a new career!  "Staging for a Speedy Sale!"     :)

"The Dangling Conversation"

It's been an interesting week. 

The final (I hope) installer/repairman is in the process of leaving.  I think that means that our new AC is finally finished, installed, complete, and up and running, without being jerry-rigged.  It appears to be putting out cold air.  They started on Saturday and today is what.....Thursday?

To be fair, we have had cold air, but the only way it could work was to have an industrial strength extension cord snaking it's way from the unit in the attic, dangling down to the nearest electrical outlet in the hallway outside my bedroom.  Very attractive.  

Well, the cord is gone so that's a big step in the right direction. 

Maybe I should start from the beginning.


Saturday morning:

Two young men arrived at 8:30 am, with the brand new unit.  Because they  had to shut off the AC completely, by 9:30 the house was pretty hot, so I packed up a couple of books, a big bottle of iced tea, and departed to spend a few hours ensconced in my mobile cool refuge, commonly known as my car.  They told us the whole process would take about 6-8 hours.  After periodic updates throughout the day from the Big Guy (who had to remain behind in what was his version of Hell), I ran out of places to go and went home.  It was almost 8:30 pm, 12 hours later!  They were still there. They hadn't even stopped for lunch, so I went to get them some sub sandwiches.  By the time I returned they were starting to get things cleaned up and packed up and we had a big ol' extension cord dangling from the ceiling.  Thus began "The Dangling Conversation".

According to what I learned, there was some problem with the 220v line in the attic, thus the cord to the working outlet downstairs.  It was ok though, we had cold air, and they said that they would have an electrician come out on Sunday to repair the problem.  OK, we were cooling off, so we could live with it overnight, right?

About 10:30pm the temperature had dropped to 79F inside and we were feeling comfortable again.  By 11:30 the temperature had climbed back up to 84F!!  What the......????  The brand new AC unit conked out!  We had nothing but fans again.  There wasn't anything we could do about it, except call the AC place (they have a 24 "hot line") to report the failure.  Of course, by that time, there wasn't anything that could be done about it until the next day.  So we went off to bed for another too warm night.

Sunday:

The repair guy finally showed up around 1:30 pm.  In a repeat of the day before, I grabbed a couple of different books and more tea and abandoned ship.  Surprisingly, it was only about an hour later that the Big Guy called to let me know it was "fixed",  I gave it another hour or so to let the house cool down again and then went home.  (I was pretty sick of my car by that point.)

When I got home, the first thing I saw was the dangling extension cord!  Arrrggghh! It was still there!   I thought it was fixed!!  Turns out that the reason it shut down was that there was a short caused by a twisted wire and that had been repaired, but there was still a problem with the 220v line and the repairman who fixed the twisted wire was not an electrician and he couldn't do anything about the 220 problem.  An electrician would come out the next day to fix it.  He didn't.

Monday:

No progress on the AC.  It was cool, which was good, but we saw no electrician, no repairman, no anybody and we still had the dangling conversation!  We also still had most of the mess, because:

A)  There was no point in cleaning everything up, until all the things were done and we would have no more visitors to our unbearable attic!

B)  It had been too warm in the house to do anything as sweat-producing as cleaning and putting things back to rights. 

C)  I was pretty much distracted by the next problem to crop up in our never-ending cycle of mini-disasters that plague us.

The Big Guy had gone off to work as usual and a little later, I was ready to leave the house on my standard errands and such.  Got into my car, turned the key, and got......a fluttery clicking noise that did nothing to actually start the car!!! 

I hate the feeling of being trapped and without a functioning car I was trapped in my house.  It sort of feels like claustrophobia and it makes me very anxious.  Obviously I wasn't really trapped, I could leave the house to be outside, but it was 103F and the idea of walking anywhere made me twitch! 

Called Mikey.  Called AAA.  Called Kia to alert them I might have to be towed in for repair.  Called Enterprise to arrange for a possible rental car.  Waited in the hot garage to flag the tow truck when it arrived.   All of which happened in good time.  AAA came and got the car started but their little computer said the battery was barely functional.  Time to get a new battery.  In the meantime I could drive as long as I didn't shut off the engine!     Oh wonderful, more time spent in my car to go to places that had drive-thrus where I could at least accomplish a few things....that limited me to Walgreens and McDonalds.  What fun....


Tuesday:

The Big Guy couldn't get my car started even though it had a charger on it all night, so he had to remove the battery, and take it to be replaced (under warranty supposedly).  When he got home he was livid.  The place that sold him the original (now non-functioning battery) would not honor the warranty until they tested the battery and tried to recharge it.  They pretty much didn't believe that it had been on a charger all night and that Mikey knew anything about anything.  So he was forced to buy a new battery, because they couldn't (read, wouldn't) go against their policy!

AC still working, cord still dangling, no electrician in sight....

Wednesday:

Sales guy from AC company came out to "inspect" the installation.  He was up there about 3 minutes.  Came back down and told us everything looked fine.  Well, except for the cord dangling from the attic, of course.  Still no electrician!  Evidently Austin only has ONE electrician and he was busy!   Right. 

Phone call that afternoon.  Electrician coming at 8:00 am Thursday morning.  Again, with the early morning visits!! 


Thursday:

I was awakened at 10:00 a.m. by hammering.  A lot of very loud and nearby hammering!!  There had better be an electrician out there making that noise or I was going to have a full-fledged meltdown.
Mikey told me it was, in fact, the electrician (who arrived at 9:30!), there to sort out the 110v/220v situation. He was up there for not quite an hour.  When he came down, he told us he couldn't find any problem with the 220 line!!  He rerouted something just in case that was a problem, but basically all was what it should be!  SO WHY HAVE I HAD A DANGLING CONVERSATION OUTSIDE MY DOOR FOR THE LAST F0UR DAYS???  Answer?  Unknown.

But it was done.  The house was cool, the repairmen were gone, everything was back up and running, we were finished with AC people climbing around.  It was OVE.... (What?)  Excuse me, folks, the Big Guy is trying to tell me something.......(What? Tomorrow??? What are you....)   [.....whimpering.....]

Well, I was wrong.  It appears that we are NOT done. 

It seems that when the installers were up there (way back on Saturday), they discovered that the heat/cool register in Mikey's office had no duct work connected to the furnace.  We've lived here 10 years and Mikey never noticed that this was a totally non-functioning register!  So they agreed to come back and install the required duct work.  And guess when they are coming!  Tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m.!!!   ARRRGGGGHHHHHH!  Will this never end?

Friday:

If the installers actually arrive and actually get it done today (and I won't believe it till it happens) that will mean that getting a new air conditioner takes:

2 Installers
3 Sales Presentations
2 Repairmen
1 Salesman/Inspector
1 Electrician
1-2 Duct Work Installers
6 visits to our house
5 1/2 days of Dangling extension cords
10,000 pieces of insulation floating around
1 Week (7 full days)

Sheesh!  Remind me never to ask this crowd to change a lightbulb!

And we are now up to 71 consecutive days of temperatures over 100F.  Like I said, it's been an interesting week.


Oh, by the way, we finally heard back from the battery place.  After attempting to recharge it for over 48 hours, they have found that the battery is no good.  No Shit, Sherlock!  That's what Mikey TOLD you!  They will be giving us a refund.    Maybe we'll use the money for a trip to the south of France!  HAH!

"Who Will Buy?"

I don't know how anyone is actually a successful realtor these days.  I mean, seriously, what with the crummy housing market, less than steady economic picture, and the uncertainty of the mortgage and banking industry, is there anyone out there "Who Will Buy?"  And if they do buy  (or lease), will they actually use a realtor to help them?  Not in our experience!

A few years ago the Big Guy went to realtor school for months, passed the exam, got his license, paid all the myriad fees (including all of the ANNUAL ones)  and hooked up with a broker and was all prepared and ready to help people find their dream house!
In light of all the obstacles listed above, lack of buyers is not the biggest problem with being a realtor who actually is paid for the work done.  No, the biggest problem is the potential "client" who will contact a realtor about buying, selling, or leasing a property.  The agent will then get all sorts of valuable information, find possible properties, take the client to see those properties, find other properties, keep in touch for as long as it takes, work with other agents, prepare forms and paperwork, and receive and make lots of phone calls, and field lots of requests for more information.  In other words the realtor will work his butt off trying to find the client exactly the home he/she wants.  And then, poof, the client disappears, stops returning phone calls, and ultimately wastes the realtor's time completely.   No client, no sale, no lease, no commission, no income, no joke!!!

I suppose that this is a bit overstated but it happens more often than you would believe!   People seem to think nothing of requesting all sorts of help from realtors and then leaves them hanging.  Do people not understand that real estate is the realtor's BUSINESS?  Do they not know that all that time that the realtor spends trying to help a client is UNPAID WORK unless a sale is made?  Are they willing to work at their own job without pay???  Why do they expect it of realtors???

It takes HOURS and HOURS to look up property information, print out comparisons, pricing information, trade phone calls, and try to match clients to their dream home.  Hours that result in nothing for the realtor who puts it all together. 

I understand that frequently it is difficult to find exactly the right home.  I also know that the realtor will continue to do his best to find that home for as long as the client is willing! 

But it is with the general understanding that when the deal is closed, the realtor is entitled by law, to be paid a percentage of the purchase price.  This is only fair.  This is the realtor's job.  This is what they do to earn a living (or at least supplement their income).  They don't do it just out of the goodness of their hearts!
They are people who have lives and needs just like everyone else. 

It is MORALLY WRONG to take advantage of all this "free" work that realtors do and then negotiate your own deal or work through another agent to actually make the deal....just walking away and leaving the orginal realtor who had done so much for the client, high and dry and uncompensated. 

Real estate law is very structured and realtors have no other option for how to work with clients and certainly, no way to guarantee any compensation for the preliminary and upfront work done.  A realtor doesn't get a dime unless and until the deal is closed!  Not one! 

This is a personal rant, because it happened again this week with TWO different clients.  I am not the realtor.  I don't represent the Realtor community.  I don't represent the Big Guy.   I am NOT speaking for anyone else.  I am willing to consider the other side of the story.  Nevertheless, in good faith, Mikey works very hard to help folks and yet, it frequently ends up being a big waste of his time.  That is just not right!

It makes me so darned mad!  Arrrgghhh!

"This Old House"

Before we were married the Big Guy promised me that we'd be wealthy one day....and we were!  I think it was October 27, 1995!
(such wit!) 

The point I was (ever so slyly) trying to make, is that we are not now, nor have we ever been financially solid.   We don't have creditors beating at the door, but we haven't won the lottery either (not for lack of trying!)  Unfortunately, the problem arises from the fact that both of us have expensive tastes in almost everything; which leads to a lot of frustration, deep sighs, and wishful thinking!!  Especially when it comes to houses. 

I absolutely adore looking at houses, going to open houses, searching for interesting local homes for sale, and driving around neighborhoods with interesting older homes.   I can't do it very often because I can get kind of depressed by all those places with so much potential and none of them are mine! 

My dream would be to find a hidden gem of a house, a house we could afford without selling off our firstborn child, an older house loaded with nooks and crannies and unusual details and a big wrap-around front porch just right for a swing.  If it were kind of neglected and in need of renovation or restoration and some TLC, but not a total dump, I would fall in love with it and get everything into mint condition and live in "this old house" for the rest of my days.

It's not going to ever happen again I know.  And, yes, it did happen once, at least partially.  We were still living in Chicago in our first home, the one my father-in-law said was a "nice little starter house".   After we had lived in our nice little starter house for about 20 years (!), I got the itch to move into a bigger, nicer house....not because we needed more room exactly, but just because I wanted  a house that was closer to that dream house. 

We did find one, not exactly like my dream house, but close enough that I think it would have suited us for a very long time.  Wonder of wonders, I talked the Big Guy into it and because he loved me, we moved about 3 miles from where we had been.

I may not have been blessed with wealth and riches, but I really won the office pool when it came to getting a guy that could do-it-himself!  Just as a little aside, in over 40 years of marriage, we have needed to call in a repair man no more that 10 times or so!  Seriously!! 

The Big Guy has repaired just about every major appliance we've ever had, he has installed wood floors, carpeting, lighting fixtures, cabinets, plumbing, created closets where none existed, built window seats, painted (repeatedly),  wall-papered,  torn out walls, put up walls, built kitchen islands,  turned closets into work spaces, put up and taken down doors, and lots and lots of shelving.  If we had those things "installed" or done by professionals, we never could have afforded half of it!  But let me tell you, if you can do it yourself well enough, you can do it for a LOT LESS MONEY!  The Big Guy isn't fast, mind you, (I was once without a functional kitchen sink or stove for four months!!), but once he finishes, its gorgeous and just what I wanted.

So when we moved into our second house, there was a lot we wanted to do to make it right.  So the Big Guy started on all the projects as soon as we signed the papers.  First he completely redid the kitchen and dining room.  He completely redid the first floor powder room, painted and carpeted the family room, completely redid the 2nd floor bathroom, painted and carpeted the third bedroom, tore out wall-paper and sports posters (which were glued to the wall) in the second bedroom, and recarpeted and wall-papered the stairway. 

That put him more than half-way through the "to-do" list.  Still to do was the master bedroom, the living room and the basement.  Well, you know how they say, that life is what happens while you're making other plans??  Well, all of those jobs that he finished were over a time period of about three or four years.  And that was when big changes came our way.  We moved to CA for really great job opportunities, leaving that old house behind!

In CA it took us a year to find a house we liked and could afford, but ultimately we did find one.  It was a beautiful house in great condition, we loved it.  And it didn't need any work!  We spent ten years in that house. 

When we moved from CA to Texas to be close to Ratchlet and her new family, we again found a newer home rather than a fixer upper that I had been thinking about.  This house is a nice house with a lot of great features, but it isn't my dream home.  Over the ten years we've lived in Austin, the Big Guy hasn't done any big do-it-youself projects here at all.  None were really needed and other than some painting, there aren't plans to do any in the future.

So were does that leave me in my desire to live in an older home, with lots of nooks and crannies, interesting details, charm and character?  It has gotten more and more unlikely that it will ever happen.  The Big Guy is not interested in moving again, nor does he share my love of old houses anymore, and we really can't afford finding a new house. 

I'll more than likely live out my days here in this not perfect but acceptable house.  In my heart of hearts I know that our second house was as close to "this old house" as I'll ever get. 

About the only thing that could change that, is if Ratchlet moved to another city, because we would most likely go too.  Or if we won the lottery!!  Then it would be off to the races all over again!! 

"My Cup Runneth Over"

Some people see a glass as half full; others see it as half empty.  Not me!  "My cup runneth over!"  Basically, there is no more room for anything more.  I do not have an empty closet, shelf, cabinet, bookcase, pantry, or storage space anywhere!  My house is full. 

In truth, its more than full.  I still have things in boxes that are unpacked because there is no place to put the things that are inside!  And we've lived in this house for nine years!  Does that mean it was full the day we moved in???  How depressing!

This has happened before in our house.  After all, we've been together for almost 44 years.  You accumulate a LOT of stuff in 44 years!  LOTS of stuff.  We have owned four different houses in that time; each one bigger (or at least equal in size) than the one before.  Usually when we first moved in and got settled, we had space left over!  It was a great feeling to look around and have a lovely, spacious, uncluttered home, with room for expansion.

I seem to remember (vaguely) that there is some law of Physics that is something about gas expanding to fill the available space.  I never knew that law extended to belongings too!  That open spacious feeling quickly disappears as more and more things become part of our "must haves." 

Yes, I admit it.  We are "Accumulators"!  Both of us!  The Big Guy keeps everything he ever owned.  Clothes, gadgets, pens, watches, electronics, notebooks, exercise equipment, former hobby  things, and papers....lots and lots of papers....all related to the different jobs he's had for the last 40 years.  I'm not kidding.  There is one whole room in my house;  99.9% of its contents are his things.  And 99.8% of that, is stuff he hasn't used or ever will use ever again.  Now I don't mean a few things discreetly hidden in a cabinet or closet.  Nope, I mean wall-to-wall, practically floor to ceiling!  No joke.  This is his "office".  (In our house "office" really means junk room!)  If he should have the poor taste to die before me and leave me with this mess, I shall hang his body in effigy in front of my house with a big sign that says, "He never threw anything away!!"

It really pains me to say this, but I am very nearly as bad as he.  The difference being that I keep things that I love, or I use, or has an important memory attached to it AND I put it all away!  Ergo, my full house!  I am a sentimental fool and so is the Big Guy.  This only makes things worse.  He is a charter member of the "But I might need it someday" club.  I am a charter member of the "Awwww, I remember this" club.  How do you throw away a memory?

Nevertheless, there comes a time when reality comes a-knockin' and you are simply forced to accept as fact that there is no room for even one more thing!   When you attempt to put things away and discover all of the "away" space is gone, there's no avoiding the truth any longer.  You either must purge and discard (gasp....hyperventilating), or move!  We can't afford to move, besides who wants to pack up all that stuff anyway!

Maybe I should look into one of those storage places.  Nope, same problem.  Another expenditure on our already tight budget and that dreaded packing thing. 

So there is no choice but to face up to it and make some room...somehow....somewhere....get rid of something.  Oh help!

Now all I have to do is convince the Big Guy that his cup runneth over too!  Wish me luck with that!

I must go lie down, maybe the feeling will go away.....