Something's Dead Under the House....again!

How frustrating to come home from work on an otherwise beautiful day, only to walk into a fog of funk coming from under the house. My guess is that something went under the house to escape the horrid weather we had a few nights ago, found a snack of posion pellets left over from last years varmets, and now has died! Peeyouuu....
So open go the windows and on go the ceiling fans to rid an otherwise comfortable home from the stinch that is sure to linger around for the next 4-5 days, or more. Question: How long does it take to decompose a varmet? This might explain why I haven't seen that cute little opossium in a while.

Chardennay and Saturday leasure!

Oh, my! What a wonderful time it's been this Saturday...well, almost. You see, 3 years ago, I purchased a CTS Caddy, thinking I was so cool, sexxy, etc.. Albeit, the guy I as 'dating' thought a infant car seat within was too not cool! Well, he is gone, like all the other transients...very transient!

But, today has been all about ME! I went to the car dealership to have my $100.00 oil fix, only to be deflated in that the other customers were either elderly, meaning 70+, or ethnic women. I some how don't fit into either category, so I was eyeing the used Mercedes on the lot. (OK, in reality, the Mercedes is tucked away in my back brain, and will check later to see if the $35K price tag goes down).

Then 'I' went to Archie's, laid down a cool $35 for 20 bulbs and a dill plant. (What the He double hockey sticks as my friend Maria would say) it's only money! After that onto home, where I found solestus in  a bottle of chilled Chateue St. Jean Sanoma Chardonnay and back yard leasure reading the past two weeks of magazines and store flyiers....Bliss...true bliss, topped off with a phone call from a friend, Mary Jane.

Reality check, prior to MJ's phone call, but after a bottle of heaven, I mowed the back yard (somehow, with more delight this time).

Now for the finalle, grilled baby back ribs with Austin's willing BBQ sauce. Life is good! [not including the failed 20 year marriage and 8 year relationship(in small print)].

Lessons learned: 1. Pleasure comes in all shapes, sizes and disguises. 2. Have a great life, or drink Chardennay until you believe it!  Cheers! xoxox Sue

Out with the OLd

I believe it's true that all things come to an end with every thing running it's course, needing replaced or refreshed at minimum. Today has been about cathartic practices. The 20 year old hot water heater (who would have thought one could last so long) has been replaced by a more energy efficient one, with I'm told a life expectancy of 8-10 years. My gosh, that's longer than many peoples commitment to jobs and/or marriage. None the less, I'm thrilled to have this task done.

Another old/new event came with the purging of pictures from a long lost love. To my surprise it was a liberating, freeing thing. I should have done this earlier, but guess I wasn't ready. I don't think I've had some sort of mental block, but I just couldn't even bring myself to shed a tear while looking at the snapshots. All I could do was set there and think, OMG, what was I thinking. This guy is like many others that I've met since, just merely a mortal man with both positive and negative features. It must be true that love blinds our eyes and shields our hearts to what now appears so obvious. I did see many photos of my former husband, but couldn't bring myself to toss them out because my children were a part of them. I did learn a valuable lesson from my observations today, that being that mothers need to encourage their husbands to take pictures of them with their children. I have very few pictures of me with my kids primarily because I was the photographer. So please, mothers...get someone else to capture those moments for you. You won't regret it!

Early this morning, prior to the plumbers arriving, I decided to prepare the 10 apples waiting in my crisper drawer to be made into Crockpot Apple Butter. My intentions were to make this over a month ago, so at long last I've completed it today.

As for this afternoon, it was far to beautiful to stay indoors, so I took the opportunity to remove last years dead plants and refresh the beds with 2 flats of flowers. Even with these, I ran short, so off I went to the garden center this evening to pick up more followed by a comforting dinner at Joe T's where all was excellent as usual. Life just doesn't get much better than today.

Below is some wonderful chill out music to enjoy as you reflect on your life:

http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0SO8ZtLCG9NxCQAG1b7w8QF;_ylu=X3oDMTBxcW9nN3NyBHBvcwM1BHZ0aWQDBHNsawNyZXMEc2VjA3Ny/SIG=1lkeepuqb/EXP=1299151051/**http%3a//video.search.yahoo.com/video/play%3fn=21%26ei=utf-8%26tnr=20%26p=out%2bwith%2bthe%2bold%2bin%2bwith%2bthe%2bnew%2bmusic%26vid=416553305357%26dt=1270018800%26l=275%26turl=http%253A%252F%252Fts2.mm.bing.net%252Fvideos%252Fthumbnail.aspx%253Fq%253D416553305357%2526id%253D03031b90696e8fea92e9e6fa5b7770a8%2526bid%253DY%25252f7PBuVq4XhOrQ%2526bn%253DThumb%2526url%253Dhttp%25253a%25252f%25252fwww.youtube.com%25252fwatch%25253fv%25253dOeNs0z2l7s8%26rurl=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.youtube.com%252Fv%252FOeNs0z2l7s8%2526autoplay%253D1%2526fs%253D1%2526autoplay%253D1%26tit=Wonderful%2bChill%2bOut%2bMusic%2b-%2bNew%2bZealand%2b%255BHD%2b1080p%255D%26sigr=11vv9c3dk%26newfp=1

Saturday's Pleasures

One of my favorite things to do on Saturdays is to visit Estate Sales. My favorite sales are by Millchell. They have a website: www.millchell.com for a sneak peek of upcoming sales. Today I found a darling Linden Alarm clock for $4, two vintage cake testers @ 20 cents each and a silver server for $2. For the price of a little gas and $6.40 it was time well spent. The two owners and their staff are most welcoming of us frequent customers.

My otherwise treat for the day was to have a pedicure by Magdalena at Perfect Spa here in Fort Worth on University St. I have been going to her 3-4 times a year for a few years now. A visit there is like catching up with an old friend. We share stories of our children's lives and now grandchildren. She is a most delightful person.

I did have a most disagreeable sleep last night waking several times fretting over work task needing completed, an upcoming meeting and other processes that need perfected..!! Ugh..... Someone once told me that this is called "mental masturbation", but I haven't looked this up to see if it really exist.

This afternoon is being spent watching Ethan and Savannah, actually they are napping now. :-)
Before going down for his nap, Ethan insisted on having a 'picnic' outside. Like a good Grammy, I accommodated him. He wanted to set at his barn-red picnic table that Stephanie and I made for him last year. "Grammy, you make this for me"..oh how sweet!  That was a interesting project to tackle. I of course was glad to have a distraction from my usual school assignments needing completed. Thank GOD that is over!!

Wednesday Special

I am of course, a true procrastinator and delay getting things done until forced to do so. Water works damage assessment in, but $$ amount to follow.
My 22 year old washing machine was clogged with gravel and rust from the old galvanized pipes coursing through this 1940s house. This is good news/bad news as I had already had my mind set on buying a brand spanking new red colored front load washer dryer set, but now I'll have to keep the old set until it meets with true demise.
The hot water heater turns out to be 20 years old and needs replaced. Apparently there are new code compliance that will take some doing but I'm told this won't be too difficult of an undertaking. Let's see, a drain pipe through the floor to the exterior, a vent pipe through the ceiling/roof and reconnection of the water and gas line. This project is estimated to be near 1K alone. I asked about the new tank less hot water heaters, and as I find out, they are like high dollar sports cars and I'd need to have the entire house re piped, a filtration system installed in addition to the tank less system. Sum total would be around 8K, so I'll use a basic hot water system.
The toilet off the master bath is working, but it's recommended to have new eco-water efficient toilets installed. The city is giving (yes, I did say giving) away two such toilets per house but owners need to pay for install, so I think I'll proceed with this option to be more updated.
The sink in the master bath faucet will be replaced by my new plumber friend Daniel too. Aah, life is going to be alright again. I just cringe at having to take care of these types of challenges.
And finally, the soggy back yard will be diagnosed to determine if this is something Daniel can fix, or redirect to the sprinkler folks.
So much to be done....Don't get me wrong, I love this peer and beam house with all its slightly off, cracked walls, un-level floors, and general character, but old homes are like old ladies, they tend to need a little upkeep.

Basis of my blog

Here I find myself at 52, with much to do...at present I seem to have house ills or shall I say all things plumbing related failures. What was initially thought to be only a weather related frozen water hoses, now has evolved into hot water heater giving off noxious fumes, the washing machine's inability to fill with water and the toilet off the master bedroom not working. yikes....

As with other unexpected things in life, it comes at a cost. This time it will cost me a trip to NYC with friends to walk a half marathon. The funds planned for that trip will surely be needed for the plumber's bill. There is however, an up side to this story, I won't have to stress out over the fact I'm not keeping to my scheduled treadmill plan.

In truth, I haven't a real agenda for the blog, but will see what unfolds as time goes by..

Just finished watching 'Enchanted April' with Josie Lawrence and Miranda Richards, a Romantic Period Drama where four women spend a month in an Italian villa to lap up sun and breath in the costal air....ahhh, now that's what I'd really love to do!  Sun, book, breeze and sea.

Happy Valentine's day to all.

t