Goodbye/Hello

In the spring of 1990, my dad and I drove from Longview to Shreveport to shop for a car. We'd looked at Subarus and Nissans, but what I REALLY wanted was a Mitsubishi Galant. The car I'd been driving since I'd gotten my driver's license had been purchased, barely used. It was a 1984 Buick Skyhawk, and I loved it to death. But I'd put a ton of miles on it driving around endlessly in high school for lack of anything better to do and then, when I'd started college, making the frequent 500+ mile round trip to and from Austin. It was time to trade her in.

My dad, not known for his soft-and-fuzzy qualities nor his love of salesmen, made me cringe throughout the negotiation process with the dealer. I'd never been a part of anything quite like the car buying process, and the whole thing just made me want to crawl under the floor. We got practically nothing for my road-weary coupe with more than 100-thousand miles on it, but when it was all said and done, we drove off the lot in a brand new, badassed 1990 Mitsubishi Galant LS, with cruise control, a sunroof, and--most important to me at the time--a bitchin' stereo system. I was in heaven.

But as we pulled away from the dealership, I saw my little Skyhawk, sitting there looking kind of...I don't know...saddish, and it made me feel like I was leaving an old, fun and reliable friend behind for the exciting new friend who'd just moved to town and had nicer clothes and better hair. I was flooded with memories of all the fun that my friends and me had in that little white coupe, despite its complete absence of any bells and/or whistles. And yes, I started to cry a bit until we got on the highway and my dad urged me to, "Punch it" so we could see what kind of pick up the new car really had.

Tonight will be the last night I spend in this house. My starter home. The place where I've lived while so many things--good, great, and lousy--have happened along the way. The place that I bought all by myself as a single mother, even though the concept of being a homeowner and understanding terms like "escrow" and "homestead exemption" were terrifying to me. The place where I have watch The Geej graduate from a crib to a toddler bed to her current big-girl bed. The place where I threw a surprise 60th birthday party for my mom and hosted Thanksgiving dinners for friends and family. The place where I first got to play Santa and the Tooth Fairy. The place I was living when BH and I reconnected, fell in love and got married. The place where we blended our families and our lives but that always felt more like "my" house than "our" house.

We are moving to a nicer, more family-friendly neighborhood with better schools and neighborhood "amenities." A place where we'll watch our kids grow in to teenagers and eventually leave the nest. A place that is finally and truly ours together. It's something we're all psyched about and have been focused on making happen for some time now. But there's still that weird feeling of leaving behind something that you've loved for years for this newer, sexier opportunity. Although I completely understand that buying our current house when I did and for what I paid for it, and then caring for it like BH and I have for the past (nearly) seven years is what has put us in a position to make this move, it still feels vaguely disloyal to leave this place behind. The (single) guy who is buying this house seemed really nice and genuinely excited about this place when we met him at the closing. He's currently living in a nearby apartment, and so this will be his starter home too. I'm happy for him and hope he takes good care of it and creates a thousand happy memories here.

I wonder if this is a "thing".

I think I may be becoming addicted to home improvement. Now that phase 2 of this major re-flooring project has gotten underway (barely--it's like we're at the 10 mile mark of a 10,000 mile journey), all I can think about is what I want to do next. Hell, I stopped at Lowe's today on the way home to look at paint colors and countertop options for the kitchen. And I'm also thinking about kitchen sinks and backsplashes. And windows. We really need new windows. MAKE! ME! STOP!!

It's like a freakin' deck of cards: you get one think looking really good, and it just makes all the other stuff surrounding it that you HAVEN'T gotten to yet look downright awful. I guess it's like those people who get addicted to plastic surgery. They go in to have a deviated septum fixed, and the next thing you know, they look like Joan Van Ark. 

I guess I should be thankful that I'm not swimming in disposable income because I'm telling you right now, I would be desposing of it on various house projects. Like that skylight we need in the laundry room

Oh Lordy.

What you are looking at is 33 boxes of engineered hardwood, underlayment, and flooring-related stuff that will begin being installed on Monday morning. And Doug.

The Anxiety of Home Improvement

Today we're having the floor-redo materials delivered--thirty six boxes of hardwood that will need to sit in our house for 72 hours in order to aclimate and expand/contract according to the temperature and humidity.

Sunday, BH and I will be moving everything out of our main living areas (living room, dining room and kitchen) and into our main sleeping and parking areas (our room, guest room and garage). Hell, we may even have to put some stuff out on the deck because I'm pretty sure we're going to run out of room pretty fast.

Monday, the floor demo (ceramic tile in the kitchen) and pull-up (carpet in the living room; cheap-ass laminate in the dining room) begins. I predict a dusty, nasty mess, and of course this is going to come right on the heels of our once-a-month visit from the housekeepers (who are coming today) because I forgot to call and ask them to reschedule their visit for next Friday. Yay!! Money down the drain!!

Tuesday and Wednesday, installation takes place, and Wednesday night we get to move our furniture and appliances back to where they belong.

And this is all while we're supposed to be conducting our lives in some sort of normal fashion. But where will we sit and eat and cook and...? It's going to suck, and I keep reminding myself that a) the suckage is temporary and b) it's TOTALLY going to be worth it to get rid of the current schizophrenic flooring in those rooms. But it's still going to suck.

I am also trying to prepare myself for receiving my next Mastercard bill which will include the floor charge on it. Granted, I plan on paying it off ASAP, but just seeing an amount that large will probably cause a minor panic attack. Large amounts of interest-laden debt give me the hives.

I will be sure and post before and after photos next week...if I survive.

Reality Checked

For some time now, I've been fantasizing about a new house.

Wait, let me back up.

When I bought my house (which will be five years ago, this November), it was with two things in mind:

1. It was a starter home--an investment. I never planned on staying in it longer than 5 - 7 years. The plan was to upgrade to something a little bigger and nicer (and in a better school district) when the time came.

2. The Geej and me were the only (human) residents. So the 1,660 sq. foot, 3 bdrm., 2 bathroom home suited us just fine.

Well, a lot has changed in the past five years, the biggest being that I got married to BH, which meant that the Geej and I were no longer sole full-time occupants of the house. And many weekends, BH's ever-growing sons join us for a few days. Add to this the fact that BH pretty much works at home full time (unless he's out in the field or at a meeting), and our little starter home now feels way too small.

So last year, when the tax credits for home buyers (and move up-ers) were available, I really wanted to put our place on the market. But there were some things we wanted to get done to it prior to listing it, so we created a list of home improvement projects. My goal was to get the critical stuff done and the house listed by the end of January, 2010. We had a bit of momentum with our project list (new oven! new dishwasher! master bathroom repainted and improved! bedrooms repainted!), but the momentum stalled out, and the January deadline (and eventually the tax credits) passed us by.

Sigh.

Ever-hopeful and feeling the walls closing in around me, I suggested to BH that we start going to open houses so that--even if we weren't in the position to sell our place and buy another one--we could at least figure out what kinds of houses we both like and what neighborhoods are most appealing to us. And look we did. Almost every Sunday we were out there checking out the 4/2 inventory in southwest Austin. The more we looked, the more we came to agree on the things that were important to us in a home and a community. We started to find some places we REALLY liked, and I began mentally moving in. But it wasn't long before the whole exercise just made me begin to dislike our house and become increasingly frustrated with the stagnation of our current position.

Things came to a head last week, and BH had "The Big Talk About Money". After our talk, we agreed that we're not in a position to purchase a new place right now, and that the economy is simply too shitty right now to consider putting our house on the market. Yes, I'm disappointed in this outcome--I'd be lying if I said otherwise. However, now that I KNOW that, for at least the next two years (or until the economy gets healthier) we'll be staying put, I'm not quite so frustrated. I think.

Now, I just want to focus on getting some of these goddamned projects we've had on the list for way over a year tackled. Things that will make the next two years (or more) in our house a nicer experience--new floors, fixing the front sidewalk that ALWAYS floods when it rains, replacing the back fence, getting some better insulation in the attic and replacing our horrible single-pane windows, maybe putting a soaking tub in the master bath (and getting rid of the godawful fiberglass tub...I have NEVER taken a bath in my own house because of my hatred of these tubs), new front door, another rain barrell, etc. The list is long and expensive, and NONE of these improvements will give us more space or magically create a home office for BH. However, it will make me feel like we're doing SOMEthing rather than sitting on our hands and will, hopefully, help me find a way to love my little starter home again.

Mixed Emotions

We've begun some house projects that are intended to prepare our little casa for sale. Now, granted, we're not currently in a spot (financially) to put it on the market, but hopefully this time next year (or maybe sooner), we will be.

Last month, I bought a new dishwasher sort of on a whim. I'd gone to Lowe's to look for paint colors (more on that in a minute), and ended walking out with two paint sample cans and the paperwork for a new dishwasher I'd purchased. Normally, when it comes to things like appliances, I like to do my research and prepare mentally and financially for the purchase. That's how I did with my oven (purchased last year). But this time? Nope. Total impulse purchase. There was nothing wrong with our old dishwasher other than the fact that it was SO FLIPPIN' LOUD that you couldn't hear yourself think or have a normal-volume conversation when it was running. So I got one of the super SUPER quiet ones that just happens to be from the same brand/series as my newish oven--these appliances now actually match and look quite nice. And even though it was impulsive, I haven't regretted the purchase.

This month--today, in fact--we're getting all three bedrooms and our laundry room painted the same (boring) shade of (boring) off white. Prior to doing this, the bedrooms were light yellow, pale blue and dark red, and the laundry room what white (but banged up and dingy). Now they're all off white. And boring. But hey, we've still got the slate blue accent wall in the master bath, the dark eggplant walls in the dining room and the red walls in the kitchen. But my prediction is that the neutralization of everything else is only going to make those rooms seem pretty obnoxious. We'll have to wait and see.

Next up (probably next month or May): carpet replacement. I SHOULD'VE replaced the carpet before I moved in, but I just didn't have the cash. So now after living on this carpet that was waaaaaaaay past its prime in 2005, you can probably imagine how much it needs to be replaced.

I'm also going to be researching window replacement, making sure the HVAC and hot water heater are checked out and doing fine, looking into replacing the black/white "diner" type tile that I've grown to HATE in the kitchen, and the crappy, damaged laminate flooring in the dining room. Again, if I'm going to do this, I want to be able to live with it and enjoy the results for a while before we move, so I'd rather just bite the bullet and do it all sooner rather than later.

BH is also going to be working on some projects outside the house as well, including trying to fix a sidewalk drainage problem that rears its soggy head every time we have even a little bit of rain. He's also done a ton of work on the front and back yards since he's moved in that have made both of them look way better than they would've without his touch.

It's looking like 2010 is going to be a very "domestic" year for us.

Where the "mixed emotions" come in is in the fact that I am still SO proud to have been able to buy this house ON MY OWN. I still remember how scared I was, but at the same time, how ready. And if it were still just me and The Geej by our lonesome, we'd probably stay here indefinitely. But I bought this house for two full time residents, and now there are three of us--one of whom works out of the house about 80% of the time--and two every-other-weekend-and-sometimes-more kid residents, so this house just doesn't fit our family any more. Also, when BH uprooted and moved here from Colorado, he moved into an already furnished and decorated dwelling. I'm sure he's never felt like this place is truly "his", and that bothers me. Plus, having a new place that suits our family's needs and is truly OURS is really important to me. Therefore, it's made very frustrated with this place--and for that, I feel kind of guilty and materialistic.

We occasionally go to open houses on the weekends, just to see what's out there, and I get so envious of what we don't have in our current situation (ex: a dedicated study/office) that it kind of bums me out. But we NEED to go see what's out there so we can get familiar with the neighborhoods and home styles that we like--and those we don't. We've got very different tastes and ideas, so getting in tune is going to be an important (and challenging) part of this whole endeavor.

So yeah...expect to see more exciting home-related posts from me in the future. Some may even have pictures! And definitely all of them will be filled with mixed emotions.

Lunchblogging.

I COULD be eating my salad outside on this gorgeous spring day, but no dear readers. I owe you a post, and a post ye shall have!

It is St. Patrick's day, and it is Spring Break and SXSW. And what is my Scots-Irish ass doing after work to celebrate? Going to the gym to work out! Whee!! But seriously, there are going to be some insanely good acts in town for South By this year, and I'm going to pretty much miss out on all of it. I was going to try and take Friday afternoon off to hit some of the day parties, but my boss scheduled a meeting from 3 to 4pm. Nice. So, I'll have to settle for trying to hit some Saturday afternoon things that don't mind non-wristband wearing scum like myself. We'll see how that goes...

Last week I went and did phase 2 of the redhead-returning-to-blonde thing at the salon. So after another 3 hours and a couple of hundred bucks, voila!

It was weird looking at myself in the mirror as a blonde for the first time in seven (yes, seven!) years. I was looking at the "old" Karla May, but the Karla May that was looking back at me was a lot older, and "fuller-figured" than the last time she was blonde. Oh well...the old, I can't help. The figure, I'm working on.

The facelift at Mi Casa continues. Now that the bathroom is pretty much done, we've moved on to other rooms in the house. First, we replaced the HORRIBLE 1980s-era fluorescent light box in the kitchen with this swanky little number from IKEA. No really, go check it out. I'll wait.

Not bad, eh? GOD, it makes SUCH a difference. I can't even describe it. And since I failed to take before and after photos, I have no pictures to do the describing for me.

Next up, transforming the guest room into a room for the boys to enjoy when they come to visit. Right now it's, well, it's a guest room, and so they feel like guests when they're here. So we're going to re-paint, get some new furniture, and try to make it more boy-friendly. BH is in charge of this endeavor because, you know, he's a dude.

I've got more to write, but I've got to get ready for a meeting. (Such are the limitations of the lunchtime blogging session.) So, I'll leave you with some photos I took when we visited the state capital weekend-before-last:

Looking up in the dome from the rotunda. I wonder how many tourists have taken this exact same photo.

My GIRL Ann!! What a lovely portrait, no? Too bad it has to hang right next to George W.'s.

And the building itself. It really is quite lovely, isn't it?

It's still not 100% done...

...but I can't wait to show photos any longer because it already looks SO much freakin' better.

Okay: The Great Master Bathroom Facelift of 2009

Before:

When I moved in, I replaced the carpet (eww...carpet in a bathroom) with the tile you see here. And I also replaced the sink fixtures, and BH installed one of those cool curved-outward shower curtains.

But please look at that big ol' 80s wall-sized mirror (taped up here and ready for us to smash before removal. THAT was fun!).

And the lovely peanut butter smeary looking faux finish paint.

Not horrible, but definitely not very cool looking either.


But behold how it looks now:
Unfortunately, this photo doesn't really show the true colors of the walls, which are cream and a chalkboard slate-y blueish green.
Nice, huh?

We still have to get some new accessories and decor, put some wood trim up where the ceiling/walls meet, and BH is going to build some much-needed drawers in the space where an unused make-up stool is now parked (that big empty space beneath the counter in the next-to-last photo above). And then, when all of THAT is said and done, we'll need to repaint all the white cabinets and trim.

But seriously, doesn't this look better...even without a bidet?

Things, they be a'happenin'

Please allow me to play a little catch up with you.

Valentine's Day Weekend: Went to Oklahoma with The Geej to visit my dear friend Julie and her two kiddos, two cats, and dog. Had a great time just hanging out. Her kids are so great, and she's such a good mom. Made me realize how much I miss them when I'm not around them.

The week after Valentine's day was pure nuts:

Monday: traveling back from Oklahoma. The Geej took this photo from the plane, btw.
Tuesday: federal jury duty. At 7:45am. Ugh. Went to the gym and worked out.


Wednesday: back at work with back-to-back meetings all day long. Came home, and my GORGEOUS new oven had been installed by the magical fairies from Lowe's.

Old oven:

New oven:I mean seriously, I know the photo's dark, but how much better does this look? And it cooks like a dream.

Thursday: attended a Conflict Management training session in waaaaaay north Austin all day. Went to the gym and worked out after, however, my fookin' feet were hurting so badly because of my craptacular shoes, I had to cut my workout short.

Friday: back at work with (thankfully) no meetings. Played catch up. Had to leave early to go to The Geej's parent/teacher conference. Her teachers are thrilled with how she's doing, and I walked out of that conference with my feet barely touching the ground. I am one lucky mommy.

Saturday: met BH's mom (who was in town for the weekend visiting friends) and my mom for lunch. Mom took The Geej back to Horseshoe Bay with her so that BH and I could work on the Great Master Bathroom Facelift Project of 2009. (I will post before/after photos when it's 100% finished. Right now, it's about 75% finished.)

Sunday: continued work on the bathroom. Searched all over Austin for mirrors for the bathroom. Ended up finding them at IKEA, which is 31 miles from our house. I also purchased a new light fixture for the kitchen while I was there. Got home and realized that 2 of the 3 globes in the light fixture were shattered. Did I mention that IKEA is 31 miles away? When the hell am I going to have time to go back up there and return this thing? Grrrr...


Monday: Worked. Left early to go fetch The Geej from my mom.


Tuesday: Worked. Left early to take The Geej to her dentist appt. (She was SO brave and awesome!! Waaaaaay different than 6 mos. ago when she wouldn't let the hygenists clean her teeth b/c the noise of the brush, water squirter, and spit sucking thing freaked her out too much.) Met bunch of girlfriends out for drinks and dinner and more drinks. Got home way past my bedtime.


Which brings us to today. Fairly normal day, however, I have another all-day training thing at work tomorrow, and I have to be there an hour earlier than normal. Also, I have to do this pre-work and bring 3 copies of it with me to the training session. Have I done the pre-work yet? Um...no. Am I super freakin' tired? Yep.

So you see, dear friends, it has been a bit crazier than normal in my world. But normalcy is slowly creeping back into my life, so expect some more regular posting from me for the next few days.

I have seen the light.

Remember a few weeks ago when I posted about how I'd met with a cleaning service and was feeling a little bit guilty for even wanting to hire someone to help clean my house.

Well, today they came to do the "initial clean," and for four hours, two very nice women worked their ASSES off cleaning from the damn baseboards to the ceiling fans. Y'all, this place hasn't been this spotless since the day before I moved in. I freakin' LOVE the smell of bleach and cleaning chemicals (I'm a huffer...not really), and when I walked in to our house this afternoon and breathed in the amazingly clean smell of everything, I nearly piddled myself with glee. GLEE, I say!!

As I've said before, BH is the bomb when it comes to carrying his weight with domestic duties. But even with his help, normally on Fridays I've got a list in my head of all the housework--and laundry--I want/need to try to accomplish before Monday in order to keep CPS at bay. And right now? For the first time since The Geej entered my life, I'm not feeling that Friday Evening Dread.

Wow.

Totally worth the dollars and the guilt.

Again with the randomness (but with LOTS of photos!).

Ya'll.


From the bottom of my heart, I'm sorry.


I've been so busy that I honestly want to sit down and have a good old fashioned cry. You know the kind of cry that you have and then, at the end, you feel like a wrung out washcloth and all you want to do is crawl in the bed and sleep for twelve hours. That's me. Right now.


Work + spring break + no child care= asskickingham.


So Monday, I worked and Saint Dah took care of the Geej.


Tuesday, I went to IKEA and bought a new desk some drawers to go with the desk, a new toy chest for The Geej, a tea set, new forks, spoons, plates, knives and bowls for The Geej, a new comforter, comforter cover and pillow for the Geej's someday coming twin bed, a HUGE metal bowl in which I will someday toss the best salad ever, an insanely cute lampshade for a lamp in The Geej's room, an even more insanely cute wall lamp that looks like a big flower for her room, a shower curtain (I've since decided I don't want), and some other stuff I'm sure I'm forgetting at the moment. After IKEA, I went and fetched the Geej and we had a perfectly nice evening together. I guess the highlight of the evening was putting Princess Apricot into the hamster ball and letting her roll around the house. SO flipping funny. I thought Earl's head was going to explode. Yep you read that right: the hamster ball was the highlight of my night.


We (that is, The Geej and I) then spent a lovely Wednesday together which included a trip of to my office to see her legions of fans and a loooooooooong trip to the grocery store followed by an even longer nap. Then the big excitement: Geej's boyfriend (and Malcontent Mama's progeny, Anderson) came to spend the night!! Slumber party!! Those two had SO much fun chasing each other and squealing and whatnot. It was Adorablefest 2007 over here. (My mom was thankfully here to lend a hand, however, because no matter how cute they are, two 2-year olds are still quite a bit of work.) After they went to sleep mom and I built the IKEA toy chest and desk. (I also decided I really don't want/need the drawers, so there's another thing I've got to take back to freakin' Round Rock. Grrr...)

Today I was slammed at work from the word go. Not only was I catching up after two days off, I had our weekly team meeting and a big presentation to prepare for. But guess what: at about 2:00 my right eye started freakingthefuck out. It was as if I'd put a few dashes of Tabasco in it. It was killing me and watering and I couldn't figure out why. I took my contact out, and couldn't see anything on it or any tears. But I was going nuts. And I had SO much work to do, but I couldn't see a damn thing. So I went home, driving with one eye closed, mind you, and took the DEVIL contact out. Soon thereafter, La Turista and her lovely husband T-bone picked my bespectacled ass up and we went here to see these dudes. Holy crap, they're a talented lot. It was a whole sweaty lot of fun.

Oh, I forgot to mention that in addition to Adorablefest '07, there's also this other festival in town right now. Anyway all it really means is that:

• There are a lot of people walking around town trying to look cool while really just looking lost
• There is a LOT of free music and really cool shit going on around town that makes you want to play hookie
• Especially when it's sunny and 73 degrees outside
• There is an abnormally large number of Japanese people in Whole Foods looking very confused and buying shitloads of groceries that the then schlep out to the corner while trying to hail a cab (Austin isn't really a "hail a cab" kind of town...especially not at 2pm)

Later we went and ate Mexican food and then crossed the street to the Johnny Cash-themed bar to hang out in the amazing weather and have a cerveza and a michelada or two.

All of this and still home by 9:00pm.

Oh, and did I mention this?
Fuck yes, people! That's a ceiling fan! On my deck!! Yee haw!!! That's been sitting in a box in my garage since last summer. See, I had big plans to get the electricity wired out there and get it hung, but never had the funds or the time to do so. But I decided to put some of my tax refund toward some electrical improvements to La Casa, including this, a new outlet in the entryway (it's always bugged me that there wasn't one there) and a light in the pantry. Yay!!

Next up: wood blinds in the kitchen window (the only window in the house that DOESN'T have wood blinds, and instead has this skanky looking dirty ass honeycomb blind thing. U-g-l-y).

Okay, even thought it FEELS like Friday, I know it's only Thursday, so it's time to shut 'er down and hit the hay.

Mo later, freaks.

Sweet.

That, my friends, is water pressure. In my kitchen sink. Something I've been wanting badly since the day I moved in. There have been two places--the kitchen sink and the master bath shower--that have had the most piss poor (pun and yucky visual intended) water pressure--that have been driving me nutso. And aren't those the exact two places where you care about water pressure the most? I mean, those and the Turbo Bidet Orgazmo 3000. But I digress.

When the plumber came today to install the toilet (see: "Sweeter," below), I batted my eyes and said, "Well, while you're here, could you tell me what's up with this water pressure...pleeeeeeeze?" The master bath is a more-involved issue (i.e., another day, another several hundred dollars), but I'll be damned if homeboy didn't fix the kitchen sink lickety split. For free. [After today's work, I highly recommend "Clarke Kent" plumbing in Austin. Gay name; Good service;Reasonable price.]

Sweeter.

There she is ladies and (probably no) gents (except for Butt...you stalker): an adult size Kohler toilet that's functional and everything. I love it so much, I could almost kiss it. Almost. It has been nearly 3 weeks since I've been able to #1 or #2 in my bathroom, and I gotta say, this is one sweet ride: tall, long, and luxurious. Me likey.

Sweetest.

Holy Mother of God. The Bose soundock for the iPod is SO worth the money. The sound quality is unreal for something so compact. I am seriously considering throwing out my regular old stereo for this mo-fo. I've been listening to it non-stop since I got it, and it rocks so hard, even when it's cranked.

All I want for Christmas is my potty.

Remember how I was so excited about my new tile and my new toilet in my new master bath? Well, I'm over it. Seems when they removed the old toilet designed for tiny people, the flange broke. What's a flange, you ask? THAT is a flange, and as best I can gather, it's this part that attaches the toilet to the sewage pipe or some such shit (pun intended). It's not uncommon for these suckers to break when a toilet over a certain age is removed. So when the plumber came to install my new toilet last Wednesday night, he also noticed that there was a crack in the sewage pipe that was going to necessitate a "special" flange be ordered--a longer-than-usual one that would cover the crack so that water wouldn't seep underneath the floor. And guess what: My new toilet still sits in the boxes it came in, and I haven't heard from the plumber. I called him on Friday to see if he had an update for me, and he said, "Well, I've got some supply houses looking for it, but if we can't find the part we need we may have to have the guys who installed the tile come back out and remove the tiles from around the toilet area, let me install, then re-tile around it." What? Jesus. This is starting to really piss me off. We're about to run into the holidays, which I'm sure is going to delay things even more. I feel like such a useless girl. And, so far, all of this extra hoo-hah is going to end up costing me at least an extra $200 on top of what I already paid for the basic "re-set" service. Home ownership is FUN!!

To top all of this crap (again, pun totally intended), I'm sick as a dog. Chest cold. Head cold. Sore throat. Stomach ache. You name it: I've got it. I've got the kind of cough that, when people hear you coughing, they look at you with shock and horror. I feel like I'm in danger of cracking a few ribs each time I let out a big ol' hack. This morning after about 2 hours of restless, hacking sleep (and that's WITH taking medicine), I coughed up some stuff that would freak out even the most diehard science fiction fans. I just want to crawl under a rock and die.