Things to do before Christmas

Househould things, that is. My mom is coming by for a visit next Friday so not much of this list is going to get done before then but I should most of, if not all, this stuff done before Shell comes by in December(!) Something tells me this is going to replace our (mostly) annual NYE get-together.

• plant winter grass (winter rye or fescue?)
• install medicine cabinet in second bathroom
• buy guest bedroom furniture
• replace showerheads in both bathrooms
• put up xmas light decorations on front lawn and windows (after turkey day)
• make sure house is baby-proof for Cameron
• new home theater system? maybe

Random thought

I like walking barefoot around my backyard. It feels great.

Halloween aftershocks (afterthoughts?)

Well, in spite of the plumbing problem last night, everything went off pretty well. A lot of kids showed up to get candy. More than I expected for a housing community with maybe 50-60 occupied houses. My filled-to-the-brim candy bowl (one of the big ones you can get at Wal-Mart) had only a few pieces left by the end.

Next year's going to be better. More lights and spooky stuff, which I couldn't do this year because of last weeks' car problems.

Boo!

gotcha! ;>

Punk'd on Halloween

While the kids were putting their dentists' kids through college tonight, I got tricked while they treated. A water pipe broke in the front yard. After an emergency call to the plumber, it turned out that a valve in the sprinkler system chose tonight to commit seppuku.

Fortunately, the house and sprinkler systems use separate lines so I was only without water for a couple of hours (a precautionary move done by a neighbor).

Darnit! This place is less than six months old. Three months since I moved in. This shouldn't have happened for a long time. Everything's still under warranty so it's not going to cost me anything to get it fixed.

Just goes to show: plastic parts are cheaper but not stronger than metal ones.

Car-blang!

Ouch! This was a painful week. My trusty ride, a 98 Jetta, has spent most of the week in the repair shop. The little slut's took most of my bank account with her. Fan belt replacements and fixing a busted cv boot on the axle will do that. When the service techs showed me how the axle was, I found myself being confronted by the ghost of Henry Ford, who looked at me and said, 'Didn't you learn auto maintenance 101?' 'Dunno,' I replied. 'B&N is backordered on 'Car Maintenance for Morons trying to be Dummies but failing.''

Call it 'bad carma'. :)

Anywho, at least my car will be good for another 100,000 miles or so.

Days like this

Days like today make me glad I live in a house, instead of an apartment.

• I have a nice, new home with an equally new roof!
• I have a garage so I can keep my car nice and dry in case I leave the windows down (which I do frequently).
• I have a garage door remote so I don't have to get out of the car in the pouring rain!