It Could Be Worse, Right?

Baseboards are done, bedroom doors are replaced, the broken tile in the bathroom has been replaced and grouted, the old room electric heat controls have all been removed, and I have half hardheartedly started painting.  The entry door has 2 coats of varnish on it (it looks fabulous by the way), and the new sliding glass door and new door to the garage will be delivered tomorrow morning.

And just as I suspected, the more work we do, the more we find to do.  If I learned one lesson here, it's to not put off house maintenance!  It's always seemed overwhelming to me, but if I had done one thing at a time, I'd be ready to put my house on the market.

Today was supposed to be tree day, but I got a call this morning saying that the owner had poison oak all over his body, and that he needed several days to recover.  Bummer.  I was really looking forward to the positive changes tree trimming and removal was going to make, especially to my backyard.

Next week the tub is getting refinished, hopefully the fence will get done, and siding repaired.  Tonight I worked on a Pinterest project; picked up some trim molding and stained it with the stain I had leftover from the entry door.  It'll be cut to "frame" the huge mirror in the downstairs bathroom.  There's not enough room to actually frame it, so it will be glued to the mirror with Liquid Nails.  The downstairs bathroom is the ugliest room in the house, so any little bit helps.

I have the whole week of Thanksgiving off, so I can finish my painting chores then if I don't finish them this weekend.  I really hate painting.

Sweat Equity

I have a list of tasks that need to get done before I can put my house on the market.  It seems like an awfully long list, but I know that once I get started it'll all be done before I know it.  The list is separated by items I can do myself versus tasks I need others to do.

This weekend I have spray painted the gas fireplace surround (very successful), spray painted an old air intake vent (not so great), sanded and painted a patch my contractor left on the wall upstairs after fixing HIS plumbing mistake (bastard), and started work on my entry door.

When I first looked at the door, I thought for sure it would need to be replaced.  The finish was peeling, and it squeaks when opening.  But knowing that my budget is tight, I decided to see if I could refinish it instead.  First I sanded off what varnish I could, then put paint stripper on the parts I couldn't get to.  Then I put a coat of Gunstock stain on the door.  It doesn't look half bad!  I'll add a second coat in a couple of hours, let it dry overnight, then do a couple coats of varnish.

Lowes finally delivered my baseboard and bedroom doors this morning.  They were supposed to be here Friday morning - they called Thursday afternoon and said that they didn't have a driver.  I explained that I had already taken the day off and really needed the baseboards - she said they'd get them to me sometime on Friday.  Friday night they called and said that the truck broke down, and could they please deliver on Saturday instead?  I called bulls**t on that one; was the truck broke or did they not have a driver?  Profuse apologies and waiving the delivery fee later, I hung up.

Saturday...all day...no Lowes truck and no phone call.  By this point I was resigned to not getting my stuff until Monday.  My handyman was waiting for the delivery so he could start, but he has a doctor's appointment on Monday, so now he can't start work until Tuesday.

This morning (Sunday) I got the phone call - Lowe's will be here in an hour.  I didn't take my frustrations out on the drivers; I don't think they actually work for Lowes anyway.  Since we're expecting another round of cold and rain Tuesday, I guess I'll be painting baseboards on my birthday (tomorrow).  Good thing I took the day off to celebrate!

All You Need to Do is Ask

I vowed that this winter was the year I was finally get my house fixed up and ready for sale.  It's sometimes overwhelming the list of items that have to get done, and the list seems to get longer by the day.

I separated the list by what I could do and what I needed to hire out for, and went to Lowes for supplies for the jobs I could do myself.  As I was pondering what brush would work for varnish (my entry door), a man behind me asked what I was going to paint.  Assuming it was a Lowes employee, I answered before turning around, then discovered that it was just another shopper who saw the confused look on my face and stopped to help.

As we discussed the project, he gave me all sorts of helpful hints, and then as he was walking away offered up his card.  He's a handyman!  I hired him on the spot.

Today he came to the house and we discussed my projects.  Some things, like the sliding glass door which I thought I'd have to replace, he said he can fix instead.  We measured for doors and baseboards and then headed to Lowes for supplies.

Since the supplies won't be delivered until Friday, I got lunch at Taco Bell and headed home.  My first bite of taco was interrupted by a knock on the door.  I answered it, thinking my handyman forgot something.  It was a man, probably a Gypsy, selling his services door to door.  He offered to clean and seal my vinyl siding, and his price kept going lower and lower while I stood there and listened.  

It's on my list to do.  Okay, it's on my list to call someone to do if we want to be honest.  

And I don't pay him until it's done to my satisfaction.  And he'll do it right now and be done in less than 3 hours.  

"Okay", I said.  He and his wife are doing it now, and from what I see so far it looks a lot better than it did.  The front porch looks all clean and shiny, even under the eaves.

One of the items on my list was one I felt I could tackle, even though it involved electrical.  The switch on my old closet pull chain light had broken last fall, and the only way to turn the light on was to screw the light bulb in.  To turn the light off?  You guessed it; unscrew the light bulb.  Before I left for Lowes I figured it would be good to measure the old fixture, so I climbed up on the step ladder to do just that.  For grins and giggles, I pulled the cord too.

It fixed itself.  Or my housekeeper fixed it this summer while I was gone.  Or a miracle happened.  Anyway, it was the first item I could cross off my list!

I got the hedges trimmed and a hinge fixed too.  Three down, a million to go.

My point in all of this, is that sometimes when you truly have an intention, the universe puts people in front of you to help you.  Instead of not answering the door like I normally would, I took a chance and there was someone willing to help me accomplish my goal.  By striking up a conversation in a hardware store, I found a handyman who is already acting like a father to me, offering to show me what's wrong and how to fix stuff (like the leaky toilet flapper).  

And Gypsies are cleaning my house as we speak.  One more item off my list, and one more day closer to achieving my goal!

On the Road Again

I just spent the week in Santiago, Chile, where it's springtime and bursting with flowers and green.  The flight down was miserable - 10 hours of trying to find a comfortable way to sleep when you can't even stretch your legs out.  The entertainment system didn't work on the 777, nor did the wifi, so there wasn't a whole lot to do except try to sleep!



So on the flight back, I expected more of the same.  This time the plane was an even older 767 - no entertainment system and no wifi.  The older gentleman that arrived at his seat next to me introduced himself by saying "oh, so you're the unlucky one that has to sit by me?".

Oh boy.

Turns out he was a sweet Southerner from Tulsa, and we chatted for quite a long time.  He mentioned that he never at the soft cheese wrapped in a triangle shape that usually came on the dinner plate - I told him that I actually liked that cheese.  You know, innocuous conversation that is pleasant and makes the time go faster.

Dinner service came, and both flight attendants treated us like we were one of the family - when I asked for a beer, she gave me two.  Cheerful, friendly, and funny - that was Kay and Kirina.  I haven't had service like that in years, especially in economy class!

Later, I settled in to try and rest some, and and my seatmate did the same.  I woke up in the middle of the night, and saw that someone had tried to tuck him in.  He told me never uses the pillow or blanket, but he had a blanket on his lap, and pillow behind his head.

Then I noticed the cheese.  Someone had placed two pieces of cheese on my armrest while I was sleeping.  In the morning I asked the flight attendants which one of them overhead my conversation - they claimed they didn't do it.  They even asked the flight attendant further back if he had done it - nope!  And neither did my seatmate.

It's a flight like that that makes me realize why I loved traveling all those years.  Little acts of kindness that mean so much when you're exhausted and just want to be home.

Oh, and Chile was nice too.

Why Am I So Afraid to Follow My Dream?

I have the opportunity to make my dream come true, and it's causing me no end of anxiety.

My dream?  To live in Minnesota full-time, in a house in the country, with big gardens and maybe even a chicken coop out back.

There's a sweet piece of land for sale in a subdivision outside of town I've long loved.  It's 2 acres, half wooded, with no special covenants or assessments.  It has tarred roads, and I've been told that they're kept plowed in the winter.  The builder I like looked at the land with me, and says that it's a good spot for building, albeit it after they move some dirt around to build up the low spots.

I have really, really, good credit, and started the pre-approval process a couple of months ago just to see what the banks said I could afford.  It was WAY more than I thought, and WAY more than I want to spend at any rate.  But it really expanded my view on what I could have, and with the interest rates being so low, my payment wouldn't be any more than what I'm paying for my old house in Texas (note: it's a 15-year mortgage, plus I pay $500 extra a month on the principle.  It will be paid off in March 2016).

So why the fear?  I'm scared of getting in over my head.  Those 2 acres will need to be mowed (well, part of it anyway), and snow removed.  I've never operated a snow blower in my life, though I guess I could learn.  Building a new home seems so daunting to me, and I'm just positive that there's a key piece that I'll need that isn't covered in the cost.  My builder has already told me about the driveway, septic system, water well, and bringing fill dirt/excavation.  Appliances are also extra - that pro range I want might not be possible.

What if my house in Texas doesn't sell?  Where do I get the money for the down-payment for the land?  Should I just take out a 401k loan and buy the land with cash?

Am I too old to start over in a new place?  Am I fooling myself that I can handle it on my own?

But then I go back to the dream.  Entertaining family after their day on Detroit Mountain skiing (it's only about a mile away) in front of a fire.  Watching the deer right outside the window.  Having the room (and storage) to can/freeze/dry all of the fresh produce I can grow in my many raised beds on the property.  Working in my 4-season porch with expansive views on 2 sides.  Hiking in the woods and on the many trails nearby.  Watching the leaves turn.  The first snow of the season dusting the ground.

Even better, not having to pack up and move twice a year across country (yeah, I'm really dreading that trip in a couple of weeks).

Anatomy of a Migraine

It's been more than a year since I had a full-blown migraine, or I should say one that I wasn't able to head off at the pass before it got bad enough to make me wish I hadn't gotten out of bed that day.

I woke up with a headache; that's typically how they start for me.  If I'm smart and take two Tylenol right away, often times it stays a dull roar all day.  Today I was busy with work stuff, and chose to ignore the headache.  It stayed a dull roar most of the morning.  I had coffee like always, and some raspberries for breakfast.

Then WHAM, the headache went from a dull roar to a gut-clenching, soul-killing, head-throbbing, make me want to puke kind of pain that I had almost forgotten about.  It happened so fast I literally got on a conference call and bowed out immediately, saying I was ill.

I finally took the Tylenol, but it was already too late.  My migraines include a runny nose, sneezing, diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting.  Sometimes a hot shower helps, even though it's contrary to what the physiology of a migraine is.  A migraine supposedly results from dilated blood vessels; they get big and set off the pain.  And cold will shrink the blood vessels; heat will expand them.

Yet for years, a hot shower with the water directed at the back of my head has brought relief, along with breathing in eucalyptus and peppermint essential oil while in the steam.  Not so today.  I took two hot showers, with vomiting in between, and pacing the floor in between that.  I'm not one that can lay down in a dark room with a migraine - it makes the pain worse, so I have to sit up or stand up for the worst of it.  But past history has shown me that the vomiting signals the end or nearly the end.  I was finally able to lay down propped up on 4 pillows and wait it out.  With my eyes closed I could see shapes like an old fashioned kaleidoscope, all silvery and moving together.

I finally dozed off, and when I next opened my eyes, sweet relief.  I'm never more thankful for feeling normal (well, mostly normal) than after a bad migraine.  I feel shaky, out of it, still with little appetite, and a bit headachy, but compared to what it was like just a couple of hours ago, I'll take it!

Tomato Tomahto

Last week I was too late - a lady bought the bushel of Roma tomatoes just as I got in line at my favorite Farmer's Market vendor, Lida Farm.  And oh, did she gloat!

So this week I got there early, and was the first person in line; in fact the booth wasn't even set up yet, so I "helped" display the peppers, cukes, cherry tomatoes, kale, beets, corn, and assorted other beauties.  I saw the bushel of Romas behind the table and told Ryan (the farmer) that I'd take 'em all.  He thought that it was about 25 pounds, but having experience carrying 30 and 40 pound containers of cat litter, I think it was closer to 30 pounds.

He also had some yellow Romas - I couldn't resist those either, but stopped at 2 quarts.  And took two ginormous red onions, a dozen jalapenos, a bunch of basil, and a dozen ears of corn.

So what does one do with 30 pounds of tomatoes?

First up - dehydrating.  I took the yellow Romas and some of the little red Romas and cut them in half and put them skin side down in the dehydrator.  These babies were juicy; I cooked 'em 12 hours yesterday and only some are ready.  Once dry, they'll be vacuum packed and frozen for the long journey back to Texas.  To use, I'll pour boiling water over them and let them reconstitute for about 30 minutes, then use them for pasta, stews, bruschetta, etc.

Next up, I made a batch of basil garlic tomato sauce for the canner.  I can see throwing some meatballs in this sauce and slow cooking it all day.

I still have two large bowls of tomatoes left, so today I'll can some in their own juice, and also make some salsa.  I don't have any cilantro, and I'm feeling very lazy today, so I might wait until tomorrow after I can get to the store.  Since I'll likely be giving all the salsa away, I'll use cilantro even though I can't stand the stuff (apparently I'm genetically special in that regard, as was Julia Child).

I also have a few tomato plants of my own.  The Cherokee Purples are gorgeous and so sweet!  And with the cukes I have growing up a small trellis, I made a delicious and simple salad Friday night.

I added feta cheese just before serving.  The vinaigrette was olive oil and red wine vinegar, with salt, pepper, and a little za'atar thrown in.  Za'atar is a Lebanese spice mix of thyme, sumac, and toasted sesame seeds, which I can't seem to get enough of.  Order it from Amazon.com since you're unlikely to find it in a grocery store around here.  It's also the traditional topping for Labneh, which is nothing but regular yogurt with some salt added that's been strained in cheesecloth for a couple of days until it's the texture of cream cheese, but oh so much better tasting (and better for you).  Top the labneh with extra virgin olive oil and za'atar and eat with Pita bread, veggies, or chips.