The Money Pit

Some of my readers may remember the Tom Hanks movie The Money Pit from 1986. Now, I haven't had any bathtubs fall through the floor, but I have spent an inordinate amount of money on my house this week. The one positive is that we have a savings account for household upgrades and repairs, although it's seriously depleted at the moment.

It all started with a sprinkler system. For the 13 years that we've lived in this house we've hauled hoses across the yard, hooked them up to sprinkler heads, and had to be around to get all of the watering completed (yeah, total first-world problem). So we've been saving and decided that this spring we'd get a sprinkler system installed. We got a couple of quotes and decided to go with the company who told us our water pressure was a little low so we should have a plumber out to look at that.

I asked my husband to talk with the plumbers about our water heater while they were out. About 10 years ago we got a tankless water heater installed, and it was wonderful. Then about 8 years ago the plumbing company (which is no longer in business) told us they could make our home really energy efficient by putting in an air-handler and setting up a heat exchange system instead of having a furnace. They told us it was new technology. What they failed to tell us was that it was using a water heater in a way it had never been intended to be used. We've had problems with having enough water pressure to keep the tankless water switched on ever since when we're doing dishes or showering.

So the plumbing company came out to increase our water pressure, and broke the news to us that we really need a boiler (which is really expensive) if we're using a heat exchange system. Also, since we'd been essentially overworking the water heater all those years, it was nearing the end of its life. That meant a new furnace and a new water heater. I put my foot down at a new air conditioner; we told them they could just service the existing unit. When they installed the new water heater, we were reminded about an improperly wired outlet. We knew about that one before, but it hadn't mattered for a long time. So then the electrician had to come out and fix that.

Now we're finally getting the sprinkler system installed, after spending significantly more money than we'd ever planned on; and now I'm feeling like I'd rather rent again! My husband keeps trying to comfort me by reminding me that there shouldn't be anything else in the house that will break any time soon. I sure hope he's right!!

Paint, Carpet, and Chaos

Bee on our flowers

My wonderful husband who doesn't work during the summer (he's a teacher) always takes care of all the housework during these months and tackles a rather daunting honey-do list.  The weekend before last he painted and we now have a cheerful green accent wall in our living room and family room.  Yesterday he cleaned all of the carpets.  While I'm extremely appreciative that those things got done (and that I didn't have to do much work), the house has been in a bit of a shambles since one has to move furniture to paint and clean carpets.  Thus no blog post yesterday, because it was just too hard to get to my computer.  Well...maybe that's just an excuse since it's a laptop.  But we did go out to dinner and then my husband and son went for a bike ride while my daughter and I went for a walk.  So we just weren't in the house very much yesterday.

I do have a funny story to share from yesterday.  Since we needed to be out of the house to let the carpets dry, we went out to dinner last night.  My son (he's ten) ordered macaroni and cheese bites.  I asked him how his dinner was and he answered me, "hot...just like our waitress."  Did I mention that he's ten?!  We've got a real lady's man on our hands.

Things are going to be incredibly busy over the next few weeks.  We've got family coming into town tonight, and then different family coming in on the 19th.  So my posts may be a little spotty for a time since I think my evenings are going to be spoken for.  But I guess it's good to have plenty to do on summer evenings.  I hope you're all having a great summer, and I promise to post as often as possible.  Even if it's just a humorous anecdote featuring my son!

Stormy skies

More stormy skies

Before and After

This morning I got to sit in my empty family room for the first time since we moved into our house over 11 years ago.

Our fireplace is a bit messy because we were trying to keep things out of the way for our new furniture delivery.

Here's the picture of our family room a few hours later with our new furniture (the fireplace hasn't been picked up yet).

I actually had very mixed feelings about getting the new furniture today.  We ordered it a couple of months ago and when we had everyone over for my daughter's birthday party in March, my dad was asking when he'd get to see the new furniture.  So it was a little sad getting it today and knowing he'd never see it.  I know this will continue to get easier, but I think there are going to be things that happen for at least a year that will feel like a gut punch when I realize that my dad won't be here to share the experiences any longer.

The new sofa and loveseat are very comfortable and I think they look nice.  For years the kids have had to use bean bags when we watched movies together as a family.  Now they have their own reclining seats to sit in, and they got the old furniture in their basement playroom to use with their friends.  So even though this is another part of the grief of loss that I have to deal with; I'm still glad we received our furniture today.