past her prime (my house).

Today is the babes first snow day of the year.
As I headed toward the stairs (in the dark, so as to not wake anyone) I hear from the boy, “Did it snow?”
I reply, “Yes, no school, go back to sleep.”
He yells, “YES!”
I roll my eyes, considering how hard it is to get him to wake up or even answer me when I shake him and say his name on any other morning.
I hit the road, heading to work and can't believe school was canceled for the little bit of snow we had this morning.
I get to work and …work, work, work…then I get a call from Mr. Bailey…
Apparently, after showering, the vent (upstairs) leaked water on him. When he looked up at the vent, he noticed that it was slightly discolored and wet on the ceiling next to the vent.
He tells me he needs my assistance tonight when I get home to climb up into the attic to have a look…RRRRRrrrrrr
I am MAD!!!
It never fails that whenever I think we are heading into smooth sailing I realize I have a hole in the boat!
I have a recent history with home repairs that I had posted earlier last year…

Titled: Murphy (as in Murphy's Law)

I have a squatter. I don’t know how he got in, but I know he’s here. He may have lived here as long as I have. I started to see signs that he was in my home a while ago, my memories have gotten a little fuzzy about when it all began. I believe it all started with a dead mouse. In the wall. I could handle a dead mouse on the kitchen floor or maybe even my bed room; after all, I have two rambunctious dogs known for killing baby bunnies. But no, it was in the wall. Our options were to wait out the smell or start punching random holes in the drywall. It really smelled. That poor little mouse never got the proper burial he deserved. I didn’t understand at the time that Murphy was responsible for this mouse in the wall. Next it was the fancy smooth top, programmable electric oven that had its brains fried in an electric storm. Did you know you should unplug your oven during a storm? Me Neither! Murphy was really setting down the law now. Next it was the kitchen garbage disposal that had sprung a leak. The smell was on a completely different plane than the little dead mouse. It must have been leaking for a good week under our sink. I still can’t buy the Febreeze scented Lysol that I used to clean up that mess. About the same time the beautiful windows that over look the pond and fountain that runs along the side of my house sprung a leak. Murphy must like that view as much as I do. I should rephrase leak to running water that had to have a bucket under it even if it was only sprinkling outside. The spring rains slowed enough to fix that leak and welcome summer in. Ahhh sunshine warming my skin and then warming my house. It was time to flip on the old A.C., but Murphy got there first. It was a hot 92 outside and a hotter 95 inside. I do not function well in the heat, it is UGLY. Let’s just leave it at that. We had to get that fixed right away; there are necessities that we have to provide for our children and pets. When we started to look at what needed replaced the furnace was so bad it also would have to be replaced…and they had to take out the water heater to get back in there so why not replace that also. At this point my blood is starting to boil. JUST FIX IT.

It looks like we won. How else could he get us? Enter the Christmas holidays, my house looks beautiful. We have the perfect tree that we cut in a nasty wet snow storm. The gifts are all wrapped, in advance, instead of on Christmas Eve. I was sleeping well at night…peace. My husband says I was sleeping too well. He says I was SNORING. Me? He grabbed a blanket and his pillow and headed down stairs. He didn’t turn on any lights as he walked down the stairs. When he reached the bottom he stepped into something cold, freezing cold. Our house was flooded. A pipe broke in the wall between the garage and family room. The garage was flooded also. Shiiioot. I took it in stride, I’ve been here before. I called the plumber, water restoration people, and insurance man and took care of business. So what, that we were only able to use half of our home on Christmas and the machines running in my house to suck it dry sounded like a jet was taking off. It was Christmas. Life goes on. So do you think I was surprised when my husband told me that there was water dripping from the downstairs bathroom vent last week? Nope. We consulted some experts who thought that it was just from condensation in the vent line. Sounded good to me. So this weekend when I decided to actually scrub the shower tile and not just spray it down with Tilex and rinse, I noticed a crack in the grout. Hmmmm. I stuck my fingernail in the edge and pulled just a little. Pop, pop, pop. Off came three tiles, easy, and its wet back behind there. Damn you, Murphy. I hate your laws and want nothing to do with them.

Anyway...by the magic of the internet I have now examined the area in question and it appears to indeed, at one time, had some sort of moisture there, but now everything is completely dry.
Hmmmm...
Think I'll run out and pick up some duct tape and a bottle of wine before the next wave of snow hits.

In other home repair news, Last night we had Jared from White Oak come and do an estimate for new windows and a sliding back door for us. After he was finished with his sales pitch he wanted us to sign a contract for his "special (don't tell the neighbors this deal) price" and went a little crazy slamming his display case around my kitchen when we wouldn't sign. He also wouldn't give me a copy of the estimate?! If you have had any windows done, please email me who you did/didn't like.