I often travel for work. I enjoy "coming home" now that I actually get to come to my own home - not some apartment - where I always felt like a visitor waiting on the next place to move to or struggling to find a real home to call my own.
It is great to drive up and see "my house" - I guess the newness hasn't worn off even after a few mortgage payments, a lockout, a busted pipe and a few wild snakes.
This has been an especially long week (traveling coast to coast every week has begun to wear on me) and I was especially eager to get home tonight - and especially since it was midnight. Instead of whipping into my driveway - I get cars - cars everywhere - cars blocking my house and my drive and no sign of anyone.
I always try to be sensitive when I street park - to make sure that I don't park illegally - including blocking driving or by fire hydrants. Apparently, this is not a concern everyone has.
Unfortunately, this story does not have a fun ending - there was no surprise welcome home party for me (which would have made a better story). Instead I got to park up the street, haul my luggage into the house and be greeted only by my 2 cats and you get to read my complaints. Coming home is still leagues better than going to the hotel!
Welcome home and welcome to city living.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Houston, We have a Problem!
I am a consultant - which either has me working from home or working from my current client site during the week. I have been lucky that I have not had to travel since I bought my house - as it makes settling in much easier.
Last week was like most any other week. During many days, I will host conference calls and lead WebEx meetings for hours at a time. Wednesday was no different. I had ended a call a few minutes early, and I heard something. It sounded like air or heat was on full force, except nothing was on. So quickly walked around the house and everything seemed fine - but I knew it wasn't. I walked outside to make sure the facet wasn't on - still nothing.
Then, I walk around to my crawl space. Water was seeping out from under the door - and when I opened it - it was several inches deep already. I freaked out. I was suppose to be leading a meeting for 2 hours - but I could not let my house sail away on the rising flood waters under my house.
I knew I need to cut the water off, but I didn't know where the shut off was. I called a plumber that had serviced the house before - he was across town. So, I had Tim go under the house while I tried to turn it off at the road. After wading through my snake-invested waterlogged crawl space, Tim was able to find the valve and turn it off.
Okay - so my house was not gushing water, it actually didn't have any water. My dad thought he could probably fix the problem - but he was traveling out of state. So, I could try to find a plumber - or wait until 2 days without water. Plumbers are very expensive - so I opted for the wait.
I survived with some gallons of fresh water and the rainwater from my rain-barrel. (If you don't have a rain-barrel, I highly recommend getting one.) Friday, Dad shows up and has everything fixed in under an hour. The problem? The connector of 2 pipes broke off. So now, my pipes are reconnected, my crawl space is all dried up, I got a lesson on how to turn off the water at my house and road, and I didn't have to pay an expensive plumber - thanks to the best dad in the world!
Last week was like most any other week. During many days, I will host conference calls and lead WebEx meetings for hours at a time. Wednesday was no different. I had ended a call a few minutes early, and I heard something. It sounded like air or heat was on full force, except nothing was on. So quickly walked around the house and everything seemed fine - but I knew it wasn't. I walked outside to make sure the facet wasn't on - still nothing.
Then, I walk around to my crawl space. Water was seeping out from under the door - and when I opened it - it was several inches deep already. I freaked out. I was suppose to be leading a meeting for 2 hours - but I could not let my house sail away on the rising flood waters under my house.
I knew I need to cut the water off, but I didn't know where the shut off was. I called a plumber that had serviced the house before - he was across town. So, I had Tim go under the house while I tried to turn it off at the road. After wading through my snake-invested waterlogged crawl space, Tim was able to find the valve and turn it off.
Okay - so my house was not gushing water, it actually didn't have any water. My dad thought he could probably fix the problem - but he was traveling out of state. So, I could try to find a plumber - or wait until 2 days without water. Plumbers are very expensive - so I opted for the wait.
I survived with some gallons of fresh water and the rainwater from my rain-barrel. (If you don't have a rain-barrel, I highly recommend getting one.) Friday, Dad shows up and has everything fixed in under an hour. The problem? The connector of 2 pipes broke off. So now, my pipes are reconnected, my crawl space is all dried up, I got a lesson on how to turn off the water at my house and road, and I didn't have to pay an expensive plumber - thanks to the best dad in the world!
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| I am Suzy Homemaker - hear my broken pipes gush! |
Monday, December 12, 2011
All the Rage in Christmas Decorating
As this will be my first Christmas in my new house - so I wanted to do it right. I was shocked to see Christmas stuff go up as soon as Halloween cleared out - maybe I shouldn't be as commercial as all holidays have become. As soon as I put away my skeletons and pumpkins, I started researching different Christmas tree themes since I would be starting from scratch.
While I grew up with a traditional tree filled with decorations made and bought over many years, I really had a desire to do something different. I started with lights - I decided that I would invest in LED. They have “Cool White” – which is more blue than the “Warm White” which is more yellow. I immediately loved the LED Cool White lights. Going with white would allow me to change around ornaments, but not have to reinvest in lights. So, I got 2 boxes – thinking that I would have a smaller tree and that would be good.
Then, I moved to ornaments. Almost immediately, I found a set of ornaments and I had my theme - red, lime, blue, and purple/pink. I have stars, bulbs, onion-shaped, balls and snow flakes - all in the themed colors.
Okay, lights and ornaments, check; now onto the tree. I knew right off that I wanted a live tree - preferably one that I cut down myself. So I ordered this really awesome stand that holds the tree up with a cable – you just set the tree in the base and then use the foot pump to tighten the cable. One person set up – the base is all hard plastic – so no metal feet to scratch my hardwoods!
Unfortunately, with a full holiday schedule, the dream of cutting my own tree died - especially since you have to go OTP to find a tree farm. I settled for a pre-cut one. Once it was home and in the stand – I knew exactly why my mother used an artificial tree. This tree is definitely not straight, has random holes, and sheds worse than my cats. On the bright side, it is no Charlie Brown tree and it smells nice.
After waiting a day for the limbs to relax into place, I put on my Christmas music and started decorating. I got nearly ½ way up the tree and ran out of lights. Typical. So I run to Target to get 3 more boxes. Only they don’t have ANY – and I mean ANY white lights. Typical. So I go next door to Lowe’s – they do not have ANY white lights either. Great.
I go home. I go online – this is why you have free next day shipping – right? Can’t find any Cool White LED lights online either. Are you kidding me, all of the internet doesn’t have lights for me? LED White lights must be the new black.
Target said that they had a “limited” stock of them at a store across town – so I risked it. The very nice stock boy helped me go through every box – we found 2 pre-opened boxes stuffed in the wrong place. I took them and told myself that I would make due.
Reading back over this I realize that I have not expressed this hunt for LED lights as I truly experienced it – but then as I think of ways to covey it – my blood pressure rises. I will keep it PG and say that I have learned my lesson at Christmas shopping and smile because hopefully I will not need lights for many years.
While I grew up with a traditional tree filled with decorations made and bought over many years, I really had a desire to do something different. I started with lights - I decided that I would invest in LED. They have “Cool White” – which is more blue than the “Warm White” which is more yellow. I immediately loved the LED Cool White lights. Going with white would allow me to change around ornaments, but not have to reinvest in lights. So, I got 2 boxes – thinking that I would have a smaller tree and that would be good.
Then, I moved to ornaments. Almost immediately, I found a set of ornaments and I had my theme - red, lime, blue, and purple/pink. I have stars, bulbs, onion-shaped, balls and snow flakes - all in the themed colors.
Okay, lights and ornaments, check; now onto the tree. I knew right off that I wanted a live tree - preferably one that I cut down myself. So I ordered this really awesome stand that holds the tree up with a cable – you just set the tree in the base and then use the foot pump to tighten the cable. One person set up – the base is all hard plastic – so no metal feet to scratch my hardwoods!
Unfortunately, with a full holiday schedule, the dream of cutting my own tree died - especially since you have to go OTP to find a tree farm. I settled for a pre-cut one. Once it was home and in the stand – I knew exactly why my mother used an artificial tree. This tree is definitely not straight, has random holes, and sheds worse than my cats. On the bright side, it is no Charlie Brown tree and it smells nice.
After waiting a day for the limbs to relax into place, I put on my Christmas music and started decorating. I got nearly ½ way up the tree and ran out of lights. Typical. So I run to Target to get 3 more boxes. Only they don’t have ANY – and I mean ANY white lights. Typical. So I go next door to Lowe’s – they do not have ANY white lights either. Great.
I go home. I go online – this is why you have free next day shipping – right? Can’t find any Cool White LED lights online either. Are you kidding me, all of the internet doesn’t have lights for me? LED White lights must be the new black.
Target said that they had a “limited” stock of them at a store across town – so I risked it. The very nice stock boy helped me go through every box – we found 2 pre-opened boxes stuffed in the wrong place. I took them and told myself that I would make due.
Reading back over this I realize that I have not expressed this hunt for LED lights as I truly experienced it – but then as I think of ways to covey it – my blood pressure rises. I will keep it PG and say that I have learned my lesson at Christmas shopping and smile because hopefully I will not need lights for many years.
Friday, December 2, 2011
My New Addition!
It seems that EVERYONE is expecting new additions (babies) right now (I swear I have at least 10 friends who are expecting now - and that doesn't even count how many friends have recently had kids). For any reader who does not know me well, let me tell you - that is not the plans for me in the immediate future.
Besides not being married, my career is not exactly in a place where I could have kids. Actually, for the longest time, I was not even in a position to have a pet fish. But recently, with a new house and a boyfriend that has time... things have changed.
So... last weekend I adopted 2 cats from Fur Kids (a large no kill shelter). I would love to have a huge dog - but that would require a bit more time and effort than I can offer. And 2 cats are better than 1 - as they can play with each other.
Now, about the cats, 2 brothers - Gizmo and Gremlin - about 18 months old and HUGE. Both are still skiddish and getting used to being in the house - I am not sure if they have ever lived in a house before. I have found that they like watching tv, sleeping all day, and partying all night - not far from many people I know.
Almost every night I wake up to them running from one end of the house to the other - I call them thunder cats because it is so loud. Sometimes they like to wake me up by jumping up on the bed - usually right on my head. Then during the day - when they could be up - they just lay around. I should have expected no less.
These cats hit the jackpot - from shelter to ruling the house - they have hit easy street. Here is how I find them most of the time (when they are not causing chaos at night):
Besides not being married, my career is not exactly in a place where I could have kids. Actually, for the longest time, I was not even in a position to have a pet fish. But recently, with a new house and a boyfriend that has time... things have changed.
So... last weekend I adopted 2 cats from Fur Kids (a large no kill shelter). I would love to have a huge dog - but that would require a bit more time and effort than I can offer. And 2 cats are better than 1 - as they can play with each other.
Now, about the cats, 2 brothers - Gizmo and Gremlin - about 18 months old and HUGE. Both are still skiddish and getting used to being in the house - I am not sure if they have ever lived in a house before. I have found that they like watching tv, sleeping all day, and partying all night - not far from many people I know.
Almost every night I wake up to them running from one end of the house to the other - I call them thunder cats because it is so loud. Sometimes they like to wake me up by jumping up on the bed - usually right on my head. Then during the day - when they could be up - they just lay around. I should have expected no less.
These cats hit the jackpot - from shelter to ruling the house - they have hit easy street. Here is how I find them most of the time (when they are not causing chaos at night):
Things are starting to feel like a home around here.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Cold Blooded Snakes!
Fall is a time for cooler weather - which is always a nice break from the scorching summers we have here in the South. With the cooler weather, I always personally look forward all of the bugs, mosquitoes, and snakes heading south or underground or dying - whatever they do in the winter, good riddance.
With the changing of the weather, the leaves were beautiful this year - but resulted in about million dead leaves to clean up. I can't complain really, I love the fact that I have trees (even though I think many of the leaves come from my neighbors - but I am sure my trees are just as friendly and share back).
So this weekend, I headed out to do another round of cleanup - before the rain was suppose to come in. The first rake-ful of leaves I pull back - what happens? Oh, that is right, a snake jets out from the leaves. At this point, I really believe I have a snake infestation on my property somewhere.
I kept raking the snake back into the street until Tim was able to find a stone and drop it on the snake's head to kill it. So it wasn't big - but it was a snake - and it is now dead. Whatever happened to snakes avoiding the cooler weather? It makes you think twice before picking up leaves with your hands.
PS - The rake in the picture - is amazing - it cuts your raking time down. I can do my entire back yard in under 30 minutes. Now bagging leaves - I will have to get back to you on a time saver once I find a good one!
With the changing of the weather, the leaves were beautiful this year - but resulted in about million dead leaves to clean up. I can't complain really, I love the fact that I have trees (even though I think many of the leaves come from my neighbors - but I am sure my trees are just as friendly and share back).
So this weekend, I headed out to do another round of cleanup - before the rain was suppose to come in. The first rake-ful of leaves I pull back - what happens? Oh, that is right, a snake jets out from the leaves. At this point, I really believe I have a snake infestation on my property somewhere.
I kept raking the snake back into the street until Tim was able to find a stone and drop it on the snake's head to kill it. So it wasn't big - but it was a snake - and it is now dead. Whatever happened to snakes avoiding the cooler weather? It makes you think twice before picking up leaves with your hands.
Beware snakes - I am Suzy Homemaker!
PS - The rake in the picture - is amazing - it cuts your raking time down. I can do my entire back yard in under 30 minutes. Now bagging leaves - I will have to get back to you on a time saver once I find a good one!
Friday, November 18, 2011
The Death of McDonalds
My name is Suzanne and I was addicted to McDonald's. The first step is admitting you have a problem right? Yeah, McDonald's is supposedly bad and America is obese - but their fries have the some awesome drug in them and they have mastered the Coke formula. That just kept bringing me back- back multiple times a week.
And then I hiked around Peru (see last post). When you are bent over, gasping for air, covered in sweat - AND being easily passed by people that are twice your age - you take a moment (well, you are already taking a moment - but you think).
So, on the side of a mountain in Peru, I decided to kick my addiction. I would rather climb mountains in my 60s than eat with Ronald McDonald a few times a week. I am proud to say that this week was my 2 month marker of not eating or drinking ANYTHING from McDonald's.
I have been tested multiple times - even had to drive my brother through the drive-through and sit in a car while he ate is order. I still crave it from time to time - and eventually I will probably have it again - but I don't need it anymore.
And then I hiked around Peru (see last post). When you are bent over, gasping for air, covered in sweat - AND being easily passed by people that are twice your age - you take a moment (well, you are already taking a moment - but you think).
So, on the side of a mountain in Peru, I decided to kick my addiction. I would rather climb mountains in my 60s than eat with Ronald McDonald a few times a week. I am proud to say that this week was my 2 month marker of not eating or drinking ANYTHING from McDonald's.
I have been tested multiple times - even had to drive my brother through the drive-through and sit in a car while he ate is order. I still crave it from time to time - and eventually I will probably have it again - but I don't need it anymore.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
So I have this fear....
So I really don't like heights (okay, snakes aren't that high on my list either) - but I am truly scared of heights. I have occasionally gotten the rebuttal that I am already really tall and other jokes about not liking high places when I am over 6 feet myself. Maybe it is more the fear of falling than the heights - but you don't have to worry about the falling if you don't go up high.
I have recently tried to push myself out of my comfort zone so that I try new things. 3 things come to mind that I have done:
1. Gone skydiving (some say jumping out of a perfectly good plane).
I will NEVER do this again. While the falling was scary initially, my weak stomach and tendency towards motion sickness took over after a few seconds. As much as people would love to hear that I tossed my cookies on my jump instructor - I held it together until almost 30 after the crash landing, and then felt sick the rest of the day. Not my idea of a good time.
2. Hiked up an extremely steep mountain in Peru.
I loved Peru - and actually encourage everyone to go. As an additional excursion in Machu Picchu, you can high up Waynu Picchu - which is the mountain closest to the ruins and in background of most of our pictures. You need to be part goat to climb this - and even though my family raises goats - I do NOT have the the stability or stamina of a goat that is needed to easily climb this mountain when you are already several thousand above sea level (at the base!).
Needless to say, switchback paths with little or no safety measure if you were to lose your footing, was again, not my idea of fun. But, when in Peru... So I finally made it to the top - thinking there would a lookout platform. Americans, this is no Stone Mountain. At the top, you climb a ladder (think sticks tied together) to the top of a steep rock - which is the peak of the mountain. People were actually walking around on it. I climbed out - well inched out on my butt - just so I could say I did it. I was visibility shaking, I did look over, and then promptly climbed back down. I am glad I did it - but I wouldn't do that again either.
(That is right - I climbed to the top of that pointed mountain and this picture is taken from high up on a side of a mountain already!)
3. Cleaned my skylights on my porch. So after you jump out of a plane and summit a crazy mountain - climbing on your house seems like small beans. To make it interesting a used a ladder that was twisted and never quite rested on all 4 points. The windows got cleaned, and I my heart still raced a little bit.
I have recently tried to push myself out of my comfort zone so that I try new things. 3 things come to mind that I have done:
1. Gone skydiving (some say jumping out of a perfectly good plane).
I will NEVER do this again. While the falling was scary initially, my weak stomach and tendency towards motion sickness took over after a few seconds. As much as people would love to hear that I tossed my cookies on my jump instructor - I held it together until almost 30 after the crash landing, and then felt sick the rest of the day. Not my idea of a good time.
2. Hiked up an extremely steep mountain in Peru.
I loved Peru - and actually encourage everyone to go. As an additional excursion in Machu Picchu, you can high up Waynu Picchu - which is the mountain closest to the ruins and in background of most of our pictures. You need to be part goat to climb this - and even though my family raises goats - I do NOT have the the stability or stamina of a goat that is needed to easily climb this mountain when you are already several thousand above sea level (at the base!).
Needless to say, switchback paths with little or no safety measure if you were to lose your footing, was again, not my idea of fun. But, when in Peru... So I finally made it to the top - thinking there would a lookout platform. Americans, this is no Stone Mountain. At the top, you climb a ladder (think sticks tied together) to the top of a steep rock - which is the peak of the mountain. People were actually walking around on it. I climbed out - well inched out on my butt - just so I could say I did it. I was visibility shaking, I did look over, and then promptly climbed back down. I am glad I did it - but I wouldn't do that again either.
3. Cleaned my skylights on my porch. So after you jump out of a plane and summit a crazy mountain - climbing on your house seems like small beans. To make it interesting a used a ladder that was twisted and never quite rested on all 4 points. The windows got cleaned, and I my heart still raced a little bit.
I am Suzy Homemaker - hear me roar!
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