Germany shows Portugal the strength of another inch

Today's blog title comes courtesy of Vanilla Wafer's spam box.
Aw VW. I miss you.
This post is loosely based on the Wonder prompt for GBE2 this week. 

I haven't written in a few weeks. Blame it on the changing weather and SADS.
First, my grammie became ill. That was a distraction. Then my semi-annual sinus-infection appeared. After that I stopped sleeping. I do not enjoy the Fall as much as I should.
In between those events, Uncle Handyman did what all handymen do. He disappeared. I learned later that he was with Grammie. So, all is forgiven. Kinda.
During this time I acquired a houseguest. mmmm, an intermittent houseguest.
Wonderful....

She is an OPK, daughter of my cousin.

I shall call the little houseguest, Bebe.

At 17 years old she is quite sassy. Delightfully so.
I invited her to use my house computer to apply for jobs.
She took me up on the offer.

That is what she said when she entered my home

Sadly, Uncle Handyman's worker left messes everywhere. I avoided cleaning for the fear that he would return to leave another mess after his departure.
I finally had to tell Uncle Handyman that I didn't want his worker in my home by himself because he was slow and messy.
Unfortunately, Grammie's illness required Uncle Handyman to leave his worker unattended to take her to appointments. Finally, I paid them to leave.
And what a mess his worker left.
At least I have this to report

	Old kitchen ceiling
New kitchen ceiling

Back to my cousin visiting me. I enjoyed Bebe's visits. If you follow my OPK tag you will note that I find OPK's to be full of wonder and humor. I am honored that any child would share my company. Bebe's visit warmed my biological clock. It may have started ticking again.
I would pick Bebe up or her mom would drop her off to my house. After settling her things, Bebe would log into the computer, apply for jobs, connect with friends on facebook, and watch TV. Someone would escort the teenager back to her own house after a few hours. Her half day visits turned into overnight visits without much warning.

But this presented a problem, so I asked
	She responded with an exaggerated shrug of her shoulders.

She put it back on me. I had to find her a way to school in the morning.
This is how OPKs get over on me. Their problems become my problems.
Remember a few years back when my nephew turned me into his personal valet? Just imagine me tying the shoes of an eight year old boy because I was too silly to recognize his deceit.
Since I had somehow become a personal assistant to Bebe, I contacted Leeza, the next door neighbor. She agreed to carpool both Bebe and her daughter to School.
Problem solved.
I informed Bebe that she would not miss School. Unimpressed, she mumbled, "Okay."


One day, I spotted her wearing my clothes. When I asked, she explained that she was cold. Okay, I guess. Resourceful, I thought.
Sitting in living room after a long day of work, I pick up my roommate to select a channel and I noticed that she had created and labeled her own Favorites list of channels on the cable. I found this amusing.

A few days later, I found new recordings on the DVR. Bebe had set the timer for a few of her shows.
My snacks were dwindling, as well. I went to the store and bought some microwaveable snacks for her to eat after School. I wanted her out of my rice cakes. I need them for my Nutella. Oh, I gave her a key to the house so she could use the computer.
My sister started teasing me that I had a new roommate. I began to wonder if she was right. Then I thought about it.


I reminded her that roommates pay rent. Bebe, ate my food, used my computer, slept in my bed, left her dirty clothes for me to wash but did not pay rent.She was an OPK. Not my teenager.
Just to prove it, I asked Bebe to dust mop the floor on her next visit. I demonstrated the technique, assured her that it wasn't like sweeping or mopping. She agreed.... But she also has not returned to the house.
I wonder why.

Jizz inside her again and again

Ownership The joys of homeownership.
This week's GBE2 prompt is ownership.

I thought this would be the blog entry to update you on the Possum Occupation of 2011. This is the hole dug along my foundation.Uncle Handyman felt that since he was digging along my foundation then he should check for leaks.

This is the worker looking for the possum entrance.

So much for the garden. Contractors don't respect anything. I got a call saying that they were there, I rush home and my clematis is already destroyed. Uncle Handyman determined that the possum must have dug a hold under the house addition.

This should have happened as the building codes stipulate construction should go to at least 5 feet below the ground. The previous owner only oversaw the depth of 3 cinderblocks. This makes sense to men. Have at it.

What remains of my collard greens. I think there is enough for one half of a holiday meal. That is a lot of dirt. When they attempted to fill the holes the backyard did not appear to be level. As if, more dirt joined the party. I am still trying to level the back yard before the frost.

They found it. Uncle Handyman compelled me to jump into the cavity in my backyard and see the possum hole for myself. I didn't want to do it. But here is the proof that I did.

A better view for you. I had to reach up to get this photo.

This entry makes me nostalgic. I began blogging shortly after I purchased my house. So many things went wrong in the first six months.
I would link you to those old entries but they went away with Yahoo! 360. That experience taught me to have two sites, one acting like a backup

I found some pictures that were used in the original blog:

Fall of 2004. I hired a company to remodel the upstairs bathroom. When they were complete, I complained that the water pressure was too low.I described it as showering in a rainstorm. Their attempts to review the problem and my plumbing resulted in a discovering that the water main had completely rusted.

Their manipulations caused it to rupture and the City issued a notice to me. My co-workers still refer to my homestead as the Lake House. One even took the time to create an neat image of my house with a lake in front of it. I started a blog not long after this incident.

This is how the front lawn looked in Spring 2005.It recovered from the excavation from the Fall. I ended up firing the original contract company and filing a complaint against them. Long story... that I can't link you to because the journal entry is gone.

I learned as time went by that like contractors, Handymen can be very undependable. Each would get so far in the repairs and then disappear. I hired my first handyman in 2006 and he addressed my curb appeal.

nThe new handyman, Scott, reseeded my lawn. He disappeared before he could build a rain barrel for me. I believe that was around Spring of 2007. I made one for myself using a chisel, pantyhose, grated pipe cover, roofing tar and a threaded hose. Uncle Handyman said that he never saw anything like that before.

This was the only time I have had a real lawn. I remember that Spring in 2005. Just look at it. Scott fixed the poor jobs that the contractors had left behind in my basement. I liked Scott. By the end of the Fall, I felt that I could handle all future home repair issues by myself.

When my bedroom closet, that I had PROUDLY hung, fell, I had to call back Scott to fix it. I sat on the floor crying after it fell. I almost fired him when he told me that I had too many shoes. HOW DARE HE.
In 2006, I redecorated the porch by myself. See the pictures here. Scott was out of the picture by then having left me hanging without a water barrel. I found a new handyman in 2008, Mark. He fixed some of the errors committed by Scott. He left without a word and with half the dining room molding stripped of stain.I think that was in 2009. The next guy that I used did his own disappearing act after not properly sealing the flat roof. After that incident, I decided to only work with family and Uncle Handyman.
After a few years of this I learned to live with the little inconveniences and the gray hairs.
This Spring, the light fixture in the kitchen crashes to the floor leaving two holes in the ceiling, it doesn't bother me. I ask Cousin L to install this light fixture.

I think it is a great fix. Uncle Handyman laughed.


Look at what this guy did




see more There I Fixed It

Let me provide you with a listing of my favorite home ownership adventures that survived the move to Multiply and Blogger.

1. Strays: I wrote about roommates that reminded me of stray animals. I have since learned to be more particular.
So, my recent roommate entries have been about great people.
2. Yard work:
*I have written extensively about my lack of lawn care management skills and; grass.
*My attempts at mulching, growing and gardening are documented
3. Outdoor pests: My feral cat problems, which continue to plague me, again
4. My life with my neighbors and that one annoying family across the street
5. That time my TV brokeDay 2 and Day 4
6. Changing handyman because they like to disappear. This is the only surviving handyman entry-the Case of the leaking bathroom vent
7.The mysterious pooing of 2008
8. The flying trashcan
9. The insane house cats: Fuzzy, Fattie, Halle
10. The gnome that protects my home and garden
11. The bat infiltration of 2010 
Blogging has been loads of fun and given me an outlet for my home ownership adventures. Thanks for reading.