Update November 11

And the phone saga continues . . .

Since we've moved in, we've had a great deal of trouble with the phones. One day they'll work, another you just get static, some days you can call out but people can't call in . . . it's just crazy. So the exasperated phone guy came out, rewired the entire house (we think?) and left. Rich called me from the land line . . . it was beautiful. And now it doesn't work again. I'm getting so tired of calling them and paying for a month of service that doesn't work. I just love flushing money down the toilet!

Speaking of flushing money, I took my car in to the dealership because a Supplemental Restraint System (SRS) light came on, which is a dealership issue. They were kind enough to tell me that it would cost $50 just to "pull the code" and if it wasn't a warrantied issue, I'd have to pay the money. But we wouldn't know if it was warrantied until they pulled the code. Needless to say, it wasn't, and I paid. I feel raped. Ugh. This is why I HATE dealerships!!! If it weren't the SRS, I would have had a GOOD mechanic pull it for free.

Finally got the lawn mowed. There were so many wild onions that the air reeked for hours afterward. But the yard at least looks more tamed. Still gotta edge and weed-whack one last time for the winter (unless we keep getting these 70 degree days, which I'm NOT complaining about) and hopefully the grass will start going dormant. The next door neighbor's tree is turning a gorgeous shade of amber--a perfect view as I type. Too bad trees don't carry these colors all year. As much as I love trees, I'd love them even more!

Rich and I got caught by the neighbors a few days ago, standing outside, staring at the front of our house. They came over, just dying to know what we were staring at. We told them we were looking at the beautiful curb appeal our house would have someday (as it's an eyesore right now). They laughed. Rich and I have big plans if we had an unlimited budget! Extending the front porch, adding a gable roof over the porch or the bedrooms to add interest, painting the brick, maybe adding cedar shake siding somewhere, building more substantial tapered posts, enlarging the garage . . . maybe when we win the lottery. But that would require entering the lottery, which we never do, so I guess maybe never. LOL.

I came home the other night to a new fixture over the sink!! Some time ago, Rich got hold of three pendants and a chandelier, that we thought we'd use in some flip some day. For now, I think they'll be in our house because they're at least better than brass or nothing. So I have this lovely light over the kitchen sink. It's a ark, oil-rubbed bronze pendant with a white glass flare upside-down bowl over the bulb. I've never had a pendant over the sink before. It's quite lovely, actually. I stared at it for a while. It gives a whole new feel to the kitchen. Almost sophisticated.

I've been painting trim in the bath and hall this morning and decided to take a break. I'm hoping to get a lot of nagging things done today, but we'll see. Something always seems to get in the way. And so it goes . . .

This weekend we think we might be installing countertops. Whoopeeee!!! I can't tell you how excited I am about that. Once they're in, it'll be floors and and then just all the tiny detail things, but a mostly done kitchen. I can't wait!

By the way . . . if anyone gets a lead on some comfy armchairs for dirt-cheap prices, let me know. We realized that we really will have to completely refurnish the living room, as the furniture we have in there now just won't work. And we've also been thinking a lot about the dance-hall. Maybe keeping it a larger room than we had originally thought, and making sliding screens/barnyard door type set up to create a 4th bedroom when needed. It could make that back room really cool and funky, yet large enough to have big things going on when necessary. Still gonna impinge a bit to get a bath and a few closets back there, but still plan on saving a lot of the space for open space. Right now it's the kitty-kat room, and they seem to like it quite a bit, with all the windows. Eli in particular spends MUCH of the day on the chair that we pull up to the back storm door so he can see out. It's as close to having a sliding glass door as he'll probably get.

Back to working on the house and making phone calls about the phone. . . .