Home Ownership

I went on a closet-cleaning rampage this week.

I started with the master bedroom walk-in closet. As walk-in closets go, this one is not very big. To make matters worse, there is only one row of hanging space with a shelf above it, and nothing else. I originally started with the idea of redoing this closet this past spring. I went as far as getting quotes from quite a few closet places, but then decided that I really didn’t care enough about it to pay that much money. Plus I’m lazy. Plus Robbie would have had to install it and he’s, truthfully, a little lazy too, although not as lazy as me.

I don’t have any before pictures to show you, but I will tell you that I had suitcases taking up all the shelf space, and shoes taking up all the floor space. I like shoes. I like shoes a lot. Robbie counted them the other day and informed me that I have 40 pairs. I could go out right now and buy 5 more pairs and wear every single pair, plus the pairs I already own. I love shoes. And therefore have a lot of them. When I pointed out to Robbie that I wear every single pair, he looked at them for a few minutes and then said, “Yeah, I guess you do.” Read the rest of this entry »

1. December 2007: Purchased a brand new 2008 fully loaded Honda Accord.
2. Jan-Mar 2008: Discovered many lovely features of brand new Honda Accord, including the ability to open all the windows and the sunroof at the same time using a combination of keys on the key fob.
3. March 1, 2009, 4:00 p.m.: Drove to the grocery store to stock up for El Blizzardo de 2009.
4. March 1, 2009, sometime between 5 p.m. and midnight: Sat on key fob in just such a way that the “feature” which opens all the windows and the sunroof at the same time got activated.
5. March 2, 2009, 7:45 a.m.: Went outside to drive to work, thought, “Why is there no snow on the windows?”, discovered that the windows were open, proceeded to spit, swear, and cry.
6. March 2, 2009, 8:30 a.m.: Drove to work in slightly damp vehicle.
7. March 2, 2009, 5:00 p.m. (expected): Discover bits of ice in every crack in the car, hope to god all electronics still function.

And that is just life sometimes. Still, it’s probably better if you just don’t talk to me for the rest of the day, ok? Tomorrow will be better. It has to be.

Image via Wikipedia We knew it was coming. All the signs were there.

First, Robbie’s sister’s house flooded while the family was away. The culprit? A broken upstairs toilet pipe. Their entire house is being gutted and renovated.

Next, Robbie’s mom’s basement sewer pipe broke. I’ll give you a second to think about that, but don’t think too hard or you’ll get grossed out. Yeah.

By the time it got to us, the force of the curse had lessened somewhat, but today the last branch of the Foust family was struck with the Foust Plumbing Curse: a giant clog in our pipes. We were informed by the plumber that we win the “clog of the month” award and that we will probably hold that title for the entire quarter (we were thrilled), and that our clog was “a plumber’s worst nightmare” (we were honored). Apparently, we have huge roots growing into our sewage pipes. Huge roots in our sewage pipes equals handing over large wads of cash to the plumbers. At least they’ll be happy.

The circle is complete, and the Foust Plumbing Curse has now run its course. But just to be sure, you might want to, you know, take some protective measure, like wearing a toilet protection amulet or sprinkling holy toilet water on your doorstep, or something.