Carolyn

There are so many things broken around my house that I need to get fixed:

1. Kitchen sink - garbage disposal is dead, and my hot water is turned off under the sink because of the leak i had a few weeks ago that totally saturated through to my bedroom before I discovered it. I can't fix this one myself dammit.

2. Bathroom toilet - it is dead. I know how to fix toilets, but for some reason the water won't shut off. It is bizarre. Fortunately my half-bath is right next to my room, but what a pain. In fact I need to redo my entire master bath. It looks like a college dorm bathroom. Boring.

3. Fence. I need help turning my fence into Sibe Quentin - there are two main places where the dogs have destroyed it (chasing squirrels and possums) and so the places are covered up with junk. I need desperately to get planks replaced, fencing generally fixed, and chicken wire/gravel put around the perimeter (best cure for husky escapes). If I do that, then I can get a doggie door and the dogs can go in and out all day.

4. Carpet - needs ripping up and replacing. Badly. BADLY. I spent soooo much on that carpet - and then got huskies.

5. Walls - got a professional paint job 9 years ago but it needs serious touching up all over - love my yellow walls but edges, baseboards, etc. yeah. Kitchen needs repainting too.

6. There is a hole in the wall in my bathroom. Needs repair.

7. Little bathroom - needs baseboards. Tiff painted it a pretty green and I like it but it is so generic. It would be nice to spiff it up.

8. Upstairs - major cleaning, throwing away of old furniture, two aquariums need breaking down - son owes me and needs to take care of this crap

9. And then of course my car - needs cosmetic work (new side mirror, new front grill, the hood has dents that I think can be fixed, the dark blue paint is being beat up in the Texas heat and I would love to get that spiffed up).

10. Backyard - huskies are very hard on yards, and my yard sucks. I would love to build a new back porch, big slabs - I know how to do it as my co-worker did and told me how to do it but damn, hard work. I also want more trees. I have a big backyard. Wait - more trees means more squirrels....

I also want to get a new table and chairs for the dining area, sell my treadmill and move the little marble table into the kitchen area - I want to steam my floors too. And fix the front yard up, plant flowers...

I AM DEPRESSED NOW.

Okay not really - but seeing this list makes me think I need to figure out what of this I can do myself, what I can get my son's help, and who can do the other stuff for me. I need a handyman! Or woman! Someone! And a plumber.

At least, thankfully, I know my a/c won't give out on me this year - it is brand new! It CAN'T!!!!!!! And is under warranty.

Also - this afternoon I went to Starbucks and poured through my oldoldold fantasy and the newer one and realized that yes, they belong together - it was interesting to read back through my outline of the old fantasy and see where I lost focus on some of the characters, especially Milandria, but where in the new fantasy, she has a rich role... and I realize that it won't take much work to rework the entire outline, weaving them together... the story arcs... so important they all work, and in the oldold it all fell apart and I couldn't see it...

I definitely think it is worth the effort of seeing if it truly will work as I see it in my head. Definitely.

Finished the Cleopatra Selene trilogy this morning from 2:00 a.m. to about 4:30. LOL. I woke up at 2:00 and went to the restroom and thought oh man, so close to the end... shouldn't take long! And so I did. And bawled like crazy, hit my emotions hard and awesomely - absolutely LOVED this trilogy (Stephanie Dray is the author). If you like first person, female POV, an MC with incredible insight and a damn good journey, exquisite writing (well I sure liked it) and a writer who makes a world and time and place come to life... yeah. Good story.

Am rewatching Orphan Black in prep for the next season/series. So excited, so fabulous to watch again - picking up more stuff, little hints, and am clearer on things. So damn good.