Home Depot has the paint in the front of the store. They do this because they know that potential customers will be immediately distracted by the idea of painting a variety of colors all over their walls. And I was indeed distracted, my eyes aglow at the idea of Translucent Silk(TM) covering my walls. I reasoned with Larry that we hadn't painted the house since we moved in, and we were due. He was unconvinced, until I pointed to a big sign. PAINT SALE. That was all the convincing that Larry needed. We grabbed some paint chips to bring home to aid our selection.
"But we are here for the flooring," he refocused me. So off we went, past the gorgeous fridges that beckoned us alluringly with their ice makers. We found the flooring and spent several minutes standing in front of a number of samples. Then we found a guy to talk to about the flooring, and we bothered him long enough to get an estimate as to cost. After a rather prolonged argument about color, we chose some samples, and took them home. The next day, Larry and I were back, our decisions made. We got the flooring ordered, installation set up, then purchased painting supplies. We felt very grown up.
This is what homeowners do. When you live in an apartment, someone else takes care of the run of the mill things such as mowing the lawn, spraying for bugs, clear a clogged drain. When you own a home, there's nobody to take care of the field of grass growing in your back yard but you. And home ownership does not come with a lawn mower or a pack of llamas. Or rakes. Or those covers you have to buy to keep your outside pipes from bursting in a freeze. When the showers need to be caulked, or the toilet overflows and the water leaks downstairs into the pantry, you're the one who has to take care of it. Larry is much less likely to remove a finger while using power tools, so he gets the fun job.
This is part of being an adult. You get to figure out what you need and purchase it or hire someone and pay them to do it. You become a problem solver by default. Your parents won't be there to take care of it.
So probably a good idea to start practicing problem solving now. Start small, like choosing a coffee maker. Go from there. You can do it.
Ah yes, homeownership. But we'd have it no other way now, would we?
ReplyDeleteWe are trudging through small car repairs. Showing the boys how to check oil, replace windshield wipers, replacing windshield wiper pumps an O2 sensors. With four cars it's never ending.
The hubs and I are working on organizing the house vs redecorating it. We do this every year or so and I still can't figure out where all the stuff comes from. About the only home improvement we've done lately is move the router upstairs. But the fridge is next on the list... it reminds me how high on the list it is every time it makes a suspicious noise.
I love everything about painting a room...except for the PAINTING---ugh!! Today we have a faucet that isn't working and I was very disappointed that google's first suggestion on how to fix it didn't work. Now we have to call people, which meant I had to try to spruce up said bathroom. Adulting is exhausting ;)
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