I was up early this morning, so I decided to
have breakfast at Peper’s 49r Restaurant on my way through Castle Rock; I like
their homemade Hash 😊
I ran into Carl and the boys (young men
now, actually) at Peper’s; Matthews baby girl is due August 26th
– Grandpa Carl is hoping for the 15th 😉
After leaving Peper’s, GPS wanted to direct
me to Toutle to reach the house I was to meet Shay at … I decided on the Jackson
Highway route. I wanted to make my appointment on time; and I can’t afford to
be wasting gas right now – it’s escalating in price, and I’ll be doing a lot of
running around to check houses out: I have to be very frugal now.
I arrived in Toledo earlier than anticipated,
so I waited time out in a graveled roadside pullover; finishing a thick novel I
had started a few days ago … and watching traffic pass by.
While I waited and watched passing traffic, I
happened to notice a big house on a distant hill: and the hilltop being leveled
to make room for more houses to be perched up there.
I have specifically asked Bob & Yeshua to
help me find a new home; to help me find the roads, and secure a new home that
won’t cripple me financially: any house I find and agree to terms with, will
need fixing – I am hoping the one I agree to will not end up costing me a
fortune to bring up to date.
Every sloppy attempt at self-carpentry room
in that house was a safety disaster, and a remodeling nightmare! I honestly do
not know what the owners were thinking when they picked up a hammer and a bag
of nails …
Plus, Shay could reach the ceiling with her fingertips
and outstretched arm: not a big deal for me … I’m short … but she did
have a point when she said, “Val a 6-foot man could not stand straight in this
house.” I looked at her, like, ‘do you know something I don’t know?
Currently there are no men in my life; and I have no plans to include one.’
Then she said, ‘If you decided at some point to sell any house you have – you have
to figure in for tall men at some point.’ Point understood 😊
Safely exiting that house of dilapidated
horrors, I laughed most of the way home thinking of that house that screamed
{DANGER!} from the moment the front door was opened, and Shay was catapulted
halfway into the livingroom/dining room when she tripped over the
excessively high threshold made of at least 3”-thick wooden planks cut in a
crescent at the door … so the door could easily swing open – but that 3” height
was a real, and present, danger. And that sorry attempt at {remodeling} was
not the only clear and present danger; the entire scabbed together house needs
to be restructured from the porch boards to the house ceiling. Like I said …
I don’t know what the heck the owners were thinking when they took hammer and
nails in hand.
I sincerely hope Shay did not seriously tweak
her back during that forward momentum entrance. I wanted to grab her, but I
was worried my attempt to help steady her would only throw her further off
balance and cause her to fall.
The self-appointed {carpenter} created a trip-hazard-boobytrap.
I was not laughing because that
house almost killed Shay – I am laughing because you have to laugh at life’s unexpected/unguarded
moments. If you don’t, you get sucked into the insanity
of the moment.
Life is a trip (pardon the pun).
Houses, to me, are like men: they are a dime
a dozen … but there’s that one special one that will steal your heart and
make you go all in.
I had that special man, for 44
years.
I’m still waiting for that special
house: I’ll know it when I see it, and there
will be no doubt it will be worth the time and effort to merge my life with
it.
For the remainder of the day, I’m going to
kick my shoes off – throw my bra across the room – relax in Bob’s recliner
with a beer to celebrate Shay narrowly escaping a serious fallout with that dangerous
house … and start a new read.
It’s 5 o’clock somewhere.
‘It’s 5 O’clock
Somewhere’ song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfqtO88ZlBQ
