Money Pit revisited

Here are the things going on at our little rental house right now:

New windows went in yesterday.

They look very nice and actually open and close!

Now I need to do a fair amount of touch up painting.

New sewer pipe got installed today.

Yes, we had a blockage and had to have the sewer pipe scoped only to discover that it was collapsed and we would have to replace it.

sigh.

New carpet goes into the basement next week.

Frank is installing a new heater for the basement.

Yes, it will be a much better place to live with heat...

He has framed in the spot for it and drilled a big hole in the wall for the vent.

Me looking down at Frank from outside the house

The bathroom is being framed and dry wall installed.

The shower is in and functional!

I still need to find a vanity small enough to fit in the space....and a mirror, and towel bars etc etc

Some of this was planned and some was a surprise.

New shower? planned.  Completely new bathroom including all new walls built? surprise.

Cha-Ching

This morning I woke to the sound of my phone buzzing on my nightstand.

When I grabbed it and saw that my tenant was calling me at 6:45 a.m., I knew I was in trouble.

The water line to the refrigerator had come unattached and had spewed water for who knows how long while she slept.  

She woke to the sound of running water, which alarmed her.

And me.

The upstairs kitchen, hall and bathroom were flooded.

The water ran down the walls and stairway and pretty much every room in the basement had water of varying amounts.

The laundry room has a floor drain and yet, somehow, there was water everywhere!

What good is that drain if it isn't the low spot?

oy.

I jumped out of bed and drove over there.

Thankfully my awesome sister who lives closer to the house than I do was also willing to run over there with towels and her shop vac.

We got it cleaned up and fans going.

We had to rip out the carpet on the stairs 

(which was being replaced next week anyway but I had planned for big burly carpet installers to do it, not weakling me).

The new drywall is wet.

The area under the stairs is really wet.

It is a lot of work to deal with water damage and clean up!

But 

Here's what I'm grateful for:

That this happened when someone was there.

That this happened BEFORE we put the new carpet in the basement.

That the hardwood floors on the main floor were largely spared...and the ones that got wet didn't get soaked.

That my sister had dealt with flooding in her own house and was a huge help and a calm presence.

That home depot rents bigs fans.

That the sewer pipe repair was done with no major glitches or added expenses.  Our drains will now drain and are guaranteed for 10 years! yay!

But, oh, I am so tired.

and broke.

This is what happens when you don't blog for a long time...

 The rental house saga continues.

I have spent many hours over there.

I removed the asbestos tiles from the bedroom and entryway.

And I looked gorgeous while doing it.

I had a little barbecue at my house for a couple of neighbors and the couple that rents our basement apartment.

I did the great Pringles taste test as an activity

(A friend had posted about going to a dinner party where they did this and I knew immediately that I had to do it!)

Everyone enjoyed the activity even though there was a consensus that several of the flavors were disgusting.

I also failed to take pictures of most of the people doing it...

I am still going to lunch with my parents every Thursday.

We sometimes try out new restaurants and we sometimes just go someplace we know we like.

Every once in awhile, my Dad likes to go up to Salt Lake and eat at the fancy restaurant that overlooks the Salt Lake Temple.

This last time we walked around enjoying the perfect fall weather and the beautiful flowers.

And my brother Dion was able to join us.

Good times.

Frank and Carter and I went to General Conference in the conference center in Salt Lake.

It really was great to be there in person

(we usually watch over the internet)

and we were all amazed at how much better the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is in person.

My niece, Lauren (from Alabama), came to Utah for a few days before she went into the MTC to serve a mission for our church.

The family got together to celebrate seeing her and it was awesome.

Then we took her to the MTC and dropped her off.

Yay for missionaries!

Our next door neighbor and good friend from Massachusetts, Nick, 

came to Utah to go to the MTC also.

He went in the same day as my niece.

We took him to dinner the night before he began his mission and it was awesome.

We miss our MA friends!

Also, Yay for missionaries!

I said, "Act like you like each other"

The awkward boy hug. 

Be careful not to touch!

These boys never stop being sarcastic...even when saying goodbye

I went to a bridal shower for my niece Jaime.

She is getting married in November and will be living in our little apartment.

It was a fun time and they played a game that I really liked.

(and I don't usually like shower games)

They asked a variety of questions to her fiancé and then we asked her the same questions.

If she got the answer right (the same as her fiancé) she got to open a present.

If she got it wrong, she had to chew a piece of gum.

She had a mouth full of gum and it was funny.

But she got a lot of questions right too...so we all gave her the thumbs up for getting married.

I went to a BYU football game with another visiting friend from MA, Stephanie.

We went with my brother Dion and his two boys.

We had a great time!

Carter and Charles (Stephanie's son and a good friend of Carter's) sat in the student section and had a good time as well.

And since the Grangers were here visiting, we invited another MA friend for dinner.

Arthur came over (we were sad his fiancé was sick and couldn't come).

Arthur was invited to the barbecue the night we did the Pringles thing...

but I had failed to tell him I got a new phone number.

So he was texting me and thought I was ignoring him

and I was wondering why he never came!

Wow!

I've had a lot going on...no wonder I haven't blogged!