You Bet I'm Cranky

All those not interested in whiny-butt posts, turn away and read something else with your coffee. I'm shooting the moon. Whatever that means.

I walk through my house last night. A door knob comes off in my hand. I discover Miss Kitty's persistence has ripped the screen out of the screen door in the guest room, rendering the screen door completely useless (it cost $20. I'm probably better off buying another one than trying to fix it). Two basement steps "feel funny" when I step on them, leading me to believe at some point they will either break in half or pull away from the wall, probably while I'm carrying a 40 lb case of kitty litter. My back deck appears to be separating from itself. All of my window trim has dry rot and I actually have gaps between one window and the siding where storm damage from several years ago ripped a cable loose. I have the caulking and the ladder. I just keep forgetting to apply them when the temp is between 65 and 72 degrees and the relative humidity is below 90%. Not that caulking solves the problem. I need to replace the trim. I need to replace the windows, too, and while I'm wishing, God, can you send me a silver Subaru Outback in my Christmas stocking?

I could go on. I've been making a list of "things to do if I had the time/skill/money/equipment to do them."

I watched my dad not do things around the house most of my life. He didn't do them because he knew it's never as simple as replacing a toilet flap. It always turns into replacing an entire toilet. Watch This Old House. He's right. How many times do couples start here and end up there? Even professionals sit back and scratch their heads sometimes wondering how so many things could go so wrong so quickly.

I don't start many of these projects because I don't have the money to hire the professional to fix it when it turns ugly. I only have one toilet. I literally can't afford to mess with it, even though the back is wobbly and mom says it's too low.

It's the affording, you see. That's the part I didn't figure out about buying a house until several years into it. Thank you, Lord, I had the sense to stick to my guns about the monthly payments.
Maintenance is important, too. Things break and even a power drill doesn't solve everything.

A normal woman would browbeat her husband into either fixing things or paying for someone to fix things. I don't have that option. I'm seriously considering renting a husband for a year, except I don't know of manly, able-to-fix-things men who would eat the kinds of food I prepare.

I'm probably just cranky because Miss Kitty spent the time from 3:49 AM on to rip up as much hall carpet as her little claws could reach under the closed solid door of the guest room. I'd pull out the carpet in the hallway and replace it with tile if I had the money/time/skill. While I'm wishing, I should ask for a wrap-around deck out front and a garage that isn't falling off its foundation.

I may be the crazy lady with 6 cats, but I don't want to be the crazy lady with 6 cats and a crappy house. 

So once again I must examine income vs outflow, needs vs. wants and how to teach my dependents the value of old carpet and door knobs.

Yeah, I'm cranky.