I hung vertical blinds today. Normally, one would assume that it’s pretty easy to hang vertical blinds. At least I did. I did not take into account that the windows where said vertical blinds would go happen to be in an area with vaulted ceilings and over a staircase.

Tools needed for project:

1. 3 sets of vertical blinds, purchased at Home Depot, cut down to size to fit the 3 windows over the stairs. (Does not include second trip to Home Depot when it turns out young man who just learned how to cut window blinds, cuts them a 1/2 inch too long.)
2. 2 screwdrivers (Ratchet screw driver that you bought in hopes of making the job easier + the one in your tool box that you’ll end up using when the ratchet one doesn’t work.)
3. A drill to tempt you to use but can’t because you can’t get enough leverage and end up stripping the screw.
4. 1 new-fangled ladder that can be adapted to be placed on stairs but weighs a 100 lbs.
5. Band-aids for my knuckles
6. White paint to touch up the blood stains on the top of the window casing
7. Overly concerned wife who is afraid you’re going to kill yourself but still wants the blinds up now and also wants to take your picture because she thinks it’s cute that her husband is doing a manly project.

The blinds are up, my knuckles are healing, I no longer have to wave to my neighbors in the morning and as a treat, Andrea got her manly husband a Frosty from Wendy’s. Life is good.

I’ve got mushrooms growing in my lawn. According to my on-line research, there doesn’t seem to be a damn thing I can do about it. These are not the things I thought would keep me up at nights when I pictured owning my own home.

For the past week I have been returning home from work and, instead of my ritual of plopping down in front of the TV, I have been doing chores. Bed needs to be made? I’m your man. Dishwasher emptied? That’s me. Laundry folded? You bet.

Somebody write Dr. Phil.

1) Apparently, we live in a crime-infested neighborhood because I’ve had no less than 4 alarm company salespeople visit me in the past week.
2) Even IKEA can get expensive in a hurry
3) You can get little plastic bins for your pantry for eighty-three cents a piece
4) What we need and what we want for the house are two entirely different things
5) No matter how new the house, something WILL go wrong (ever see sewage spill out on your driveway)

If one has just bought a house, one can count on one, if not both, cars needing major repairs.