Ode de Toilet

This blog was originally going to have a very different slant.

I've noticed that all the life changes I've been going through lately have really had no negative effect whatsoever.  Getting engaged, becoming a father to two feisty teenagers, buying a house, moving... none of it has phased me.  These are drastic changes, and yet I've been completely fine.

My only real concern had been the thought of do-it-yourself home repair.  You see, I've lived in apartments all my adult life, and the reason I've always done so is because if something breaks, you call the guy.  The guy then comes to fix the thing, and that's that.  My role is simply to dial the phone and point to the problem.  The guy who knows about things does his stuff.  Problem solved.

The thought of having a hand in this stuff myself though terrified me.  And Sunday was going to be the start of some home repair, as my bride to be will be selling her house before we move into where ever we end up buying.

There were plenty of other things calling my name on Sunday.  Staying in bed all day sounded lovely.  Getting caught up on the NFL preseason would have been nice.  Playing the new Xbox 360 game I've been itching to crack open could have been a blast.  But when I arrived at my fiancee's place yesterday afternoon, she'd already begun the process.

It started with some basic toilet repair (part of which involved something called a ballcock... teehee).  But the process then exposed several other problems waiting to happen, and the whole thing snowballed into a very messy all day project, as these things often tend to do.

After an hour or so of attempted repairs, trips to the hardware store, and standing outside in the rain trying to find the water main cut off, I found myself alone, awkwardly crammed under the toilet in question, soaked in yucky toilet water and sweating like mad while holding two hoses together so that the water pouring out of the wall would flow somewhat into the nearby bathtub.  It's the kind of situation that in the past would have lead to an epic week of blogging, where my furious anger at the situation would have flowed like the blood in the streets of the non-believers.

And then the realization hits me: I'm fine with this.  I'm actually more than fine with this... I'm happy.  I don't care that the day is "wasted".  This is where I want to be.  Well not physically... but you know, in a relationship, doing things together, having someone who's with you 100%.  All my life it's been up to me to do damn near everything, and now I finally have a partnership.  Who cares what has to be done?  Who cares if weekends get tied up doing things that aren't necessarily fun?  This is what I've wanted in my life ever since I could remember.  Now I have it.

I'm still not doing yard work though.

Comments

[leslie]

Welcome to the Money Pit. :-)

[dvdguy]

You or the house? ;-)

[Novalis]

Time to start drinking beer...

[JBH]

Agree with Novalis. Even if those jobs are 'relationship affiriming', the best part is having a drink when you are finished.

[Cindy]

Speaking as someone who went through and survived 9 months of their home in shambles while being updated and is currently in the midst of a kitchen renovation, I have one thing to say -- HGTV, well, they LIE!!! Easy? Simple? Inexpensive? Doesn't take much time? My ass! My almost 28 year marriage will go forth without that #)&$* channel ever being on our tv again. Until the next home project anyway :)

[anonymousfriend]

Good for you. Personally, I'm helping my mom renovate her add-on (was a garage, now a den). This includes building new walls for a closet, hanging doors and laying ceramic tiles. I want to strangle her most of the time that I'm there. I think I'll be happy to rent for a few more years.

[Tronster]

Well welcome to home ownership. I remember a time when I had to buy a water heater for my parents at Christmas, lucky for me, they let me put it in my house. I then found out that water heaters have pressure release valves. A lesson learned.

[jsb]

...and I hope you realize that you can call on friends to help you with these annoying home improvement problems. Don't think that you have to do everything yourself.