Home Ownership

So, this weekend we were planning on relaxing and spending time with friends. However, that all changed Saturday morning. I woke up to the sound of pouring down rain. It was kind of strange being that it was the kind of rain that one would find in a spring thunderstorm. I was pretty bummed because I wanted to go out for a run (I hadn't since returning from our trip) but I decided to make the most of it and start reading a new book. I was really getting into Marley and Me when Emily told me there was a puddle forming in our dining room. UGH! I knew we had a small leak, it had shown it's ugly head a few months earlier, but it had never started dripping from the ceiling. So, I wiped up the puddle and decided there was nothing we could do about it until Monday. Then, I went down to the basement to start going through the assortment of random boxes that have been accumulating down there. That's when I saw the second leak! This wasn't funny or cute anymore. I mean, buying an older house (ours is circa 1948) comes with its fair share of problems, but you are never happy about them when they come up. When we bought it over 2 years ago, we knew what we were getting into. We knew we had a lot of work to do and often joked that we hoped we didn't end up like Tom Hanks in The Money Pit. In fact, in the beginning it was kind of fun - like,

oh, what a great memory this will be ripping up carpet and putting in flooring or this is a great time to learn about replacing the wax ring under a toilet or what an adventure trying to fit both of our clothes in a ridiculously small closet!

Now it just feels exhausting and so...groan...adult. When did our weekends become the setting for Tim Allen's Home Improvement? To make matters worse, as soon as we exposed the pipes in question the leak stopped, just like that! How convenient right? So now, not only do we not know where the leak is coming from, we also have to now recover the pipes. But, all in all, like the bad dog, Marley, in the book I'm reading - this is our home and I hate to admit it, but I love it in spite of itself.