Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Curb Appeal: My House

When you work at home, and the only people you get to talk to are your husband, brother, mother, and the occasional call from your agent (and very nice calls they've been indeed), you kind of get starved for real life.  I mean, other than the check-out lady at the grocery store who asks, "Did you find everything you need?" and I answer, "Yes," that's about it on any given week.

(Pathetic, isn't it?)

I mean, I converse via emails all day long, but actual conversation?  Not so much.

Therefore I find yourself looking forward to big stuff like:  the phone man coming.  Yup, he was actually supposed to come yesterday.  We have (had) two land lines.  Only my aunt and my brother would call us on one of the numbers so finally we said, "Why are we spending $38 a month just to get one or two calls a month?"  Duh.  So, we're having that line eliminated and wired into our other land line.  Of course, they shut that phone off at the office at the crack of dawn yesterday, and the other line only has one phone attached to it.  If it rings, we have to run the entire length of the house (and we have a rather rambling ranch house).  Luckily that line has an answering machine.

The other big thing:  we're having the HUGE arborvitae in the front yard taken out.  Mind you, we've already had the thing cut in half a few years back, but it grew back with a vengeance.  So much that it hides a third of the front of our house.  I've been watching Curb Appeal--The Block, and they're always ripping out out-of-control landscaping.  (They do it a lot on This Old House, too.)  Since our next-door neighbor just had their out-of-control arborvitae taken out, we decided to use the same landscaper to do it.

Whoa!  People will be able to see ALL our Christmas lights this year.  (And I'll finally get my burning bush--albeit next year.)  Weeee!

(Simple pleasures, simple minds.)

Not that I expect to talk to Mr. Root-puller (I'm assuming they'll chop that sucker down first), but it'll be something exciting to break up the day.  (I mean, besides Tricia getting caught with . . . oh, but that's for the book, not the blog.)  I'll try to post before and after pictures later this week.

What excitement are you anticipating on this fine day?

7 comments:

  1. Mercy! This sounds a lot like my life!
    The 'excitement' today is Hubby and the neighbor working on the new workshop and shed building. Did I mention it is in the front side yard and blocks what little I can see of the approach road? I get to see/talk to them when they come in to eat dinner. Monosyllables to me as they discuss the building project...Oh well, it should be done by Thursday. Then we have Deer Season, beginning Saturday, sit in the blind and see/talk to no one at all all day until I get a deer or it is over, whichever comes first.
    Maybe I need to get a life...

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  2. I had to google "arborvitae" to see what evil you were having removed from your yard. And now...that little tidbit along with the ongoing saga of some friends in SC who bought a piece of land and are waging war with kudzu has given me a new sub plot for a story. Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!

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  3. Excitement? Hmmm. Not expecting much today. But tomorrow some nice men are coming to remove my ancient washing machine and replace it with the much newer one we just inherited from my mum-in-law. Does that count? Then tomorrow night will be really exciting - washing piles of backed up laundry!!!

    Dang. I need to get a life, too. We should start a club.

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  4. H'mmm. Maybe I should join that club. Seems like my 'excitement' today is going to be going to the grocery. Wow. Maybe I'll throw in a jaunt to Target to REALLY spice things up!! *sigh* What a whirlwind life we lead, eh? Eat your heart out, Paris Hilton!!

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  5. My excitement today was attending a book signing event at the local quilt shop. I had a good time.

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  6. You want to hear something funny? I've been reading "Chapter & Hearse" and I had a dream the other day that you called me on the phone (I have know idea why or how) and asked if I'd read the Jeff Resnick books yet! Maybe because I'd read a blog post or something about it. LOOOOL I guess that means I need to download them to my Kindle stat!

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  7. LOL! The other night I dreamed about my online Friend Jessica Park (she was picking on me!!!). We've never met in person. I've only seen pictures of her. (And I'm sure she'd never be mean--she's a real sweetheart.)

    Good news, Dave, the long-awaited rights revision letter is in the mail. That means Dead In Red could be available before thanksgiving. But you have a copy, right? Still, Murder on the Mind and Cheated by Death are up there (and so are the two short stories, Bah! Humbug--to be read AFTER Cheated) and then Cold Case. (Can't resist the change to give them a commercial.)

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