Monday, November 8, 2010

If you give a house to a rookie...

My weekend started off with a semi-accidental 10 mile run on Saturday morning. (Last year I would have thought "How the hell do you accidentally run 10 miles?" but apparently that's just how I roll now.) I went to the distance run at Fleet Feet, but the weather was crappy so I figured I'd do the 6 mile loop and call it a day. But I ended up running with a group of 3 other people who were following the 10 mile route and I felt good so I decided to do the extra miles with them instead of heading back. Overall, I think we may have gone closer to 11 miles. I didn't have any gels since I hadn't planned on going that far, and the weather was a mixture of cold rain and snow, but it was a surprisingly enjoyable run. I haven't run that far since the half marathon and it was nice to find out that I can still do it. Now that I have thrown modesty to the wind and given in to the spandex, running in the rain is no big deal. Throw on a waterproof jacket and running tights and you're good to go. My Kinvara's held up well in the rain too. Of course I stepped in a puddle within in the first mile and my feet got soaked, but they warmed up pretty quickly and didn't feel soggy or anything after that. Sunday I woke up early and snuck in a quick 3 mile run around my neighborhood before heading to breakfast with friends at Simply Crepes. So delicious.

The running was just what I needed to get rid of some pent-up frustration about my house. My weirdo bathroom has been misbehaving and I will probably hire someone to put in a new bathroom floor within the next few months. And if I'm going to rip up the whole floor, I might as well redo the whole bathroom while I'm at it and try and fix all the weirdness the previous owner installed in there. But that's expensive. And time consuming. So do I still want to buy a new house, possibly a duplex, in a few years or stay in my current house until I pay it off, slowly fixing it up along the way? I still haven't decided, but lately I'm leaning more towards staying. Dealing with renters would be a huge pain in the ass, though totally worth it for the extra income. But a simpler life with a smaller house, like the one I have now, has its appeal too. I don't know. I'll figure it out somehow.

I think Emelyn had the right idea when she said she wanted her next husband to be a handyman. All of this would be so much easier if I was married to Ty Pennington right now. Well, not Ty Pennington exactly, but someone equally handy and less hyperactive. This is the downside to buying a house by yourself: you have to bear all the responsibility yourself. There's no one to help you decide what to do and help you pay for it. And I'm certainly no handyman. But I'm sure it will all work out eventually.

Still, it would be nice if the house could offer up some good surprises once in a while, like finding thousands of dollars under the couch cushions instead of dog hair or gold bars in the basement instead of spiders (Sorry Tiger. I like you and all your spider friends, but spiders don't have the skills to pay the bills.)

Lyric of the moment: "I'm trying to tell you something about my life. Maybe give me insight between black and white. The best thing you've ever done for me is to help me take my life less seriously. It's only life after all..."

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