AMERICAN STANDARD BATHROOM FAUCET REPAIR

...but if you did, your jaw would drop.

It signifies more than just that, though. When Kim had her stroke a few years ago, we sorta-kinda let things go to hell. Things would get stacked up out of the way, not put away where they belonged. We spent a lot of time with each other, which was great after a life-threatening medical event... but we did it at the expense of taking care of our living space.

One of the few good things about 2009 for us was that we spent a big chunk of our savings on repairing things around the outside of the house: some roof work, clearing the bramble forest out of the back yard, and the biggest single item, our new front porch and staircase (replacing one with dry rot and improperly braced steps... nothing quite like watching the stairs bend when you walk up to the door!)

This year, we're not economically set up to do that. So we started, last week, on What 2010 Will Be About for us.

And what is that, you ask? Using what we have in better, smarter, and more enjoyable ways. Putting away things we don't use so that we can have space to enjoy the things we DO use. And clearing away the holiday detritus (sugar canister, boxes of tea, bags of various kinds of flour, chocolate chips, and the like) from in front of the toaster is just what I'm talking about. As is installing various nifty things we've bought over the past couple of years (a new kitchen faucet, for example, and a new bathroom light fixture). We have the stuff, we just haven't ever put it in.

The other lesson: Clearing away this counter took me about two minutes, while water was boiling for a cup of tea. Suddenly the vast organizational disaster area that covers so much of the rest of our house looks manageable.

(I'm saving the red Cuisinart ice-cream maker for when Kim comes home. She says she has a place in mind for it; considering it's 47 degrees outside and it's noon, we won't be wanting homemade ice cream for probably six months at least...)

Next damage. Steve dug up the water pipes. Oops. No biggie, they just go to the outside faucet, but we were without water for a few hours while he repaired them. He did it again the next weekend too in a different place, lol.