Never Enough
That's a theme I've felt in my life lately, but that's also a post for another time.

What I mean right now is that no matter how many days I get off from work, it is never enough.

I've been home for 6 hours from a fabulous weekend at Friend C's family lakehouse, and already I'm as stressed out as I was before we left town last Friday. It's funny how you can leave your house, your cell phone, your email, and all the problems of your life as you know it, but it's still all there waiting for you when you get back. I spent the last three nights going to bed before midnight and sleeping til well past 9am. So far back at home, I'm already up way too late tonight because I have stressful things on my mind, and I'm dreading getting up in the morning for work.

Man, I wish I lived at the lakehouse.

Friday I had a house full of repair people, checking on things and giving me more estimates on house repair work. This past month is the first time I've felt a tiny twinge of "hmmm, maybe buying a house two years ago wasn't such a good idea...." I don't really feel that way. I mean, when I bought the house I knew it came with a lot of big responsibility. But until now, nothing had really gone wrong with the house. It was still fun.

It's still fun now. But, it's also stressing me out a lot. And making me very, very poor.

But, as it turns out, it truly was a blessing to stumble on to the ad for a plumber in the phonebook with the Jesus fish on the ad. I scheduled the a/c repair dudes and the plumbing repair dude to come at the same time on Friday afternoon. The plumbing repair dude could overhear everything the a/c dudes were telling me. And then he called a buddy of his and found out his guy could repair my a/c for less than half of what the a/c dudes in my house were quoting me.

Not only that, the Jesus fish plumber did not find the same major problem that the first plumbers "found". They had quoted me a hefty repair and hefty price for said repair. One that would require me to take out a home improvement loan just to be able to get the work done.

Jesus fish plumber? He left here after I paid him $127 to look around, clean out the pipes, and recommend to not order the repairs suggested by the big plumber company. He didn't see any reason for the repairs they recommended.

Mr. Jesus Fish (if all works out according to what he reported on Friday) has literally saved me thousands of dollars.

God bless second opinions.

You'd think that would have me sleeping soundly right now, wouldn't you?

I miss the lakehouse....

C.T.

PS: If anyone needs a plumber, I think I have one that I can recommend.