I went to a “Houseplants & Succulents” gardening seminar today at Sandyvale Memorial Gardens. I picked up a few tips, so it was definitely worth my time. If only they could teach me how to keep the cats away from the plants, then I could actually have some in my house. Everyone got to take home a succulent planter (3 varieties of succulents in a pot). I think I’ll take mine to the office.
snakes in a drain
I went to wash my hair this morning and the tub was full of water. Apparently it didn’t drain last night after Jake’s shower. I tried using a plastic hair snake on the clog, but it must have been further down the pipe. So, I braved the weather and went to Ace Hardware at lunch and bought a proper drain snake (a drum auger). That did the trick! But, in doing so, one or more of the pipe connections loosened and a bit of water was dripping from the connections(s) and into the garage. I tightened everything back up and it is leak-free for now. The tool set me back about $25, but that’s certainly cheaper than a plumber’s service call. And, if the past is any indication, I’ll be using it again in the future.
e is for evidence
Another one from Grafton’s alphabet series. For whatever reason, this was even more engaging than most. There was a seemingly unnecessarily weird twist at the end, though. It is impossible to guess the culprit in these novels, but I guess that’s what keeps me coming back for more.
My rating: 4/5
kitchen
Two weeks ago, the countertops were installed and last week, the backsplash was installed. That gave me enough motivation to paint over the weekend and wrap the project up. Sort of. When I was cleaning up, I found a cracked backsplash tile, so I have to call the installer today. I went with a dark gray paint this time and I’m really happy with how it turned out. I may do some LED lighting in there (under the cabinets), but we’ll see.
taxed
I had the taxes done earlier this month (business and personal). Since Jake is graduating from college this year, I’ll no longer get whatever tax credit is related to that and I think there might have been other ramifications with my future filing status. So my accountant had to increase the withholding on my paycheck. It was a painful adjustment. That said, once Jake is working full time, he’s going to be paying for some of the things I’ve been covering (cell phone, some of the pet food, etc.) so I’ll be able to rebudget some of that money, but ouch.