Homeownership.......

For years Andrew and I have been dreaming about owning our own home, but after 34 years of either co-habitating with family or renting our dream has become a bit of a nightmare. With few "handyman" skills of our own the two of us feel helpless as we navigate the land of homeownership.

Take our laundry room drain for example. Such a simple little thing really. The water drains out of the washing machine, down the drain and out to the sewer. The concept is simple enough that even the Romans had indoor plumbing thousands of years ago. However, the process is not so simple when the water decides to go in reverse and pump into your laundry room. Which is exactly what it did yesterday. Though I haven't a clue about how to fix a drain, beyond calling the nearest plumber, I think motherhood has prepared me for these sorts of "disasters" as well. Two years ago I would have been choked by the smell of the place, and disgusted by the idea of wiping the mess up, however after a year and a half of changing every sort of dirty diaper and cleaning out diaper pails this mess smelled more of a rose garden than waste water.

Needless to say though homeownership is a lot harder than it looks. There is always something to be done, some surface that needs wiped, weed that needs pulled or battery needs changed. It certainly makes me appreciate the efforts of our parents. How they managed to keep a roof over our heads I'll never know. I also understand why my Dad doesn't really like to use the garbage disposal and why you really should rinse your plates before you put them in the dishwasher.

Andrew and I still have a lot to learn, I just hope we learn fast before the next great disaster.