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Mrs. Groovy here with Groovy Ranch Update 8. But have no fear—Mr. Groovy has no cause for wound-licking this week. It’s just that I got plenty to talk about. So let’s get to it.
We Chose a Realtor
We met three realtors to choose from for selling our home and liked them all. It was difficult to select one. All three pulled up the same comps (comparable recently sold properties in our area) and suggested the same list price. They also had similar marketing strategies and were in agreement that our house is in good shape and shows very well.
I enlisted help from my friend in New York who sold our condo—yes, the same realtor I “OR’d” about twelve years ago as I mentioned in Update 7. We’ve remained friends all these years. I sent her an email outlining the strengths of each realtor and asked her opinion and then we jumped on a phone call.
My realtor friend and I agreed that since the market is strong here, our home will most likely sell fast using any competent realtor. She boiled it down to two questions: 1) Who has the most knowledge? and 2) Who is the most communicative? She said a realtor is great until something goes wrong. Selling a home is never 100% smooth sailing. Determine which one will know how to negotiate best and which one will be most responsive if we have a problem. After answering those questions, Mr. Groovy and I came to a unanimous decision.
Update on Home Design
The designer said he usually completes a phase of work within five business. However, when we last met, he was a bit backed up. He said he hoped to have something for us to look at on Friday—last Friday.
I checked in with the designer by email twice now. I contacted him at the beginning of last week just to stay on his radar since I knew he hadn’t begun the work. He said he wouldn’t cash our check until he started and the check hadn’t cleared. I checked in again early Friday morning and asked whether he’d have something for us that day. In his reply he said he started the design and hoped to have it by end of day but wasn’t certain.
Now it’s the following Wednesday— more than two weeks since our last meeting. Prior to that, we lost another week when we thought the designer went AWOL. It’s time to speak up but I want Mr. Groovy to call him. I get tired of being the bad guy.
But in typical Mr. Groovy fashion—he wants to let it go a few more days. I’m beginning to get annoyed though, so he needs to decide. What’s better—an annoyed wife or an annoyed designer? I’m starting to worry about the timeline and we haven’t yet broken ground.
I’m sure we’ll need to make a few changes and revisions after we see the first draft of the design. If we keep up this schedule, our home may not be completed before Labor Day. And if we sell our current home quickly, that means we may be living with my Groovy in-laws for four months. Don’t get me wrong—we’ve got a love fest going with Mr. Groovy’s parents, but c’mon, that’s a bit much for all parties involved.
(Aside to Mr. Groovy: You’re planning a bucket list trip to a football game with your friends in September, a few weeks before FinCon, right? What if our home is at a critical build point and a decision must be made? Or we need to look at some part of the build before work continues? Remember, we thought we’d be living in our new home by September. And what about FinCon? That may be tough to pull off too. Getting our home right is more important than any trip.)
Let the Garage Purge Begin
We think we don’t own a lot of junk and yet we filled up four 30 gallon garbage bags from the contents of our garage. And we still haven’t gotten to what’s wedged up in the rafters. That’s next.
While going through containers in the garage, I found several photos of my parents and my grandmother who are all gone. I also discovered a few baby photos of my mom and her twin sister—my aunt whom we now watch over in a nursing home. And I came across photos of my aunt’s husband and her son—my cousin, Joe. They’re also gone. I was most saddened by a wedding photo of Joe and his wife. Seeing them young and smiling made me think about what he could have been, had he not fallen down an abyss of mental and physical disintegration. It’s a mixed blessing that my aunt has dementia as it keeps her from asking about Joe.
Also among the containers filled with relics I found some of my show biz mementos—VCR tapes from TV shows I appeared in, cassette tapes from my singing days, and cast photos. I’m not sure why I keep them. We don’t have children or grandchildren to show them to, I’ll never be able to review them in their current state, and it’s not worth it to me to have them put on CDs or DVDs. Still, they don’t take up much room and I’m not ready to get rid of them.
More Tales From the “I’m Just an Idiot!” File
We needed to hire a plumber to replace both our garbage disposal and the pressure relief valve (PRV) that regulates water flow into our house. Mr. Groovy prefers me to handle the communication with most service providers because when left to him, he neglects to ask the questions I want answered.
I called a plumber we used previously who worked out great. But this time his prices seemed very high. He quoted me close to $400 for the work. That was with him providing the PRV and us purchasing a new garbage disposal.
I checked our online neighborhood bulletin board and found the names of a few plumbers who were highly recommended. One of them, Dave the Plumber, had many positive reviews on another site as well. That was good enough for me to investigate so I sent him an email inquiry on Friday. He responded quickly and provided a written estimate of $216 for the same work. He also asked me about the disposal and after I described the problem he said to buy a new one in case we needed it—but quite possibly he could fix the one we have.
Dave the Plumber showed up as scheduled on Monday. He fixed the disposal, unclogged a few faucets and a shower head, checked all the water pressure, and examined the valve we thought we’d need to replace. He said it was fine and adjusted it to raise the flow.
The total charge was $102, including tax. I saved us almost $300.
But what do I know? I’m just an idiot.
Incidentally, you’ve got to hear Dave the Plumber’s story. His last name, Wadell, sounded very familiar to me. And that’s because he’s a former member of our town council. But the real reason I remembered him is because when he left the town council a few years ago, his letter of resignation went viral.
He wrote it in Klingon!
I’m not kidding. If you Google “town councilman resigns in Klingon” you’ll find his story everywhere—from Reuters, to the New York Daily News, to Esquire, to the Mirror in the UK, and more. Here’s one of the funnier pieces about his resignation from a local Montana newspaper.
P.S. Do you know when it’s time to consider that your home could sell very fast? When your plumber tells you, “You better be prepared to move when your house goes on the market. They’re selling like hotcakes here.”
The Plight of the Foyer
Monday night I was at my computer upstairs looking at towels and decorative items for staging our home for sale. Afterwards, I went downstairs and Mr. Groovy was on the phone. He stopped the conversation abruptly, handed me the phone, and said that Groovy Brother wanted to talk to me—about the foyer! You’ll recall that little issue of the entry space I want in our new home, that Mr. Groovy and I argued over.
Uh-oh. I was faced with two against one and I knew this wasn’t going to be good. So you can imagine how surprised I was when Groovy Brother said, “I totally agree with you. I don’t want to walk into a home and be right inside the living room and I don’t want to look at something ugly.”
In the words of Detective Joe Kenda—Well, my my my!
My Husband Kicked my Cat on Our First Date
By popular demand I have to tell this story. You read about it in my last update.
When Mr. Groovy and I met in 2000, he took me to a quaint little Italian restaurant I suggested in my neighborhood. Afterwards we took a stroll and returned to my apartment for coffee. At the time, I had two cats. The little one, Sweet Pea, was only a few months old.
Mr. Groovy sat on the sofa looking at a book while I was in the kitchen with my back to him, preparing coffee. But out of the corner of my eye I could see Sweet Pea approach him at the sofa. Then suddenly, his foot moved and she was two feet in the air!
“Did you just kick my cat?”
“I didn’t kick her, I just gave her a tap with my foot and she jumped!”
“What do you mean you gave her a tap with your foot?”
“I was just trying to pet her. It was a love tap!”
“Do you mean to tell me that you deliberately lifted that large foot of yours, that foot that’s in a hard work boot, touched my cat with it—and you call that a love tap?”
“Yes, exactly!”
I’m pretty sure this was the first time I blurted out the most common refrain known to every woman that’s lived with a man, since the beginning of time:
“You’re an idiot!”
The love tap incident marked the beginning of a twelve year stretch where Sweet Pea wanted nothing to do with Mr. Groovy. But that didn’t stop him from trying. And it didn’t end with his feet. Oh, occasionally he tried to pet her like a normal person with his hand. But most times, rather than gesturing to her with an open hand, he found it quite amusing to grab anything in his vicinity to give her a “love tap.” A book, a cup, a magazine, a paper towel holder, and I don’t remember what else. But I do remember it coming to a boil one day with me screaming at him:
“Do NOT touch my pets with objects!”
[Mr. Groovy here: Mrs. Groovy got the story mostly right. I wasn’t wearing work boots. It was our first date. I definitely had shoes on. And what happened was this. I was sitting on the couch waiting for Mrs. Groovy to make the coffee, and Sweet Pea, who was around five months old at the time, decided to stroll between the coffee table and the sofa and pass over my feet. And as she was passing over my feet, I decided to be a little playful and raise my foot a little bit to touch her belly. How did I know she was going to fly into the air like she stepped on a landmine?]
The Fight-O-Meter
There’s no change this week. Although I could take a point for Groovy Brother going to bat for me on the foyer, I already scored on that topic in Update 5. Besides, I need to give Mr. Groovy a glimmer of hope for catching up.
I always have fun reading your blog posts. Cheers to your 2018 🙂
Is Sweet Pea the inspiration behind your mascots?
Mr. G originally chose a monkey but we didn’t like it and switched to a cat. I may have been inspired subliminally by Sweet Pea for the pink cat. She was such a girl! Definitely a diva in comparison to our two boy cats.
Hi Mrs. Groovy,
One thing I learned about home projects is that they take longer than planned and usually go over budget! 🙁 Another thing I learned is that when dealing with contractors it’s better to put stuff in writing, like sending a follow-up e-mail to keep things clear and have a record of what was said, in case you need it (hopefully not).
Best of luck with your project! Can’t wait to hear how it goes!! 🙂
Lily
P.S. Mr. Groovy’s version of what happened with Sweet Pea is both unbelievable and hilarious!!! LOL.
Thanks, Lily. We’re going to be very mindful of the contract and putting things in writing with whatever builder we choose, and keeping clear email trails. We’ll also have our closing lawyer review the contract.
All I can say is – enjoy the journey!
You do realise that these next few months will fuel the stories for the next 10 years. All the little things will become massive. You will be building Groovy cartoons about them, and laughing and exaggerating them all.
Make sure you have fun! Despite the Fight-O-Meter, life is too short to fall out over it!
I suspect part of the successful dynamic in the Groovy household is the conflict-that-isn’t-conflict such as the “kick the cat” story. The first date had a startled cat that could be construed to be terrible, but the fact that there was a second date proves that Mr. Groovy got the benefit of the doubt. And benefit of the doubt is one of the characteristics that the Apostle ascribes to love in the Bible.
You’re right about that, Steve. I gave him the benefit of the doubt. He was just too darn cute.
What does the Apostle say about never forgetting?
Thank, Erith.
Oh yes, we’re counting on these stories for blog fodder and for tent poles — what we refer to as a snapshot of some moment in time (usually funny or awkward) that we’ll always remember, talk about, and laugh about.
Wow, Mrs. G. You saved $300 on the plumbing job … and your plumber also speaks Klingon?!
You rock!
We lucked out! Thanks, Mrs. G.
You might want to get an Airstream or something to live in while your house is being built after the one your in gets sold before you’re ready. I have some delightful tenants whose house is slowly being built. Maybe delay the sale until this summer and you can rent a house outside Sparta, MI when their house is finished.
As for getting rid of stuff, I highly recommend a book (and comic book) The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up, by Marie Kondo (also The Life Changing Manga of Tidying Up). In one sentence: if any possession does not spark joy, thank it and send it on its way.
Sparta, MI — now there’s an idea! We may want to delay the sale for a bit. We’ll have to see how the next few weeks pan out.
An Airstream is not in the budget but we do want to get a camper next year.
I must be very weird because I got that Marie Kondo book from the library and didn’t find it life changing. I couldn’t even get through it. But I like its premise of only keeping items around that spark joy.
Try the comic book version of the Marie Kondo book. It is good at helping focus the mind on ruthlessly discarding all the clutter from one’s life. I found the book got a bit repetitive, BUT the key notion is that drives the “life-changing” is tidying is a keystone habit. Get in the habit of tidying and you start doing other helpful things. If I haven’t recommended recommended The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg lately, it’s a good book (even if I have recommended it).
http://amzn.to/2sQadqw
Lol the kitty story, how cute. It is weird how high cats can self launch themselves with absolutely nothing, over absolutely nothing. Have you guys ever YouTubed “cat and cucumbers”? It’s so funny!
We are looking into a realtor soon too. Do you guys have any other advice on choosing a realtor? This is our first time and..it’s just hard to differentiate without sounding super judgey and making guesses.
Cat and cucumbers? No, but I’ll watch it today!
Next week we have a guest post from Laurie Blank (formerly The Frugal Farmer) on choosing a realtor!
Do you know any realtors in your family or circle of friends? My biggest tip to you would be to steer clear of them UNLESS you know they’re the best.
I say this specifically to you because I’m going to guess that you might have trouble hurting someone’s feelings if they’re in you personal circle. This is an important business decision and it’s not the time to throw work someone’s way because they need it, or try to manipulate you into it. As I searched on line for tips, I’ve seen that all too often.
Also, I had a list of about 30 questions for realtors that I gleaned from articles about selling a property. I didn’t go down the list and check each one off during the interview, but I glanced at it to make sure none of the big items were overlooked. It also gave a signal to the realtor that I was doing my due diligence. When you meet a realtor, you’re the hiring director interviewing someone for a job.
I’ll email you my list.
Haha, you are pretty much exactly on the dot. I’ve given a few contractor’s work because…well Jared nor I are pretty bad at awkward situations (real or most likely imaginary ones…)
We don’t know any realtors and since Jared’s family is in California and my family isn’t even in the United States. *Sigh* We’re gonna be realtor hunting from ground zero and going with reputation and turnaround time. Your list of Qs helped immensely!!!!
I’m glad the questions helped. Yes, go by reputation, check that licenses are active, and take your time. You’ll do fine.
When my wife says I’m dragging my feet, I sometimes like to say I’m exercising prudence. She rolls her eyes but it makes me feel like I get a “one up” and some additional leverage for a little bit. But, that’s just me speaking.
Sweet find for the plumber too. We usually look online for reviews too for almost any purchase–tangible goods or services.
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That reminds me of when we first moved to NC. Mr. Groovy worked one week a month in NY and had a lot of sitting on the sofa time. Every time I wanted him to do something he’d tell me he just ate and was “digesting”. The man did a LOT of digesting back then.
I’m impressed you went on date 2 after that! Poor kitty never got over the trauma 😉
And “any competent realtor” does not include the one who recently tried to sell a (poorly redone) remodel in my neighborhood. The bar may be low to what’s needed to sell a home in our area these days, but that was proof that there are still ways not to meet that bar.
There are many ethical issues surrounding real estate. I felt confident we chose three competent realtors to interview but at some point we can only go on faith.
I wonder how that poor remodel sold, or if it sold. Usually an inspector can spot shoddy work if a buyer can. He might pull permits and find out whether the work was done to code by licensed professionals.
Wait, I thought Mr.Groovy was against professional sports these days? And he’s planning to actually go to the game too? The nerve! ;o)
Yeah, it’s just an excuse for male bonding with grade school/high school friends. I don’t think he cares about the game at all.
Mrs. Groovy, I hate to break it to you but when you put the sign in the yard, expect a contract by the next weekend. You’ll need to put your skates on. Mine had a bidding war and was under contract in 14 days with multiple back and forths over that time. It was awesome! I got my full price though with almost no concessions on anything even after inspection – and this was just last December 🙂 We closed 12/28.
Simultaneously, we undertook a renovation thru Lowe’s project design team. HUGE MISTAKE. I had to ride them every week because I am the one good at the phone calls. The quality was constantly wanting. Who knew painting, flooring and replacing cabinets in the kitchen in a little 701 sf condo could take twice as long as promised and be such a source of stress? Just be prepared. There are times when you won’t be able to take it anymore and Mr. Groovy will have to take over the calls or your head will explode.
I can’t wait to meet you in Orlando :). I have a suspicion that you’ll be there, sorry to say.
I cannot even believe that cat story. I can believe the cat never forgave Mr. Groovy, though. Fickle little creatures with very long memories! My sweetheart is allergic or I’d have one purring in my lap right now.
As far as the move goes, I’ll tell you that although I thought I was doing a great job in getting rid of stuff, I still got a load together for donation just yesterday. It’s funny. Even though I couldn’t bear to part with it two months ago, I’m ready now…. I think purging is never really done. I just keep doing it over and over again and I love how each thing I take away adds to my peace.
Thanks for the smiles today.
I’ll go buy those skates tomorrow! Wow you did great with the price and no concessions. We hear they don’t play too many games here with using inspections as a bargaining tool. But I’m glad we’re in a position to say no.
We used Lowes for two renovation projects and had pretty good experiences. It all depends on which subcontractors they use. I do recall on the larger one they had a “coordinator” at a different location. She’d call me about things we already knew and discussed with the local guys.
I have a feeling we’ll see you at FinCon and I’m looking forward to it very much, as well.
Sounds like you’re in good shape with the realtor and the plumber, so hopefully the designer will follow suit. But it’s probably time to give them a call.
That “love tap” with the cat does sound suspicious, especially if there were further love taps with other inanimate objects. I’ve got to agree with Caroline that Mr. Groovy is a lucky man.
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Suspicious! I agree. Oh yes, Mr. Groovy is lucky alright — thanks for saying that, Gary. I think we deserve one another.
Yes, the designer came through with a plan last night. It’s very good. We just need a few tweaks and if we’re lucky, we’ll finalize on the second draft.
I’m hoping that the designer is super good, and in demand and that’s why he’s late in delivering the plans. Fingers crossed. I’m not sold on the playful love tap to Sweet Pea. First impressions are hard to overcome.
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I think he’s very busy. The good news is we received a design from him late last night. It needs a few changes but it is very good.
We had an electrician come to our home today and he said construction is booming and contractors are in demand. I’ve tried getting three handymen, so far, to our home. One flat out can’t do the work and the other two are iffy with their schedules due to larger commitments.
Ugh – I’m worried for you about that designer. I think they take on too much work sometimes and then you are the one that suffers! Four months – even with those you love – is a LONG time. And that’s if everything goes along on schedule. Classic cat story too! Mr. G and Mr. MSD will get along great!
Mr. G and Mr. MSD — two laid back men married to type A women?
You’ll be glad to hear the designer sent us a preliminary plan late last night and we like it very much. It needs a few changes but I hope we can get going on those in the next week.
I love the different stories, especially the cat. When I first glanced at the fight-o-meter, I thought it said 1618 fights! My apologies, ha ha.
I hope you manage to get this house done before FinCon. I am hoping to make it to my very first and I would so much enjoy meeting you both!
1618 fights would be a new record!
I’m sure hoping it’s done by then, or at least not at a critical juncture.
It would be great meeting you, too!
Ahh the joys of home ownership… Sounds like fun. So glad we don’t have to worry about it.
So I need to thank you, I think. I’ve heard “But what do I know? I’m just an idiot.”, ” That’s a great idea dear, glad you thought of it” and “You’re an idiot” more times in the last two weeks than I have in my life.
I think you’re rubbing off on someone.
Oh you are so welcome. What are friends for?
This week a few more choice expressions have popped out of my mouth but I won’t give Mrs. Wow any ideas.
Thanks for that, she tends to find her own, loving ways to address me. I don’t know that she needs any more suggestions!!! HA
Also… I guess it depends on how you define “kick”.
Thanks for sharing the cat story:)
Can’t believe you went on a second date!!!
You are a lucky man Mr. Groovy.
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I gave him a second chance. I wasn’t exactly an angel myself, although Mr. Groovy didn’t have any pets for me to kick.
Wow, Mrs. Groovy got over the cat incidents? It’s meant to be. My wife would never forgive anyone for that kind of ongoing behavior. 🙂
The plumber is a great find. It’s so difficult to find good helps in Portland today. The construction business is booming and no body wants to take on small jobs. Everything is backed up for weeks/months. I hope all these construction guys are saving for the rainy days.
Love is blind, Joe. But I never forget. And Mr. Groovy reminds me that I never forget.
I don’t envy anyone building in Portland. Something we’ve seen here that I bet you see, is that when contractors are busy they hike up the prices. They don’t want the little jobs and so they toss out some ridiculous amount as an estimate.
Hahahhah the cat story makes this post, to be honest. I would have said the same thing, Mr G, so you’re in good company.
Sucks about your designer. Hope there aren’t a ton of delays and you guys can still make it to FinCon (and Mr G to your other trip) but like Mrs G says, the house is probably more important to get right. 🙂
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My husband is very cute with his love taps.
We just may have to delay putting our home on the market a little bit if we don’t see the beginning of a build in sight. We should still have an easy sell if we list our home in April rather than March.
Slowly but surely, it sounds like you’re making progress! I’m hoping that designer gets back to you today to get things started soon. 🙂
There’s always tomorrow. But I don’t want to be singing from “Annie” every freakin’ day.
“Love Tap”, that’s hilarious! I can kind of see where he’s coming from, until you describe him continuing to give her “love taps” with inanimate objects over the course of the next 12 years… Pretty suspicous. 🙂
Dude, I’d definitely harass your designer. If it’s been radio silence for a couple of weeks, imagine when you make changes. We’re on V10 currently and while we’ve edited and started looking at electrical stuff (switch locations, over head lights, etc…) there are still minor edits going on with each iteration. I can’t imagine how many the exterior elevations are going to take.
Good luck, and you’re right, if your time line is slipping in this stage, moving in by September could be a pretty tight deadline to make. If your plumber is even telling you houses are selling quickly in your area, be prepared to live with the parental units a bit longer than previously thought.
Good luck!
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Yes, my husband is so hilarious.
Mr. Groovy phoned the designer today and left a message. Hours later when he didn’t call back I sent him an email asking him to call us today. He replied quickly saying he was going to a site visit and then something else but would try to connect ASAP. Mr. Groovy’s calling him again tomorrow.
I hope my husband heeds your advice. He doesn’t get it that the squeaky wheel/pain in the ass is sometimes the person who jumps to the front of the line. Sometimes you have to pin people down when they have responsibilities to you.
Let’s just say we argued a lot today, and then he jumped to a silly conclusion “You’re not going to be happy. Let’s find someone else. Then we’ll go through this all over again.” I don’t want to find someone else. I would just like my husband to be a bit assertive here.
P. S. Version TEN?
Mrs. G, Great work with the plumber. It’s so challenging to find competent contractors at a reasonable price. Tom
ps. secretly rooting for ya even though it’s not much of contest
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Mr. Groovy has a slight chance of taking the lead. We have many more weeks ahead of us.
We lucked out with the plumber. He was very knowledgeable too.
One man’s love tap is another man’s kick. There’s a fine line there. The cat was fully aware of what she was doing. She was setting you up, acting. Like one of those wussy soccer players who pretends to get hurt all the time.
Be weary of that cat 😉
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Is that like one man’s ceiling is another man’s floor? I think you’re giving my husband WAY too much credit.
Sure, blame it on the cat. That’s what he did. Sweet Pea got in the way of those big feet of his.
Good luck with the designer! Chasing down someone you hired and paid to complete a service they committed to, drives me crazy. All I ask is to be upfront and honest about your commitment. I do understand that things come up and there may be delays but I should not have to call you when you about your missed your commitment. I feel your frustration…I’m counting to ten. OK, that’s better.
Exactly. It’s very frustrating when you’re waiting on something and you’re getting crickets. If you keep people informed it’s easier to be understanding of those delays.
My dear, you are exactly like me and my wife. I prefer her making the phone calls etc, because if I do and finish she gives the look to me and asks if I asked this or that. Of course, I didn’t and then comes the “You’re an idiot!” phrase…
A plumber who speaks Klingon sounds a no-brainer option to me. Damn, how cool is that? This also made me think, I am not into that universe, but maybe someday I will resign in Quenya.
Cats are one of the most unpredictable creatures, so I have to tell that I believe every word of Mr. Gs words about that story. Besides every tap is a love tap if you have the feeling in it 😉
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I’m going to admit I had to look up Quenya. I never read Tolkien.
“You’re an idiot” is much more universal than I would have thought. It’s funny how we fall into these roles.
I’m not sure what Mr. Groovy was feeling when he gave that first love tap — or when he continued to do it for years, to our other cats too. You should know I also stand 3 or 4 feet behind him when he’s carrying wood in Lowes.
Phew! Thank goodness for Mr. G there were no fights this week. I’m glad you agreed on the realtor.
It’s a little worrisome about that designer though. His delay better not interfere with FinCon. He’ll just about have the whole PF community after him if it does.
How did you each survive that first date? 😉
I don’t know what made me stick around for more torture after the Sweet Pea incident, but I’m glad I did.
We better make it to FinCon. It’s not close enough to Halloween for Vicki and Mr. MSD to go to a party dressed as Mr. and Mrs. Groovy! We need a presence there.
I can definitely attest to filling trash bags up with STUFF. We are moving out of our apartment this Friday, and it seems the more we move out, the more STUFF that keeps surfacing. Random things I had no idea we even owned. I have probably donated/trashed at least 8 trash bags already, and it still looks like we haven’t even left a dent!
How large is your apartment? Good luck with the move! It always feels good when you can start fresh and leave things you don’t use behind.
Today a neighbor was making a trip to Goodwill so he took a few things we were going to leave at the curb for trash pick up tomorrow.
What a great read. Nothing better than living life with The Groovies while they prepare for the big move! Lucky find w that plumber, you best get your beds made up at Groovy Parent’s House, I suspect you’re going to live there sooner than you think (Our House sold in 7 days, and the scramble to downsize and get out quickly was chaos).
Can’t wait to see where all of this goes. I suspect some great blog fodder in your lives over the next few months!
Poor kitty.
Thanks, Fritz! And I remember that scramble very well.
We can’t wait to see where it goes too. I’d rather have less drama and less fodder but it doesn’t look like it’s going to play out that way.
OMG – Maddie is going to be THRILLED about the Klingon article!! She researched thoroughly last year to see if Klingon qualified as a second language requirement for high school students here, but alas it wasn’t to be. At least Dave gets her. 🙂
I think you should’ve taken that extra point – or maybe not. Mr. G could’ve just not bothered to tell you that Groovy brother was on your side. We’ll give him a kudos for being honest. 😉
Yep he was honest and he was pretty good at faking me out, too. Usually he’s not good at anything remotely close to lying.
I always love reading your stories and that your plumber was the council member that resigned in Klingon is too funny. I remember reading that story and laughing out loud. My co-workers thought I was crazy at the time until I shared with them the story 🙂
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When the plumber first mentioned the note in Klingon I was like –wait, what? Wasn’t that in a Frasier episode?
Then I remembered it was in an episode about Frasier’s kid’s Bar Mitzvah. Frasier needed to read aloud in Hebrew and got Noel, from his radio station to do the translation. But Noel was angry with Frasier for failing to get him an autograph from a Star Trek convention. So the coworker did the translation to Klingon instead of Hebrew.