We Have a Winner! (and) Why Is My House falling Apart?

Daddy of twins is the winner of the Yoplait giveaway. His prize will go out this week. I have a couple of other giveaways. Be on the lookout…

My house, my house. What am I going to do with it? We are in year 15 of this house. Had it built to our specs…well, that sounds a little more high-falutin’ than what actually happened. We were both in our late 20s when we had the house built. Young + little money = house that we could afford. So, we purchased the least expensive model and added just 3 special features, includind a door bell, yes we had the cheapest builder. The house worked for us in 1994, but in 2008 as a family of 5 we are wearing out the house as fast as the house is wearing out.

So, let us recap what we have done to the house by way of improvement:

– deck
– swingset and sandbox playarea
– basement remodel
– most rooms painted

What has broken and needed to be fixed:

– plumbing needed complete overhaul due to leaks
– leaks found to be caused by excessive levels of acidity–installed complete water filtration and water softener system (Note to file: plumbing repairs are not cheap)
– well pump fixed twice (see above note)
– heat pump kaput…installed upgraded heat pump/AC (Note to file: heating repairs are not cheap, either)
– replaced washer, dryer, dish washer, fridge, and now looking for new oven

I know that this is not a complete list. When I look at the list, I am mad because I would rather spend my money on a kitchen remodel or an extension, but instead it seems that we have one household repair after another.