Julie's Web Journal

I need to get back into some sort of writing routine, so here I am. Why yes, it is November, and no, I'm not doing NaNoWriMo. Why not? November always brings some craptastic event that grinds my creative life to a halt. Why bother?

There was the year a elderly relative fell. We had to drop everything for a couple of weeks. Not conducive to writing. Then there was the year I got sick. And the year my mom passed at the end of October. This year there's another time sucker on the radar. Not to mention that I'm still recovering from FenCon this year, both physically and mentally. (That's another story.)

Rather than attempt some unreachable goal, I'd rather try for some smaller, bit-sized goals. So back to the blog it is. We'll see if I can keep this up. Once the big craptastic thing on the radar hits, all bets are off.

What's been going on in my life? There's the tale of FenCon, but I prefer not to raise my blood pressure. Otherwise, it's been much the usual: Start a project, then watch something craptastic fall all over my life.

This has been the year of home repairs. The roof started to leak in the Spring, so we called a roofer in. Much insurance drama ensued. Also, the roofer told us that their usual guarantee would be good for only a year unless we had foundation work done. So, we got that. 40+ piers and $14,000 later, we got a (mostly) level house. Unfortunately, some of the piers are inside, so there's flooring work in our future.

But what about the roof? Well, we decided that since we're not getting any younger it would be a good idea to spring for the best shingles we could afford, then add some radiant barrier, since we were going to have to replace the boards. Utility rates have gone through the roof (pun intended) in Texas since the big winter storm of 2021, and we figured we should do what we can before we end up on a fixed income. We also needed rain gutters in order for the foundation warranty to remain in force, so we sprung for some really nice ones that, in theory, shouldn't need constant cleaning. 

Of course, there were supply shortages. The shingles finally arrived. In the meantime, we got another leak, and then a beam broke and one of the crew put a foot through the ceiling in the office. They fixed the damage. 

The rain gutters took their own sweet time to get here, then we found out they couldn't mount them until we had some fascia replaced. So, we got the same guy who did the drywall in the office to come and do that job, and then paint the house. I mean, as long as we were at it...

We still have throw rugs in a couple of places in the house, and maybe we can get the flooring done soon. The roof and other outside work needed to come first. 

And in between all that, I was dealing with fallout from other things. 

So, that's my crazy life this year. How's yours?