After a couple of months alone in the house, its interjections of needed repairs have surfaced about ten items.

One of the joys of my recent, “mostly at home” status has been a chance to meet and talk with people who have wide-ranging interests.  Service providers necessary for living alone come and go because I can’t do everything in the house by myself, especially the things that my husband used to deal with—plumbing, carpentry, yard upkeep, etc.   Thankfully, a friend recommended a “handy man” for my list of a dozen needed repairs.

On his first visit, “Handy” was able to check off several things: an exterior door that would not latch (”Did you know someone tried to break in here?”); a drooping cabinet door.  The “fancy” lighting installed by a marginally competent contractor during a major kitchen overhaul is a more complex problem – it appears that there are issues with the fixtures themselves (under counter and track lights). This, along with the plumbing challenges, introduced a needed trip to the hardware store. Another great advantage of my new status is more willingness to say NO to some tasks.  The hardware store was one of my “no’s”. Handy will make that trip on his own, so the completion was postponed until next week.

The most important part of the half repair day was a reversal of the feeling that “things really might not be sustainable” to “this will all have a solution eventually”.

All of this excitement is jumbled in with the housing decision – huge, cluttered house, needs painting, large yard to maintain…isolated in a big city subdivision with lawn moats yielding little to no interaction with neighbors – vs. moving close to family in a much smaller town, smaller house, close knit community. That will come eventually.  I have no idea when yet.

But for now it’s The House And Me… and Handy.