A Cousinly Visit - and the Aftermath

Thursday I had quite the treat - a visit from DF as he made his way through the territory on business. DF is so hard to talk to (snort - that was sarcasm people). I love the way he comes in and fits right in and we talk like we saw each other just yesterday. He shared stories of his girls and K, their home, his work, the family stuff. He really has amazing kids and a wonderful wife. I probably did more of the talking (SHOCKING I know). DF asks lots of good questions, and we covered all things imaginable - religion, politics, but mostly family and life situations. He's a fantastic listener and great with suggestions, but never pushy.

We grilled out - or rather, I slyly passed the BBQ tongs over, and he grilled out. Perfect steaks. Perfect - how did he do that? I get them undercooked - and hack them to death in the process "checking." K usually overcooked them. I even have one of those temperature fork things that are supposed to do it "Just right" but no. DF just poked a fork in and said, "Yep that's about right." And it was. Yum. We also grilled out veggies in my basket first (oh, charcoal here people, no gas). Those were perfect, too - except DF let on after they were done that he's quite the chef and he would've added a 1/2 an apple to the veggies (baby bellas, onion, red and orange pepper) to give it a slightly different taste. I will try that next time! And we had salad and corn on the cob - first corn of the season for me. It was all good - apparently too much b/c we never did get to the "fresas a la cognac" that I was going to make for dessert.

After dinner and more chat, the kids made a wonderful appearance. It's awesome that they are just next door when not with me and can pop over for special nights like this. They were highly entertaining, as always. We finally cajoled Au into playing the piano for us. He doesn't like to "perform," which I can appreciate. But he did it anyway. We told jokes and laughed and the kids helped me pick out an outfit for my "round table" discussion the next day with a bunch of high school kids who were coming to my office as part of a National Youth Leadership Forum conference on law. Didn't want to look frumpy in front of the kids!

DF stayed the night - we managed to talk until the wee hours so morning came early. And while I was trying to get ready in under an hour and after DF did the manly "15 minutes is all it takes to be out the door thing" he took a walk around the house. And looked up at the living room ceiling. Oh gee. Here we go. And in his calm manner when I came down, he said, "How long have you had that water mark in the LR ceiling?" And I said, "WATER MARK??????"

Long story short, yes I have a new leak somewhere. Df has posited it could be a number of things. Thank goodness he is so handy - a veritable Bob Vila meets Dale Earnhardt (or whoever the greatest mechanic of all time is). He gave me a couple suggestions. I asked around work Friday, then send a few emails to friends. I called DF back today - or he called me - and I snooped around the upstairs bath and checked a few things. I have a friend coming over later to check it out and the BossMan's handyman on call to come replace the ceiling and fix whatever is wrong.

And then DF and I talked about my next living arrangements - quite possibly a condo without a yard where I no longer have to deal with the joys of homeownership! Or maybe a place with a bungalow out back complete with handyman....

[PS friendly neighbor came over and we figured out that it appears to be the planters coupled with a crack in the catwalk (or faulty caulk where the catwalk naturally has a seam). We think we know how to fix it. And maybe the ceiling doesn't need replacing after all. Let' s hope this is it and not some leaky pipe somewhere! THANKS ROB for being my hero! And DF, too!]