Spending Hours in Straight Lines

When I moved into my townhouse, darn near 5 years ago, there was a stain in the dining room carpet that would not come out. Not being a huge fan of wall to wall in the dining room, I decided that one day, I’d replace it with hardwood and I put a big area rug over it. Lately, I’d come close to replacing it with laminate, but there were a couple of reasons I did not: 1) I can tell the difference with wood having grown up on oak floors; 2) I started questioning how chopped up my downstairs might look. Already I have tile floors in the kitchen and foyer. It still looks spacious, but how would it look if you could see three different flooring materials all from the same spot. Solidifying that concern, I recently saw a neighbor’s home that had done just that, and the room looked smaller than mine. I decided in the course of time, I would either replace all the carpet downstairs (most likely) or put in hardwood in the living and dining.

But the cheap area rug I brought years ago has seen its day. So, this morning, I moved all the furniture out of the room and removed said rug. The room looked bigger (dark color and all). But not only was the old stain there, the constant contact with the area rug left some dingy spots. Sigh… so out to Lowe’s I went. Rented a carpet cleaner (figuring this was all beyond my home model that every pet owner should have). And I’ve spent all afternoon and evening going in these little straight lines cleaning the carpet. I stopped using actual cleaning solution hours ago, just spraying on clean water and sucking it out, hoping to get more dirt out and any stray soap. It’s looking decent. Not new by any stretch but even the old stain is fading out. So success! At the price of some sanity, of course.

Yesterday, I pressure washed the outside and the stoop and side-walk out front. It was high time for the concrete surfaces. The rest was washed last summer when the trim was painted so not so bad. I did notice one thing that I need to call about. I think I may have lost a shingle on the ridge of my roof. Being two stories, I can’t quite see the thing, but the end looks like one may be missing. I rented a 28 foot ladder last fall to clean out the gutters. I would need like another 10 feet to get up to see the ridge on the front gable… no thanks… I hate to pay out the $$, but I draw the line at 28 feet! Hopefully can find someone who will check out that possible problem and the rest of the roof while there up there. No leaks and I’d like to keep it that way!

In the midst of all this cleanin mayhem, a new thouht has hatched. I’ve tossed the idea around and I think I may see about getting a room-mate. The people who have known me a long time are dying laughing about now. Anyon who has heard my room-mate experiences from Auburn (only six mos before I moved off by myself) is laughing. And certainly I’m not getting any younger and less set in my ways. But as I think about it, there are some good things from a POSITIVE roommate situation (as opposed to one you’re just sort of thrown into). First, less excuse to sit around doing nothing if at least ocasionally someone else is around. And then there’s the matter of some extra cash coming in. Lately, I’ve been at war with myself financially. There’s the side that is trying to pay off that student loand and car note so that I can have more freedom to do what I will with my money and my life. And then there’s the side that wants to enjoy life. Be it traveling (although I’ve paid cash for all my trips) or be it fixing up the house; i.e. the aforementioned floors, the new counters I want, etc.

I have plenty of time to convince myself this is a bad idea. One, I don’t know anyone looking. And two, my house is too crowded right now. It’s just insane to me, but I have FILLED a two bedroom house by myself. I have been purging off and on for the past year. It’s time to go deeper. I need to clear out the front bedroom closet and much of my shed outside. If I do that, all that will be in here that would have to move for a room-mate is the computer and treadmill. The former could go to my room or the living room. The latter… hmm… some thought involved there.

So, the question for any reading, do you think anyone would actually WANT to be my room-mate? Cons, I have two indoor cats, so they better like cats! Pros, a bed and bath (not shared) and a townhouse in Alpharetta with a community pool that I’m told is barely used (I for one haven’t used it in four years but it looks nice)…

Hmmm… much thought… Either way, I need to get back on the whole purge thing.