Mr. Fix It!!!!

I've been meaning to blog about all our house repairs as of late....do you remember the old movie Money Pit? It had Tom Hanks in it and it was about this young couple who are trying to fix up an old house...every time he tries to do a repair everything goes WRONG! This little movie clip will give you an idea (I don't know why the foreign language subtitles on the video) Anyway that is what our house feels like lately. Poor Matt has been busy...I am SO proud of him for fixing things himself! Usually he is the first one to say to call someone and then it always costs an arm and a leg. So he has seriously saved us a lot of money...here is a list of some of the projects

• The downstairs toilet was running - Matt FIXED IT WITH EASE


• Master shower was dripping.....fixed it but wasn't with ease....in fact he had to force one of the old parts off and he didn't realize but broke another part in the process...thought it was fixed and then later that day when I went to take a shower I could hear dripping inside the wall BEFORE even turning the water on. (NOT GOOD) Sooooo a trip back to Home Depot and a hole knocked in the wall behind the shower later and Matt fixed it!!!!! I was so impressed that he managed to fix it. At that point I was ready to call someone and pay the big bucks. But my amazing husband did it!


• Dryer wasn't drying - after many attempts, and my two trips across town for parts, this one failed and my new washer and dryer will be here Dec. 17th! Meanwhile THANK GOODNESS for GREAT neighbors (Liz) for letting me come over all the time to dry my towels and jeans...everything else is hanging to dry around the house!


• Suddenly we noticed a wet spot on our ceiling...Not a good sign. It was damp too and so we immediately called a plumber. Well $95 later the plumber left with the following USELESS diagnosis..."Well I've tested everything and can't figure out where it is coming from, keep watching it and if it gets bigger knock a hole in the ceiling to see what the source is and then call us to come back." WHAT!? Thanks a lot Joe the Plumber! It wasn't until Matt was talking to a guy from our ward (what would we do without good old Bill Smith- Bill has come to our rescue a number of times....like the day we moved into this house and the AC was broken and I was 6 months pregnant with Emma and it was 90 degrees....or the time I broke our washer, or the time I hit the water main to our house with the lawn mower!) Anyway he told Matt that if we wiggled the toilet and it moves then we need a new wax ring on our toilet! TA DA!!!! It was the wax ring! Now why couldn't Joe the Plumber figure that one out???? Matt fixed it AND re-textured the popcorn ceiling! WHAT A MAN!


• Matt put up new blinds in Emma and Luke's rooms. But see even something that simple turns into a production! I don't think I gave Matt the EXACT measurements for the window....how was I supposed to know that even a half inch would make THAT much of a difference???!!! We tried to put up Luke's first and they were too short, so Matt went back and got new ones. Then when he tried to put up Emma's they were too long! So back to Home Depot! But now it is done and they are BEAUTIFUL! Thank you Matt!


• This last year Matt also put in our landscape lighting and our outside lights near the garage! I LOVE them! I didn't know Matt knew how to do that kind of stuff with having to run wire underground etc.

So these are the things that are done...do you want the list of things that are falling apart???

• One of the burners on the stove is not working


• Fridge leaks


• Dishwasher is having a few issues and sometimes the detergent door doesn't open and so after a cycle I have a hard lump of detergent left over in there


• We just found out that one of our windows that is high up has been leaking (we don't know how long this has been going on) and the wood in the window frame is ROTTED! YIKES! This is beyond our fixing abilities and is going to cost a pretty penny!


• Our screens are all split on our back screened in porch.


• Our closet in the guestroom leaks after major storms...this happened clear back when the hurricanes hit in 2003 I think it was, Matt and his dad fixed the closet - had to re-drywall and Matt caulked the outside but for some reason it leaked again during another big storm this past summer.


• Last year Matt fell through our ceiling in the garage when he was up in the attic, ok he didn't fall all the way through like my brother Tyler did at his house, just his leg came through and now I have a gaping hole.

So there you have it....it probably sounds like we live in a dump! Oh great now I'll never get any of you out here to visit! We really do have a nice house that I LOVE! It has just been almost comical lately with all the things that are falling apart. I hope I'm not jinxing myself writing this and have to write a part 2 post with double the repairs :) I also hope I don't sound like a complainer! My real intent in this post is to impress you the way I have been impressed with Matt for trying to do all the things he has done! I didn't know he knew how to do these things! (THANK goodness for the Internet which has helped him in most projects).

(OK I NEVER SHOULD HAVE WRITTEN THIS POST!!!! I jinxed myself and now my camera or computer is having issues and I can't retrieve or upload pictures!!! YIKES! I guess I will have to wait until morning when my Mr. Fix It is awake and can save the day :) IRONIC!