Mr. Fox is building an army of soul stealing eyed critters who will take over the world…
If I don’t get this done within the next hour, I probably won’t be sharing my world with you this week… and I know it would create an unfillable void in your life that will send you crying into the streets of despair. OK, you’d probably not even notice… but I don’t want to take that chance and have your sanity on my conscience. I’m going to fly by the seat of my pants in this post and quickly go over Melanie’s final SYW questions for 2019…
The world is my stress ball right now…
What was the single best thing that happened in your life this past year?
I’m sure there were a lot of really good things that happened to me this year… but not a single one of them sticks out as something that can even attempt to counterbalance all of the crappy stuff…
Fuzzywig being able to legally purchase The Good Stuff in my state would probably make his list…
The most challenging?
I’d have never guessed I wouldn’t answer this question with anything other than the massive headache that ensued for over a month at Mecca after our fire in June, but…..
I never dreamed I’d have this in my kitchen before the end of the year…
One thing you learned in 2019?
Being a homeowner sucks. I thought 2014 was bad after having to replace both my central air conditioner and furnace… as well as have a burst pipe to the water heater repaired. 2019 totally kicked the shit out of my homeowner blues from five years ago…
I could have bought six new AC’s for the price of this recent nightmare…
Given all your experiences, insights, and lessons learned in 2019, what’s the best advice you could give yourself for 2020?
Keep trying to save up money…. because there are always going to be years like 2019 that mug you on a dark corner.
What’s the best meal/food you ate in 2019?
Probably something with french fries…
Everyone loves fries…
What are three activities you plan to use in the coming year to relieve stress?
Maybe I’ll try yoga…
If they make yoga pants my size…
Reading…
I’ll kick that stress old school!
And keep killing Buster more often…
Maybe this is how Ody got sick…
P.S. – I got back from the vet an hour ago… and after a couple antibiotic and steroid injections, hopefully he’ll feel better…
What brought you the most joy and are you going to do more of that?
I still get a kick out of running an entertainment first, personal second blog… and I hope I’ll at least be doing the same amount of it this year.
Joyous and stress relieving!
Lastly – Any resolutions you’d care to share?
I don’t make them. And if you want to change yourself, you can do that anytime…. not just after you’ve gone up six pants sizes over a couple of eating holidays.
I’ll lose weight when the winter’s over…
Evil Squirrel's Nest 
Have to admit I’m with you on the whole New Year’s resolution thing. Really sorry about the kitchen/plumbing fiasco. Surely 2020 will be better. How could it be worse? Have a good weekend.
Fate is just uttering a laugh and hands her beer to someone else.
I’ll just have Fuzzy intercept Fate and offer her some good stuff to keep her occupied…
She’d probably tell HIM “hold my pipe” …
How could it be worse? I don’t want to know the answer to that….
Man Evil, you’ve given a new meaning to Kitchen Nightmare, without Gordon Ramsey. I sure your able to get that shit over and done with soon. I’m happy to hear Ody’s vet visit went well. Maybe One of the critters in the nest have been giving him “the Good Stuff” when your not home. Just sayin’ 🤔.
LOL, maybe that good stuff would clean out his sinuses! Ody’s gonna have to buy his own, though…
We have a 31 year old heating system and we desperately need it to hang on just ONE more year. This year we did plumbing, bathroom (or half the bathroom, the toilet is waiting as is the floor), front door, removal of the horribly black and moldy side door (it’s now a window). And put in (finally) proper gutters — because if we didn’t, we’d also need a roof by next year. I always tell people that home ownership isn’t the wondrous thing it is on TV advertisements. Especially if you don’t happen to have much money in the till! I hope you get a toilet soon.
I’ve got my toilet, so now I have something to sit on and ponder just what might break next…
Good luck with all the plumbing issues – what a trial.
It’s been a huge mess!
You did have a bit of a black hole kind of year in 2019 but I see (in my crystal ball) a much better year for you in 2020. I mean how could it be worse? You’re on the road back to having an actual floor in your kitchen, pipes that aren’t clogged up with whatever, a nice new toilet, and Ody well again. They probably feel like baby steps in the “black hole” department but you’re getting there. Plus you’re BAAAAACK blogging – see? Better already!!!
Pam
And I refer you to my answer made a few comments up …
Better, but it’s still a ways away from normal. At least the essentials are working and the cat seems to be getting better. Now I just have to rehook up my washer and hope that I don’t forget the wall in the bathroom I often brace myself on has been replaced with crappy drywall and put my whole arm through it…
Uhoh…….a potential disaster in the making with the wall thing. You don’t need any more disasters! You’ve had your quota I’m sure.
Thanks Squirrel for finding the fortitude and time to Share Your World. DO NOT UTTER THE WORDS “*INSERT YEAR OF CHOICE** MUST BE BETTER THAN **INSERT SHITTY YEAR**…because as franhunne4u points out, it’s tempting fate and tweaking/poking the obese squirrel to do so. I stealthily wish you a much better year, but I ain’t sayin’ it out loud. Buster is already dead so who would get skewered? You or I most like. I don’t need more bad luck and neither do you! Also, does that fat squirrel know he has kin on Marilyn’s deck? There are some FAT squirrels up in MA, I hope she has a reinforced bird feeder hanger, because some of those guys? Are LARGE. And not that I have anything against large, I’m large. We’re ALL large, we living in the USA where food is very plentiful. Thankfully. Last thing (swear)…I have a ‘Papa’ bear as well as a mama bear and her baby who belong to the clan of the immensely cute big eyed stuffed critter. They are staring sappily at me as I write…
Squirrels are fat everywhere this time of the year! How else are they gonna have the energy to run around in that freezing ass weather? Since I have no more room on my shelf, I put the big eyed twins in the laundry basket that sits by the door to this room… and now everytime I walk out I catch them looking at me with that big, blank stare. Creepy!
Yep, a massive trench in your kitchen will trump pretty much anything…
At least they filled it up with concrete. Now it feels like I have a sidewalk in my kitchen…
Keep us posted on Ody. Poor kitty.
Ody’s still snotty, but doing better. At least in that he’s starting to act like himself now…
That fat yoga guy looks so much like asshat it made me do a double take…
Damn, that trench in your kitchen sucks balls. Makes the flood I had last year look like nothing but a tiny setback.
You’re right, it does look like asshat. Must be why there’s no bulge in the pants…
The trench is filled up, but now I’m still trying to get all the concrete dust off of everything…
I hope your house world is getting back to normal. Glad that Ody got to the vet, and should be feeling better after his shots.
2019 really didn’t hold back on dishing out the crap to you before it parted! The implosion of your plumbing is one of the worst homeowner nightmares I’ve ever heard, at least without something disastrous like a flood or fire being the cause. I’m happy to hear you’ve got a working toilet and that Ody is feeling better again and I hope 2020 is kinder to you!
I’ve never had any project as disruptive or costly as that before…. hell, it cost more than all of the home repairs I’d made in the ten years I’ve been here combined! There has to be some way to make pipes under slab homes more accessible…
Ah, I know all about those soul stealing-eyed critters! I once bought each of my boys a couple of plush lambs for their Easter baskets, solely based on the fact that they had the biggest, greenest, tear-your-heart-out, pleading eyes. How could I walk away and not buy one? Or two…?