Not our year for things associated with water

If we don't get our roof fixed before winter, the above cartoon will be us. Our house is twenty-years-old this year, and is needing an increasing number of repairs and/or replacements, such as roof, windows, gutters, deck planks, and fence parts. We had never lived in one place long enough before to have to deal with all of these things. In the first half of our marriage we moved on average of every 2-3 years, and when we built this house in 1987 we had planned on staying for a few years and then building a bigger one on a larger plot of land. However, because of the cost of raising children...feeding them, doctor bills, clothes, shoes, braces, instruments, lessons, sports teams, school fees, field trips, family vacations and all sorts of other costs that one never thinks about when it comes to raising kids, we never got around to my husband's dream of building the home he really wanted. So, we stayed in the home that is very comfortable, though not exactly the home we planned on spending two or three decades or more in.

So, the roof seems to have moved to the top of the urgent priority list above new garage door, replacing a half-dozen windows, repairing the siding, and the deck planking, fence repair and painting the inside walls, finishing the basement floor, walls and ceilings, finishing the downstairs fireplace mantle, and so forth, and so on. For the homeowner, it never ends.

We needed rain, but not this much all at one time. Not good for the skies to open up and drop water on us like the Great Niagara when we have several leaky spots in our aged roof. I was sitting in my office room, on the computer of course, when the thunderstorms came. I could hear the tapping of the water coming down the furnace chimney like it's been doing for some time, but then it started coming out of a seam in the hallway ceiling tile like a waterfall. Had to get the big Rubbermaid garbage can to catch the steady stream which continued for about an hour, then tapered off. This only happened where it came through once before, but I have a feeling that every time it rains we get puddles in the attic.

I would just like to hire someone to come take care of it, but I know hubby won't want to go into debt for that much money when he can do the project himself for about half the cost. But I am worried about a man who has bum knees, is overweight and arthritic climbing up on the roof of a raised ranch home on a sloping roof to get on his bad knees and with his aching back to replace such a large and sloping roof. But I know there will be no talking him out of it. He will consider it another one of his manly challenges.

And, for those who are wondering . . . no, the hot tub is still not in operation and is still standing on its side in the garage.