Roto rooted

Today the Roto Rooter man came and cleared out a bunch of roots inside our sewer line. It was pretty neat, actually, and probably something we'll have to do twice a year as maintenance. According to our tenant, the house has historically needed roto rooting 1-2 times a year.

I did a little research and found the following on invasive roots and how to deal:

• 5 Steps to Dealing with Invasive Tree Roots
  
• Sewer Line Replacement Procedure - This narrative takes it a step further than we needed (fingers crossed) but it's interesting nonetheless.
• Q & A on invasive tree roots with Reader's Digest's Handyman
  

It seems like periodically reaming the pipes is not a bad option. Roto Rooter man also recommended the following: once a month, fill all sinks and tubs in the house with water. At the same time, release the plugs and then a couple seconds later, flush the toilets. He says this should clear out the sewer line fairly well. I'll keep y'all posted.

Any other experiences out there? Has anyone tried the chemical solution (i.e. copper sulfate crystals)? Share in the comments please...

Scenes from Talent Nite!

Last Sunday, our house hosted its 1st annual Talent Nite. It was awesome. What was intended as a small, neighborly event quickly grew into a larger showcase so if you couldn't/didn't come this year, be on the lookout next time!

In preparation for the event, a stage was constructed Sunday afternoon. Steve and our long-term house guest/friend Harrison were subject to my insane hostess cleaning mania--another sign of my lovely mom's influence!--but they forgave me when they saw that I bought gummy bears for snacks.

The winners of each category, as seen above, were as follows:

1. BEST USE OF BODY PART BELOW WAIST - Kevin, "Amazing Moves"

2. MOST HILARIOUS - Jack, "Dino"

3. BEAUTIFULEST - Whitney & Steve, "Tonal Poem with Interpretive Dance"

4. MOST LIKELY TO GET YOU ARRESTED IF DONE IN PUBLIC - Jack, "Dino"

5. BEST USE OF MICAELA - a tie between Erin & Zoe, "Mind reading" and Liz, "Pageant Rules"

6) CLEARLY SPENT TIME REHEARSING - Anthony, "Mayor meets Motley"

7) POOR PILGRIM PITY PRIZE - Jewel, "A Night Without Armor"

8) BEST - Jack, "Dino"

All pictures can be found here: TALENT NITE set on Flickr.

My mother's daughter

Yesterday, with help from our house-guest and friend Harrison, I rearranged the two common areas in our upstairs apartment (read: the living quarters).

We'd had the bookshelves and two chairs in a room that's really more conducive to couches and coziness, and the couch and comfy chair in a space that's kind of an entrance room. I hatched the plan to switch them a couple weeks ago and finally got around to it yesterday.

IT IS AWESOME.

As both Steve and Harrison have pointed out, I have completed my transformation and am officially--as if there were every any doubt--my mother's daughter. You might remember from my tales of our painting party how my mother repeated her love for the color of the walls no less than a thousand times. Well, as I sat on the couch yesterday, surveying the rooms post-rearrange, I kept repeating over and over, "I love this, this looks soooo much better." And on and on.

To top it all off, as I was planting bulbs in my front yard today, my friend Micaela told me that since I'd bought a house I turned into a "granny." I suppose she was referring to my gardening, and my tapered sweatpants, pink gardening gloves, giant fleece jacket, and sensible sneakers. And maybe the fact that they all went out last night and I stayed in to knit and catch up on some much needed sleep.

So maybe buying a house does change you but I want to go on the record with this: I was definitely an early-to-bed girl before the house, as well as a knitter, a secret-lover-of-decorating, and my mother's daughter.

Anyway, pictures soon!

Scenes from last week...

Before he left for Kenya, my boyfriend was basically staying with us. Below is a Sunday morning breakfast I made, isn't it cute?

Also, check out scary Steve in the camo poncho my dad lent to Sean for his trip. He didn't end up using it though because he wants to try to blend in or at least pass for Canadian--sorry Dad!

Doesn't he look like a wax figure?