The joys of being a homeowner

Last night I went to sit shiva with the family of my friend who passed away last week. Not only did she work with me, she was my neighbor. So I took the opportunity to swing by the house for a couple of hours, before the services started. I fed the cats, gave them water, and then went on my way.

However, it's gotten tres cold here in the Nutmeg State, and I forgot to turn on the heat before I left. So I made another trip up today for the sole purpose of turning the heat on.

When I went to turn the heat on in the back of the house, where my office is, I was greeted by a not-so-nice surprise: my patio umbrella had blown over and shattered the glass top to my patio table, leaving it in hundreds upon hundreds of itty bitty shards, some scattered on the deck, others hanging by a thread off of the edge of the table.

For the next two and a half hours, I gingerly cleaned the whole mess up. I used my vacuum, a broom, some trash bags, and a couple of grocery bags. I took the table apart and disposed of it in the dumpster. I went downstairs to my neighbor's and cleaned off his patio. I live in a loft, so some of the shards fell in between the boards of my deck and down onto his space.

I still have some glass shards in the cracks that I have to clean up. That will have to wait until I return home Saturday--for good.

I can't wait to go home. I've forgotten what it's like to be there.