Undesirable task: calling strangers

Today I finally did something I have been putting off for 6 months (okay, more like 2 years):

I called a plumber.

Never fear, it's not like my toilet's broken (well, it is, but my dad created a nifty little fix and when it no longer works I'll buy a new toilet). The need for a plumber is purely elective.

The need for a washer and dryer in my apartment is becoming critical. I know, I said that at New Year's, but the fact is that the inconvenience of dragging my laundry to my mom's house every third Sunday is not the only super-obnoxious factor. If my brother is already doing his laundry when I get there, I might end up at Mom's until 11pm. I don't have time to spend hours at my mom's house or even a laundromat during the week. I don't mind hanging out with my folks, but I feel guilty when they want to go to sleep and my mom volunteers to finish up the next day. Half the time I leave half the laundry at their place to dry. In addition, my time at Mom's house on Sundays has lately been limited by the Mad Men and Disney movie groups every single week... Sunday has become the least restful day of the week. One less obligation would be nice (yes, I am obliged to have clean clothes. It's important).

I'm no longer a college student. I pay a mortgage on my own place. I have a full-time job and plenty to do in the evenings. Getting a washer and dryer is the grown-up thing to do.

Heck, if I keep an eye out this weekend, I might even get in on some Labor Day sales.

But first, I need hook-ups installed, and for that, I need a plumber. (Wow, sorry it took so long to return to the point.)

I hate, hate, HATE calling strangers, especially when they're specialists. I fear they'll think I'm some stupid girl who has no business asking about their business. I had a job once where I had to cold-call people all day and it was AWFUL! I loathed that job and was thrilled to move into a profession where e-mail communication is the norm.

The last time the plumber came over -- about two years ago -- he asked me to contact my HOA for blueprints to the building to find out where the pipes are located. He'd come back then to give me an estimate. Well, I contacted the HOA, and they don't have blueprints. So... I sat around for a year.

Finally, this year I started asking my neighbors how their washers/dryers were hooked up. Turns out, they put them in a different closet than the one I planned on using. But I've already extended the closet and added an electrical outlet, so, my dad and I decided to punch a hole in the back to find the pipes ourselves. We didn't cut blindly; it's the opposite wall from the bathroom. I measured the distances and figured out where the pipes to the bathroom fixtures were. Then my dad cut the hole.

That was February. Since then, all I've needed to do was actually call the plumber... oh, and research venting the dryer into a box. (Tangent: the more I learn about venting into a box, the more nervous the idea makes me. But if I don't, I'll have to contact the HOA again. They weren't at all helpful when I first broached the idea of installing hook-ups. I might be able to sneak by with boxed venting, but I'm pretty sure they'd notice if I cut a hole in the roof, and I DON'T want to be liable if something happens to it down the road.)

Today, I bit the bullet and took the plunge (ack! Mixed metaphors!) I called and for a minute I hoped I would get the answering machine. No such luck. The plumber answered. Unfortunately, he didn't give a name, and the number my mom gave me was for a partnership, so I had to ask, "Is this Lynn or Bruce?" "Bruce," he replied.

Then I launched into a long, convoluted explanation of who I am and how they'd been to my place before and said I needed blueprints but the HOA doesn't have any... and then realized that all I needed to say was "Can you come take a second look to help me determine how to proceed with the hook-ups?" It's moments like those, when I become a rambling mess, that make me hate calling specialist/strangers!

Anyway, he said he'd call me to figure out a time to meet next week. I said that's fine and thanked him for his time. We'll see how it goes.

I did it. I'm a grownup and I called someone to help me do something I can't. Feels nice that I did something. Even if I am kind of afraid that I'm not really any closer to actually getting the hook-ups installed.

*Sigh.* Sometimes I wish I'd just paid the extra $3,000 when I bought the place so the previous owner could have done it for me. At the time I didn't think I could afford it -- my mortgage is already plenty high. On the other hand, this is so stressful!!

How Harry Potter should have ended

Yesterday, inspired by the following video, I saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 in IMAX and 3D. I confess I didn't notice the 3D effects much, but I still love the movie!  Even though it was my third viewing, I still cried. That Snape memory gets me every time.

Oddly enough, some teenagers showed up wearing costumes. Three were generic students (from what I could tell) and one was Bellatrix Lestrange. Just reinforced my desire to unexpectedly wear a costume sometime.

Anyway, the video:


After seeing this, I couldn't help but watch several more How it should have ended videos (and maybe a few more today). I think my very favorite is this one:



 Happy Friday, my friends!

Good grammar is relative

[Not ending a sentence with a preposition] is the type of tedious nonsense up with which I will not put!

- Winston Churchill*

Though I was an English major in college and am now a professional writer, I promise not to correct your grammar during casual conversation. I don't like it when people do it to me, and I won't do it to you.

I spent years studying grammar and I learned that the English language is always changing. Anything that's "poor" grammar now was correct at one time. Sometimes I consciously choose to break the rules because I like the way the "wrong" stuff sounds. The phrase "might/could" comes to mind, as in, "I might/could run to the store for you." It's charming! It makes me giggle. Please, don't take my cheap thrill away from me.

There's a time and place to show off your intelligence, and insulting mine won't make me respect you more. All you'll accomplish is to encourage me not to speak with you any longer than I have to. Plus, there's the fact that most people only know of and follow a finite set of rules. They're sticklers on the ones they know, but break dozens they probably aren't aware of. Unless it's your own very young child (and by "very young" I mean maybe 10 or younger), correcting other people is just plain rude.

If I'm in a job interview, or giving a presentation, well, that's a different matter. I pay more attention to the "rules" then. There are some circumstances where the way you speak really matters and could impact you elsewhere.

But if I'm just talking with you as friend, please be forgiving. Please? It's just not nice!

*Turns out, this might not be a Churchill quote, but I like to think it is, so I'm leaving it.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

Okay, no chicken dinner (that I know of) but I DID win a giveaway on the Utah Theater Bloggers Association web site for two free tickets to see The Glass Menagerie at the Utah Shakespearean Festival! I am so surprised and excited!! I'll never be able to say "I never win anything" again :)

Better hurry up and go before it closes, eh? Hooray for quick and less-expensive-than-otherwise vacations!

In the hopes that I'm on some kind of winning streak, I also entered Banana Republic's Mad Men Casting Call. I posted the photo I submitted to the left of my blog posts -- please click on the photo to go to my page and VOTE! You can use your Facebook login information and vote once a day every day until the contest ends.

Remember this outfit from What I wore today: going retro for church? Let's hope it's good enough ;)

Don't you think I'd be a perfectly adorable secretary? Or crazy hippie corrupting little Sally (since they're moving into the mid-to-late 60's)? I don't know if I really expect to win, but it's more fun to play then just watch others win and wish I'd tried, which is what I normally do. Lame! It's about time I try something different. Worth a shot anyway!

Unexpectedly positive

My dear friends Theresa, John, and Angie lost their mom this week.

Two years ago, Jeannie was diagnosed with cancer, and up until about two months ago she had an amazing quality of life; no pain, and except for treatments she didn't slow down in caring for her kids and grand kids every chance she got. A few weeks ago she went downhill fast and her family checked her into a hospice center so that she'd have round-the-clock care before she died.

She died on Sunday, and although there are many reasons to be sad, the most tragic part is that Jeannie died just three weeks before her youngest daughter's wedding. She had already returned her Mother-of-the-Bride dress, and told Angie she'd enjoy the wedding far more from the other side.

I admit, I hardly knew Jeannie, but I knew three of her four children quite well, so it wasn't even a question of whether I'd attend the viewing on Wednesday. I wanted to support them and let them know I've been thinking of and praying for them.

With all of this in mind, though, I was thoroughly expecting the viewing to be a solemn, sad affair. I imagined everyone crying and ME crying and feeling stupid because I wasn't crying that I missed her, but that I felt empathy for those who would. I wished I'd thought to bring Kleenex.

So, imagine my surprise when my spot in the line finally reached close enough to see the family, and they were all laughing and smiling! (Those huge grins they totally inherited from their mom.) My friend Katie and I hugged them all and "oohed" over Angie's ring, and laughed about Theresa's rambunctious kids, and how John, Katie and I are all writers now. We talked about how kind their mom had been, how long since we'd seen each other, and I don't know what else. We chatted for so long that their older sister, Sina (who I looked up to but didn't know well), tapped John on the shoulder and said, "You're holding up the line!" She and we all laughed -- apparently they'd all had their turn holding people up -- then talked with Sina and her dad briefly before leaving.

I left feeling incredibly uplifted and happy that I had gone. I haven't been to many viewings or funerals and didn't know what to expect, but I didn't expect it to be such a positive experience. I suppose that their energy, bright smiles, and the knowledge that life goes on even when you miss your mom is the best legacy Jeannie could have left behind. That's what I took from it. They've known for two years that this would be the eventual outcome, and as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, they believe that their family will be linked for forever and that they'll see Jeannie again. I'm sure that it hasn't been an easy week, but at least they were as prepared as could be and they have each other... as well as the multitude of people who showed up at the viewing and funeral. I hope that when I lose my own mom, dad, or someone else I depend on, I can handle it with such grace and gratitude. It was very cool to be a part of the experience.

I hope that this crazy time of funeral arrangements and wedding planning ends up being one they look back on fondly. It's nice they have something to look forward to and keep them busy while the pain is the sharpest. I love them, and hope the wedding is the party it should be!

Intermission pep talk

Sadly, the embedding option for my Friday video of choice has been disabled. Please jibbity, jibbity over to this link, and give it 164% of your focus, because it's awesome. I always have to watch at least twice in a row.

Jibbity, jibbity!

"Ya gotta BLITZ 'em! You blitz 'em!"