Finally Catching Up Here...

...and it's Tuesday already, so let's do it in list format...

Great weekend with Steinvic...any surprise there?! We had a good time at the Reds' Civil Rights Game festivities. While it was too hot and we were too beat to stay for the whole game, it sure was neat to be in the presence of legends like Ali, Aaron and Cosby. Wow! Here is a picture of The Hammer before he rode around the field in the Civil Rights Parade.

Before we left for the game, my folks showed up with their "cast off" television for our basement. Bless my Momma...instead of getting cable, she and her husband got rid of all their "analog" televisions, replaced them with digital, and spent hundreds on new antennaes. There was no advising them otherwise...my Mom researched it and felt that this was the way to go. Their new equipment is lovely and they shopped well. The bonus is that we got a new telly for the formerly vacant entertainment center in the basement.

The birds arrived on Saturday, so now the bedroom is finished. This isn't the best photo because the colors are wonky (from my phone) but you get the idea. That quilt is care of my Mom, who designed and made it for us, all by hand...(only sewing machine on the initial blocking stage...all quilting done with her little, nimble fingers. Love!)

Made Steinvic a GIANT steak for Father's Day. We pretty much chilled and recovered from the mega heat of the game on Saturday evening. We both wished his son could have been there with us, but I'm hoping that they'll get to spend some time together this week or weekend.

The shrub was FINALLY trimmed when I got home last evening. THANK YOU, HOA BEEETCHEZ!! Only about a month late. (Better late than never, fo' sho'...)

Mission Clean Basement 2009 is in full swing. I am loving it. I feel like a huge sucker for letting the last five years go by with a finished basement essentially serving as a dumping ground for stuff. Criminal! In one hour, I have it 50% better than it was. Tonight will be a big night for getting things done.

And that's a wrap! I hope your weekend was spectacular and that if you're in this heat wave, you're hydrating. Hydrate!

Happy Friday and Why HOAs Suck

Happy Friday and welcome to another episode of Why Our Homeowner's Association Sucks Big Time!

It's been a great week of getting things done in our house. If I haven't mentioned, the big pushes for house-freshening include our friends Em and Ay coming in two weeks AND, most importantly, Steinvic moving here. (Before you get too excited...no job leads for him yet, but I feel like getting the place prepared is a big sign to G*d and the Universe that we're both ready for it to happen. Now. Please!)

So, with the painting, fussing, dusting and cleaning of it all, imagine how frustrating it is to go in and out of the house each day to see the monstrosity pictured above!

When the tacky neighbors busted a move and abandoned the place a number of weeks back, I'd contacted the HOA about all the shenanigans. I also mentioned that the greenery outside was really out of control. The HOA chick said that the maintenance dudes were actively pruning and hedging, so it should be taken care of within two weeks.

Um...no. It's been three. I sent a follow up e-mail and she replied that she couldn't guarantee it would be taken care of this week. Not acceptable.

The problem with HOAs is that you have to pay them to live in your own home. The home that you own. Your house. You're paying an entity to be able to live there in the house that you purchased. On top of taxes. And the entity promises to take care of the grounds. And then they do it at their leisure. To their standards.

I'm not a slob. While I am a little obsesseive, (yes, I admit it, but I use my OCD for good, not evil), I think my standards are reasonable. I like things to have some order. And I like things to look nice. So, paying a HOA that has a different standard of "looking nice" than I have is extremely frustrating. Because if you math it all out, we're paying for someone to do a half-ass job of keeping our home. I have been a manager most of my life, and I sincerely try to shape mediocrity, and if that person is resistant, I fire them. That's business.

So, I'm ready to fire my HOA. I'm considering sending them a note and saying, forget my request. I've bought the equipment and it cost $50. I did the work myself and my rate is $100 per hour. It took two hours. So, we won't be paying you an HOA fee next month.

But I don't have the guts, because I know it would come back on us and we'd have to pay anyway. Sigh...

Enough of my rant. You tell me...does the shrub (that is now overgrown to the point where you can't see the kitchen window) look like @#$% or am I a picky b*tch?

I hope that you're happy and well, and that your own shrubs are trimmed (wait...Oh, never mind...) and that you're set for a fantastic weekend! And, if by some chance, one of the 301 hits to this site includes a lawyer who is up on association members' rights, feel free to chime in on the comments section below! Happy Friday!