Wednesday, October 7, 2009

It All Started with a Toilet in the Backseat


This past weekend, Mr. W and I ventured to beautiful, exotic Fresno, California where he purchased a house to flip. Bright and early Saturday morning, we made the drive up the 5 freeway with a brand new toilet in the backseat of the Beemer. I wanted to sit on it, but Mr. W didn’t think I’d fit back there.

We made a quick stop at an outlet mall because, well, why wouldn’t we? And then it was over the train tracks to the new house. Ain’t it purdy?



It’s a foreclosure Mr. W bought for no money on auction. The people living in it totally trashed it and then signed it over to a colony of cockroaches. And this dried up frog that was in one of the bedroom closets.



Needless to say, I did a lot of squealing while we were working on it. And for the record: spraying Raid directly on a roach does not kill it on contact. I actually had a cockroach nightmare last night as a result of all the exposure…



The house is a great buy, though, and I know it’s going to look amazing when he’s done with it. Even just hanging a new door in the front made a difference.



The evening and next morning were spent at his dad and stepmom’s place, which was pretty much like agricultural Disneyland. In addition to the two miniature horses below, they have two dogs, three cats (one is a kitten that I wanted to sneak home in my purse), three rabbits, a chicken and a rooster.



They have 3 acres of land that feels a bit like a resort and a farm rolled in to one. It was a nice escape from Rancho Roacho.



I’m pleased to say that no one saw me in my underwear (well, except those intended to see me that way) and I got along swimmingly with stepmom, who I hadn’t met before. I’ll definitely post some progress pictures as the house comes along. But until then, I have about 4,587 other things to get caught up on in my life. And I have to go drink wine and eat chocolate tonight.

9 comments:

Nilsa @ SoMi Speaks said...

When I first saw that toilet photo and saw the blanket on it, I thought someone had a night of fun and subsequently slept next to the porcelain god. And then I read the real scoop. Very cool about the house. Not so cool about the creepy crawlers. You're making my skin crawl talking about them and I'm thousands of miles away!

justrun said...

Well, your posts usually make me want to say "ohh, adventurous" but this really brings it to an entirely new level.

laura said...

Love Miniature Horses!!!! You should've put one of those in your purse to bring home!!!

Sizzle said...

Poor dried up froggy. I'm all squeamy over here reading about roaches. Grossout!

Glad you're having a good time. ;-)

Lara Watkins said...

Gregor Samsa

Anonymous said...

Flipping houses? Beemers? Resorts? Dang, suddenly I feel 'po!

Actually, considering what I've read about how some houses have been treated during the downturn, that house looks to be in not-too-bad of shape...

Jane Moneypenny said...

I swear, you got the life! I know you have your doubts sometimes about the future, but things like finding roaches while working on a house is a vivid memory that just makes life so much richer!

Um, chocolates + wine?! You're set. That's all you need. And you even got a good man on top of that.

Melissa Maris said...

Nilsa - Be thankful you're thousands of miles away! And - I'm thankful the toilet didn't involve a drunken story.

JustRun - Haha yes this was certainly and adventure. Although I prefer my undertakings to be bug-free...

Laura - Hahaha. They were awfully cute, but one did get slobber all over my hand when I fed it an apple.

Sizzle - I felt bad for the frog too. I have no idea how he could've possibly ended up in there.

Lara - Gregor Samsa is going to come knock on your door and sleep in your bed with you.

Geekhiker - It was in pretty good shape, considering. Although the pictures on the auction site showed the house completely filled with trash. I think the bank probably hired someone to come haul it all out...and only leave the roaches behind.

Jane - Yes, now that I'm not in the room with the bugs, I can look back fondly on the memory of it. The wine and chocolate was pretty darn good. Almost made up for the creepy crawly weekend!

Hannah said...

Fun times. I admire your courage to kill roaches. I can't do the raid thing. Killing bugs gives me the dry heaves.

I can't wait to see the makeover pictures :)