I remember when Lee and I first saw our house, as we stepped out the back door to check out the yard, I glanced at the steps and thought, “We’ll have to replace these.” They were old, rickety, and unattractive.
Nearly three years later, they were still here. It’s actually difficult to find steps for sale pre-made. For months, a magazine article ripped from Handyman hung on our kitchen bulletin board with a photo of a man and some new steps under the title, “Build Deck Steps!” Despite the article’s suggestion, it did not look easy.
Therefore, we procrastinated. Until a week or so ago. The yard was wet from watering earlier in the day. Millie wanted to go out, so I had her leash in my hand as we went down the back steps. Then suddenly, I slipped on the slick steps and started to fall. I thought I could catch myself when aprubtly the end of a step broke off and I slid on my butt all the way down. I had a nice bruise to show for it.
We decided it was time for steps. The only place we found locally to buy them was a mobile home parts shop. This morning, we got up early and headed over.
We scoped out the sparse selection, but fortunately found some that were the right size. We went in to inquire about the price.
“How much for the steps?” I asked.
“$139. Do you need a rail?”
Heavens no. I had seen the rails. They were these awful, cheap metal handrails with supports shaped like hearts.
“No thanks,” I said.
“Do you live in a park?”
A shudder. “No.”
“Cause by law, if it’s four steps high, you need a rail.”
Again, an adamant, “No.”
Finally with the aid of some rope, we got the steps in the car and headed home. They fit perfectly, and are a big improvement. Good-bye old steps, hello new steps.
I was so excited about FINALLY getting some new steps, that I felt motivated enough to clean the entire house (with Lee’s help, of course). It didn’t stop with just dusting and mopping. While Lee alphabetized his CD collection – and he has about 2 million CDs – I decided to clean out the bathroom. I managed to overfill a tall kitchen trash bag and a box full of stuff to either throw away or put in our yard sale. What’s so crazy about it, is that all that junk had been stored in our relatively few cabinets in the bathroom. I felt like Mary Poppins pulling expired medicine bottle after expired medicine bottle out of a small purse. I found one item that expired in 1998. I mean – really. I probably saved us from certain death by cleaning out the bathroom.
Now it’s not that late for a Saturday night, but I’m pretty tired. At least when I wake up tomorrow morning, I can feel good that I don’t have to clean the house. Laundry, now that’s another story.