The house, the home, the condo falls down, kinda.

It's been 12 years since my hot water heater went out the last time. It happened on Sept. 11, 2001. Yes, that specific day. I took the day off of work, so at home I was forced to watch the tragedy unfold on TV with all that was happening at the WTC and PA and with a plumber in my dining room.

So earlier this year, I had gotten sick of my leaky toilet ( in my small bathroom and it was so bad that it tore up the wall) and went to Pacific Sales on Labor Day weekend and bought two new TOTO low flow one piece commodes for $800. Then I hired a plumber for $1,000 for the install. The weight of the units were 99 lbs each and I just don't have the strength do the install because I'm a petite woman. And I didn't know what the condition was under the commodes was going to be like, so I thought hiring a professional was a good idea.

Then guess what? My hot water heater went out again, 12 years ago, it was $1,000. This time, it was $1,400 to replace.

My condo hasn't been the same since. I had to move all of the IKEA HUSAR cabinets away from the dining room walls in order to give the plumber enough room to work. Then I recognized that I have been putting off a full paint job on my dining room. Right now, it's actually three tones of white. And it would look so much better being just one color.

I finally installed the rubber moulding in the main bathroom. So now I have the bathroom walls to rehab with plaster and three rooms to paint.