At some point, I imagine most of us say, "never again." I have had to "eat my words" one too many times, so I try not to say, "never will I..." When the last of my dogs had to be put down about six months before I moved here, I vowed, no more dogs! No more coaxing and dragging prissy dogs out in the rain waiting for them to "do their business" while I got drenched in the process. No more trying to retrain my lab, who couldn't wait to go out in the rain, because what lab doesn't love water. Either way, I was drenched!

No more running home to make sure the dog(s) were walked, fed, and had not destroyed anything. I could run errands, play tennis, meet friends for drinks and dinner, just party with abandon. No dogs, no strings, alas, pet freedom.

I moved to Waitsburg, dog-free, but all it took was one trip to meet my cousin, who was a volunteer at Blue Mountain Humane Society, and I was hooked. Who could resist Mugsy, the 10-pound bundle of personality? So, the "no more dog" vow lasted about a year.

After spending an enormous amount of money, time, and stress remodeling our Los Angeles house, I again vowed, never again! Over ten years, we built a pool, remodeled the family room, master bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, changed all the windows and doors, rewired the electrical, re-landscaped, added a pergola and raised bed planters, along with a pond and gazebo.

Yet, here I am again, knee-deep in the dust, a gutted kitchen, contractors in and out of the house, and making decisions about colors, countertops, lighting, and all things kitchen. And of course, listening to Daniel throw fits over the inept construction of the house. I remind him, "It's an old house, various owners added rooms, there isn't any consistency, nothing should be a surprise by now, so GET OVER IT!"

I was right about one thing; it takes a lot of shims to level a kitchen floor. The "sleepers" or shims are about twelve feet long, and each one is cut at a different angle to level the floor to attempt to fix the three-inch drop in the corner. We now have an almost perfectly level floor. (Nothing is ever perfect in an old home). Our first thought was to use self-leveling concrete, instead of the shims. However, we did the math, and it would take four bags that would dry at 100 pounds each. In essence, we would add 400 pounds of weight to the kitchen floor that sits over the wine cellar. If the floor collapsed on my wine cellar, I would be devastated, to say the least.

Now, the floor is level, but the kitchen window is not. We decided we can live with it crooked! I'm thinking we can hide it behind a curtain, or maybe make a weird frame to camouflage the slant.

The timing of the kitchen remodel is not in sync with the garden, which is on overdrive producing a cornucopia of vegetables. I just wish we had a kitchen to cook or properly store things. I can only eat so much grilled zucchini! Tonight's dinner, a frittata made with leftover grilled zucchini. Luckily, we have some old tables and outlets outside, because our deck and backyard are serving as the temporary kitchen- and the bathroom sink now doubles as the kitchen sink.

So, once again, I am living with dust, construction noise, flies, and yellow jackets buzzing all over the house because the back door needs to remain open. This time I do mean it: Never Again! Only minor repairs and maintenance allowed in my life from now on!