We have a fence!

I updated that we had all the posts set Friday, but it ended up that we didn't have a completed fence by Saturday. They were supposed to show up first thing Saturday morning to finish, but that didn't happen. Instead we got a call from Eli saying they would be there soon but asking if we could write our check out to the guys putting the fence up instead of to the company because the check from the last job bounced and the company didn't have enough cashola to pay their workers? Seriously?

Unfortunately for Eli (and us apparently), we were paying by credit card, so no-go (and it sounded a little shady to me besides). An hour later, no one had still shown up. We called Eli, and he said he was now trying to get another team together because the other one wouldn't do it because of the whole payment debacle (can you blame them?). We got another call about 4 hours later telling us he'd found another team (a guy plus his son he's apprenticing), and they'd be out soon to start, completing Sunday morning.

At 7pm, while we're giving Ellie her bath, someone rings the doorbell. It's the poor guy who agreed to do our job on his Sat. evening/Sunday morning. It was almost dark by this time, and the dude was dripping sweat from every pore in his body. He asked if he could start Sunday morning instead, and of course, we said yes.

True to his word, the guy showed up Sunday morning and got to work. He worked nearly all day (with a 1.5 hr lunchbreak), and he did a fantastic job. We couldn't be more pleased. We watched him work, and you could tell how much time and care and pride he put into his work.

As he was cleaning up, Harry asked him about the tension line that was supposed to be installed at the bottom of the fence, and he told us the company never gave it to him. Figures. Harry even reminded Eli about the damn thing on the phone Saturday.

After they left, Harry called Eli again about the tension line, and, for some reason, Eli thought Harry was talking about something else. Whatever. Someone's supposed to be out today to put it on. I'm not holding my breath.

But we have a fence. At first, Ellie was none too happy about it. Harry took her out to play, and when he closed the gate, she flipped. She started shaking the gate, trying to get out, and wailing at the top of her lungs. Yikes.

I suggested we take her outside to play again after dinner, but bringing her out the back door instead. That seemed to work better. She didn't freak.

***

In other news, for those who don't know, Harry is the King of Tag Saling. This man loves tag sales like nobody's business. He's a sucker for them. Every time we drive by a sign for one, I cringe, hoping he didn't see it. I used to love tag sales as a kid, too, but not so much anymore. I don't need to sift through someone's teaspoon collection or glasswares from 1955. I've got plenty of my own junk at home. Harry, on the other hand, sees treasure.

He did get me a rather nice bookcase a few years ago, so he doesn't just bring home trash (and he does bring home trash on occasion which irks me to no end). And I will admit, he did hit the jackpot this weekend.

One of the houses we were dying to buy but couldn't afford has finally been sold. The previous owners have to be out by this coming Thursday, so they had a tag sale this weekend to get rid of as many things as possible to make their move easier. While I went grocery shopping, Harry took Ellie to go check it out. Ellie must be his lucky charm (or maybe she's just too cute and has some secret power to get people to give her things).

He ended up scoring this awesome Little Tikes kitchen for Miss Ellie, including 100 odd kitcheny things like plates, bowls, food, etc. She's in love with this thing. He got it all for $10. He also got her a portable slide for $5, which he's planning on putting in the finished basement this winter so Ellie still has a playground for when it's cold (can you say spoiled? - LOL). The woman threw in a kid's art easel for free, which was something I had been wanting to get for her. Bonus!

Last, he got a receiver, speakers, and 50-CD changer for $10. I'm not kidding. It's in perfect working order. The hinge on the door to the CD changer had been broken off, but Harry fixed it. We hooked it up to the TV, and now we have stereo sound. How cool! And I got to select 50 discs to put in the changer. We listened to music all weekend instead of watched TV. That's pretty cool.

I had to give him a pat on the back for it all. I love a bargain, I'll admit, and since we started dating, Harry now shares my enthusiasm for finding the best deals. I've wanted a large CD changer for years, but they're just too pricey. I know he was trying to think of a way to get me one for Christmas, but I had firmly put my foot down about it last week when I saw him searching for them on the internet. Who would have thought he'd come across one at a tag sale?

I'm a happy girl:)