Dr. Phil and "The Honey-Do List"

Location: Peoria, Arizona, USA
Housesitting: Fanci, a small standard poodle
Weather: 64ºF (18ºC) at 4 pm
Forecast: High of 64ºF (18ºC), low of 49ºF (9ºC)
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My husband, Greg, is a handyman. When he feels comfortable with a house sit, he'll tell me to ask them, in one of my emails, if they have a "honey do" list. Before I could write this post, I went to my friend, Google, to see whether it was "honey-do", or "honeydew". Hey, I'm an English teacher, so of course I care about such details.

Re-aligning a gate last year - #1 on a wife's honey-do list!

Keying in "honey do" (my first guess), right after the dictionary I come across a Dr. Phil advice link ... of course I clicked on it! I now know there may be relationship/sex issues linked to those who don't follow through on a honey-do list. I rarely have a list as Greg gets most jobs done before they ever get to a list, or sometimes even before I even notice them! So, no worries there, Dr. Phil :)

For those who may not be familiar with Dr. Phil, he was a psychology advisor to Oprah many years ago, and has his own spin-off relationship TV series. I think Oprah is probably known worldwide.

This is our third sit at our current home. The homeowners are well aware of Greg's abilities, and hopefully know that he doesn't do any more than is requested, or without checking in with the homeowners. For this visit, the owner mentioned to Greg that the wooden bench needed oiling and he'd be welcome to do it if he wanted.

Here's a photo of the bench, in the back yard, from our visit a year ago.

First Greg sanded it, and sanded it again, and sanded it again. He doesn't have his power sander with him either, so it was done by hand.

See the before-and-after? Good job Greg!

He did the oiling over a few days, so I was able to get photos of it at various stages.

"Hmmm, that small can's not going to be enough"

"Hmmm, may need another coat?"

We sent photos to the owners as it was progressing, and they were thrilled with it. They decided it would now go in the front yard.

Yesterday Greg was finally satisfied with it ... or, at least, I think so.

So, here it is, under the "Christmas tree" (see the baubles?) at the front of the house. Nice, eh? (a little Canadian there, as that's how Greg would say it).

Once we put the cushions back on, we had Fanci pose for a photo. The bench had been drying for a couple of days, and we checked it for any tackiness. All clear for the photo.

Fanci's modelling her Christmas bandana too

Once Fanci was off the bench, we could see faint paw prints. I told her owners it reminded me of kids who need to make their hand impressions in wet cement. Fanci put her mark on the bench, but it was just dust and didn't stay.

So, the "new" bench is Greg's Christmas present to the owners, I guess. We already ate and drank the Christmas presents they left us! OK, Greg, I ate most of the chocolates, I'll admit that, but you helped me with those cookies ... and shared the wine!

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Note: Photos of pets and homes are only used in the blog with the prior approval of owners.