After a long month of home repairs, I'm ready for the holidays

Well, I think my house has been totally repaired (for now), so I'm ready for the December holidays. Christmas, in my case.

November was a marathon “month of repairs.” One day, five different repair people were here at the same time! Pretty wild.

These repairs included two toilets, a broken dishwasher, a bathroom ceiling needing to be fixed after a plumbing leak and repair — which required a hole in the ceiling — followed by drywall ceiling replacement and then repainting.

Another was outside front lighting repair — a power unit burned out. Then furnace maintenance, yard cleanup, patio pots emptied, house gutters cleaned out after all the leaves accumulated there and, finally, carpet cleaning. Several of these repairs required multiple visits. Wow — it was a lot.

My dear Baheej used to take care of getting these things done, finding the right companies, etc., but now it's me, of course.

During most of those repair days, I had to sequester my kitties upstairs so they wouldn't be in danger by all the “in and out” activity at the front door. They are totally inside cats, so can't risk it.

Anyway, the bottom line is that it was quite an intense month of repairs on this old house. It's a nice old, rambling house, the first house built in Sleepy Hollow. People with old houses can identify, I'm sure. It was easier when Baheej was here.

But even new houses and condos need repairs.

What did I learn from all of this crazy activity?

1. Rely on tried and true service companies that are trustworthy.

2. Never just Google someone off the internet without some personal references. I learned the hard way with my dishwasher repair. They made a mess. Left it not working. I had to get a different and reliable company to come fix the dishwasher after getting cheated by the first company. I should have known better.

3. Always get a personal reference from another trusted company or a friend. Companies know other companies who do good work.

So the point is: If you are alone after the death of a beloved, or in charge of a house or property of a relative, follow 1, 2, 3, and you will be OK and get repairs done properly. Just another one of those practical matters we must learn to handle.

Happy holidays! Time to finish gift wrapping, ordering, mailing and writing cards. I have a Santa's “wrapping station” set up on the kitchen table and am rushing to get boxes in the mail. I am almost done.

And I think my best gift to myself is that all of those house repairs are done in time for Christmas and New Year!

• Susan Anderson-Khleif of Sleepy Hollow has a doctorate in family sociology from Harvard, taught at Wellesley College and is a retired Motorola executive. Contact her at sakhleif@comcast.net or see her blog longtermgrief.tumblr.com. See previous columns at www.dailyherald.com/topics/Anderson-Kleif-Susan.