I've got the Handyman blues/Tribute to Dad

This past week has been an extremely frustrating one, as far as the house goes. I am looking for a landscaping company to trim some dead tree branches and also dig up my front shrub area (it's rock-hard clay in there - believe me, I bought the tools and tried to do it myself) and plant some new foliage and do a little stone edge wall around it. Anyway, I got an estimate from Pedro, the guy who some of my neighbors apparently use and he quoted basically $1,000 after I bought the materials. Agh! Just to trim some branches and plant some shrubs! Today another company is supposed to come over and give me an estimate.

I also called a handyman service to do some little jobs around the house (install some light fixtures, change out the bathroom faucets, etc.). They quoted me 6-8 hours of work and I have to pay by the hour (which means they will work REALLY SLOW) - it would be around $800 just for some little jobs that don't even need to be done by a licensed trademan!!! What is the deal?! My co-workers think I'm getting screwed over by these quotes, but I cannot seem to find a reasonable person/company with reasonable prices. Apparently I have a huge target on my forehead that says "Please, come and do this job, I am stupid and will pay ANYTHING!"

I guess what I really need to find is a great man to date that is handy around the house - or some great guy friends that I can "pay" with pizza and beer! UGH! Where is my Dad when I need him??!! He could do these projects in no time and do it right the first time. All kidding aside, it's times like this when I do miss my Dad the most (for those that are reading this that don't know, my Dad died suddenly about 5 years ago) - he was so good with this stuff and soooo smart (I'm not even being biased - other neighbors would tell me that when I was younger - that I was so lucky to have such a smart Dad that could fix anything). When I had braces as a pre-teen and the wires would poke me in the back of my mouth, he would even clean off the metal cutters and cut them off himself so it wouldn't hurt.

I have had a very frustrating week with all of this, and I know it may seem trivial to some of you reading this, but when I'm down here alone without friends that I can really trust yet and no family, I really feel isolated and scared when everyone has their hand out for money and you don't know who you can trust and who's trying to screw you over. I have been trying to make the best decisions I can with the information I have, but it just seems that with this house, there are things that I just have to trust the experts with and hope for the best. I am a control freak about my stuff at times (I get it directly from my Dad - for sure!) and so it makes me crazy, wondering if I'm making the right choices or doing the right thing. I look for signs from my Dad (usually it's pennies that he leaves for me - I'll post the penny/angel poem in a minute) and I know he's near. With the last week being so frustrating, I have been looking for a 'sign' from Dad that he's around and watching over me....yesterday I was at a barbecue/pool party with my realtor/friend Teresa and in the bathroom was a penny on the floor. Miss you Dad!

Here are some pics of the master at work!!

And here's the Penny Poem:

Pennies From Heaven

I found a penny today,

just laying on the ground.

But it is not just a penny,

this little coin I found.

Found pennies come from heaven,

that's what my Grandpa told me.

He said Angels toss them down,

oh how I loved that story.

He said when an Angel misses you,

they toss a penny down.

Sometimes just to cheer you up,

makes a smile out of your frown.

So don't pass by that penny

when you're feeling blue.

It may be a penny from heaven,

that an Angel's tossed to you.