That Mo-Fo.

I broke down and asked my brother for help.

I emailed him on Monday:

Mom really needs a handrail on her back porch. I'm worried that she's going to lose her balance and fall off. I know going down she holds onto the porch door to get to the bottom step, but going up is an issue. Is that something you and/or Lee could do? Nothing fancy. Just something sturdy to hang onto.

I've not heard a response. I decided to give him several days and the benefit of the doubt. I emailed my niece yesterday to make sure I have his email correct. I do.

Guess that's another thing I'll need to figure out and pay for.

I've not told her and am debating if I should. Part of me thinks I should rat him out. The other says to let her live blissfully naive.

Yesterday she dragged me to a resale shop to see a couch she found. I did like it and sat a while debating the purchase now. It would throw my budget off.

She offered to buy it for me. We had a discussion about her being willing to spend money on me but not herself. Eventually she said, "If you want, I can send the same amount to Peter -- if that would make you feel better."

Um, no. That wouldn't make me feel better and is in no way a factor of me accepting money from you.

I put it on layaway (who knew that still existed?). It's red.