Home Improvement Isn't Just An Old Sitcom with Tim Allen

This is a smoke detector.

This is a smoke detector on a 12 foot ceiling or so.

This is a smoke detector that was not fun to install.

So, just a few months ago, we had the pleasant experience of having a smoke detector go off at 2 in the morning.  Not chirping, mind you, but full-on alarm.  There was no smoke, no fire.  Just alarm noises.  A few days later, we had a second smoke detector do the same thing, at around the same time in the morning.
Two things I learned from this experience:  1) Children sleep through smoke detectors.  2) When one goes bad, replace them ALL.  So, after learning this life lesson, we bought a ton of smoke detectors at the "Depot" and I proceeded to install them all.  This one was not nearly as bad as the one I have to lean out off of the stairwell to get to.  Oh, and another thing -all of these are front-battery-loading models, so you don't have to take the smoke detector off of the ceiling and unplug it to change the battery.  I'd call that a major home upgrade.

Since this smoke detector delicious, I have also done several other fun home improvement projects like: Replace multiple light fixtures (no more "this house was built in the 90's" brass lighting) and every ceiling fan, including the 15 foot one on a sloped ceiling.  That was fun.  There are pictures.  Then there was the storm door, a WONDERFUL upgrade to the back entrance to the house, and then we have had a plumber here to replace the kitchen sink and various faucets (I don't do plumbing or climbing on the roof - I have my limits).

So now, we just need to have someone come paint outside (and chimney and maybe the fence) while I clean up some paint inside on my remaining days off and our house will be pretty darn close to exactly how we would like it to be for us to live in.  And then we can put it on the market.  I think that's how this seems to always work according to those I've discussed it with.

Next project!