What do you do when the pirates are quiet, the castaways are safe, and Christmas is finally over? You open the mailbag.

In this special bonus holiday episode of Abandon House! Kenny and Shari Rudolph answer listener questions sent in from around the world - letters to the Rudolphs, if you will - reflecting on love, loss, creativity, homeownership…and how a home repair disaster became a three-book series, a podcast, and even a theme song.

Kenny, Shari, and their producer, Jess Schmidt, discuss:

• How Kenny and Shari managed stress, grief, and chaos as a couple - and why they still insist Abandon House! is a love story
• The losses, professional upheaval, and pandemic pressures that unfolded alongside the home repair disaster
• Why revisiting the story felt impossible at first - and how distance and time turned the fiasco into perspective (and humor)
• How a stack of records, absurd emails, and a story that wouldn’t go away became a memoir, then a trilogy
• The creative journey behind the Abandon House! theme song
• The “back catalog” of castle catastrophes you’ve never heard before, including:
  • A biblical swarm of bees living inside the walls
  • Earthquakes that turned the pool into a wave machine
  • A near-house fire caused by an overheating AC unit
• Whether the fiasco changed how they feel about homeownership (spoiler: skylights are cancelled)
• Why self-advocacy, documentation, and the right experts make all the difference
• And finally…how the story ends (hint: it’s a trilogy for a reason)

As Kenny so aptly puts it: “What matters most is how well you walk through the fire.” This episode is about walking through it together - and learning how to laugh once you’re safely on the other side.

Coming up next on Abandon House!, Episode 7: Licensed Catastrophists, featuring Terry Adamson of Fenestration Canada.

From the Rudolphs to you, dear listener: Happy Holidays, and may your New Year be fiasco-free!

Abandon House! is produced by Jess Schmidt: https://www.jessdoespodcasting.com/

Our editor is Morgane Chambrin: https://www.morganechambrin.com/

The Abandon House! theme song was produced by Jeff Gerke with music and lyrics, vocals and guitar by Kenny Rudolph: https://abandonhousepod.com/

Additional music graciously provided by Eden's Journal:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC28z4W9e04lGdr0GWL-DK2A