We meet with our realtor this week. I'm stressed out with the idea that I have 3 more days to fix every flaw, organize every cupboard, clean away every cobweb, and decorate every room to make it look like what every buyer wants. I know I'm being unrealistic, but I'm not listening to my reasonable side yet. I'll wait until Wednesday afternoon and then declare everything good enough for the moment.
Meanwhile, today is Sunday. (1) I'm thankful for Sunday, because it is a day of rest. I went to church, I spent some time doing family history research, I talked with my daughter, I went to choir practice, and I'm now blogging. Monday through Saturday, I sort, organize, clean and pack. Sunday I take a break from that, and that break revitalizes me.
Now, I must admit that the first Saturday of this month, I had work of another kind. My brother told me he needed me to go to Disneyland to watch my nephew lead his high school marching band. Neither my brother nor his wife could attend, so I needed to be the supportive aunt. Twist my arm, I know. (2) I'm thankful I could spend time with my daughter and nephew at Disneyland.
(3) I'm thankful we could hear his band play. (I'm not sure you will be able to hear his band play, though; I seem to be having trouble with the video. Hopefully it will work.)
(4) Speaking of playing, I'm thankful for acoustics. We replaced carpets with laminate flooring. In order to put in the new floors, we had to empty the room of furniture. (Fortunately, the installers worked around the piano, just moving it from one side of the room to the other as needed.) Anyway, the piano sounds so much better in a practically-empty, non-carpeted room.
(5) Yes, this sounds like a line from the movie Napolean Dynamite, but I'm thankful for people with skills: laminate skills, baseboard skills, tile skills, carpet skills, appliance repair skills, gardening skills, plumbing skills, window skills, painting skills. . . . We've had a lot of help getting the house ready.
(6) I'm thankful we can enjoy the results of all that skilled labor, even if we won't be here much longer. Flooring makes such a huge difference! Before, we had a worn wooden parquet entryway and old carpet in the other rooms. Now, the same laminate flooring extends through most of the house. I'm not going to take time to try to find "before" photos right now, but here's a hastily-taken "after" shot:
(7) I'm thankful that packing leads me down memory lane a bit. (The trick is to not let that distract me too much from the task at hand.) I found a photo of my sister from when she was a freshman in high school, as well as a photo of me from my junior year. What struck me was what my mom recorded on the back of each picture.
(Mom, I love you and I want you to know you did nothing wrong. In fact, I wish I had been so thorough with my children's school photos. This observation just made me laugh, OK?) On the back of my photo, my mom wrote my first name, my last name, the month and year, and my age in years. On the back of my sister's photo, my mom wrote my sister's first, middle, and last name, the day, month, and year, my sister's age in years and months, what year in school she was, and the name of the high school.
I texted my sister when I discovered the photos, and said,"Look what I found while packing! I don't know what delights me more--the photo, or the fact Mom was still counting your age in months!"
To be fair, I'm comparing apples and oranges here, as my sister wasn't a freshman until 3 years after I was a junior, so the photos weren't taken in the same year, and she might have had minimal information written on the back of her photo that year, too.
(8) I'm thankful that packing leads me down memory lane a bit. (The trick is to not let that distract me too much from the task at hand.) I found a couple more photos that made me realize that my oldest son bore a resemblance to me when he was young.
(9) I'm thankful for unexpected sights--like the ducks that have been in my neighborhood lately. The second time I spotted them, I had to stop and take a quick photo. Ravens I see all the time. Doves are common. Owls, hawks, and hummingbirds are not at all unusual. In all the years I've lived here, though, I've never seen ducks in my neighborhood.
(10) I'm thankful for John. He just walked in the door after spending the weekend with our oldest son, so I'm going to bring this post to an abrupt end.
In short, I might be stressed, but I'm thankful. Go check out other thankful posts at the Ten Things of Thankful blog.
Meanwhile, today is Sunday. (1) I'm thankful for Sunday, because it is a day of rest. I went to church, I spent some time doing family history research, I talked with my daughter, I went to choir practice, and I'm now blogging. Monday through Saturday, I sort, organize, clean and pack. Sunday I take a break from that, and that break revitalizes me.
Now, I must admit that the first Saturday of this month, I had work of another kind. My brother told me he needed me to go to Disneyland to watch my nephew lead his high school marching band. Neither my brother nor his wife could attend, so I needed to be the supportive aunt. Twist my arm, I know. (2) I'm thankful I could spend time with my daughter and nephew at Disneyland.
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| Photo: My tall nephew wraps his arms around me and my daughter in front of the castle at Disneyland |
(4) Speaking of playing, I'm thankful for acoustics. We replaced carpets with laminate flooring. In order to put in the new floors, we had to empty the room of furniture. (Fortunately, the installers worked around the piano, just moving it from one side of the room to the other as needed.) Anyway, the piano sounds so much better in a practically-empty, non-carpeted room.
(5) Yes, this sounds like a line from the movie Napolean Dynamite, but I'm thankful for people with skills: laminate skills, baseboard skills, tile skills, carpet skills, appliance repair skills, gardening skills, plumbing skills, window skills, painting skills. . . . We've had a lot of help getting the house ready.
(6) I'm thankful we can enjoy the results of all that skilled labor, even if we won't be here much longer. Flooring makes such a huge difference! Before, we had a worn wooden parquet entryway and old carpet in the other rooms. Now, the same laminate flooring extends through most of the house. I'm not going to take time to try to find "before" photos right now, but here's a hastily-taken "after" shot:
 |
| Photo: Laminate flooring extends from the entry to the living room on the left to the dining room on the right, and on throughout other areas not seen in the photo. |
(Mom, I love you and I want you to know you did nothing wrong. In fact, I wish I had been so thorough with my children's school photos. This observation just made me laugh, OK?) On the back of my photo, my mom wrote my first name, my last name, the month and year, and my age in years. On the back of my sister's photo, my mom wrote my sister's first, middle, and last name, the day, month, and year, my sister's age in years and months, what year in school she was, and the name of the high school.
I texted my sister when I discovered the photos, and said,"Look what I found while packing! I don't know what delights me more--the photo, or the fact Mom was still counting your age in months!"
To be fair, I'm comparing apples and oranges here, as my sister wasn't a freshman until 3 years after I was a junior, so the photos weren't taken in the same year, and she might have had minimal information written on the back of her photo that year, too.
(8) I'm thankful that packing leads me down memory lane a bit. (The trick is to not let that distract me too much from the task at hand.) I found a couple more photos that made me realize that my oldest son bore a resemblance to me when he was young.
 |
| Photo: Son in color on left, and me in black-and-white on right. We share many of the same facial features, down to the gap-toothed grin. |
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| Photo: Two tan ducks play in the water in the gutter. |
In short, I might be stressed, but I'm thankful. Go check out other thankful posts at the Ten Things of Thankful blog.
Selling a house is so stressful!! Are you moving somewhere fun?
ReplyDeleteOh the horror of packing and cleaning and making a house ready for the realtor... It's all very fresh in my memory still, having done this myself just two years ago. Stay strong, this too shall pass ;-)
ReplyDeleteJust kidding ofcourse, but I know it's stressfull. I love how you can see the good in everything, including something as having to lay new floors just for selling the house. I hope you'll sell soon and can move on.
I hope you find more good memories while packing and can make more new memories in your new home. Do you already have a home in Utah or are you still looking?
Stay strong Kristi. Together with John you can do everything! xxx
Yay for Sunday and Disney and family.
ReplyDelete:-)
Good luck with the move.
We are in the process of buying a house! I don't look at the furnishings or even the paint colors, as those are things I can change. I look at the layout of the rooms and how the traffic flows through the house. The best advice I can give to sellers is to de-clutter and let me see the space! I have lots of pet peeves that I'll spare you. Best of luck and blessings to you as you sell your home.
ReplyDelete(I've told clients, if, in order to make the counters empty or other rooms less cluttered, jam it all in a closet. Even if a buyer opens the closet or kitchen cabinet and sees them packed with 'stuff', they will have had the benefit of a first impression (less is more) and will totally understand. Also they make those melting things that have scents like chocolate chip cookies and other food items, in case you don't have time to bake before a showing... don't laugh! Aroma is one of the most effective tools available.)
ReplyDeleteI like your photo descriptions... kinda the style I'd like to learn, simple, direct, effect ("My tall nephew wraps his arms around me and my daughter in front of the castle at Disneyland." I would not have thought of the simple use of the adjective 'tall', very nice.
( I think I left half a parenthesis around here somewhere.)
I am totally in awe that you found the energy to write a post in the midst of house sale/moving preparations! I love that you do set Sunday aside as a day of rest and reflection, it makes a difference!
ReplyDeleteI get so lost in memory lane if I start going through boxes with photos or items from previous stages of my life, especially where it involves my now grown children. I loved that your mom so faithfully recorded the info on the back of your photos, I'd like to say I always did the same. The age in months made me smile too, a mother is always a mother, I try to explain this to my kids. :-)
Your new flooring looks lovely and will make such a nice impression. I can't imagine trying to get a house ready for prospective buyers to walk through. My daughter is in the midst of the same process with her home in Nashville and there is an endless list of details to take care of, first impressions are important. I will be rejoicing with you when the sale is signed and done, the boxes are packed and you are headed for your new home and a new chapter in your lives!
It looks like you had a really fun day in Disneyland with your nephew and your daughter, I'm sure the break was good for you too!
Who can not stop and smile at ducks playing in the water, that was too cute! :-)
I join Clark in appreciating your photo captions, simple and easy to picture in my mind. Mine run on much too long, I need to work on that!!
And yes, most definitely, John is your greatest blessing and together you two will get through this stressful process just fine! My prayers will be with you. Blessings to you in the days ahead! XOXO
The house is looking good, Kristi.
ReplyDeleteThat is so funny that after all these years, you have ducks appearing. That is better than the appearance of some other animals that could choose this week to appear out of no where. One of my friends still remembers a time when she came to visit and there was a gopher snake nears our steps. She couldn't understand why we weren't a little more concerned. :-)
The flooring looks marvelous! Loved watching your nephew as the drum major, but I couldn't get the link of you playing the piano to work :(
ReplyDeleteI know you're moving, but I don't know where or what prompted it. Family must be kept informed, Cousin Kristi!
Have missed hearing from you! How's the move going?
ReplyDelete