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Sunday, May 1, 2011

Marti's Musings: A split weekend

We ended a l-o-n-g week last week by the sudden goodbye to Zoe, the Wonder Dog.  My job was pretty stressful all week, ending with a 12 hour day Friday, and then the mad dash to the vet's office.  Sure has been one thing after another recently. 

This weekend our time was split between helping our son Corey get his house ready to rent to a new tenant, and our ongoing getting-ready-to-move-on stuff.   Our son is learning some tough lessons being a landlord in his mid-twenties!  The last tenant trashed the house, including ruining all the carpets with nail polish spilled throughout the house, in various colors. (yeah, hard to believe, huh?)  So, all the carpet needed to be replaced, and then the tenant (I would LIKE to use a few choice words here) refused to show up for the walk-through, and never returned the house keys!  Pressure is on, as a new tenant was moving in today.  So, amidst Paul meeting the carpet installers, doing minor repairs throughout, me sending in a housekeeper to clean up, and having the house door re-keyed - well, that was pretty much Saturday.

While Paul was meeting the carpet installers I was doing loads of laundry, and weeding out some more drawers. Yeah, well the clothing thing is gonna take longer than I thought.  Paul was right, my wardrobe is out of control!  I can't get rid of my work clothes, 'till I am done with work.  Gotta work 'till the house sells, hmmm - seems like a vicious circle.  So, I weeded, did loads of laundry, and have filled another large garbage bag full of give-away clothes. Next, I will have to do final decisions on what I want (read: can fit) to take with me on the road.  Our son and DIL, have offered to store winter clothes (coats, etc) as they live in a 4 season state, and we would need those things visiting them.  I can't decide, though - I will be wearing primarily jeans, but - there will be times I need other clothes, right??  We are church goers, we plan to volunteer (hopefully with SOWERS, or the like) - and if we are in one spot for a month, I can't wear the same outfit 4 weeks in a row... sheesh!  Decisions, decisions..

We got a few hanging plants for the porch - it gives the house just a little bit of 'oomph, -  a nice touch.  Plus the red flowers attract humming birds!  :-)  Think it will attract a seller or two?  Here's hoping.  One of the two houses for sale down the street is already under contract.  Today we heard a bit of good news:  per a local realtor our town is "hopping" for selling houses.  Great news!!

Next weekend we will be totally focused on this house as Caring Transitions will come in and help weed out, clean out, and we begin the staging of the house.  YIKES!

Amidst all this craziness, we still shed a tear or two for Zoe.  We randomly suddenly realize she isn't here anymore.  She drove us crazy at times, but was definitely one of the family.  The house is quieter, we don't need to bring home our leftovers anymore from our restaurant meals, and when I see lightening in the distance, I no longer have to rush home before she starts panicking and digging up the carpet.  I guess on the bright side, when we have the carpet replaced, we won't have to worry if she is going to rip it up....  *sigh*  Life goes on.  We sure are ready for the next step!  Getting to this step sure seems endless.

~Marti

8 comments:

  1. the trials and tribulations of having two separate lives..work, home, rv!..good luck with the sale of the house..and we are so sorry about Zoe..
    hang in there..things will all fall into place eventually.

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  2. Sorry to hear about Zoe. At some point we'll have to deal with that loss with Sage.

    I can completely relate about the clothes issue. I still plan to do some consulting, so need a work wardrobe... A small one, but still... And then I still LIKE dressing up. Shorts and tee shirts are okay, but I like variety.
    And then there's those transition weather periods... when it's not winter, but not summer either and too cold for shorts. SO many decisions and so little space!

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  3. Sure sorry to hear about Zoe, they become such an important part of our families.

    As for the clothes, we take in Cowboy Churches all over the continent and they are good with jeans and boots, for the first year we carried jackets and our fancy duds with us but never used them so they have been left in the basement storage ever since.

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  4. Sorry to hear about your son's rental problems. That is exactly why we don't want to rent our house until we sell it!!

    We are thinking of moving our house to your neighborhood....not until your house sells, of course ;o))

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  5. I know what you mean about getting rid of certain things. I have 'stuff' that I know (of course George is there too!) I need to get rid of, but what if I need to use it in the next year?? We're still slooowly getting rid of things though!

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  6. Sure hope your son had a HUGE deposit from the deadbeat renter. Amazingly inconsiderate behavior. Tell him to up the rent so he gets a better quality of tenant and to up the deposit as well.

    Really glad to hear you two are moving along toward your goal. Sounds like things are on track in spite of all the problems you two have had. More than your share for sure. My hat's off to you both!

    Sherry
    www.directionofourdreams.blogspot.com

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