Thursday, May 11, 2006

Selling my House Bites

...as StrongOpinions would say.

The basement is a toxic zone from the smell of the newly installed carpets. That, of course, is where my at-home office is, so I can't use it unless I want to fall over unconscious. Of course, somehow the carpet guys managed to mess up my phone line down there, so I can't use the computer down there anyway.

I brought another carload of assorted household detritus to the storage space this morning. I have probably one or two more loads to go. There are a couple more little things I need to do to make the house ready for the Broker's Open House on Tuesday, and PH has a number of things he should do that are beyond my ken. I will put my hip boots on and go into StrongOpinions' room in a few minutes, to make it showable.

I know I'm in the home stretch on the prep work, and the realtor thinks it will sell in one weekend, and PH and I are having a cool mini-vacation - a reward from my employer for outstanding work last year - in Wyoming right before Memorial Day, and we're in good shape financially. Why, then, do I feel so discombobulated? Just pre-move, pre-seminary panic attack?

In the past three weeks I've packed over 150 boxes, painted the garage and shed and back doors, painted the back wall of the house, reorganized and weeded out the closets, dealt with various and sundry tradesmen including piano movers, regular movers, carpeters and window washers, baked for the Rector's anniversary celebration, baked for the Women's Bible Study breakfast, made birthday strawberry shortcake for StrongOpinions, finished my John the Baptist icon, organized our camping stuff for the family campout over July 4th in Michigan, met with my Bishop and got approved for postulancy, coordinated plans for StrongOpinions' college experience with my ex, cleaned out two refrigerators, moved stuff for the church yard sale to a friend's garage. I've also attended a conference in Florida and done my regular work, although I'm on a light schedule this week because of sporadic jury duty. I've also taken StrongOpinions shopping, which was actually fun, and taken her for her tattoo, which was less fun, but not as bad as I thought.

Sorry I'm whining.

Remind me I asked for this.

I'm feeling like all my protective old layers of my life have been peeled away, and the newly exposed skin is very tender indeed.

12 comments:

Sophia said...

Mibi,

I am RIGHT THERE with you, believe me. I actually had a crying jag the other night that included the phrase "what was I thinking" multiple times. I keep telling myself it will all be okay. I'm irritated that I kept it together very well during the 2+ years it took to get to this point and now I'm a wreck. Ugh.

Our house has been on the market for exactly a week. We've had a number of folks through and gotten some useful feedback from their brokers.

Our open house is Saturday. I hope someone falls in love with the place because I'm not very good at living in a model home.

reverendmother said...

I hate moving, with the heat of a hundred suns.

This may sound like a sorry-ass tiny little first-world comment, but as God is my witness I will never pack myself again. That is my limit. I don't care if we have to eat ramen for the next year in order to afford it. I Will Not Pack.

Hang in there--what an adventure!

mibi52/ The Rev. Dr. Mary Brennan Thorpe said...

Sophia - I'm there, too. Cried yesterday afternoon over the stupidest little thing.

RM- I'm negotiating a packed move when we do our next one. That doesn't say I'll be mellow about having strangers coming for my stuff, and that I won't "pre-pack", but it may simplify. And of course, since I'll be moving from rented space the next time, I won't have to paint and fix things, which is the real pain in the patootie.

And then this morning, I came downstairs (after the monster storms last night) and the fish pond was half-empty. PH is out there now at 7 a.m. refilling it and trying to determine where the leak is. The phrase "it never rains but it pours" seems way too apt. The fish look a little discombobulated, too.

LutheranChik said...

Argh...selling my inherited house may be in my future. My parents considered their retirement cottage "disposable"...there is so much that needs to be done that sometimes when I walk around looking at the wreckage I just want to run away.

OTRgirl said...

Ahhh... Moving. Sigh. I'm facing the possibility of a cross-country move in the next couple months, so your moving saga (both ways) is good, and freaky for me. Your 'done' list is very impressive!

Unknown said...

rm, just insist on it as part of your moving expenses. And be sure you're moving to serve a church that is flush!
mibi, moving is a peeling back. The sorting, the packing, the whole thing goes deep. (((mibi)))

Unknown said...

“I hope someone falls in love with the place…” – Aw. Don’t fret Rev. Mibi. With all the preps that you’ve done with the house, it will surely capture the heart of one lucky buyer! Staging your house for sale can be tedious at times. Just make sure that every part of the house is clean and damage-free. Inspect every room and crawl space to make sure that every space is in good condition. Also, I do hope that you can find a home that you can get comfortable with. Good luck!

-Ofelia Bertrand

Calvin said...

I agree with Ofelia. In my situation, I depersonalized when I was staging my old home. Making it flexible for renovation while keeping it visually appealing is the key to selling a house! Anyway, you’ve posted this a long time ago, so I’m sure you already sold the house. How’s it going now, Rev. Mibi? :)

- Calvin Mordarski

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