Sans photo, you’ll have to just picture me, crying…yes, crying as I pathetically lay on my stomach on the floor of our bathroom closet, reaching my arm as far as possible in our laundry chute - ineffectively poking our bathroom rugs with a hockey stick – they had become lodged in the chute somewhere exactly between the 2nd floor and the basement – completely out of my reach. I was crying from frustration, but probably more so because I’d much rather be changing lives than doing housework and I was going to be spending all day cleaning the house yet again for another potential renter. Nearly two months of cleaning, packing up stuff, de-cluttering, throwing out, donating, working on house projects…all good things, but its December 1st today and we still don’t have a renter – despite lots of e-mails, phone conversations, and showings. Trying not to stress about that. And quite frankly, I’d much rather be just packing everything up and not worrying about the house staying pristine. I have an inkling of what it must be like for all of you who have tried to sell your house while still living in it. Dan was working from home today with a cold and I actually evoked the Boundary Waters mantra as a warning to him…leave no trace!!! :-) Now I do have to laugh.
Dan seems much more zen about securing a renter, but perhaps that’s partly because he continues to focus on work and I’m focusing on our transition (I know – all of you who know us are saying it’s because of our personalities). It’s hard for me to jump into what’s next, continue making plans in Chile, relax, while the renter question still feels unsettled. But like Dan reminded me today (as he helpfully replaced the hockey stick with a cross country ski and dislodged the rugs) there will be a lot of things that are beyond our control this next year and we’ll just have to be okay with going with the flow. Hmm, wish me luck.
Well, lying on the floor this morning, I thought things could only get better. I spent the whole day cleaning the house, but I also got a bunch of things packed up, set up more storage shelves in the freezing attic, filled more garbage bags, filled more bags for donation and then I got a call an hour before the showing – the potential renter was having to cancel and their move is getting postponed so it wouldn’t work out! Oh well. I took a long shower and then enjoyed the rest of the evening with Dan and the kids. And tonight we got another e-mail…another showing tomorrow! Cross your fingers everyone.
Goodnight,
Laura
It's moments like these that I remember my mantra: "This too, shall pass". Days may seem like marathons sometimes, but the years are like a 50 yard dash...hang in there. I'm jealous you have a clean, clutter-free house!!
ReplyDeleteGlad the housecleaning didn't go totally to waste- good luck tomorrow with the showing.
ReplyDeleteI would be a basketcase in your shoes. Salva would glide in from his office (aka the heavenly tranquil sanctuary) and wonder why I was in tears. I'm with you. You will live through it, and I'm awed that you can laugh already.
Ah, glad you mentioned marathons. A wise man who has run on 6 continents told me, "Take them one telephone pole at a time." I'm learning to break tasks into manageable chunks. Otherwise I get frustrated like the Soul Asylum song!
ReplyDeleteChuck aka "Dan's old Roomie"