One Week Down

So, we're one week into this whole "Selling Our House" thing. Umm....it really stinks! I've been interrupted while making dinner twice, so now I hesitate before beginning any meal. Which meal can I hide the quickest if the real estate agents call? We had to be out of the house most of Saturday and all of Sunday afternoon, so we didn't get our normal nap and relaxation time. (I offered to leave Dave asleep on the couch so our agent could show what the room would like like complete with sleeping husband. She didn't think that would work.) I have become obsessive compulsive about picking things up. If one of the kids takes off their shoes for a minute, I immediately return them to the shoe basket, only to have them ask where their shoes went 30 seconds later.
The flip side of all the hassle is that we have had a lot of interest in the house already. I know that interest means nothing until there is a signature on the dotted line and a check in our hands. However, it is at least encouraging to know that people like our house enough to be interested. So far no one has run away laughing or shaking their heads in disbelief. There's that much at least.
Of course, since listing the house, our water heater has quit working and the heater isn't firing correctly. Hmmm...a bad omen, perhaps?

It's Official

After working ourselves into exhaustion, there is a new addition at our house:

As of yesterday, our house if officially "up for sale". Which means we may be interrupted at any moment by people wanting to come look at it. Which means that it must be clean at any moment. Which means my children are not allowed to play with their toys but are instead relegated to a zombie-like state while watching cartoons:

Naturally, it is spring break, so Garrett and Paige want to play! So, they are having to learn the whole "don't take anything else out until you put back the first thing". It's been a bit of a struggle, but they're getting there. Paige informs anyone who comes near that they are not allowed to touch the walls in our house because they are wet. (They're not anymore, but we're not telling her that!) Garrett wrote a note to prospective buyers that he wanted me to tape on the front door: "dont tak enedeng frum r haws". (For those of you not brushed up on your kindergarten writing, that stands for "don't take anything from our house") Apparently he is convinced that the lure of his Nerf gun sitting in his closet will just be too much for some possible buyer! We've tried to reassure him that everything is safe, but I guess all those warnings about locking the doors when we leave have left their mark.

In the meantime, we're enjoying our break off school and trying to stay warm. Last week was beautiful, with sunny skies and warm temperatures. Next week will be in the 70s. This week... highs in the 50s, and the chance of snow on Friday. Nice spring break, huh? I guess we'll try the indoor attractions! Anything to get out of the house so it will stay looking pristine. I have preserved its image so I will remember that at one point I was able to keep a spotless house!

And the Fun Begins

Dave and I have just completed a marathon, 12-hour day of fixing up our house. Why, you might ask, have we worked so long in one day? Well, in a mere 9 days, our house will be listed for sale with the real estate agencies. That's right folks, after nearly 8 years in our house, the Brysons are moving. Well, we will move if we can sell this house first!
After lots of deliberation, a few panic attacks (mostly mine), and much prayer, Dave and I have decided to buy my grandfather's house and remodel it. We like our current house, but it's not our "dream home". It kind of fell into our laps after my friend's parents offered it to us at a great price when they moved out of state. We never really thought we'd stay here forever, but we didn't really have any concrete plans to move either.
A few weeks ago, Dave went up to my grandpa's house with my mom to help figure out what needed to be done to get it ready to sell. He came home with all kinds of ideas about how we could add a master bedroom, change the kitchen, etc. Of course, he's good at visualizing that kind of stuff. I had to wait until he actually drew it out on paper to be able to see "the vision." So we began talking about it, and pretty soon that snowballed into making plans, which turned into actually talking to a real estate agent and a loan officer. And now, here we are, killing ourselves to get our current house perfect so that someone else can buy it and enjoy the perfection. Kind of ironic how we won't even enjoy all the nice things we've just fixed. We'll just go to a new house with lots of other things to fix. But they'll be new things, so maybe they'll be more exciting to fix. Or maybe we'll just learn to live with them, like we did here. Either way, we've signed on the dotted line, so here we go!
I have taken out stock in Clorox wipes in the effort to keep the house clean, and the kids have been told to keep their hands off of everything. If they need to use the restroom, there is a perfectly good tree in the backyard. (I'm kidding of course, but I did think about it....) Please pray that the house will sell quickly, as I am not enjoying the idea of having to keep 1600 square feet of house looking picture-perfect each day while two miniature tornadoes run around messing it up. We will keep you posted on the action!

It Really Is a Conspiracy

I have a theory, and though some may call me crazy, every mother of small children out there will agree...the toy manufacturers have launched an evil plot to take over the world with small plastic pieces of junk. It's really a very well disguised plot. You take your children to McDonald's for lunch and they give you two cute little plastic toys with the Happy Meals. The children go home, throw the toys into a drawer, a box, or a bin, and promptly forget about them. The little toys sit there looking innocent...until you turn off the lights. Then they begin to procreate like rabbits. The next morning, what was two Happy Meal toys has turned into four, or even six.

Think about it. There is no other possible explanation for why my house looks like this a mere 8 weeks after cleaning it thoroughly after Christmas:


I mean, really, if you had seen the amount of stuff we got rid of after Christmas, you would realize there is no way we could have this much stuff already! It's a conspiracy, I tell you! Someday all those little plastic toys will come to life and take over the planet. Then maybe they'll wrap us all in little plastic bags and stick us in boxes as revenge. Until then, I guess I'll continue with the "spring clean" fever which has gripped me....