Every Room, Every Day

 UPDATE: Just a few short hours after posting this entry, I received a full price offer with closing in 3 weeks. Of course, contingent on appraisal and inspection. I am stunned! Houses like mine are lingering weeks without selling. Mine sold in exactly one week. I need to get busy and find a new place to live. Or arrange for storage of my things while I move in with my son temporarily.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of activity, hard work, and surprises. A week ago, I listed my house for sale. Things came together fast somehow after dealing with a major attack of elm seed bugs and a four week stay from my granddaughter. I was sure the bugs were going to keep me from listing, but I have finally achieved victory against those horrid things. Others across northern Utah might like to know my formula, but that will be a different post -- probably on social media. As for my granddaughter's stay, I have made family a priority throughout the process of getting my house ready to sell, because that's always the right thing.

But, at last, my house is listed, in the slowest time of the summer, right between a federal and a state holiday when many people are vacationing and not thinking about houses. When houses similar to mine are lingering for 6 to 8 weeks before getting offers. But, surprise! The first people toured my home last evening, and they "absolutely loved it!" They wanted time to think it over and possibly submit an offer today. Whether that offer comes or not, this is a major victory for me. My hard work has resulted in exactly the response I'd planned and hoped for. 

I have worked to make the house shiny clean, and to give each room and area some wow factor. I've used color, staging, and minimizing but not too much. I realized that not everyone would appreciate my taste in colors. But every room showed to its best potential with those colors. The bedrooms are calm and inviting. The bathrooms are glistening clean. The TV room and family room have an air of fun and games. The kitchen is big and clean with lots of wonderful conveniences for cooking together. The dining room has a cozy, conversational feel with a pretty patio view. The living room looks out on endless views and invites you to sit and stare. The yard, despite being on a corner with no fencing, has a feeling of seclusion and being in a park or in the mountains, with mature trees, lots of perennials, just enough grass, and multiple gathering places for entertaining or relaxing. The garage is big and clean and well-lit with lots of storage shelves. I specifically arranged each area to elicit the response "I love this!"

Right now, my body hurts everywhere, every way. But, I feel so good about the first showing, I am ignoring the pain. People keep asking me if I will be sad to leave my long-time home. But, they don't understand that when a house causes you unnecessary pain every day because of stairs and a sloping hillside, it will be a welcome relief to be in a new place without stairs. And I will certainly make that place lovely to live in as well.

My mantra now is Every Room, Every Day. My house is very clean now, but I have to keep it up. I do touch up dusting and vacuuming every day, wipe down all the bathroom fixtures and glass, keep the kitchen spotless, and tidy up the backyard. In addition, I am focusing on one room a day to do any more extensive cleaning needed there, and to continue reducing contents of closets, drawers, shelves, and vanities. The more I reduce, the less I have to move. I do have a couple more projects: grout the tub and clean the oven. I'll get those done one day soon. 

I have to stand back and admire my work now. I don't know how I did it all. It took a long time, and left me a little broken physically from the work. I'm going to just post all the pictures the realtor posted online just so I have then and can pull them up and view when I want to. 

Now, to find a new place to live! 

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

 

 Ever since we sold mom's house and finally closed in February, I have felt I am so close to having my own house ready to sell. But it seems like one thing after another happens to set me back.

Speaking of back, one of my setbacks was injuring my back on the day I had a little celebration with the kids to observe not an ending, but a new beginning. I ended up having two little parties as not everyone could come on the same day. It was on the day of the second party that I pulled a muscle in my back trying to carry some pizzas upstairs. They were the take and bake kind and were heavy and unwieldy at 16" each and stacked up. With my knees as they are, I require the handrail on stairs, and tried balancing the pizza stack on one hand. I obviously used some muscles that had long been in disuse, what with the pandemic and then general staying at home all the time. The pain was pretty bad and I had to walk very carefully, and not twist or bend too much.

I took a pain pill and tried to prepare things while moving quite gingerly. I noticed then the pizza guys had messed up my order! Grr. I had ordered the chicken and artichoke pizza without the usual bacon as my daughter won't eat bacon. I specifically ordered it through the custom menu so they would get it right. But, alas, the preparer took one look at the order and assumed it was the standard item with bacon and prepared it thus. In the end, the pizza place offered me a free pizza for another date while I sat and picked off the minced bacon bits before baking.

Then, I decided I would bake the cinnamon bread ring first before the pizzas so the pizzas would be hot when everyone arrived. Disaster! About 10 minutes into the bake time I could smell something burning. I ran to the kitchen and opened the oven which poured out smoke and the smell of burnt butter and sugar. The topping had run over the edge of the pan that is provided by the pizza place, and a mess was now smoking and turning to ash, and my oven seemed covered, sides, top, and, bottom in a sticky black residue. Oh yes, the smoke alarm went off and screeched for a good 15 minutes, though I had all the doors and windows open at that point. I managed to clear the smoke, stop the alarm, and clean up the worst of what was burning in the bottom of the oven. I managed to finish baking the cinnamon bread, which, incidentally, was really delicious, as were the other pizzas. And the party was saved. But my oven has yet to be cleaned now. I'm not really comfortable with the self-cleaning option that runs the oven at super high temps. But my back is still on again/off again giving me discomfort, and I hate to go through the physical gyrations of oven cleaning the old way. And to think, my oven was clean before all that.  

Oh yes, and the microwave chose that day to die altogether -- a thing it had been threatening to do for six months or more. I ended up buying a relatively cheap replacement from Lowe's that used the same mounting system as the old one, and my son helped me get it installed. It looks nice and works just fine, but if I were staying, I would have bought a nicer one.

Well, I gave myself some time off for moping over the setback. At the same time, gophers had awakened and were systematically ruining my front lawn. I had, I thought, successfully poisoned them after they made some dozen mounds near the front of the house over the winter. But now they have popped up further down, closer to the sidewalk, and there seems no limit to the number of mounds they are determined to make. I have just stared at the mounds day after day with no desire to deal with them. And it would seem ridiculous now to have the cable company come back and repair the damage they also did (for absolutely no reason!) in January, because the gopher issues make the other damage insignificant. And being in the same vicinity, they will require much of the same remediation. The grass was already looking very sad and weedy after last year's watering restrictions. Can it be saved?

I have bought some rapid grass seed, and some lawn soil. I've contacted my yard guy for a spring cleanup and I will have him do the remediation on the lawn, removing the mounds, putting poison underground in the burrows, raking and spreading the grass seed where needed, topping with a light layer of lawn soil. The only problem is my yard guy is getting busy and I don't know when he will be here. It's just like with Alberto years ago, and the guy I had after him. They start out new, with me giving them a chance, as they try to build up a business and clients. Then, after a few years, they get busy. Then they only want to work for the big guys doing big jobs for the big money and I'm left to find another new guy. *Sigh.* But I will endure with my current guy as I'm so close now and just need to whip the yard into shape. I don't want to break in another newbie. When I move, I will have a much smaller yard and it will be flat. I expect to be able to care for it myself and not rely on the yard guys much.

But the new house feels like a dream that I'll never achieve. So many setbacks, and it seems I can't stay even, let alone get ahead or get finished. So, I'm fighting discouragement and trying to do small tasks in the house and keep moving forward. This week, I hope the yard work gets done. I'll plant a few annuals for some color, wash the windows, and do one good cleaning through the whole house.

It feels like I may be approaching the finish line. But who knows what each new day will bring. Here's hoping.

When you go out to paint

 I have all but given up painting, but plan to return again after I move. I saw this quote and just wanted to save it somewhere where I could find it again.

Our House

 Our house, circa 1952. The house I grew up in.

This is how the house looked when we first lived there. A two-bedroom, one bath house. Dad later built two bedrooms in the basement. And a "coal room" where we stored coal for the old furnace, also became another bedroom once we converted to a natural gas furnace. Eight kids and two adults lived in that little house. It was tight. Our driveway was originally a dirt path facing onto Harrison Blvd -- a main road that became very busy over the years. We had orchards to the north and behind the house. Those orchards were our playground for many years. The owner no longer maintained them or picked the fruit. Eventually all the land was sold and developed into houses in the 50s and 60s. We had our own apple and peach trees and a large yard. Dad built a large garage in the back of the house and our driveway faced the new Douglas Street that had been added running along the south side of the house through the old orchards. Both mom and dad had a wish to live in the house till they died, and that wish was fulfilled. They owned the house for over 70 years. So much history there. Too much to even touch on here.

Our house, 2023

We finally listed mom's house for sale in December, just a week or so before Christmas. Probably not the best time in real estate terms, but it was ready and we were sick of working on it.

We strangely call it mom's house, although it is really our mom and dad's house -- and our house, really. It was the only house mom and dad ever owned. They bought it when I was about 3 years old -- 72 years ago. I guess we call it mom's house because she had lived alone in it since dad died about nine years before her.

It's been a year and a half now since mom died, and we, the trustees of the estate, have been working hard to settle estate matters. That has been one of the most difficult and frustrating tasks of my entire life. First, it was necessary to empty the house of all the belongings. That, in itself, was a gargantuan undertaking. Mom and dad grew up in the Depression era, and they hated to part with anything that seemed to have some value. In truth, there was little value in most of what they saved, and it wasn't even easy to give it all away. We went through a process that allowed all of the eight siblings multiple chances to find things they wanted from the house and to take those things. Some of them took a great deal and some took almost nothing. We set a rule that we were not going to keep track of dollar values as long as everyone was happy with what they got. That worked fine until a year later when some of the ones who took the most suddenly had complaints about how it was all done. We ended up having to send an attorney's letter to settle it. Costly, but necessary.

In that time, we've had to make a number of repairs to the house as well. It has taken time that some of the siblings resented. Of course, the ones who complained the loudest were the same ones who were too busy to help with the work. Gratefully, some were dependable and helped us get the work done.

Toward the end, we put in some long hours and extra effort to get the house to market. I sacrificed working on my own home to the end. I don't necessarily feel my sacrifice was worth it. Some of the siblings have complained that the house would have sold for more if we had listed it sooner. But the trade-off they fail to understand, is that the house was in no condition to sell sooner. We could have sold it as it for a rock bottom price. But the trustees jointly felt it was in the best interest of all to repair issues in the house before selling. It was the right choice. The house is freshly painted, cleaned, and all repaired now and ready for someone to move right in.

Now, a month after listing, our realtor will be holding an open house this weekend. We're hoping to see some interest in the old house. You'd think we'd be sad and sentimental to see it sold. But after so many months of hard work and hassle, it will simply be a relief and that's all.

My own house is very nearly ready to list. But I've had a series of issues in the yard over the winter. The fiber optic company had to come repair their lines damaged during the water line construction from last summer. As a result, they've dug up three places in my yard that now need to be fixed (the city wouldn't allow them to trench in the newly paved road, and so they are laying line under the sidewalks!). I'm assured my landscaping will be put back as it was, but I know that won't happen, as these workers are clumsy oafs. Also I've had a gopher spree in the front lawn with now 10 mounds! These have been buried under snow most of the winter. But they are now visible, and I'm going to have to kill the gophers and mitigate the mess made by the mounds. It always something with a house. So much for curb appeal. But inside is in good shape, and I'm just trying to keep it as clean as possible. I plan to contact a realtor in February. I'll probably need my yard care guy to come help me with fixing landscaping issues.

Selling mom's house is the end of an era for sure. And selling my own house is the end of one and the beginning of another. I have been mentally preparing to move for a long time, and have been downsizing in terms of personal belongings to make the move easier. I think I still have too much furniture for the small houses I'm considering. My hope now is just that the market is decent enough to sell my house and be able to buy a smaller house, and put some cash in the bank from the difference. That's the plan for 2023. I want a new place and I'm more than ready for that big change.

I don't look forward to moving. But I must do it soon. My body can't handle this hill and the stairs anymore. And I'm tired of cleaning a big house when I basically live in three or four of the rooms. It's time for me to go. Unlike my parents, I don't want to live in this house till I die.

UPDATE: Yesterday, Mar 20, we finally signed papers to close on the sale of the house. It was a relief after some ups and downs. Our first offer was disappointingly low and eventually fell through because the buyer continued to make unreasonable demands for more concessions. A week later, we had three full-asking-price offers and accepted one. Even after that, we had two more buyers wanting to pay full price. We could have gotten into a bidding war, but we aren't greedy. We felt the asking price was fair. Our reward was an easy process from that point to closing. The buyers sign papers today and the funds will transfer to our account tomorrow. And that will close this chapter. I learned a few things in this process that will help me in the sale of my own house.

 

So Much Change

 

Is it possible to have too much change at once? I'm thinking it is. The past two months my daughter has been helping me with various projects in the house to get it ready to sell. To be honest, the house should have been ready long before now. Part of my problem is procrastination and part is that I have such a linear way of thinking about the process: I feel like things have to happen in a certain order and no other way will work. It's my mind trying to think through the efficiencies of what I'm doing and how to proceed so I don't end up doing things twice. Of course, I overthink things. A lot.

With my daughter helping me, it's forced me to stay more or less on track. She respects my linear thinking as she inherited some of that from me. But she has pushed me to get on with it and get things crossed off the list. The list. Some 80 items of things I think need to be done before I can list my house for sale.

And I have crossed off more than half the items at this point. But she is a teacher and has now gone back to work for the fall and can't come over and help as much. I took advantage of that this past week and, frankly, got lazy and unproductive. Although, a small excuse kind of boils to the surface when I think about it: A lot has changed in my house and it's a little bit hard to adjust to so much change so quickly. I notice it in Frankie, too. Now his bed is in a different location because of changes in my bedroom. Even after a couple of weeks, he seems a little unsettled about sleeping there. I know how he feels.

Just consider the large furniture that has left my house now: the grand piano, the large Queen Anne desk, the huge china hutch (68" wide), my tall bulky chest of drawers from the bedroom and most recently all the rest of my bedroom furniture. That last item was not on the list. But as other rooms began to feel open, spacious, and lovely, the bedroom still felt heavy, dark, somewhat oppressive. Well, the walls are a dark green to start with. But the furniture I had come to hate was big, dark brown, too ornate, and in bad condition. It felt to me that the room needed lightening, I already had white curtains and had switched to a new white with green comforter. I could see I was part way there. It was very clear that the old furniture needed to go and I needed something light.

This was not a new idea. I'd been looking at furniture for some time and I knew it would need to be light gray, white or off white. I looked at many options online and made a spreadsheet to help me keep track and to compare (yes, I am that person). My plan was to live with the old furniture until after moving and then buy the new things to be delivered right to the new place. But suddenly, a few weeks ago, I had a whim and decided to order my furniture at once.

I did it. I ordered the furniture from a well-known online company after much searching, comparing, and reading customer reviews. That was all a story in itself, but I'll spare you the details.

I immediately removed all items from my exiting furniture and put everything into large bags where I could find what I needed during the transition. I gave the old furniture away. It had too many issues to try to sell it. I'd had it for over 40 years, and my in-laws who gave it to us had it some years before that. It was old and ugly. But when I listed it for free, someone was at my house within a couple of hours and carried it all away.

As I awaited the arrival of the new furniture, I cleaned: walls, carpets, baseboards. The room felt so clean and fresh. I slept on a bed without a headboard pulled away from the wall a few feet, and discovered, how comfortable that was. That old wood headboard was creaky and overpowering. I had purchased a white padded headboard to replace it some weeks earlier, but hadn't installed it awaiting the room cleaning. But even with no headboard at all, bedtime felt more peaceful and I found it easier to fall asleep.

The furniture arrived, and I quickly had it set up. I paid the small extra fee to have the deliverymen take it directly to the bedroom rather than leaving by the garage door.  That was well worth it and I didn't need to call on family members to carry the very heavy pieces in. I did, however, unpack the items myself which was messy and took longer than I expected with lots of cardboard and styrofoam to deal with. I only purchased a large dresser and two nightstands plus the headboard. I had fewer but larger drawers now. I didn't get a tall chest of drawers because I had emptied the old one and reduced my drawer contents to all fit in just the dresser. I'd ordered the matching mirror but ended up sending it back as it was just to much matchy matchy in the room. I kept my old mirror and it's perfect. I didn't then, and still haven't, attached the feet to the pieces. I'll do that at the new house. It still looks pretty, but I thought the feet made the furniture too tall for my room. I wanted to keep things sleek and serene.

I don't know why I waited several days, almost a week, before moving my clothes into the drawers. The bedroom looked beautiful with everything in place. But the change was so big, both Frankie and I felt like we were in someone else's house. Even after filling the drawers, I struggle to remember which drawer has what and I'm still adjusting.

So if I was lazy last week and unproductive, maybe I needed that. I needed time to start feeling at home again in my bedroom and other rooms of the house. To get used to the seriously big changes I've made.

And I think I'm about there. I woke up today in a good mood and feeling no pain in knees. I looked around at my beautiful bedroom and felt pleased. I'd had six hours of uninterrupted sleep, which is very unusual for me, and might have slept longer if Frankie hadn't gotten up. The soft quiet headboard is one factor in my peaceful feeling. But there's more. The room really is serene and more sleep inducing. I should have done this long ago.

I feel ready to get back onto that list and finish up the last remaining items. There are no more really big changes to make. Mostly what's left is cleaning and rearranging. In my office I will pack up all my own memorabilia projects as well as the slides project from my parents' house. Those things will sit in moving boxes in the garage and will find their way to the new house in that state. I won't try to tackle any such projects now.

The garage remains the biggest thing to tackle still. And even though that involves getting rid of a lot of stuff, it won't have the same impact on me, I'm sure, as the inside of the house. I also now need to do some autumn sprucing in the yard. My yard care guy has become somewhat unreliable. But the yard is in decent shape considering we've had watering restrictions this year and the grass nearly died. Recent rain has got things growing, including the weeds. I'll do a little weeding and try to plant a few things for color. That will do. Oh yes, I still plan to paint the front porch. Well, these are large tasks and will take me a little more time. But I'm very very close now.

Of course, the biggest change of all will be moving into a new house. Maybe the major change in my bedroom will have helped prepare me mentally for that big change. I do think there is such a thing as too much change at once. And it can be debilitating. For awhile. But at some point, I have to pull myself together and carry on.

Morning visitors. Mom and three fawns (number 3 wandered around the side of the house). Look how green my lawn looks after two heavy days of rain! It was all yellow a week ago. Ignore the weeds. I'll get to them.