26 March 2008

Today was...

Today was not cohesive. It was not linear. It was, however, both streamlined and chaotic.

Last night my friend who convinced us to sell the house called to ask if she could show it the following day. I said yes, leaving myself less than 24 hours to transform our lived-in family home to something I could try and sell a stranger.

Here's what happened:

Shopping at Target - plastic containers, curtain rods, sofa slipcover, drapes for closet - and Home Depot - Spackle and a paint brush

Then home:
  • cleared out our entire closet (which was so bad it was getting hard even to walk near it, let alone access anything inside)
  • removed all clutter from our house (including, but not limited to, my entire desk, the random things stored under my desk, everything from Steve's desk, most of the kids' toys, all child-created and child-hung artwork)
  • folded some laundry, shoved the rest in my car
  • touched up paint in living room
  • spackled spots in bathroom to give the illusion of a well-planned renovation
  • strategically placed furniture in playroom to cover "wall art"
  • cleaned all the crap off the glassed-in front porch
  • moved it to the garage
  • organized garage
  • installed curtain rod and drapes for bedroom closet
  • mounted curtains onto rods in windows
  • desperately called Kehr to request immediate back-up at T minus 150 minutes
Back up arrived. Thank God, or more accurately, Kehr, whom I absolutely adore and simply can not say enough good things about. You know you've got a great friend when she'll drag her kids over to your house after school and vacuum and mop until dinner time. I owe her a bottle of wine this weekend, that's for sure.

And it goes on: dishes, vacuum, sweep front porch, shove all odds and ends into drawers where I'm pretty sure even the nosiest prospective homebuyers will fear to tread, check and double check the floors, pick up invisible specks of dirt, strap the children in the car and leave them there (without even turning on the radio) while I check again and cram as much random crap as possible into its new temporary home in the trunk of my car.

Then we went to Matilda's award ceremony, which was pretty boring, and very nearly too long, but worth it to watch her go up on the stage and accept a certificate for her essay about her teacher. Steve and I were so proud of her, and she was proud of herself too, which was really the best part to watch. Freya would have been proud too, I'm sure, but she passed out ten minutes in.

I don't know how this first trial-run showing went, and I'm dying to call my friend, but all I can find is her work number. Argh! I'll have to wait 'til tomorrow. But if you'll excuse me, there's a glass of wine and an old episode of Ugly Betty waiting for me in my (now pristine) bedroom. I might fall asleep half way through, I might not, I won't know until I try. Good night, my friends, see you in the morning.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mmm wine. I hope the pristine bedroom lasts for a few days so that you have a chance to enjoy it. Do let us know how the showing went!

Anonymous said...

Wow, you are amazing. I am in awe of your productivity.

Jessica @ Little Nesting Doll said...

I know exactly how you feel. Our condo was on the market for 6 months last year, and I would have to clean like a crazy woman with an infant and a 2-yr old watching in awe every time a realtor called. Good luck...it sounds like you made great progress!

Anonymous said...

You're amazing. I would just crawl under the bed (if there were any room under there, which I assure you there is not) and cry.

Heather said...

You busted some butt! You go girl! I hope the awesome butt busting paid off and you hear good news from the realtor.

Anonymous said...

Oh the horrors of having a house for sale. GOOD luck.

Amy said...

Getting a showing so fast in this market must be a good sign. The house is so adorable it will surely sell!

Jen said...

We're getting ready to put our house up for sale soon. Can you and your friend come over for a couple of hours and help me get ready? Serisously, I think you got more done in one day than I do in most months.

Maureen said...

Holy crow! You are amazing... I do hope all your hard work pays off and it sells swiftly and at a price that will make all the hard work worth it. Fingers crossed for you that you won't have to do this too many more times.

Anonymous said...

I got exhausted just reading your post! I hope you had a relaxing evening.

Cathy, Amy and Kristina said...

Amazing. There's no way I could have pulled that off, even with backup.

Hope you enjoyed the wine!