to the zoo

On the way home from daycare Friday afternoon, Britton told me she wanted to see some zebras and rhinos.  I don't know where the request came from, but I figured it was high time to get out of the hotel room and into our new surroundings.  So we rounded up the family and made our way to the Pittsburgh Zoo this morning!

The elephants - a family favorite.  Britton loved watching the baby elephant throw sawdust all over itself, but freaked out when she thought the elephant was running towards her.  

A sweet treat.  It was a balmy low 90s day today, and everyone around here keeps referring to it as "oppressive heat."  The high tomorrow is in the low 70s.  This isn't summer - it's a Texas winter.

The zoo had a great aquarium too.  Britton was fascinated by the seahorses.

At this point, Britton just planted herself next to anything she thought I would make her stand next to for a photo op!  

The zoo's newest baby is an orphaned otter, and these two otters swam around their enclosure to our delight.  

Last stop - the carousel.  A friend and foe, as leaving the carousel was Britton's breaking point.  She was hot, tired, and cranky and we got back to the car as quickly as possible.  Up until then, it was a great time!  

SOLD

We had our first showing last Wednesday.  As expected, the hub and I were stupidly excited and nervous, and looking forward to feedback on the staging.  And the realtor who showed the house left us this feedback:


My buyers liked the house, especially the kitchen.  It really had an unpleasant odor...like smelly feet.  But the house is great.  It is one of the top 3 on list.


Um, what?  Instantly we're on the phone with our realtor, asking her if she can check the house and see if the air fresheners went weird because the house does not smell like smelly feet!  Of course, we're also high-fiving each other because, hey, who cares about smelly feet - they liked the house!  Please understand, we had been in the car for 18 hours at this point.  Nothing made sense anymore.  So our realtor stopped by the house and said it smelled fine and she didn't know what that feedback meant.

After some rest, the hub and I put it all together, and in the process learned a very valuable real estate lesson.  Don't have your carpets cleaned the day before you turn the AC to 76 degrees and seal up your house.  It will make your house smell like "smelly feet."

Fast forward to Saturday when we're taking Britton to the park, and notice that we have THREE showings that day.  Score!  But then one showing gets cancelled and the feedback for the other two go like this:

Buyers liked a lot about this house but they are just putting their home on the market this week so can't write any offers yet.  They will probably revisit this one if it is still available when they are ready to make an offer.  Shows well but was a tad warm on this hot day.

They didn't like the layout of the house.  Sorry.

So we finish out the weekend deflated, because I become convinced that the house will not sell EVER. Being rational does not enter my frame of mind at all.

And then Monday morning I call my realtor to discuss the showings and she asks if I'm calling about the email she sent.  Of course, she sent it to the hub and I never got it, so I ask her what the email said.  She said, "It's an offer.  But they have a contingency that they have to sell first."  UGH.  "But I'm expecting another offer this afternoon."  YES.

Now, we all know a house is never sold until the closing is completed.  And since mortgage companies have decided they now have to be picky about ridiculously asinine details, closings can and do get delayed.  Not to mention we have to get a home inspection and appraisal out of the way before we even get to closing.  But as of yesterday morning, a mere eight days after listing, our house is SOLD!

Little side note - on the way home from daycare yesterday, Britton asked if we could go home.  And I said that we were.  And she says, "No, I mean our home.  The old one [which is what we call it]. I want to go back there."  Damn near broke my heart.  I admit I started crying and kept it quiet so Britton wouldn't see.

So, back to the story - I was sitting at my desk this morning, when my email showed an alert for a new showing this morning.  So I called my realtor and left her a message that went pretty close to this: "Hey, Ann, it's Carrie, um, just got an email that there's a showing this morning and that doesn't make any sense seeing as how the house went under contract yesterday so I didn't know if it was a home inspection?  Or a mistake?  Or a.....um.....just let me know!  Thanks!"  Yeah, I'm super-suave when I don't know what's going on.

And she called me back and the first words out of her mouth are, "Never stop showing."  And here's the feedback from the showing this morning:

My clients liked it and are putting a back up contract on it

YES AND YES!  In consideration of my inability to be rational and sane when it comes to selling my home, I am now considering this house sold!

in limbo conundrum

We are officially "moved in" to our temporary housing. Now, we didn't have a lot of choice for our temporary housing, mainly because we required something furnished. I've long heard that you can't sell an empty house, so we knew we had to stage the house with our furniture. So, long story short, we are living in a two-bedroom hotel room. All 744 square feet of it.

 Don't get me wrong - I'm not complaining about my diamond shoes being too tight or my wallet being too small for my hundreds. I know that we're lucky to get temporary housing covered while our house sells, and I'm thankful to not paying rent on top of a mortgage. But the fact still remains, small is small and we're stepping on each other and can't move without bumping into something or someone.  And at night the hub and I lay on our bed to watch tv at the lowest possible level, and speak in near-whispers, so we don't wake Britton.  It feels like she can hear every move we make.  Check it out...

 

Britton's room.  We had them move out the queen size bed, and we brought her bed with us.  In the throws of exhaustion from the staging and moving, we also packed the box spring we don't use with her bed.  I don't know why we moved it 1400 miles to put it back under her bed.  

Our room.  Notice the sewing machine that I guarantee will never get used while we are here, the dry cleaning that needs to be dry cleaned, and the stack of suitcases beside the dresser.  And the door handle at the bottom right?  Yes, we're pretending to hide all this stuff behind the door.

The kitchen.  It is supplied, but with so few plates and glasses that we run the dishwasher every day out of necessity.  Full size fridge is nice, and I have actually made dinner in this kitchen!  Of course, no one else can be in the kitchen at the same time.

Here is Britton, just wiped out.  We have a pool (yay!) and have been in it every day since we've been here.  Britton LOVES the pool so much, that today it just tore out her little heart to leave it.   She has adjusted well,  admittedly much better than me.  She starts her new daycare tomorrow, the hub starts his new job, and supposedly we will get some kind of routine that vaguely resembles the one we've always known.  

Don't want to jinx the house, but we've had five showings as of this evening.  I jump every time the email chime goes off on my phone, or if the phone rings.  I know it's been less than a week, but we just need it to be sold already so we can move on and find a house here.  And once we actually find a house here (to rent or to buy) it needs to be after the Texas house is under contract so we can move the furniture out.  And the moving company has informed me that scheduling a move over the summer will take over a month.  So I think we're living in the hotel longer than we hope we will. Mommy's hitting the mini-bar again!

the move: a road trip

On Tuesday morning, we headed out of Texas.  As luck would have it, I couldn't find my camera and had to take pictures with my phone.  At the time I was disappointed, because really, how good can a cell phone picture be?  Well, somewhere in Missouri I discovered the Camera + app on my phone, and I spent the next 200 miles editing so gleefully that the hub was rightfully annoyed.

Good-bye Dallas...

 



 

All the while, Memaw and PawPaw were taking care of Britton.  Taking her fishing, playing in the pool, and driving the golf cart.  She's having the best time ever.

moving on out

We have had a VERY LONG WEEK!  The hub and I flew out to Pennsylvania last Wednesday through Saturday to check out our temporary housing, find a daycare for Britton, find a bank for us, and set up all the little things that fill up our to-do list.  We did find a great daycare, which is a huge relief.  Memaw flew out to stay with Britton, as this was the kind of trip she would not enjoy at all!  

On Sunday morning, bright and early, Britton decided she wanted her toenails and fingernails painted like Memaw.  I figured, why not?  So sparkly pink toes and fingers she got!

Then the hub and I drove Britton and Memaw to the airport, and Memaw took Britton home with her.  This was a huge relief to us, and made it possible to stage the house, get the carpets cleaned, meet with the realtor, have my car shipped, and pack the U-Haul without ever having to stop.  Plus, now Britton doesn't have to ride with us for the 21 HOUR DRIVE we embark on tomorrow!

We got back from the airport and instantly started cleaning and clearing out.  We worked for fourteen straight hours Sunday night, until we finally gave up at 2:30 a.m.  

Here are the befores of the family room:

And the afters...

I switched out the black and white family pictures above the couch with scientific horticulture photos I got out of a $5 book I got at the antique mall.  We moved all of Britton's toys out, and her table is coming with us.  It just makes the whole space look so much bigger.

Then to Britton's room.  No before pictures because I forgot to take them, but we are taking her bed, so we put her crib back up.  After it pulls staging duty here, it is going to live with Jessica and my soon-to-be newest nephew!  I hung my parade baby girl quilt on the crib, and put in a small table next to her chair.  See those dark stains on the front of the chair?  I noticed them in a photo, and it turns out they are from my jeans wearing against the chair when I rock Britton as we read at night.  Weird!

The realtor suggested I put this sign next to Britton's vinyl tree.  It just states that the tree is not painted on, and that the vinyl decal can be removed without damage to the paint underneath.  That way if someone doesn't want a tree in their room, they won't discount the house because they don't want any work.  I may have some smart ass things to say about that, but I'll zip my lip and just hope it sells quickly!

Our trash guys are going to HATE us!  

Our U-Haul trailer.  Ready for 1400 miles of cross-country driving, at least I hope it is!  We had to get it so that our stuff would be secure along the drive.  

Our carpet cleaner guy actually noticed the realtor putting up the sign first!  He even said he saw people slowing down.  We are hoping hoping hoping we sell quickly.  Hmmm, have I mentioned that yet?  I know, I know.  Luckily, my flowers decided to cooperate, and everything is in bloom and just beautiful.  

Happy travels!

before and after - dining room

We move in ONE WEEK.  I can't even wrap my brain around that right now.  So, I've been working on making the dining room an actual dining room!  If you remember from posts past, this isn't even as bad as it once looked.  The dining room used to contain a bookcase, a keyboard piano, and Britton's toys.  We didn't move the table into the dining room until I figured that if it was going to be a dining room, it damn well better have a table in it!

And after! The painting was hanging in the office above the desk, but the dining room walls were screaming for color.  You can see above - the dining room is open to the entryway, so there isn't really a stopping point if we wanted to paint the walls.  So, we kept them neutral and used the painting for color.  And we really needed a huge painting since the ceilings are 10 feet tall.

The dining room "china hutch."  It's actually part of an entertainment center we got from Memaw and PawPaw, but we didn't want to invest a lot of money into a china hutch when it's unlikely we would use one in the future.  I cleared off the books and photos and knick knacks, and scoured the internet for inspiration photos.

Here's what I ended up with, and it's balanced and clean.  I couldn't for the life of me find a ceramic pitcher, so I bought a clear glass one at Wal-Mart and a can of Krylon super gloss spray paint - thanks to Melissa and her DIY tutorial (found here) on faux milk glass!  The picture doesn't do it justice.  

Did you know Target is now selling wine corks?  I got them to put in a small hurricane vase, to balance the wine bottles on the left.  I can't decide if it says, "I use Pottery Barn catalogues as decorating magazines" or "I'm a lush."  Could go either way.

On the top shelf is our wedding china with more crystal glasses.

34 months old

This month we have been introduced to an almost-three-year-old, and boy was that introduction hard. I know the saying is "terrible twos" but c'mon, the twos were a piece of cake compared to this. It is trying for us, yes, but even more trying for her. I can see her emotions flooding her decision-making abilities, and man if this just isn't too big a world for her right now.

The sleeping thing (fingers crossed) has gotten better, in that she didn't even make a peep tonight going down. And she's back to liking baths, which all involved are thankful for! Britton is pushing even more now - "Let ME do it!" - and as a certified control freak, I hate to admit that my first instinct is to want to do it myself so that it will be done already. Britton sat in the tub for what felt like an hour (probably more like five minutes) putting her Dora doll's clothes on her. And dang it all she wanted to do it herself. And I let go and let her. Because I have to. Seriously, I can't be the mom showing up at kindergarten lunch to cut up my kid's green beans! I have found that the more patient, attentive, and positive we are, the better Britton's mood. And with that comes...

Our "duties" chart! I had a handmade one when I was at my wit's end last week, but when cruising the Target dollar bins I ran across this laminated beauty. Britton LOVES this. Her "duties" are to play nicely, pick up her toys, take a bath, brush her teeth, and stay in bed. That's it - I can't overwhelm her. And we do stickers every evening, which she is so enthusiastic about. Notice that she didn't get stickers for staying in bed? As much as she wants to throw a rainbow sticker on everything, I can't give her stickers she didn't earn. Then the chart loses all meaning. Her goal for the week was to stay in bed, and her reward for accomplishing it was to visit Mommy Horse and feed her apples. Which we did this morning!

We've also had success asking where her "listening ears" are and if she is making good choices (her teacher at school does these things too, which means Britton instantly knows what they mean and how to correct her actions).  She'll run to the hub and go, "Daddy!  I put my listening ears on!"  It cracks me up, but I am so thankful that it is effective.

Likes: red velvet ice cream, pineapple, being in charge of Sadie, role playing (telling me to get into her bed, pretend to sleep, and then telling me "Don't get out of bed!" Hey, at least she's getting it), being outside, watching "America's Funniest Home Videos," cutting with her scissors

 Dislikes: Not being included, any changes we make to the house to prepare for the move (so we've held off on major changes), mustard

 Books: "I am a Ballerina" by Valerie Coulman, "Franklin Says I Love You" by Paulette Bourgeois, "If You Take a Mouse to the Movies" by Laura Numeroff, "Looking for Sleepy" by Maribeth Boelts, and "Shy Little Kitten" by Cathleen Schurr