Sunday, June 22, 2008

House for Sale and other insights




Well, with lots of help from friends and family AND my little teenage workhorse, I finally got everything finished, cleaned, repaired, replaced, updated, and everything else in between and without any further ado, the house is now (and finally) ON THE MARKET. It has taken me forever to get to this point. I've worked non-stop for the past week and even took a vacation day Friday and still managed to work from sun-up to sun-down Friday and Saturday both.

We had an open house today with a few nibbles, but no actual offers yet. My mom put the ad in the paper and we realized this morning that my open house was listed in the houses for sale section of the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, but not in the 'open house' section. So there wasn't much traffic here today, but I didn't put the "FOR SALE" signs out until about 7:30 PM last night. That's because it took me til then to get the house in condition to actually show. Wait, let me take that back, I was still shampooing carpets at 7:30 AM this morning. Ugh. I think I'll do an open house next Saturday and Sunday and see what happens.

Ironmaiden, I'm so sore that my toes are even sore. I was sitting here this afternoon trying to figure out why one's toes would be sore. I think it was from cleaning showers and grouting the tiles in the bathroom in that squatted down position.

So folks, if you know someone looking for a wonderful home, this is one of the best. I've really loved this house. It looks so good now that I'm really going to miss it and have caught myself telling several people I really don't want to leave now!

This whole business of getting my house ready to sell has made me think about other important things in life. Why is it that we don't give a house all the care and attention it needs until it's time to leave it? I think that we are the same way with our own lives and relationships sometimes.

I remember last year reading Geo's blog and how he was backing away from cycling a little so he could focus on some of the home repairs and jobs that he'd been neglecting for several years. I've thought about that several times as I've worked on the house. Do you know what happens when you neglect all those repairs and maintenance over several years? Yeah, you guessed it, it takes ALOT of effort to get it back to a home again.

Relationships are a little like houses. If you just give them 'lip service' attention for awhile, things will eventually start breaking down. Getting things back on track takes more than just a coat of paint or a yard mowing when things have been neglected for months or years. And our lives are much the same. If you're busy working all the time, spending more money than you should, not exercising or eating right, not stopping to enjoy the things around you (like a really wonderful home or your great family & friends?), life breaks down. You get high blood pressure or diabetes, you gain weight, your muscles turn to flab, your bank account dwindles, your quality of life dissipates. Seems like the older I get, the harder it is to get back in shape too.

I'm hoping I've learned alot more than just how to sell a house. This is one of those places in your life where you need to stop and build one of those alters, so you won't forget the lessons that you've learned, and I've learned a few!