Thursday - The Hostas Play Dirty

Mom left around noon on Thursday, after a morning of helping me organize the kitchen and dining area, to attend the closing of her townhouse about an hour and half away.  Brett and I continued to get things in order, but I was losing steam.  I had a tantrum hangover in a big way and was not feeling any motivation at all.  We still did not have any cable…there were NO cable outlets anywhere in the house, and the first appointment we could get with Comcast was on Sunday.  So, I tapped into my SprintTV to watch the results of The Voice.  Brett and I traded off huddling together over my phone to watch the performances and updating each other as one or the other of us unpacked more boxes.

We were scheduled to meet with the rental agents at the old house to do a final walkthrough at 3:30.  Starting at 2:30, I got a call about every half hour pushing the time back another 15 minutes.  Eventually, it got rescheduled to 6:00 that evening, so, since we had ordered new mattresses for the boys’ bunk beds, two more dining room chairs and an upgraded couch that were being delivered between 4 and 6, we decided Brett would have to pick up the boys and then go to the walkthrough with them in tow.  Good fun for him.

The furniture showed up at 4:30 just as Brett was leaving.  Nice way to fall within the window, Slumberland!  Very impressive!  So, I hung out and rearranged furniture until everyone got home. 

Mom got home first.  She looked very haggard and annoyed.

“So,” I ventured, “how did it go?”

“Aargh!”

“That well, huh?”

Turns out that when the buyer did his final walkthrough he decided that the carpet really was not up to the standard he felt was passable, and they discovered a bit of moisture in the basement.  With no estimates, they demanded a check for $4000 for carpet and wall repairs - on the spot - or they would walk.  Mom was furious, but her realtor convinced her to go ahead and write the check and get this over with so she can move on.  With gritted teeth Mom acquiesced.  That settled, they sat down to sign the paperwork about an hour and a half late, mind you, only to discover the buyers’ bank had not sent over any of the paperwork.  None.  Not a single sheet.  Seriously?  #6 comes knocking with pen in hand.

After a bunch of phone calls and more waiting, the paperwork arrived and Mom was able to leave with her profits to deposit in the bank and start the long trip back up to the cities.

As Mom was finishing up her story Brett got home with the boys.  He did not look happy either.  He had gotten to the house to meet the rental agent just as the guy was leaving the house.

“I hope you didn’t drive all the way out here for this.  I’m already done.”

“what?”

“Yeah, we’ll get the professional cleaners to come in some time in the next couple of days.  That’ll come out of your deposit.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Yeah, the place is filthy.  You’ll have to pay for professional cleaning and carpet cleaning out of your deposit.”

“We spent 6 hours here yesterday cleaning.”

“Mmm.  OK. Well it’s not clean.”

Brett went in and everything was covered in dust and grime.  Everything.  I’m sure it had nothing to do with the painters working outside.  Stupid, filthy #7.  What a waste of time and energy.


NOTE:  As of this posting we have been informed that we will be paying to replace all the basement carpet.  I'm so glad we're not renting anymore.  Are there hostas planted somewhere I haven't discovered yet??

But it's FREE!

I posted earlier about the dance of stuff that my family is doing right now.  I feel like I spend every moment that I'm not at work and/or the kids are sleeping traversing our piles and piles of stuff.  At least once a week I fill the car with unused items and drive them to a donation bin somewhere.  In fact, I am right now waiting for a friend to come and empty my car of baby gear.

With every trip I feel a little lighter.  I know that I am abiding by my rule, "if we're not going to use it at the new house, we're not moving it."  And the real motivation comes from the fact that we're moving ourselves.  I don't want to exert the energy to literally move stuff for nothing.  And I know, that even without all this stuff, we will still fill that house!

Then, this morning, we get an email from our sellers' agent.  They have stuff they aren't going to move, do we want it?  I should say no, right?  I mean, we have PLENTY of stuff between our house and my mom's. BUT IT'S FREE STUFF!!  I mean, it can't hurt to at least find out what it is, right?  We can always say no later...

Why is it so darn hard to say "no" to stuff?