Home Improvement

Things around here have been a little busy. Work travels continue, and we're preparing to put the house on the market - again. But before we do, there were a couple of things we wanted to improve - like the floors on the main level.

What I thought would be a weekend project has turned out to be a four week mess. G has really done a great job on the bamboo floors - I've always said he's handy for a lawyer!

Hey, construction is fun - I finally have a use for my plastic tools!

You might think this photo is blurry, but I'm just moving really FAST!

Hey look! A nail! Can I keep it?

We're getting close to finished. "Yep, that's my big boy potty in the middle of the floor. Gotta problem with that?"

I'm Back...

It's been a hell of a couple of weeks.

Warning in advance: some bitching and lots of sentence fragments ahead; I'll try to keep it minimal, but you've been warned...

Work: Crazy busy. More so than usual. More so than since Pumpkin was born. Just finished two BIG new business proposals. Talking 11, 12, 13 hour days plus weekend work. Won one. Second one (and the one I'm most excited about) still TBD. Can't and won't say any more about work.

Family: With my crazy schedule over the last couple of weeks, I've spent very little time with G or Pumpkin. In fact, G was on vacation last week. He spent it at "the compound," aka my parent's house. (It's 80 wooded acres in the middle of nowhere Tennessee - it's almost an hour to the nearest grocery store, and more than 70 minutes to the nearest Target. My parents moved there three years ago, and they love it. That far into the boonies, it's just not my thing.)

G took Pumpkin with him, leaving me home alone last week. At first, I was looking forward to spending time alone, especially because work was so busy. In reality, however, it was really, really lonely.

G and Pumpkin, however, had a blast. They helped with some remodeling and watched lots of football.

Pumpkin finds his inner Bob the Builder (or in his words: "Builder Bob.")

House: Where to start? I'm hardly the only person in the blogosphere dealing with house issues. Somehow, though, I thought our house would be different, that it would sell within days. We'd be in a new, bigger house by now, talking about babies. All would be good.

In reality, we put our house on the market just as everything was crashing. We've been on the market for just over a month. We've had one showing as part of an open house, and not even to a serious buyer. Every day, houses are being reduced by $10K, $15k, even $20K. If our damn house can sell, we'll get a hell of a deal on a new house. But, how low will we have to go to move our's?

When we bought this house almost six years ago, I knew it would be too small for a family. Then came Pumpkin, and we're still in this house. It's crowded. And, now, I'm ready for another baby. But we don't have to move - nothing dictates moving this month or even this year. We live in a nice neighborhood, and with the house staged and furniture and crap moved out, it's actually somewhat comfortable.

G is scheduling a meeting with the realtor this week. We're willing to reduce our price a little, but because we're not desperate yet, I don't want to drop it drastically. I'm still in denial.

There you go. In a nutshell, that's where I've been for two weeks. Now, I'm going to catch up on my blog reading. Good night!

Where to start?

Life has suddenly exploded:

• I've spent the last two days working in a dark office - I've literally been too busy to turn on the lights. Actually, working with the lights off means fewer interruptions because people assume I'm out of the office. Ha!
• I spent the weekend and last night cleaning my ass off. I'm a bit of a neat freak, but until last night, I had never dusted a furnace or hot water heater. Damn, potential buyers better appreciate a *sparkling* HVAC system.
• The house officially goes on the market tomorrow night. Fingers crossed that this will be quick and painless. (I'm trying to be positive. The house down the street just dropped its price by $10K after being on the market for two weeks. That does NOT help... Ahhh, just learned from the realtor that the house down the street is a foreclosure. That 'splains the low, low price.)
• Pumpkin is not adjusting well to our newly "staged" house. This morning he moved the Kleenex box from the bathroom closet to the nightstand in the bedroom. "Goes here," he told me. Well, yep, it's much more convenient at my bedside, but apparently potential buyers are put off by thoughts of nose blowing in bed. Whatever. Pumpkin has also relocated his potty chair (moved from the bedroom closet back to the bathroom), garbage cans (from the garage back to the driveway), and his toy box (from the hall closet back to, well, everywhere).
• Maybelline is dead, again (maybe). The dealer uncovered the source of the fire - the "engine exploded." Fixing the engine alone will be twice the value of the car. If the dealer can get a hold of someone at the insurance company, we should have a check by the end of the week. Thank goodness G works for them!
• Pumpkin has been officially diagnosed: he's two. There's nothing wrong with him other than frustration with his communication skills, typical of a someone who's two years old and doesn't always get his way. Thank goodness we didn't have to pay for that bit of wisdom!