Well it is my second day back in the office after my week long absence last week. I took another one of my vacation weeks in order to work on the house to do the last minute preparations to get it "on the market". HOLY COW! I worked harder, sweated more, definitely had more STRESS during that week that I usually have at work. It seemed there was always an impending deadline that had to be met. First it was Monday, July 19th and we had to have the house ready for the professional Stager to come in and "stage" our house for showing. That's real estate "speak" for putting all your furniture the way she wants it placed, putting her pictures on the walls, adding her professional touch here and a little there. Accent pillow here, a shower curtain there, a bowl of fruit over there, etc., etc. Well she arrived about 10:30am and we showed her around the house so she could see all the changes we'd made since she'd last been there in about early April. She was very pleased with our work. Then she promptly kicked us out of our own house (kidding of course) so she could work her 'magic'. We had to be gone for 4.5 hours. So we went and had lunch, then stopped by two different apartment complexes and looked at two bedroom apartments. They didn't have any 3 bedrooms available. Then we just hung out awhile. When we got back - WOW, she had really done quite a bit of work. It is absolutely amazing what little "color" can do for a place!
Thursday of last week, our next deadline was for the photographer to come by and take pics of our home both outside and inside. When he called to confirm I asked him to make it as late as he could because we were still doing last minute things in the house. I started mowing the yards that morning about 7 or 7:30am and didn't stop until 11am! I was trimming bushes, moving logs, raking parts, washing porches, etc. etc. Well, he came and took the pics and left. I kept working until I melted into bed about 10pm. Honestly, I don't' think I could have put another foot in front of the other. I was absolutely and utterly exhausted.
Oh yeah, we had guests from Des Moines, IA come and stay with us on Friday. We pretty much had the guest room ready for them. We took them to Cinzetti's Italian Restaurant where they have a buffet of the most INCREDIBLE food you can imagine! and the desserts! OH MY GOODNESS! I just about hurt myself - sampling this, eating that, had a little of this - OH, did you get some of that stuff?
Saturday morning we have a strategy session with our guests from Des Moines and Judi Jones. Sam and Jessica Luwandaga are our emissaries to Uganda, Africa. We have been talking for a while now of taking a trip to Africa to meet the children and families out non-profit organization has been helping out just over the last year.
It is official - we ARE going to Africa! November 2011 is the date we've all agreed to calendar the trip. We've so many things to put together in preparation for the trip. I'll be blogging more about that in the near future!
Well, this morning I get a call from the "home scheduling service" asking if it would be okay for one of their agents to show our home from 11:30am to 12:30pm. I said "of course". So, I took an early lunch about 10:15am and made a quick dash home because I thought I had left my tool box out in the floor of the office; and I knew I still hadn't re-installed the air register vents back into the walls because I was painting them just last night. I get home and sure enough, I had left the tool box out so I put it away; scrambled to get the air register vents back into the wall..."Oh no, where are the screws?" No screws! so I started grabbing little pieces of paper and folding them up the "wedge" them in between the wall and the vent! "Necessity is the mother of invention". I got that done, ran downstairs into the basement and began arranging what few things remain down there then - ran back upstairs and quickly squirted the front entry storm door with window cleaner, grabbed the Fabreeze air freshener and ran upstairs and began misting everything in sight - came down into the living room and into the dining room. I've covered in sweat at this point (and I'm in my office clothes)....ooops....out of time - put the air freshener away and dash out the door! Get into my truck and turn the A/C over to "artic" and blaze a trail back to the office. (I think I met myself coming while I was going back to the office, I'm not sure - everything is a blur).
So I get a call about 4:20 this afternoon asking if it would be okay if an agent showed our house from 5 to 6pm this evening! I said "sure it would!" So...I immediately called Tamala and told her not to go home just yet (they don't want home owners on site when prospective buyers are looking at your property). So we've been kind of, sort of, kicked out a second time all within a week! That's okay, it WILL pay off in the end - I know it will.
I've got a wood pile out back that I have to get completely burned before Sunday because they're going to have an open house from 1pm to 4pm that afternoon. Guess what? We'll be kicked out again during that whole time as well.
Well....that's about it. As soon as we can get back into the house this evening I'll begin "securing" the air registers to the wall, burning more wood out back, more painting touch-ups to be done.
Gotta run-
Blessings!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Friday, July 16, 2010
“Y’all come, now, ya heeuh”
In this whole process of getting ready to sell the house and then move out of the house, the time has come for the dubious “yard sale.” UGH! It always amazed me that folks would stick out these little 8.5 x 11 inch “garage sale” signs on the street corner – expecting you to read their quaint little sign with address, etc. It is a rare moment that I’ve found that I could actually read their sign.
So ours is tomorrow and Tamala had been asking me for a couple of days if I could make the signs for her. I said “Sure!” Well here you go…..a few ‘custom’ signs that will adorn the neighbor for all to see. Too bad they won’t be taking satellite shots of our neighborhood! I hope they can see these.
The big ones are 4 x 8 foot plyboards split in half if that lets you know the size of them. I have to admit, I started feeling a little like ‘white trash’ about half way through this project. I think maybe I’ve experiencing a psychological conundrum from too many visits to “Hillbilly Hollar” down near Branson, MO. I mean…isn’t the whole idea of putting out a sign is for the passersby to actually see them and to READ them? Well, that was my whole approach. Give me a chance and I just might make a sign they could see from the Space shuttle!
I’m sure we’ll be up well before sun up tomorrow – arranging, pushing, shoving, pulling things into just the right spot for the new owner to “spy” their little find and whisk off with it to only God knows where. I told Tamala she probably wouldn’t want me around too much during the sale because if someone doesn’t like my price I might tell them give a dollar for it and “git outta heeuh”. That’s right, I want it gone…all of it! “Git ‘er dun” as Mator would say in Pixar’s movie “CARS”.
I’m sure after it’s all over there will some kind of stupid story to tell. I like to add some accelerant and simply strike a match, then “WOOSHHHH” it’d all be over in a flash!
Pray for me that I don’t try and slap some horse sense into some of the ‘folk’ that will be visiting the former Palmerosa of KC.
Blessings!
So ours is tomorrow and Tamala had been asking me for a couple of days if I could make the signs for her. I said “Sure!” Well here you go…..a few ‘custom’ signs that will adorn the neighbor for all to see. Too bad they won’t be taking satellite shots of our neighborhood! I hope they can see these.
The big ones are 4 x 8 foot plyboards split in half if that lets you know the size of them. I have to admit, I started feeling a little like ‘white trash’ about half way through this project. I think maybe I’ve experiencing a psychological conundrum from too many visits to “Hillbilly Hollar” down near Branson, MO. I mean…isn’t the whole idea of putting out a sign is for the passersby to actually see them and to READ them? Well, that was my whole approach. Give me a chance and I just might make a sign they could see from the Space shuttle!
I’m sure we’ll be up well before sun up tomorrow – arranging, pushing, shoving, pulling things into just the right spot for the new owner to “spy” their little find and whisk off with it to only God knows where. I told Tamala she probably wouldn’t want me around too much during the sale because if someone doesn’t like my price I might tell them give a dollar for it and “git outta heeuh”. That’s right, I want it gone…all of it! “Git ‘er dun” as Mator would say in Pixar’s movie “CARS”.
I’m sure after it’s all over there will some kind of stupid story to tell. I like to add some accelerant and simply strike a match, then “WOOSHHHH” it’d all be over in a flash!
Pray for me that I don’t try and slap some horse sense into some of the ‘folk’ that will be visiting the former Palmerosa of KC.
Blessings!
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Updates, Updates and updates -
50 by 50 - update:
Well I went to the doctor last week for a check up and asked him to fill out a form that was required for my insurance company. I was anticipating the visit because I knew I had lost some weight since my last visit but didn't know how much. How, did I know? Well, let's put it this way, if I didn't wear a belt would likely see a full moon rising! All of my pants have become extremely too big and when I cinch up the belt they have a tendency to pucker up around my waist. So I guess you might be wondering how much I've lost? The nurse's aid said the last time I was in their office I was tipping the scale at 303 lbs. Last week I weighed in at 278lbs so that's a 25 lb. loss! I'll take it. Thing of it is, I haven't really been trying. I've cut down on the amount of food I eat, plus, I've stay extemely active when I come home at night. Instead of sitting and watching TV like we used to do, I'm scraping, sanding, painting, spackling, etc, etc. until it's time to go to bed. Another 25 lb weigh loss would put me at 253. I'd really like to get to 250. Suffice it to say, I haven't been in the 270's for quite awhile. Incidentally, Tamala has dropped 20 lbs as well! People at church have been commenting to her that they've noticed her weight loss. Her jeans are getting pretty "baggy" too. Maybe I should begin calling her the "bag lady".
Palmerosa of KC is up for sale!
This weekend proved to be very, very productive! I've hired two teenage boys who live across the street a couple of weekends. Well, they came over Saturday morning and I had them start down in the basement. We have a fairly large basement. Between the stuff we've been storing for Kansas Academy of Theatrical Arts (a non profit organization I serve on their Board of Directors) and our stuff - let's just say there was a "trail" from one end of the basement to the other. It was FULL! After about 2.5 hours - our basement is 99% empty! It looks so HUGE now! Our realtor visited us just last week and said the main thing is for the stuff in a basement to appear to be organized. I'm thinking she'll settle for its condition now. I think she'll be really pleased.
We're getting down to some final details before it officially hits the market. Our target date for it to be entered on the Multilist service and published on the market is July 21st. Tamala and I will be taking that entire week off to get the house ready. I think we'll be ready early, but I'll remain flexible. If you've got $127,500.00 and need a 4 bedroom, tri-level, two bathrooms on almost 3/4 of an acre - we've got just the place for you.
Also, with a few quick calculations and a great deal of HOPE - I believe that if we sell the PalmerosaKC for over $123,500 we will walk away from the closing table completely DEBT FREE! I've thought about this more and more lately. I keep telling myself every night while working on the house that "pay day is coming....pay day is coming!"
Well, that's all for now. It's beginning to get a little late. Blessings!
Well I went to the doctor last week for a check up and asked him to fill out a form that was required for my insurance company. I was anticipating the visit because I knew I had lost some weight since my last visit but didn't know how much. How, did I know? Well, let's put it this way, if I didn't wear a belt would likely see a full moon rising! All of my pants have become extremely too big and when I cinch up the belt they have a tendency to pucker up around my waist. So I guess you might be wondering how much I've lost? The nurse's aid said the last time I was in their office I was tipping the scale at 303 lbs. Last week I weighed in at 278lbs so that's a 25 lb. loss! I'll take it. Thing of it is, I haven't really been trying. I've cut down on the amount of food I eat, plus, I've stay extemely active when I come home at night. Instead of sitting and watching TV like we used to do, I'm scraping, sanding, painting, spackling, etc, etc. until it's time to go to bed. Another 25 lb weigh loss would put me at 253. I'd really like to get to 250. Suffice it to say, I haven't been in the 270's for quite awhile. Incidentally, Tamala has dropped 20 lbs as well! People at church have been commenting to her that they've noticed her weight loss. Her jeans are getting pretty "baggy" too. Maybe I should begin calling her the "bag lady".
Palmerosa of KC is up for sale!
This weekend proved to be very, very productive! I've hired two teenage boys who live across the street a couple of weekends. Well, they came over Saturday morning and I had them start down in the basement. We have a fairly large basement. Between the stuff we've been storing for Kansas Academy of Theatrical Arts (a non profit organization I serve on their Board of Directors) and our stuff - let's just say there was a "trail" from one end of the basement to the other. It was FULL! After about 2.5 hours - our basement is 99% empty! It looks so HUGE now! Our realtor visited us just last week and said the main thing is for the stuff in a basement to appear to be organized. I'm thinking she'll settle for its condition now. I think she'll be really pleased.
We're getting down to some final details before it officially hits the market. Our target date for it to be entered on the Multilist service and published on the market is July 21st. Tamala and I will be taking that entire week off to get the house ready. I think we'll be ready early, but I'll remain flexible. If you've got $127,500.00 and need a 4 bedroom, tri-level, two bathrooms on almost 3/4 of an acre - we've got just the place for you.
Also, with a few quick calculations and a great deal of HOPE - I believe that if we sell the PalmerosaKC for over $123,500 we will walk away from the closing table completely DEBT FREE! I've thought about this more and more lately. I keep telling myself every night while working on the house that "pay day is coming....pay day is coming!"
Well, that's all for now. It's beginning to get a little late. Blessings!
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