Coast Is Clear, I Think May 29, 2010
So, I kinda took my blog down for a few days. I’m back now, though.
My mom was visiting this week, and I was showing her something on my computer. I stupidly forgot about the perma-links at the top of my browser, one of which is to my blog. She said, “What’s Manana Banana?” Um, nothing?
I didn’t know if she’d go Googling or not (she knows the origins of the title of my blog,) so I shut down things for a bit. This wouldn’t have been the first time a family member has found my blog. Both my mother-in-law and father-in-law have found it in the past, independently of one another. My brother found it, too. It’s really not hard to find. I’ve asked them all to respect my privacy, and I hope that they have respected that.
This is my safe place. It’s also a place where I connect to others. So, there’s just no going password protected for me. I’ve seen what searches lead to my blog, and I’m not about to turn my back to those who are going through hell. At the same time, though, I’d like to think this is a place I can write without anyone looking over my shoulder.
So, I’m just going to assume that that’s the case. (Ahem, just in case anyone is reading that shouldn’t be.) I need this place, and I need others to be able to have access to it, for my benefit and theirs.
So, that’s that. Back to our regularly scheduled programming.
Down for Maintenance May 26, 2010
My blog will be on hiatus for a few days while I track some stats. I haven’t done that in a couple of years but feel the need to do so now due to a potential leak of said blog.
Not too much to report anyway. Staying busy with all of the house stuff. Haven’t sold ours. Haven’t found a new one. Still trying on both ends.
I’ll be back when the coast is clear.
For Sale May 19, 2010
Yesterday was our first full time day in the apartment. It sucked. I was ready to throw in the towel.
Today was a little better. I didn’t have to go back to the house three separate times to get things I had forgotten. The cat didn’t spend the entire day hiding behind the dryer. No cats pooped on the carpet in protest. No one spilled the entire contents of a water filter pitcher all over the wood floor in the kitchen (that would have been Adam.) No one took two freaking hours to fall asleep for nap (today was within normal limits.) So yeah, better.
Our house was listed today. We’ve got the sign up to make it official and everything. It’s nice to have it actually on the market now. Our pictures turned out really well (see?), and I am hoping so much that my hard work shows through, because I am exhausted!
This back and forth stuff sucks, but it is a luxury we have. Given the market in our neighborhood right now, we have to take every advantage we can get, and keeping our house looking perfect is one of them. It’s a pain in the ass to have to wake up early to make sure every bed is made, every blind is open, every towel is hung just so, every surface is spotless, but I’m hoping it will be worth it.
So now we do two things: keep our fingers fingers crossed that our house sells quickly and try really hard to find a new place to live. I’m not sure which is harder, but I guess we’ll find out soon enough.
One Heck of a Busy Weekend May 15, 2010
I am in the home stretch of getting our house ready to be put on the market. We’re close. And I’m exhausted.
It is definitely a buyer’s market in our neighborhood, so I am doing everything I can think of to give us an advantage. I’m sure I’m doing some things other people wouldn’t bother doing, but I’m hoping it pays off.
Today, in addition to the house preparations, we had a bit of moving to do. We really had wanted to find a rental house to move into closer into town before our house was listed, but that didn’t end up happening. The competition is fierce for nice rentals “inside the loop” as we Houstonians call it, so we haven’t found anything yet.
So, instead we got a short term lease on an apartment close to our neighborhood so we could have a “home away from home” during the day. That is what got moved into today.
I knew going into this that there would be no way I could keep up our house at the level it needed to be at (just shy of perfection) if we were living in it full time. Adam can make a mess of a room faster than I can clean it up, and while I’m fine with that on a general basis, it’s just not going to fly while our house is on the market.
Not to mention the fact that I do not want to have to deal with showings during nap time and all of that. And I didn’t want the kitties (and their related paraphernalia) to be in the house for showings, so we had to have a workable solution for that as well. So, an apartment it is.
Our Realtor is coming by tomorrow for another walk through. We’ll also be signing all of the paperwork then. The house cleaners are coming Monday morning. (Yes, I’m totally letting someone else do the scrubbing. I’m working my butt off as it is.) The photographer is coming Monday afternoon, and our house should be listed mid week next week.
If that wasn’t enough, my birthday was yesterday, and our 12th wedding anniversary is tomorrow. At least things aren’t boring, right?
Although it’s not easy, it’s good to be busy. It’s a little weird, but I enjoy working hard. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t enjoy working (as in a job for someone else) but I’ve always found it really rewarding to work hard for something I want or to help someone I know.
Off to crash now. Tomorrow’s another busy day.
This Day May 9, 2010
This day used to be one of the hardest of the year for me. I used to dread this day, this mother’s day.
Now today is a day to be thankful. It’s not a day where I expect gifts. It’s not a day I expect to be pampered.
And you know what? It’s ok that I didn’t get a mother’s day gift today. It’s ok that I spent my day pressure washing the patio and painting the front door surround (still getting the house ready) instead of having the day “off.”
It’s because I know what it feels like for today to be painful to the core. Now, despite the regularity of the day, I am happy to just feel grateful. No special anything needed, because this already feels pretty damn special.
My wish each and every mother’s day since I became a mom is that others who are still waiting finally get to welcome that day instead of fear it. Today is a day to reflect for me, and it’s also a day for me to think of everyone still in the trenches.
Yes, this year things are a little bittersweet given my recent loss, but I can honestly look past that for today. Today is about the fact that my little miracle man has made me a mom. Nothing can take that away.
I am lucky. I am damn lucky for today to be a good day instead of a bad. I honestly hope that everyone still waiting gets that, too.
WTF? May 6, 2010
My SIL included me an in email she sent out today containing a pregnancy update complete with multiple ultrasound pictures. She’s only a little further along than I would have been. It was like a knife through the heart.
Yes, she knows all that I went through. Obviously she’ll never get it, though.
It was so hard to see those pictures. So hard.