Sunday, March 31, 2013
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Selling woes
Brady was like, a baby, when this sign first went out front of our house and it's still there! Trying to sell a house has been a true test of patience and while I'm pretty zen about the whole thing, it can be frustrating. Like having 4 of 6 houses in a row on your street for sale. Another example:
On the Wednesday before I left for Kansas City, I had a few things to juggle: I had to pack my bag for my trip, pack Brady's bag for his trip, drop Brady off with this grandparents, let in the people who were coming in to replace carpet (thank you, Brady), meet the guy coming to give us a quote to install granite countertops (not cheap!), and clean the house for potential showings and an Open House on Sunday.
So while the carpet people were installing the carpet in a different area of the house, I picked up my purse and realized my coffee mug had not been closed tightly. Coffee had leaked through the bottom of my purse and on to the carpet at the bottom of our steps in our entryway. So I hauled the steamer up from the garage and the stain came up without a problem. I'm getting very good at using that.
Imagine my welcome home surprise when I walked in the door at 1:30 am on Sunday night and saw a large brown stain, bigger than the original, in the same spot. I was perplexed. I thought perhaps someone had tracked in mud during the Open House, but it didn't really look like a shoe print and when I smelled it, it smelled like coffee. Coffee in the same spot that I had previously cleaned? A little bit too coincidental, so I thought maybe I was losing my mind. After pondering for a few hours the next morning, I realized that I left my house when the carpet was still wet. And I most likely set my purse (which clearly hadn't been fully cleaned from the coffee) on the wet carpet. Genius. I felt smart for solving the puzzle, not so smart for putting a coffee-stained purse on wet carpet. I'm thinking perhaps I need hardwood floors in my next house.
We did have one showing while we were gone. While I was sitting on the bus after the Kansas game, waiting for the team to board, I read my email. Whenever I see "feedback response" in the subject line, I get hopeful, and I thought this might turn my mood around.
Nice but client liked other floor plans better & this one needs some updating. Best feature is Tarheel memorabilia room...go Heels....beat Kansas!
It did not help my mood. The only thing worse than that feedback is if they had mentioned the large brown stain at the bottom of the stairs. I'm thinking about putting a "memorabilia included" on the door to that room for the next showing. Inevitably, Duke fans will show up.
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
KC and prepping for a baby (at least one person in the house is)
Third time turned out not to be the charm for the Tar Heels in Kansas City. In the last five years, I've witnessed Kansas beat Carolina three times to end the season and none of them were particularly fun to watch.
But the trip to Kansas City was a good time regardless. I debated about bringing Brady along but with the cold and snowy weather and 1:30 am arrival time home to Raleigh, it was probably good I did not. Without Brady in tow, not much excitement to report from my trip. My body doesn't seem to know how to sleep in anymore, but I took some naps and did lots of reading, which for me, qualifies as a great and exciting vacation. My parents came down for the first round game on Friday, so it was good to see them as well.
Brady kept his other grandparents occupied in Newton and thanks to some picture and video updates, we were entertained as well.
This is Brady and "Big Sam," Eric's doll from childhood. Not sure if "Sam" is really short for Samantha or its actually a male doll, but I just love the fact that Eric had a doll growing up (and that "he's" still around!).
Brady seems to be doing more preparation for our baby's impending arrival than either of his parents. In my head, there was a very specific order to things: sell old house, buy new house, prepare for the baby to arrive, deliver baby. I am very slowly coming to the realization that since the first two have not happened yet, I might need to skip to step ahead a few steps. But hey, I've got 7 weeks and probably more if this one likes to cook longer like Brady, so PLENTY of time...right?
This picture below from a play area in Durham, prior to the trip.
Brady kept insisting on crawling into the doll's crib, even after it tipped over and he cracked his head on the hardwood. I think he was trying to tell me something, so we left for home soon after to take a nap.
I'm not sure if other kids will just lie down anywhere when they get tired, but mine certainly will.
And this is from lunch today. Apparently, nothing exciting on the menu.
But the trip to Kansas City was a good time regardless. I debated about bringing Brady along but with the cold and snowy weather and 1:30 am arrival time home to Raleigh, it was probably good I did not. Without Brady in tow, not much excitement to report from my trip. My body doesn't seem to know how to sleep in anymore, but I took some naps and did lots of reading, which for me, qualifies as a great and exciting vacation. My parents came down for the first round game on Friday, so it was good to see them as well.
Brady kept his other grandparents occupied in Newton and thanks to some picture and video updates, we were entertained as well.
This is Brady and "Big Sam," Eric's doll from childhood. Not sure if "Sam" is really short for Samantha or its actually a male doll, but I just love the fact that Eric had a doll growing up (and that "he's" still around!).
Brady seems to be doing more preparation for our baby's impending arrival than either of his parents. In my head, there was a very specific order to things: sell old house, buy new house, prepare for the baby to arrive, deliver baby. I am very slowly coming to the realization that since the first two have not happened yet, I might need to skip to step ahead a few steps. But hey, I've got 7 weeks and probably more if this one likes to cook longer like Brady, so PLENTY of time...right?
This picture below from a play area in Durham, prior to the trip.
Brady kept insisting on crawling into the doll's crib, even after it tipped over and he cracked his head on the hardwood. I think he was trying to tell me something, so we left for home soon after to take a nap.
I'm not sure if other kids will just lie down anywhere when they get tired, but mine certainly will.
And this is from lunch today. Apparently, nothing exciting on the menu.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
If only there was money on the line
For once, Brady is not the feature of this film (although he is present).
Let's hope the Tar Heels are as lucky in March!
Let's hope the Tar Heels are as lucky in March!
Friday, March 1, 2013
I know I'll laugh about this later
...but later is not today.
Want to know what true love is? Loving your child after he does this:
We have a house showing tomorrow so tonight, I was cleaning up the house. I had a pile of things at the top of the stairs to be taken down to the basement, including a small can of brown paint and a can of beige paint. I was coming up the stairs from my first trip down and I see Brady at the top of the stairs holding the paint (brown, of course). I yelled "no" and he countered by hurling the can down the stairs.
Since the negatives are obvious, let's talk about the positives:
-Nobody was injured...he chose not to throw himself down the stairs (although he's done that before and dealing with the aftermath was way easier).
-The can came to rest on the 4th stair (and dripped down to the 5th) and didn't roll down the staircase.
And I'm done, 2 positives is all you're getting out of me.
Needless to say, its been a tough week for us. I think I mentioned in my last post that I was inexperienced in the subject of vomit. After a nice night of lying next to the toilet, consider me educated. Brady was kind enough to pass along his virus to me and it morphed into a terrible creature. I lost 5 lbs in a day...not the goal for a pregnant lady. I'm back to 100%, and its a good thing, because today my carpet needed me. Unfortunately, Eric is currently down for the count, so the score is virus - 3, Hoots family - 0.
But back to the paint. I honestly thought I had no chance making the carpet even resemble its original color because there was literally a pool of paint. But over an hour of carpet cleaning brought me to this.
The picture might look slightly better than in real life, but wow, is it better. Our steamer turned out to be a great investment. Perhaps the Oreck vacuum company will hire me as a real-life success story and then I'll have some money to paint the walls...which turns out to be the biggest problem. I immediately tried to wipe the paint off, but it dried quickly. I went to the store to buy a Magic Eraser, but turns out, it doesn't erase things that are supposed to be on walls...like paint. If it can't differentiate the brown paint from the white paint, I don't know how it can call itself magic. And of course, this is the original paint from the house which we do not have.
Please someone buy our house! Will throw in the child for free!
Want to know what true love is? Loving your child after he does this:
We have a house showing tomorrow so tonight, I was cleaning up the house. I had a pile of things at the top of the stairs to be taken down to the basement, including a small can of brown paint and a can of beige paint. I was coming up the stairs from my first trip down and I see Brady at the top of the stairs holding the paint (brown, of course). I yelled "no" and he countered by hurling the can down the stairs.
Since the negatives are obvious, let's talk about the positives:
-Nobody was injured...he chose not to throw himself down the stairs (although he's done that before and dealing with the aftermath was way easier).
-The can came to rest on the 4th stair (and dripped down to the 5th) and didn't roll down the staircase.
And I'm done, 2 positives is all you're getting out of me.
Needless to say, its been a tough week for us. I think I mentioned in my last post that I was inexperienced in the subject of vomit. After a nice night of lying next to the toilet, consider me educated. Brady was kind enough to pass along his virus to me and it morphed into a terrible creature. I lost 5 lbs in a day...not the goal for a pregnant lady. I'm back to 100%, and its a good thing, because today my carpet needed me. Unfortunately, Eric is currently down for the count, so the score is virus - 3, Hoots family - 0.
But back to the paint. I honestly thought I had no chance making the carpet even resemble its original color because there was literally a pool of paint. But over an hour of carpet cleaning brought me to this.
The picture might look slightly better than in real life, but wow, is it better. Our steamer turned out to be a great investment. Perhaps the Oreck vacuum company will hire me as a real-life success story and then I'll have some money to paint the walls...which turns out to be the biggest problem. I immediately tried to wipe the paint off, but it dried quickly. I went to the store to buy a Magic Eraser, but turns out, it doesn't erase things that are supposed to be on walls...like paint. If it can't differentiate the brown paint from the white paint, I don't know how it can call itself magic. And of course, this is the original paint from the house which we do not have.
Please someone buy our house! Will throw in the child for free!
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