During this past week, we were able to accomplish some major progress towards our move.
First, we met with a realtor. We do not know her personally, but she was highly recommended by a friend. She looked through everything, gave advice, suggested a price and we made a plan. We were quite disappointed with the first price she suggested, it seemed so low. We do agree that it is her job, and not ours, but after a discussion with her just today, she said she had been contemplating and studying the issue and felt we could go up $10,000 without it being a problem.
We have been spending every spare minute cleaning, sorting, packing extra things and donating van loads of things. We have sold a few things on e-bay that had a little more value. Right now, we are so busy that if we can sell 1-$25 dollar item on eBay vs. 50–50 cent items at a garage sale, we are calling it good and donating the rest. We are only taking time to do appointments, necessary meetings, church, the childrens’ activities and piano lessons. We have lined up quite a few people for this week.
Last week we and our helpers picked up all hoses from the garden and outside areas, removed some old shelves and painted part of the basement, cleaned and swept the rest of the basement, packed and sorted things from the house into bins and carried them into the basement, worked on our red car (nephew)–at HIS house, completely organized and stocked the camper, packed up my stoneware to give room for appliances to be in cupboards instead of on the counters, and took several loads of shop tools, etc. over to my brother-in-law’s house for storage.
On Monday, I work. Rob will take the Rav4 in for the service work (re-building the engine at no cost to us–warrenty issue), donate another van load to the charity shop, finish dinner, and take the chickens to the auction for sale on Tuesday.
Tuesday: I will hopefully get a little school done with Ja’Ana in the morning. My mom and aunt are coming in the afternoon for a while to help. At 5 some friends are coming over for dinner. They are part of a very small church that goes one Sunday a month to do a service project. We are their project this month. Although we have never been anyone’s project before, we are touched that they though of us and are gladly accepting the help. On Tuesday, we will hammer out the details of what needs to be done and make sure they are in the loop so progress continues the entire time.
Wednesday: I work, Rob sorts and packs, and he takes Ja’Ana to her evening youth group.
Thursday: Keith, our son-in-law is coming to help Rob. He will also be shown jobs that need to be done so he can boss people around during the weekend.
Friday: 4H.
Saturday: Help lined up for me: My sister Rosalie, dear friend, a child or two, …Help for Rob: 5 men and …. In the afternoon: Oldest daughter, Abbie. My aunt will get Ja’Ana and take her to my other sister’s house to spend the night. She will be happier keeping her church routine and has a meeting Sunday afternoon in Salem (an hour away from here) in regards to her upcoming mission trip.
Sunday: Our friends and their small church (15-20 people), Son-in-law Keith, daughter Abbie, friends (several) and ….. Gail will bring J home in the evening. Each month, this small church chooses a service project to do as a church. This month, we are their project. We have never been anyone’s project before, but are ecstatic and grateful of the help. So, they are coming to help spruce up the place. We invited any other friends and family who wanted to help to come either Saturday or Sunday.
During this blitz we hope to clean up the rest of the rooms in the house getting them picture perfect.
Clean up after painting the upstairs bathroom.
Wash walls and touch up paint on the downstairs main bathroom.
Finish the girls’ rooms, packing up anything extra and making sure all else fits into the drawers and closets.
Finish packing the camper. We will go camping soon and we might as well put some extra out there.
Clean my room to the corners. A lot went out of here on Saturday that was piled up in anticipation of the camper’s return from the repair shop.
Get bark dust spread on the flowerbeds. Weeds removed as much as possible in the mud. Plant primroses. Rob has the bark in a pile, will buy 2 flats of primroses.
Finish emptying the school room. I will leave a few books and other items on the bookcases, but put all sewing items upstairs in the completely cleaned sewing room. I sewed both downstairs and upstairs at times, but will arrange it all into one room upstairs now.
Clean all kitchen counters, sweep, mop, and have someone wipe the microwave and appliances. Lemon oil the cupboards. Clean the cluttered bay window.
Buy an orchid for the mantle. My aunt suggested it would last longer and look elegant for the showings.
Clean all bathrooms, wipe baseboards, fingerprints, sweep, etc., etc., etc. the entire house.
We have more to do, but this is a start. It all has to be finished by next Sunday night.
Next Monday or Tuesday, they will photograph the house and it will be listed on the 17th. We will have a weekend where there is an open house and hopefully many showings. Then, it will be by appointment only.
Wow, you are getting so much done! I will pray that once it is listed, it will sell quickly. You and are husband should pat yourselves on the back for a job well done!
Thanks, Jenn. I’m praying for that as well. Although I’m not looking forward to moving, since it needs to be done, I’d just as soon not prolong the process. We never could have gotten this much done if it were not for all of the kind people who have been helping. As it is, there are many, many areas that only I can sort because only I know what I want or can get rid of, so I’m really, really looking forward to finishing that job.
Whew! I’m exhausted just reading your schedule! Two quirky things I learned from selling my houses (2 sold the first day and one the first week): when showing the house, leave all the lights on, even during the day, people want bright houses and the second thing is to have a bowl of lemons on the kitchen counter, people equate that with cleanliness and freshness. Weird, I know, but every little bit helps. Hope your week is a pleasant one in spite of all the busyness!
Hugs
Jane
Those are great ideas. I never would have thought of the lemons:) I hope it sells quickly, as well, so I don’t have to keep it perfect for very long. That will be a battle with the kids.
Sounds like your now in the crunch time of preparing to move. This is always the most stressful as you no longer have time for normal life. That doesn’t stop you from wanting to do your normal routine, which becomes a personal conflict. Just remember that this will come to a head soon. It is OK to say no for now to time consuming routines in order to get done what you need to do right now. Keep up the great work, Becky, this part will soon be over!
Thanks for the encouragement! I think this week will be the worst, then there should be a calm time while we wait for it to actually sell, then another big push to get out. I’m hoping all of this pre-prep will make the actual move easier.
Becky and Rob,
I have been praying for you, during this journey. I pray God continues to give you strength to finish the projects you need to complete yourself. That he keeps sending volunteers to help. I see this picture of many diffrent people holding your arms up (like Moses) You are very smart to sort before you move. It is amazing that you continue to choose joy. When we needed to store stuff for a move because we were in a very small studio so we could save money. We thought outside the box we ended up using someones game room. It was a huge blessing (free). Sometimes people rent garages for cheeper than a storage. You guys are amazing! I often read your posts and pray. Just wanted to let you know. You had one more person praying for you.
I can do all things through God who strengthens me Phil 4:13
In Him
Blessings,
Patti
Thank you for the prayers. Please keep them up. We need every one of them during this time. There are times when it’s really hard to keep choosing joy and thankfulness, but I can say with assurance that I truly have been give a deep sense of His “peace that passes all understanding.”
The latest thing that has been talked about is building a storage room in one of the outbuildings at my brother-in-law’s house, that locks, instead of renting a storage unit. I don’t know if we can get it done, physically, in time. It all depends on how quickly the house sells. But, it is another good idea that would save us thousands if we can pull it off.
We would be in a world of hurt without the help we have received from all of these family members and friends. We are very thankful for every one of them.
My goodness, that’s quite a list! I’m sure having a group of people helping will make a huge difference. Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
It will make all the difference. If we didn’t have so much help, we would not be able to list the house so quickly. It’s a big house, we have lots of children, and there is a lot to sort through. We are having trouble getting the daily tasks done during this time, so I’m glad people are willing to help with those and the actual grunt work involved with a move.
Wow! That is quite a list! I will be following your progress and look forward to reading older posts to see your moving plans.
Thanks for stopping by my blog. How did you even find it? I just started it and haven’t done anything to promote it yet.
Thanks for talking back! I think I may have found your blog from the Prudent Homemaker blog, or one of the other ones I like to read. I do know it was a link from one of the ones I was reading, probably during the night or wee hours of the morning when my mind races with all the silly things I think I’m forgetting to do–such as: “Oh, my goodness, I only have about 1 cup of brown sugar in the camper. I need to get more!” So, I read blogs until I can convince my overactive mind that a)the campground is not very far away from a store in case I was desperate for brown sugar b)I would not die without brown sugar, and c) compared to the very real decisions I need to make in the next few days–brown sugar does not matter. Then, I fall back asleep, but sometimes forget exactly all the places I was reading.