I keep sitting down and starting to write an entry, but get a little overwhelmed so I give up. Life has been a whirlwind recently, so rather than try to document it all, I’ve been avoiding the computer. I think I’ll just start with some bullets and hopefully get everything down. And come back later to add more bullets for the things I’ve forgotten.

I like bullets. They make me feel organized even when life seems a little out of control.

• We’re in the waiting game on the house selling thing. I think everything is pretty much taken care of and now we’re just waiting for the closing date. Hopefully we’ll close on time because we have the closing of our new house (which is dependent on the closing of our current house) set up for the same day, so they will both be delayed if anything goes wrong.
• Speaking of going wrong, the people we’re trying to buy the house from are being relocated, which means that a relocation company is handling the sale from here on out. Which means 3x as much paperwork and everything is taking 3x as long. Which means that we’re really pushing it to make the aforementioned closing date because they’re TAKING FOREVER.
• The good news is that we had the inspection done Saturday and even though there are several things we’re requesting they address (or pay to have us address) there was really nothing major wrong with the house.
• Half our computer supplies are packed away so I don’t have my card reader and therefore can’t download the pictures I took in New York (or any other pictures I’ve taken recently) so that’s kind of irritating me right now.
• The trip was fun and I loved hanging out with Stereoette and I got to eat some great food and do a ton of walking around the city and it was a much needed break from the stress of house. I tried not to rub it in that our mortgage payment for our new humongo house is going to be the same as what she’s paying for her efficiency apartment in NY. Ah, Texas real estate…
• LB is really growing up. She’s now the traffic light enforcer. Wherever we go, she’s sure to point out “Uh-oh, it’s red! We have to stop now,” and “Green! The light is green! We can go now! Go green go!” through the entire car ride.
• Her repertoire of complete sentences and appropriate phrases seems (to me) to be remarkably advanced over the other kids her age. She’s still substituting “t’s” for all her “k’s” which is only a problem because her name starts with K. Well, that and it’s a little disconcerting when she starts talking about “kitties” in public.
• She’s very polite and uses “please” and “thank you” often. When we go to the public play areas in the mall and she gets mowed over by other children, she always says “Excuse me.”
• She’s still in love with her Grandmommy and Grandpa and would happily move in with them if we let her. I might let her when she hits the rebellious teenager stage.
• I think I’m going to have to give in and read Harry Potter. Even though I already know what happens in all the books. I’m not very good at commitment so long term projects rarely get finished, and reading is no exception. Maybe I’ll get the books on CD and listen to them in the car.
• I have a ridiculous amount of laundry that needs to be done. Ridiculous, I tell you.
• Moving Company is coming tomorrow morning to give estimates. Hopefully they’ll be able to see past the piles of laundry everywhere.
• Need to clean the house again top to bottom. We got out of the habit since we’ve stopped showing the house. But the appraiser is coming this week and we need to make a really good impression.
• Having so much laundry and cleaning to do makes me feel overwhelmed.
• I am totally annoyed that “maternity” is the “in” fashion right now. I was appalled when I went to Old Navy yesterday. I’m short-torsoed and store my fat around my middle - do you know how hard I have to work already to avoid looking 12 months pregnant? Every piece of clothing I saw was formless and rendered my body completely devoid of any feminine shape whatsoever. Grrr…
• I played 4 back-to-back softball games Friday night. Apparently we’re so behind in the season (due to rain) that they decided to have the entire playoff tournament in a single night.
• Consequently, every muscle in my body hurts. I could hardly get out of bed this morning. I’m getting too old for this.
• We came in second, in case you were wondering.
• The last game we played was a game we lost (hence the 2nd place), and we actually didn’t mind losing because we were so worn out that we didn’t want to play another game, which we would have to had we won.
• Actually, as beat as we were, we probably wouldn’t have minded playing another game too much if we felt like the teams were evenly matched. The other team had 4x as many players to rotate through and got to rest for an hour before the final game, so they were full of energy. And all of their guys were 6′4″ and built like athletes. We didn’t have the same advantage, so every minute was a fight just to stay in the game. That said, we did pretty well and might have won if they hadn’t hit that grand slam.
• I managed to close my knee in the car door today and it’s starting to bruise. It hurts.
• Thanks to the stress of buying/selling/moving/etc, I have 3 ulcers in my mouth. Yippee. Now I just need my face to break out so my whole head can be swollen and aching.
• My superstitious side is thinking I probably shouldn’t have said that.
• It’s after 11:30pm.
• My brain is starting to shut down.
• Good night.

Rules for showing a house*:

1. Leave the house spotless, with no miscellaneous items laying about.
2. Confine pets to a closet or crate, or better yet, have them be absent when the buyers show up. Hide pet food and other pet-related items that may normally be in plain view
3. Be out of the house when the buyers arrive

*I’ve truncated this list to the rules that actually apply to us, because things like “Don’t leave poop on the floor” are not really an issue around here

Well, I think I botched a showing yesterday. I learned that when I’m on my own, 30 minutes is NOT enough time to prepare this house for a showing, even if I’ve picked up and straightened the night before and the morning of.

Actually, I had asked for 45 minutes, but by the time Central Showing Agency called the buyers’ agent to confirm and then called me back, my time slot had dwindled to 30 minutes.

I dashed home from work and furiously flew through the house cleaning, straightening, putting things away (darn the laundry, my ever-present foe), vacuuming, emptying the trash and the litter box.

When they showed up, I was still here. Caught. They could see me through the second floor window trying to throw the vacuum into the closet. I was frantic, out of breath (Dude.  I REALLY need one of those Dyson light-weight vacuums), and I could not find the cat.

They were very nice about it all and told me I didn’t have to leave during the showing because they might have questions anyway. Their agent made a comment about how clean and nice the house was. But as I was cruising through the kitchen trying to keep out of the way, I noticed some areas that I hadn’t gotten to… crumbs and random cooking supplies on the counter tops and stove (WTH? I don’t even cook, and I’m having issues with cooking ingredients?), miscellaneous pieces of vegetables on the floor from LB’s dinner the night before, a sticky spot on the wood where LB had spilled some juice (apparently I’m using the wrong cleaner because the sticky won’t go away no matter how many times I clean it), the dog food still out…

How embarrassing.

The couple was a young pair and I suspect they had a little one on the way, with the interest they took in LB’s room (and particularly her little dresses hanging in the closet). They were very nice and seemed to like the house so there’s a part of me that’s hoping they’ll come back a second time so I can show them that I’m not a complete moron. But for the most part I think I may have to chalk it up to a learning experience.

Note to self: Next time, insist on having an hour at home before the buyers show up.

My husband is currently vacationing (I know. Without me. I know. You think so too? I totally agree. But he did buy me a trip to New York. And I’m not sure that bushwhacking in rural Alaska is my idea of a vacation anyway. Love your shoes, by the way. So anyway…) and LB is staying with the grandparents and the dog is being boarded, so the only one who stuck around tonight is the cat.

So tonight it’s just me and my pus$y.

What, you didn’t see that coming? Seriously? I know, I don’t usually go for jokes in such bad taste. But every once in a while I can’t help myself.

Just got back from the new Harry Potter movie and it was highly enjoyable. And now I should be cleaning the house just in case anybody wants to come see it tomorrow while I’m at work.

If there’s one thing I really resent, it’s cleaning. If there’s one thing I just can’t stand, it’s cleaning just in case. Cleaning is a lot of work and the thought that it might be totally in vain just irks me, especially when the time could better be spent sleeping. Or blogging, as the case may be.

This whole “clean the house every day” thing just … sucks. I told my real estate agent that once we sell the house, I’m not vacuuming again for a solid MONTH. Maybe longer. Vacuuming two floors every day is enough to drive me batty.

On the bright side, it helps me know EXACTLY where people are going in my house, because I can trace their footprints. After one showing, I was pretty sure I had a heard of elephants go through my house. There was not a square foot in the house that didn’t have footprints in it, and they even tried out all the furniture.

We had our first open house Sunday. The open house was from 3-5pm. At precisely 3:05pm, a torrential downpour started, and continued through the next hour. Surprisingly, we still had a grand total of 4 families come to the open house. Not bad, considering the weather, but kind of a waste of the 4 dozen cookies I baked.

Our house went on the market almost two weeks ago. Five showings, 50+ taken fliers, and one open house later, we still haven’t seen any offers. Everyone that gives feedback on it says the colors are great and it shows great, and they really like it… so where are the offers?

I’m not very good at waiting games. Not very good at all.

I am very good, however, at procrastinating.

Great.  My daughter cries when I sing opera.

Perhaps it’s a good thing I never put that theatre major to use.

Sensing my frustration earlier today, J surprised me with a plane ticket to New York City to go visit Joi in a few weeks.

Do I have the best husband or what?