It's Day 1 on the market.
This week has been almost nothing but going to work, playing with Shane, and working on the house. Carrie's off to speak at a high school career fair and I'm doing last minute touch ups before Shane and I disappear. The agents are predicting a lot of traffic and hinted that we may not want to be around.
I was going to run around and take pictures of the house, but I think the agent did that job rather nicely. It's way cleaner than usual, but my memory can fill back in the junk.
Back to cleaning and getting ready to head out! Kathleen's baby shower is today so that should be a fun excuse to go over to Nana and Pa's!
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Sign is up
The sign post for the big SALE sign just went up as I got home today. The house won't be up until this weekend, but this is getting more and more real.
Carrie and I have been working out butts off on the house. I came home on Monday to see huge mounds of trash bags. My first thought was that the neighbors who are moving must be cleaning out a bunch of old crap.
Turns out, it was Carrie cleaning out a bunch of old crap! She'd gotten off work early and ransacked the attic. She's been a one-woman construction crew racing around painting and fixing little odds and ends. I'd help more, but she hands me the boy and says "take him!" After Shane goes to bed, I switch in to work mode too, but most of the house prep has been my wife.
We're still waiting to hear what our neighbor's appraisal comes back as before we'll know just how real this is. I have a number I don't want to sell for less than, and if that number isn't beat we're going to go back into a holding pattern.
At the least, this whole endeavor has been a really thorough spring cleaning. The house has never looked better, if you want to make an offer...
Carrie and I have been working out butts off on the house. I came home on Monday to see huge mounds of trash bags. My first thought was that the neighbors who are moving must be cleaning out a bunch of old crap.
Turns out, it was Carrie cleaning out a bunch of old crap! She'd gotten off work early and ransacked the attic. She's been a one-woman construction crew racing around painting and fixing little odds and ends. I'd help more, but she hands me the boy and says "take him!" After Shane goes to bed, I switch in to work mode too, but most of the house prep has been my wife.
We're still waiting to hear what our neighbor's appraisal comes back as before we'll know just how real this is. I have a number I don't want to sell for less than, and if that number isn't beat we're going to go back into a holding pattern.
At the least, this whole endeavor has been a really thorough spring cleaning. The house has never looked better, if you want to make an offer...
Shane's getting so much smarter!
For the past month, Shane's been developing mentally as well as a bruiser.
If I snap my fingers and point, he looks at where I'm pointing.
If I say a word he recognizes, he can reacts.
If I snap my fingers, point at his snacks, and say "Crunchies?" he will race over and bring the snacks over for me to open. If my hands are closed, he will try to pry open my fingers so that he can put the snacks into an open-hand.
Today, there was a really cute moment. Shane loves Cars by Pixar. There are lots of bright colors and good tunes. Carrie put on Cars while I was feeding Shane to zombify him. After he was done eating, he plopped in Mommy's lap. Carrie pulled out Shane's shirt and pointed. "Look! Lightning!" Shane looked down at his shirt, looked up at the TV, and looked back down at his shirt. I could physically see the gears turning in his head as he made the connection. His shirt had the same picture that was on the TV!
Shane was fascinated. He kept pulling out his shirt and looking back and forth. Then he started trying to eat his shirt (I never said he was a genius).
It was really fun to see Shane make the connection. He's been responding and thinking deeper about many things lately. He recognizes sounds like a gate opening or closing and races to try and jail break.
Just a quick post bragging about my boy!
If I snap my fingers and point, he looks at where I'm pointing.
If I say a word he recognizes, he can reacts.
If I snap my fingers, point at his snacks, and say "Crunchies?" he will race over and bring the snacks over for me to open. If my hands are closed, he will try to pry open my fingers so that he can put the snacks into an open-hand.
Today, there was a really cute moment. Shane loves Cars by Pixar. There are lots of bright colors and good tunes. Carrie put on Cars while I was feeding Shane to zombify him. After he was done eating, he plopped in Mommy's lap. Carrie pulled out Shane's shirt and pointed. "Look! Lightning!" Shane looked down at his shirt, looked up at the TV, and looked back down at his shirt. I could physically see the gears turning in his head as he made the connection. His shirt had the same picture that was on the TV!
Shane was fascinated. He kept pulling out his shirt and looking back and forth. Then he started trying to eat his shirt (I never said he was a genius).
It was really fun to see Shane make the connection. He's been responding and thinking deeper about many things lately. He recognizes sounds like a gate opening or closing and races to try and jail break.
Just a quick post bragging about my boy!
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Everyone worries about babies
One of the first things I learned about parenting, is that everyone worries about babies. It's universal.
The catch is, everyone worries about different things.
The chief worriers are the party responsible for the child. Usually, this means the parents. The amount of pressure that comes with being responsible for a helpless life causes stress. Nana once told me "Every parent starts off thinking 'I'm going to do the best I can for my child.'" Life happens and is much more messy and out-of-control than in our thoughts, and that's when the worry can creep in. I think the more you care, the easier it is to worry if you let yourself dwell upon it.
My life as a parent became much easier when I trusted my son to breathe on his own.
The catch is, everyone worries about different things.
The chief worriers are the party responsible for the child. Usually, this means the parents. The amount of pressure that comes with being responsible for a helpless life causes stress. Nana once told me "Every parent starts off thinking 'I'm going to do the best I can for my child.'" Life happens and is much more messy and out-of-control than in our thoughts, and that's when the worry can creep in. I think the more you care, the easier it is to worry if you let yourself dwell upon it.
My life as a parent became much easier when I trusted my son to breathe on his own.
It's official
We're planning to sell.
One of the agent's assistants came over on Friday to give the house a once over and give us a recommended selling price. I told Carrie if the price was over a certain number, I'd agree to sell. She texted me at work to let me know the good news: the agent quoted almost the exact price I'd mentioned that morning. It was only $100 less and in real estate terms that's exact.
However, I was still surprised to see a Realtor's lock-box on the door when I got home.
.JPG)
When my wife moves into 'project mode' she doesn't move at any other pace than 'breakneck speed!'
One of the agent's assistants came over on Friday to give the house a once over and give us a recommended selling price. I told Carrie if the price was over a certain number, I'd agree to sell. She texted me at work to let me know the good news: the agent quoted almost the exact price I'd mentioned that morning. It was only $100 less and in real estate terms that's exact.
However, I was still surprised to see a Realtor's lock-box on the door when I got home.
.JPG)
When my wife moves into 'project mode' she doesn't move at any other pace than 'breakneck speed!'
Monday, March 19, 2012
The day after...
The day after I write a post about our house, my wife gets the idea to sell it.
Ironic, no?
Ironic, no?
Sunday, March 18, 2012
An Evolving House: The TV
Our TV is still the one from my bachelor days.
When I first moved out, I thought, "I'm a bachelor and bachelor's are supposed to have decent TVs." So what did I do? I went out and shopped around for the best bang for my buck. I ended up with a 42" plasma TV from Walmart that's been around for the past 4 years.
When I first moved out, I thought, "I'm a bachelor and bachelor's are supposed to have decent TVs." So what did I do? I went out and shopped around for the best bang for my buck. I ended up with a 42" plasma TV from Walmart that's been around for the past 4 years.
An Evolving House
I remember the first time I walked into my house.
Carrie was beside me holding my arm. Our agent opened the front door and excited nails dug into my biceps. "Hardwood floors! Honey, they have hardwood floors!" came the breathless whisper beside me.
My wife was giddy.
Oh, and there was the single most foul-smelling refrigerator in the world in the basement. It was full of fish, kimchi, and who knows what else?
The outside of our house looks similar to then, but a great number of things have changed. We moved in, made the house ours, and then found out baby Shane was on his way. From that point forward, our home has been continuously changing and evolving. First, we had to make room for Shane. When he got here, we had to adjust for all of our ideas that didn't work as planned. Now, he's growing like a weed and things that were once inaccessible are no longer such.
Sometimes, it feels like we're in a race to stay at least one step ahead of the guy. We'll get a comfortable lead for a while and then one day he'll be pulling himself up somewhere he shouldn't be able to reach. That sends us back to the drawing board! If you are a parent, you know what I'm talking about (or you'll find out soon enough!).
Parenting feels like an ever-changing game for me. Just when you think you've figured out all the rules, something is changing! You'll never get it 100% and the only option is for you to keep adapting and learning as you go. I guess it's not surprise that my living space reflects this!
I'm going to be sorting through old photos and occasionally making a post in this 'new series.' I'll be posting them under the label 'House.'
Carrie was beside me holding my arm. Our agent opened the front door and excited nails dug into my biceps. "Hardwood floors! Honey, they have hardwood floors!" came the breathless whisper beside me.
My wife was giddy.
Oh, and there was the single most foul-smelling refrigerator in the world in the basement. It was full of fish, kimchi, and who knows what else?
The outside of our house looks similar to then, but a great number of things have changed. We moved in, made the house ours, and then found out baby Shane was on his way. From that point forward, our home has been continuously changing and evolving. First, we had to make room for Shane. When he got here, we had to adjust for all of our ideas that didn't work as planned. Now, he's growing like a weed and things that were once inaccessible are no longer such.
Sometimes, it feels like we're in a race to stay at least one step ahead of the guy. We'll get a comfortable lead for a while and then one day he'll be pulling himself up somewhere he shouldn't be able to reach. That sends us back to the drawing board! If you are a parent, you know what I'm talking about (or you'll find out soon enough!).
Parenting feels like an ever-changing game for me. Just when you think you've figured out all the rules, something is changing! You'll never get it 100% and the only option is for you to keep adapting and learning as you go. I guess it's not surprise that my living space reflects this!
I'm going to be sorting through old photos and occasionally making a post in this 'new series.' I'll be posting them under the label 'House.'
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Shane the narcissist
Shane's vain. That pretty much encapsulates it.
Shane enjoys looking at himself in mirrors. Normally it only distracts him for a short amount of time, before he gets distracted and moves on. When he was younger, I used to sing "Who is that baby in the mirror?" and it was always worth a big smile.
Nowadays, he's upgraded to the iPad.
Shane loves to watch videos of himself in the iPad. He will cackle and squeal when he hears himself cackle and squeal in quicktime. Carrie's iPad also has a handy-dandy feature where the camera can record from both sides. In effect, it becomes a 'recording mirror' for Shane. He was being a little fussy, so I brought out the iPad, hit record, and watched my son get mesmerized.
My boy had a lot of fun. Here are some clips I trimmed out of his play session.
Shane enjoys looking at himself in mirrors. Normally it only distracts him for a short amount of time, before he gets distracted and moves on. When he was younger, I used to sing "Who is that baby in the mirror?" and it was always worth a big smile.
Nowadays, he's upgraded to the iPad.
Shane loves to watch videos of himself in the iPad. He will cackle and squeal when he hears himself cackle and squeal in quicktime. Carrie's iPad also has a handy-dandy feature where the camera can record from both sides. In effect, it becomes a 'recording mirror' for Shane. He was being a little fussy, so I brought out the iPad, hit record, and watched my son get mesmerized.
My boy had a lot of fun. Here are some clips I trimmed out of his play session.
Ranger is doing well...
...and so are my allergies.
Carrie emailed the people we adopted Ranger from and they said he's fitting in well! The little girl was thrilled to see him again. All's well that ends well. He was as doggish* of a cat as I've seen before, so it's a shame he also carried the sneezing, sniffling death for me. I've taken maybe one or two of my allergy pills since he's left. Min and Max don't cause anywhere near the same allergic reaction. I guess it's true that male cats have more allergens.
Anyway, it's good to know the little stink is doing well. Both Min and Max have been much more present and friendly since he left, so I guess they're glad he's gone.
Cats. What can I say? They came with the wife.
*doggish - Acting like a dog. Actually caring for the people in your house and generally not being catty.**
**catty - Acting like a typical cat. 'Nuff said.
Carrie emailed the people we adopted Ranger from and they said he's fitting in well! The little girl was thrilled to see him again. All's well that ends well. He was as doggish* of a cat as I've seen before, so it's a shame he also carried the sneezing, sniffling death for me. I've taken maybe one or two of my allergy pills since he's left. Min and Max don't cause anywhere near the same allergic reaction. I guess it's true that male cats have more allergens.
Anyway, it's good to know the little stink is doing well. Both Min and Max have been much more present and friendly since he left, so I guess they're glad he's gone.
Cats. What can I say? They came with the wife.
*doggish - Acting like a dog. Actually caring for the people in your house and generally not being catty.**
**catty - Acting like a typical cat. 'Nuff said.
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