Random Thoughts

I survived another Tuesday. Don't get me wrong. I am blessed by my Bright Future kids, but coupled with co-op, it makes for a long day. And the commute downtown has gotten rather old. Of course, when I signed up to do this last August, I assumed we would sell the house and move 1/2 hour closer.

We haven't sold the house yet. Two years on the market. I don't think we're going to sell the house. Yes, we've had a few showings here and there. Those always come along when the house is a disaster and needs a good cleaning.

I think it's about time for a house showing.

I was in bed for two or three days last week. When I finally crawled out, it didn't just look like a tornado went through our house. It looked like the tornado traveled a few hundred miles and then dumped all of its loot in our house.

I'd love to do some spring cleaning, but life has been too busy, plus there's been all this not-feeling-good stuff. I'm finally beginning to feel Human again, so perhaps there is some spring cleaning in my future.

It feels like spring here. Can you believe it? Two inches of snow a week ago, in the 70s today.

I pulled myself out of bed twice last week. To go to the same place. To do the same thing. Friday, our homeschool group went to Stars and Strikes for bowling. We got a package deal: two games of bowling and a $5.00 arcade card. Not a bad deal. 'Course my kids do not have the patience for two games of bowling. Seeing as how the Princess bowls granny style and, thus, her ball takes a few hours to make it down the alley, I suppose I didn't really have the patience for two games either. She's awfully cute when she bowls, though.


Unfortunately, two out of four of my children were able to snag a stuffed toy from the claw machine, so now they think they are worth the money.

We went to Stars and Strikes again on Sunday to meet some friends for $1.00 laser tag. We had a great time. Two out of four of my children tried to score more stuffed toys from the claw machine. They failed miserably.

Day 4 doesn't prove to be as exciting as I had anticipated.

I hadn't been to this mall since my life before children. And what I remembered about it was that it was a classy place where everything is way over-priced but that always goes way overboard with Christmas decorations. What I didn't remember from my pre-children days is that there is nothing there for kids save for some Webkinz at the Justice store.

There were indeed some decorations, but there was nothing extraordinary about them. Must be the economy. And Santa was there. We spied him from a staircase. "Look, Audrey!" I exclaimed. "Santa followed us here from our mall!" She was very happy.

And I did get to photograph a couple of the kids in front of a Rolls that costs more than my house. If I had had a pen and paper handy, I would have posted a note on the car that read:

Did you know that for the cost of this car,
you can buy a kitchen, a couple living rooms,
some bedrooms, a few toilets, a garage,
a backyard, and a pool?
If interested, call ---

And I was going to take the kids into the Versace store so we could roll our eyes over the price tags and make fun of people who would drop a couple thousand on a button-down shirt, but when we got to the entrance, the staunch, haughty-looking sales guy scared me away. Not literally, of course. He just looked like he might not welcome 4 children running through his store, wiping their chinese food-stained fingers all over the merchandise. Not to mention he probably wouldn't have welcomed my photographing a few price tags.

So we left. Not a particularly wonderful advent activity, but we did it as a family nonethless.

Back to Square One

I'm afraid we are back to Square One on two significant and ongoing events in our lives. First, the sale of our home. Would you believe that, amidst the chaos of Thanksgiving and our middle-of-the-night date, we had a house showing? Yes, Mark and I returned from Black Friday around 7:30 am, cleaned like crazy people, and had a house showing at 10:00. Another no-sale. Back to the drawing board on that front.

Then there was church today. Accompanied by our precious friends from our old church, we visited a new one that was quite a distance from us. Considering our church history, distance is not really a factor; however, even in the days when we commuted 35 miles to church every Wednesday and Sunday, it was a straight shot down the interstate. The route to this church took us down many two-lane roads laden with traffic lights. I can only imagine the time it would take to get there on a Wednesday night at rush hour.

Despite the fact that, by the time we made it there, we had already made up our mind about the church, I elicited some feedback from the children:

Me: Did you boys have fun today in your class?

Them: Yes.

Me: What was fun about it?

Them: We got Rice Krispy treats.

Me: But what else was fun?

Them: Jack wanted a second Rice Krispy treat.

Me: But what besides the Rice Krispy treat was fun?

Them: I don’t know; we didn’t do that much.

Me: Was there a story?

Them: Ummm…Yeah, I think so.

Me: What was the story?

Them: I don’t remember.

Then Alex chimes in: I liked it better than the [church we went to last week].

Me: Why?

Alex: Well, Grace and I got to share a bag of potato chips.

Me: But what else did you like about it?

Alex: Oh, and we had some candy corn.

(Are you sensing a theme here?)

Me: (rolls her eyes)

Alex: (quickly) OH! And I liked the message better.

Me: What was it about?

Alex: About being thankful.

A Retention Lesson to all of you church pastors/planters/directors/associates/ministers out there:

Feed the little children, and they will stay!

Week's End Ramblings

Right now, this very moment, I am supposed to be cleaning the house. In fact, aside from a spelling test and some math fact practice, I've given the kids the day off school; I won't even check a box on today's attendance sheet in spite of the spelling and math. Today I am supposed to be cleaning because we're showing the house this evening. I'm not freaking out, mind you, not like I have in the past. I will clean it like I would for any guest, but I may not even move the world's ugliest toaster oven out to the car. I may just leave it sitting there, dejected, on the counter. And I may or may not prepare a baked good to leave on the counter. I've decided that in this market, it will take a miracle to sell this house, so there is no use fretting over all the things that could be done to beautify the place if I had more than one day's warning.

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The Princess was humming the other day. She stopped abruptly and exclaimed with wonder, "Hey, when I do this--Hmmhmmmhmmm, it feels like there is a bee in my mouth!"

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The Crud has officially left our house. The Crud, in fact, had a name tagged on to it by our doctor: strep throat. All 3 of the younger ones had it; I didn't take Alex in because by that time, she was all better. She was, after all, the culprit who started it all, the first one down. Perhaps she got over it without the use of antibiotics. Perhaps the others would have as well, but we're still sucking down pink stuff twice a day because that made the Crud exit a bit earlier.

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School went pretty well this week. We studied the skeletal system yesterday, and my little skeletons had fun labeling their almost-life-sized skeletons that hang on the hallway wall by the kitchen (and, no, those are not coming down for this afternoon's showing; they took too long to put up!). The 3 olders have been writing daily "spooky" stories, which I will post on Homeschool Writer's Block at some point. Their writings have sprung from prompts I've gotten from various online sources. Very cute stories, though none are very scary--usually the "strange noise that is going bump in the night" turns out to be a friendly bumblebee bumping into the window or something.

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It's gotten cold here. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate the cold? If we sell the house today, maybe we can still pull off that move to Florida, i.e.: warmer weather.

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The chore I am most putting off at this very moment is that of cleaning up the media room/hubby's office/my hobby room. Why? Because the floor is littered with little winter clothes. I did the seasonal attire switcheroo a couple weeks ago, and while I still need to do some clothes shopping for the older three, the Princess has enough clothes for at least 4 princesses. Girl clothes are so much cuter and so much more fun to buy, so we have quite a stock for her, plus all of her older sister's hand-me-downs. I'm not sure where I'm going to put them, especially now that she shares a room with her sister and there is no more closet space.

If you need me, I'll be standing in the middle of the media room/hubby's office, my hobby room with a puzzled look on my face.

Conversations with God

"God, if I'm being perfectly honest, I have to say I'm a lot disappointed and a little angry with You."

He jumps right in because He knows exactly what I'm talking about. "Patience and trust. Remember?"

"But I've been patient. And I've been trusting," I whine.

"You're not being trusting right now. Remember Jeremiah 29:11?"

"I know, but..."

"But what?"

"But I've been praying. And I just finished my second week at Bright Futures. I thought we had a deal."

"I don't make deals."

"I know. Not an official deal, but I just kinda thought..."

"You can't earn the things you want. I will provide all that you need."

The family that looked at our house on Saturday was indeed the perfect family for this house. Unfortunately, the school system was not a perfect fit for them. I can't say I blame them...

Week's End Ramblings...

Where to start, where to start...could start at the beginning of the week, but I covered my first day at Bright Futures already. May I reiterate that it was fabulous; I am anxious to get down there again. I already have my husband on call too in case any of the kids catches the stomach virus my niece, who is staying with us this weekend, has contracted. She just returned from a summer in Africa, so we're hoping it's not malaria. I did meet my in-laws halfway to pick up a malarial treatment for her, though, so maybe she'll be good as new in the morning.

So I'll just start with a little progress report on the homeschool front. We're already about to enter week 3!! How time zooms by...Mark and I were talking just a few weeks ago about how, when we were growing up, 3 months--a trimester like we would spend at boarding school--seemed like an ETERNITY. Now 3 months speeds by so fast, it's hard to collect our thoughts. I digress....Homeschool. Three weeks. Progress report:

Learning Adventures is going great. I really like the curriculum. Of course, I'm tweaking it a bit, but what else would you expect me to do? In history, we're studying Ancient Egypt, and we're completing Evan Moor's history pocket to go along with it. We also attempted a model Nile River, but I made the mistake of making the river out of clay rather than the aluminum foil I used years ago when we first did this (the younger ones don't remember; thus, we are doing it again). I guess I probably used the wrong kind of clay because it got all gooey after we flooded the Nile. No surprise; Art and I do not get along. We have also watched a couple of National Geographic or Discovery DVD's I got a la Blockbuster on the pyramids and the Nile River. Amazing DVDs! Watching the Nile River one just gave me a complete feeling of awe at the beauty and wonder of the world God has created.

For science, we are working on a desert notebook and have done a couple of experiments to go along with. One was melting chocolate under white paper versus black paper. And we currently have water-filled jars sitting in the sun, one adorned with aluminum foil, to examine the complexities of evaporation.

One challenge I've come across the first two weeks of school--and any easy one to address--is finding enough fun things for Audrey to do while I'm working with the others. There are plenty of preschool activity "stations" I can set up for her; it's just a matter of my taking the time to do so.

My biggest challenge this year has been Michael. I have, up until now, always chalked his difficulties with academics up to the fact that he is a young boy. But this year, now that he is in third grade, I'm beginning to suspect there may be underlying problems. This week I have been spending extra time with him. With the other two, I can just explain new concepts, give them their books, and away they go. I have discovered with Michael that I must help him with most, if not all, of his work. This means I end up spending about 3 times as long with him as the others, which presents another problem. I don't want them to think he's receiving special treatment. Well, actually he is, but I don't want them to think they aren't receiving special treatment. I suppose I need to get a quiet moment with each of them and just explain that Michael needs extra help and to be supportive. It's the be supportive part I'm worried about. In the heat of an argument when one boy is trying to hurt the other, I don't want this to be used against him. Of course, such disrespect would merit discipline, but the damage will already have been done. I've heard many people talk about vision therapy, which may be something Michael needs. The problem is that it is not covered by insurance and costs a few thousand dollars, dollars we don't have at the moment.

Which reminds me. We went to the orthodontist on Wednesday. Two need jaw extenders. One, if not two will need braces after said jaw extenders. Our first visit was free. There will be no more free visits.

We had a wonderful visit from our potential home buyers today. They came without a realtor, and we had a lovely, casual visit with them. They seemed to really like the house, so we shall see. They seem like the perfect family for our home--two teenage boys; this is the perfect house for a family of four. My mother-in-law told me she was praying just this morning that we'd have a buyer soon. If this is the family, her prayers were answered within hours!

One way or the other, I feel complete peace about our house. We would love to be able to get on with the next phase of our lives. But perhaps the next phase of our lives is right here. Our pastor preached on finances some time ago. We were impacted by the message series and felt a desire to simplify things. Selling this house would help us simplify, and we hope God will honor that desire. On the other hand, perhaps He will simply honor our attitude of change by having us stay here.

I think I've mentioned before that I don't have a complete handle on this discerning-God's-will-for-my-life thing. But I'm learning. And that patience and trust thing? Thankfully, I'm feeling a lot of both.

Patience and Trust

I've spent most of my life harboring just a sliver of skepticism towards all of those comments like, "I felt the Lord's leading in this direction" or "I really heard the Lord say to me that..." Over the last year or so, however, I've been learning how to better tune in to His voice. It's been amazing!

A few weeks ago, I asked the Lord what He was trying to teach me through this whole sell-the-house thing. Because, you know, we've had the house on the market for a year and a half, and NOTHING has happened. And, you know, I'm not the most patient person in the world. I very clearly heard His answer: patience and trust. Since then, I have felt covered in peace about the situation.

Speaking of the situation, I personally spoke with a potential buyer just this morning. With plans to transplant from New Jersey, the family will likely come see the house this weekend or early next week. A really nice family. Two teenage boys (who would love the pool). Former homeschoolers. After I hung up with the lady, I started to feel that familiar panicky feeling as I surveyed the recent tornadic action here within the house. But I remembered those words--patience and trust--and continued the kids' schooling.

Michael's reading today happened to be about a missionary family to China. When John and Isobel Kuhn first arrived in China, worry began to creep into Isobel's heart. She was worried about getting her piano to the Lisu people to whom she would minister through music. She worried about the treacherous trail that lead to her new "home", which was nothing more than a gloomy little hut. As the worry began to well up in her heart, she clearly heard God say to her, "Trust Me."

What a great reinforcement through a third grade reader! I am wallowing in patience and trust right now. Will I rush through the house like a madwoman with my Lysol and Windex? Maybe, but it needs a good cleaning anyway; but...I won't freak out if I can't get to everything. I have four children; anyone should understand this. Will I ask my sweet husband to cut the 3-foot tall weeds growing in the yard of the abandoned house at the entrance of our street? No...and not because he broke the blade of the lawn mower on the weeds the last time I made such a request, but because my God is a great God, and if it is in His plan to sell this house, it will sell regardless of what the neighbors' homes look like.

No worry this time. No freaking out. No high-pitched maniacal orders issued to the kids to GET IN THERE AND CLEAN NOW!!! (OK, so I did make them clean up their rooms this afternoon, but it's their chore AND it was impossible to walk into any of them!!) No deals with God, although I can't help but giggle a little when I think of the Deal I tried to make with God...and the fact that I just taught my first class at Bright Futures Academy this week. (God does have a sense of humor; I've seen it many times.) I will not freak out with impatience waiting to hear from these buyers after they visit, and I will not freak out if they decide on something else.

Patience and trust. That's what it's all about.

Dear Crazies: Why Don't You ALL Just Stop By?

We seem to attract the very best of the best out there. Remember the Whack-O Homebuyer who was upset we didn't fix the pothole just because she made mere mention of it? Well, you actually never heard the full story on her. We later found out she had asked our realtor about our reasons for moving. The realtor's answer was, "They're outgrowing the house." Apparently, in her discussion with one of our neighbors, it was casually mentioned that I was with child when we moved in (GREAT with child at the time, in fact). So her incredulous response to our realtor was, "Well, I heard the lady was pregnant when they moved in. Wouldn't they then have known BEFORE they moved in that they would outgrow the house?"

Huh?

Anyway.

So yesterday I get this email from this "prospective buyer." In it, he "asked" the following questions:

On google earth, you are quite a distance from the lake, though you say, "walking distance to the lake", Do you have a community dock or other easement for access?

Your asking price is pretty steep being that in the photos I do not see even a family room, only two tiny den areas.

I have former listing info, the pool is not much larger than a jacuzzi. Does it serve both purposes?

Your street looks worse than that of a third world country, it's horrific!
Does your property owners have plans on refinishing it?

It was my husband's opinion that we not even respond to this; however, I'm nothing if not a person of my word, and by allowing prospective buyers to contact us, that, to me, is as much as committing to provide excellent service by way of a response.

So this is what I wrote (and this is what I was wishing I could write):

Hi Matt,

Thank you for your inquiry about the property listed at ____ Drive in ___________ (Why in the world are you taking up my time and yours to send this "inquiry" which serves only to insult us rather than to ask any valid questions. It's not like we charge admission; your drive-by was free, so it's not like your insults serve to elicit a refund or anything.In fact, if you had come by a couple of weeks ago, I would have even offered you FREE BBQ. Of course, you would have probably just insulted my husband's cooking. Furthermore, have you heard that the housing market stinks? Knowing this, you should also realize that there are TONS of homes to look at, probably even many that are a better deal than ours. MOVE ON!!).

Here are answers to your questions (responses appear in ALL CAPS):

Message: On google earth, you are quite a distance from the lake, though you say, "walking distance to the lake", Do you have a community dock or other easement for access? WE ARE APPROXIMATELY 1/2-1 MILE FROM _________ MARINA (website of marina here) (Based on your "question" about our road, I know for a fact you did a drive-by, so your Google Earth view of our house is really null and void. You were here. You saw the lake across the street. You saw the sign for the marina. You asked this question only because you were being "smart" about our wording in our description. And, by the way, if you can't walk a mile, well...).

Your asking price is pretty steep being that in the photos I do not see even a family room, only two tiny den areas. OUR HOME DOES NOT FEATURE ANY "DENS". THERE ARE TWO SIZABLE LIVING AREAS. IN ADDITION, THERE IS A GIGANTIC MEDIA ROOM AND BONUS ROOM (This "question" left me speechless. Since we, in fact, have two living rooms, both of modest size and one with 20ft. ceilings, I just couldn't think of much else to think.).

I have former listing info, the pool is not much larger than a jacuzzi. Does it serve both purposes? THE POOL IS NOT LARGE, BUT IT WAS NOT OUR INTENTION TO BUILD AN OVER-SIZED POOL. WE WENT FOR AN AESTHETICALLY PLEASING POOL AS WELL AS ONE THAT WOULD SERVE ANY FAMILY NICELY. THE POOL IS HEATED AND HEATS QUICKLY BECAUSE IT IS A SMALLER POOL. SO, YES, I SUPPOSE IT COULD SERVE AS A JACUZZI, THOUGH YOU WOULD HAVE TO SUPPLY YOUR OWN BUBBLES (...though you would have to supply your own bubbles. OK, so I did say what I was thinking here. I considered adding a smily, but his message was in plain text, and I didn't feel a colon, dash, close parentheses would be as effective as an actual smily.).

Your street looks worse than that of a third world country, it's horrific!
Does your property owners have plans on refinishing it? LAKE COMMUNITIES ARE A SPECIAL BREED. MOST LAKE COMMUNITIES IN THIS AREA WERE DEVELOPED BACK IN THE '80S BY "CITY FOLKS" WHO WANTED A GETAWAY. THEY CARVED OUT DIRT ROADS THAT WOUND BACK ALONG LAKE TRIBUTARIES AND PUT IN SMALL HOMES. OVER THE YEARS AS LAKE LIVING HAS BECOME MORE POPULAR, MANY OF THESE EARLIER , MORE RUN-DOWN HOMES HAVE BEEN DEMOLISHED AND REPLACED BY NEW HOMES. SOME HAVEN'T...PART OF THE CHARM OF THESE COMMUNITIES. IN ADDITION, MANY OF THE ROADS HAVE BEEN REFURBISHED SINCE THOSE EARLIER DAYS. SOME HAVEN'T. OURS WAS A GRAVEL ROAD UNTIL ABOUT 10 YEARS AGO WHEN THE FEW RESIDENTS AT THAT TIME POOLED THEIR RESOURCES AND HAD THE ROAD PAVED. AGAIN, PART OF THE CHARM OF A LAKE COMMUNITY. YOU EITHER LOVE IT OR HATE IT. SOUNDS LIKE YOU HATE IT, SO PERHAPS THIS IS NOT THE PLACE FOR YOU TO BE (First of all, it's "Do", not "Does". As someone who has lived half of her life in a third world country, let me inform you that there are certainly worse things with which to contend than a shoddy road. And let me suggest that you research lake communities before you come looking in one; we're lucky to have any pavement at all on our road.).

Again, thank you for your inquiry. If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to ask (Honestly, I really don't want to ever hear from you again unless you come bearing apologies for your rude message.).

Sincerely (or not),
Kathleen

(P.S. I will not invite you back to see our house in person because I would not want to chance dealing with someone like you at a closing.

P.P.S. I do need to pass on my appreciation for the blog fodder because I like to be able to file things under "Hissy Fit".

P.P.P.S. Do we chalk this up to your hissy fit or mine?)

Wheelin' and Dealin'

"How much for this?" I would inquire, holding up the African souvenir.

"For you, Lady," the vendor would reply, "I give you special price of 2000 francs." His English was halting, yet well constructed from years of practice on a myriad of tourists.

"Oh, that's way too much," I would retort with mock indignation. "I'll give you 1500 francs."

He would feign offense, turn slightly away, and say, "1800, my last price." I would begin to walk away, and he would run up to me, tugging at my arm. "OK, OK, Lady. Last price. 1600 francs." I would agree to the price I wanted in the first place, pay for my souvenir, and move on to the next stall.

The Cocody Market in Abidjan was one of my favorite places to be. I'm not a shopping girl, but this was not your typical mall shopping. It was fun to peruse the souvenirs, but mostly it was fun to barter.

Bartering. That's something I'm sure many of us have done with God. "God, if you'll just give me A, I'll do/never do B again." I made such a deal with God yesterday. And with Chris. Chris is the children's minister at our church and, incidentally, one of my former students. He has also been a minister to inner city kids and teens for many years. He has long been an integral part of Bright Futures Atlanta. Recently, he and the founders of Bright Futures have begun working to create another ministry: a homeschool-type co-op for those teens and pre-teens who take part in Bright Futures.

I took Chris to Learning Things yesterday to check out some curriculum because, well, someone had to make him aware of the Treasure Warehouse Full of Curriculum. In conversation, I may have mentioned to him how much I would love to be a part of this--if only for one day a week--and of course he ran with it.

Believe it or not, when I first began my education to be a teacher, my dream was to work with inner city kids. That dream has been clouded over the years by my complete immersion into suburban living and all but forgotten as I've thrust myself into the job of motherhood. And now here is this Opportunity standing right in front of me.

Back to the wheelin' and dealin'. The problem with this opportunity is that it is quite far away. The other side of Atlanta far away. And if you know Atlanta at all, you know it is a sprawling city with terrible traffic. Anyway, I told Chris if we could sell our house I would help out because we intend to move about a half hour closer to civilization if we can ever unload this house. I felt quite satisfied with my deal--quite like I'd just gotten the price I wanted. Chris said he'd have everyone pray and we'd have the house sold in a week.

While I don't doubt that our prayers can indeed get this house sold in a week, I don't think that God wants me to be making deals with Him. I think He wants me to take steps of faith without the bartering. This is very difficult for me. I have spent so many years in self-reliance, years of making decisions without bringing God in at all. Consequently, I have very little experience in knowing God's will for my life. I mean, those open doors...are they open by chance, because I've led such a charmed life, or because God wants me to walk through them? Are those whispers from His Spirit or my selfish desires? These are common questions that rattle through my brain.

I'm so not good at this. It's really kind of silly because we're only talking one day a week that I would go down and help. And, while I know that raising my kids is my primary ministry right now, I also know that part of that ministry is teaching my children that there is more to life than the little suburban bubble in which we live. This would be a perfect opportunity. So why am I hesitating? I know it is my own selfishness which causes the hesitation. And laziness. That would play a factor too, of course, because saying "yes" would mean some extra planning and organization. And putting myself out there to be involved in others' lives.

I think I already know the answer--that this investment is worth a sacrifice. Why, then, do I still keep wanting to barter?

Updates

My other blog is still there. Staring at me. Daring me to get over my Growing Up MK writer's block. I've had a thousand thoughts rolling around in my scattered brain but just haven't gotten the words right. But then it dawned on me that the best way to get over this is to just get the words down whether they're right or not. It also occurred to me that I needn't write this thing in order; that was a hang-up too, trying to be all chronological about the facts of my former life.

Which brings us to Chapter 36, a number I pulled randomly from the air. Yes, I've updated Growing Up MK. And what brought Chapter 36's subject to mind were the events of this past weekend. Every year there are any number of ICA reunions in any corner of the world (ICA = Ivory Coast Academy, my boarding school in Africa). Mark and I have hosted a couple of them at least.

This weekend was my brother-in-law's turn to host. And I called it the Old Folks' reunion only because he graduated 7 years before me, so the people who attended this reunion were the "big kids" to me when I was in school. I have to admit, I had a few fleeting moments of timidity before meeting everyone again. I mean, I was little Kathleen Macomber with the bowl cut back then.

I didn't need to worry, though. We had a great time. It was fun making new friends at a point in my life when 7 years doesn't mean quite so much difference. We had dinner at my brother-in-law's Friday night and then had the gang over here Saturday night. Yesterday we all enjoyed lunch at a Lebanese restaurant which features a schwarma that tastes just like the ones we used to get in Bouake.

Interestingly, Murphy's Law struck because a realtor wanted to bring someone by during the time when our house was full on Saturday. The conversation went something like this:

Realtor: I have a couple who would like to see your house between 3 and 5 tomorrow.

Us: Well, we're going to have about 40 people here then. But if your clients are comfortable with it, we are totally comfortable with them coming in, looking around, and even partaking in some barbecue.

Apparently, they weren't comfortable with it. Bummer, but oh well. Who passes on free barbecue anyway?

Another Follow-Up

My fun blog friend Crossview commented on Posted Memo with a little bit of incredulity: "Wow! You go through this every time you have a prospective buyer? That has got to get old!"

Truth is, when you only have 4 showings of your house in a year, these showings make a great excuse for much needed thorough house cleanings anyway. I do clean my house more often than 4 times a year, but perhaps not with as much fervor as with an impending showing. And there is much, much more I do besides cleaning.

For example, when we initially put up that For Sale sign over a year ago, we did a major packing up of clutter...things that we wanted to keep but didn't really need lying around. Like all of our CDs. Thankfully, we have adapted well to iPod life, so there is still music in this home, although at Christmas I had to go digging through boxes and boxes of CDs to find where I had tossed all of the Christmas tunes.

Then there is the scale. I packed it up. Don't know where. I've looked. Can't find it. We bought a new one.

Then there are the items we do use on a daily basis but that I don't want out because these items throw off the whole look for the prospective home buyers. For example, the ugliest toaster oven in the world resides on our kitchen counter right next to a stainless steel utensil holder with cracks all through it. I toss both items in the back of my car before a showing. Along with lots of other things: the organizer thingy that holds junk mail, the basket that catches all of the toys that make their way downstairs during the day, the basket that holds the cat toys, the dish drainer thing, and--when I remember it--the cat box.

Then there are all of the items I stuff in cupboards like the toothbrush holders and soap dispensers.

And the things I stuff under the bed like all of the computers lying around.

See...Crossview actually had no idea exactly how an anal retentive person like me prepares for a house showing. I guess I should be thankful it has only happened 4 times this year.

In Following Up...

On "Posted Memo":
Turns out it wasn't the forgotten cat box that scared away our prospective buyers. In fact, it is likely that, as little time as they spent here, they did not even make it to the laundry room where the cat box is or up to the boys' room, which sports our new Indoor Water Slide. Nope. These people live in Mid-Town and are looking for a vacation home. Very hoity-toity of them, isn't it? Apparently not hoity-toity enough, though; our home is too big for "just a vacation home".

On "If [they] only had a brain...":
I'll never forget how exciting it was in our first home the day we had our living room furniture delivered. It was brand new and delivered right to our home, not a hand-me-down set from my brother-in-law or a thrift store find. Brand new. And delivered right to our home. It was a very light cream color with a shade darker cream color geometric patterns woven through the fabric. It was comfy and served us well. It even stayed its same light cream color.

Until we had children at which point it became a burp cloth for spit-up, a napkin for messy fingers, a Kleenex for snotty noses, and a Welcome Mat for dirty little feet.

When we sold our house (in 6 weeks, I might add!), we added to our To-Do List "Call Thrift-Store-That-Makes-House-Calls to come pick up dirty, ugly living room set". We didn't know how else to get rid of it and maybe our junk would be someone else's treasure, right? Apparently so because the lovely engaged couple (whose father bought the house for his son and "starter wife"--another story) who bought our house asked if they could buy the living room set. We gladly threw it in FOR FREE as part of the deal.

One thing I hated about that living room set once we had children--mobile children--is that all of the cushions came off. And they were always off because despite all of the money we spent on toys, the cushions were always much more entertaining. Since I spent most of the last 3 years of life in our house pregnant, bending down to pick up cushions became a great source of contention for me. I vowed my next couch would have cushions that even Superman could not separate from the couch.

But, alas, we could not find a couch with attached cushions that didn't also have a floral pattern. I don't do floral patterns. No offense. Floral patterns are pretty in other people's houses, they really are. Just not in mine; chalk it up to my missing "girly" gene. So we justified the purchase of a couch whose cushions can be flung in all directions with a single fling with the assumption that now that our children are older, they will not find such joy in playing with the cushions.

We couldn't have been more wrong. (Yes, I know you could have told me that.) Anyway, my post about my boys losing their brains did not elicit all of the sympathy I had hoped, all of the sympathy I, in fact, needed in order to continue wallowing in my pool of Woe Is Me. No, instead everyone applauded by boys for their ingenuity. And, in fact, some of you laughed with at me. Not that I'm going to mention any names, mind you. (ahem, Arby)

But I get it. I'm an overreactor. I really am. I know it, and I try to be less overreactive, but it's hard for a control freak to overcome. Yesterday, however, when the boys--despite the fact that we've told them a million, kazillion times not to play with the cushions--began a game with the cushions, I let them carry on. At Sunday School, they often watch a video which features a kids' TV game show called "Gunk." In it, kids dive into goo for correct answers to questions. So the boys created their own version of "Gunk". They made up questions along with answer cards and buried the answer cards under a mountain of cushions. When asked a question, the contestant "dove" under all the cushions to retrieve the answer. The one question I overheard was: How many men were crucified along with Jesus? 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4?

A creative game and totally not worth overreacting.

Posted Memo

Dear Prospective Homebuyer,

My guess is that you do not have children. If you did, then you would better appreciate all of the hours it took to get this place clean just for your visit today! And if you had a better appreciation of that fact, perhaps you could have extended a little courtesy to us by staying a few minutes longer than the 8 you spent speeding through our home. A few more minutes would have at least given us the impression that you were lingering over a couple of rooms with comments like, "Can't you just imagine our furniture in here?" or "Wow! Our Tuscan painting would look fantastic on that wall."

You see, hope is a positive thing. And even false hope can sure lift the spirits of two people who would very much like to be done selling the house. Hope--even false hope--is a better feeling than a Well, there are two days of our lives we can't get back feeling.

So what exactly made you dash through our house at breakneck speed? Were you turned off by the homemade cookies I left for you? I notice you didn't take any? It could very well have been the cat's litterbox. I fastidiously removed all traces of the feline--including the cat herself--but, alas, those last minute things I'm supposed to grab on the way out the door...Did you not enjoy The Incredibles enough to just try out the comfy theater seating? Or perhaps, as with everyone else, it was the absence of a basement. In which case you shouldn't have bothered us in the first place because our listing notes "No basement".

Whatever it was, we can still expect a miracle because we know God could make this house appealing to you even if the roof was missing, a fact you very well could have missed in your haste (if that was the case, of course; there IS a roof over the house!). And on the plus side, now the house is clean, which is good because we're expecting 50+ guests here in a couple of weeks. See? There's another thing you're missing out on: our house is great for entertaining. We've had 80 people here before.

Well, if you choose to come back, perhaps WE will choose NOT to spy on you. And by not spying on you, you can walk away whenever you want leaving us with that false hope found in not knowing how long you lingered over our home.

Respectfully (mostly anyway),
Kathleen

Gratitude: Top 10...and Then Some

With Thanksgiving less than a week away, it's a great time to count blessings. Heart of the Matter, in fact, encourages its readers to do just that:

Welcome to the Heart of the Matter Online meme. Please share with us your thoughts on the following: Giving Thanks. What are you thankful for?
Thanksgiving is a week away! We want to know–what are you most thankful for?
And I, personally, would like to know–and am sneaking this in out of sheer nosiness– what’s your best Thanksgiving recipe? Will you share it or another great Fall meal idea? That would make *me* very thankful!

1. I am so very grateful for my 4 children who try their best to keep me young while all the time reminding me how old I'm getting.

2. I am also thankful for a wonderful husband who, while he does not understand my curriculum addiction, doesn't say a word when I indulge.

3. And this same amazing husband is the culinary expert of the family and does all of the cooking. Can anyone say THANK YOU?

4. When TravelDaddy is gone, I am thankful for Chick-fil-A, McDonald's, and Zaxby's. And waffles too. Because, really, what is dinner without breakfast food?

5. I'm thankful for children who make me proud, like last week when a mother at the Chick-fil-A complimented them up and down for their behavior and manners.

6. And these same children are also God's way of keeping me humble. Like when one of them at Book Club got up front to give his book report and asked me to read the title of his book because he had forgotten it and couldn't read it. The title, incidentally, was Where the Wild Things Were. Which he can read. But since the other kids were reading big words like committee and Caldecott, he thought it would be fun to give me a Humble Moment right then and there.

7. Even though we're trying to get rid of it, I am so grateful for this beautiful home we have. And, although, all we seem to attract are prospective buyers of the psychotic kind, I'm thankful for any nibbles. By the by, I don't believe I ever shared Pt. II of my letter to the Wacko Homebuyer. Seems that, in her cozying up to my neighbor in order to get the dirt on us, my neighbor told her I was pregnant when we moved in. Gasp! When my realtor told her we were moving because we had outgrown the house, she very indignantly argued, "But I heard the lady was pregnant when she moved in." All suspicious-like. Like we're trying to cover up a gaping hole in the roof with a pregnancy. What she could have discovered had she had the courtesy to ask is that a) We had already purchased the blueprints for our home before we found out about our little surprise, b) As a family of 5, it's hard to imagine how much room a family of 6 requires--you know Hindsight is 20/20 and all that?, and c) IT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!! But I digress. And steal the gratitude from my Thankful List...

8. I am thankful for the lock on my bathroom door. Even though the door's not soundproof. And even though there's still a sizable space under the door. Someday. Someday I'll be peeing in peace, and I'll miss seeing little fingers wave at me from under the door, and I'll miss having notes passed to me. Or Legos. Or any manner of small toys.

9. God has provided so well with TravelDaddy's job. Even though he is gone a lot, I'm thankful that he enjoys his job so much. I'm thankful that he provides for us so abundantly.

10. And I'm thankful that when he's not traveling, he's right here at home with us! Of course, one day we will be forced to explain the realities of life to the children: That not everyone has a job full of airplane adventures, fancy meals, and hotel stays; and not everyone has a job that lets them sleep in. Or work in their pajamas.

11. And just for good measure--and to meet the Heart of the Matter Meme Requirements, I'm throwing in not one, but TWO, recipes without which Thanksgiving dinner would not be the same:

Sweet Potato Souffle (courtesy, my cousin Tawni)
3 c. cooked sweet potato
1 t. vanilla
1 c. sugar
dash of cinnamon
1/2 c. milk
2 eggs
1 stick butter
dash of ginger
Mix all ingredients. Stir over low heat. Pour mixture into baking dish.

Topping:
1 c. brown sugar
1/3 c. flour
1 stick butter or margarine
1 c. chopped pecans
Mix all ingredients over low heat or in a double boiler. Add a little water as needed for spreading. Pour mixture over potatoes. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Like dessert for lunch!

Gooey Pumpkin Pie Bars (courtesy, Paula Deen)
Crust:
1 yellow cake mix
1 stick melted butter
1 egg
Combine ingredients. With buttered hands, press into ungreased 9x13 pan. (Goodness...the woman even butters her hands!)

Filling:
1 8oz. cream cheese
1 box powdered sugar
1 stick melted butter
3 eggs
1 t. vanilla
1 can pumpkin
1 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. nutmeg
Beat together cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter, eggs, and vanilla. Fold in pumpkin, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Pour over crust. Bake 45 minutes at 350.

For Sale. Again.

After a few weeks' break, our house is once again on the market. Waiting for the floods of expectant buyers...because there were so many of them the last time we had our house for sale. This time, however, I think we have a more aggressive realtor. She's even doing an agent caravan for us next week. In preparation, of course, there has been a lot of cleaning to do. And a little reflecting...

As I was cleaning out a closet, I came across a pile of pictures that never made it on to the walls of our home. And I realized we have never really fully settled here. Somehow we knew we'd be moving on soon, that this wouldn't be our final resting place. As a direct result of the many, many addresses I have called "home", I am loathe to label any place our final resting place (aside from Heaven), although I am trying to curb my wanderlust and replace it with contentedness for wherever I happen to be at the moment. And as I survey all of this junk that will have to be packed up, moved into a temporary resting place, then packed up again to be moved to our new home, I've decided that I might be persuaded to stay at the next location for a longer period of time than I have ever spent in one place...just so I don't have to pack up the house again.

I say "temporary resting place" because the plan is to rent for a year or so while we build a new home. (Yes, we actually enjoy the building process.) Of course, there's no real telling if this is just our plan or also His plan. So, in an effort to not sound too presumptuous, I won't tell you that we have already found a piece of property we wish to purchase. And I won't tell you we've already picked out a new house plan. And that we've already made changes to the new house plan to make it our dream house. Because, if I told you all these things, you would truly think me a bit overeager and possibly a touch psychotic.

What I will tell you is that, although I'm not particularly worried about the opinion of the agents who will parade through here on Tuesday, I did ask the maid to come in. It hurts my pride a little to have the maid come in, but if she didn't, I wouldn't have time to do important things. Like blogging and stuff.

Ridiculous Homebuyer

Dear Whack-O Homebuyer,

My realtor just informed me that you decided NOT to come see the house. You had previously inquired about the possibility of us fixing a pothole in the road at the end of our street. (And would you like us to put in a Kroger at the corner of Main and Oak for your shopping convenience?) Although a pothole or two is typical for a non-county road like ours, we informed our realtor that we would be happy to entertain such an "improvement" as part of an offer.

When I talked to my realtor today, she relayed your surprise that we had not gone ahead and fixed the potholes. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe we ever had an offer on the table? In fact, you never even came to SEE the house. So it should not need to be said that we had not even gotten as far as to find a pothole-filling person to fill the pothole. At the end of the street.

Secondly, my realtor explained that you were a bit taken aback because you chatted with a neighbor who told you that we did not contribute financially to the "road pool" when the gravel road was initially paved by all of the residents of _____ Drive. Let me explain this to you very simply:

This neighborhood has been here for over 20 years.

In 1999, the residents who lived here at the time pooled their money to pave the gravel road.

In 2005, we built our house here.

Do you understand that? I think you read too many political blogs because you're making ridiculous requests, claims, and assumptions.

By the way, I was also told where you've decided to buy. I know the neighborhood well: your bathroom will likely look right in to the bathroom window of your neighbor; your room will probably have a nice view of your neighbor's backyard; and you'll pay a hefty annual HOA fee to share a pool with a thousand other residents and their children. Oh, and the HOA will tell you what flowers to plant when and where. And what color to paint the house. And lots of other great things. So enjoy!

Sincerely,
An I'm-Not-Bitter-But-Simply-Incredulous-Homeseller

If we don't sell the house...

The kids are a lot more warm-blooded than I. That's why they were able to dive into a 74 degree pool on an 80 degree overcast day. I watched from the patio. If we don't sell the house, we're putting in a heater!

The boy moves too quickly to get a focused picture of him!

"If we don't sell the house." That's been the quote of the day around here. If we don't sell the house, let's put in some shrubs there. If we don't sell the house, let's paint this. If we don't sell the house, let's move that here. With the housing market down, we aren't holding our breath that we're going to sell this house.

If we don't sell the house, we will have the opportunity to enjoy more perfect days like today: splashing in the pool and then lunch out on the patio...featuring ribs from the grill, sweet potato fries and regular fries, baked beans, corn salad. You can't ask for time more well-spent with the family.

Of course, if we DO sell the house, there will be new moments to capture, new perfect days to create with each other. And if we DO sell the house, the best thing is that the only really important things from our current residence will move with us: one sweet, cuddly, adorable princess; one tender-hearted, affectionate, sweet-loving boy, one mischievous engineer with a fantastic sense of humor; one compassionate, thoughtful academic; and the love of my life who also happens to the be the gourmet chef of this household!

So whether we do or don't sell the house, the things that really matter are known. And together.

To-Do List

It's been a million miles long over the last week. And I'm learning to juggle more tasks than ever. And I'm trying not to drop the ball. Cliches aside, the For Sale sign went up yesterday! Admittedly and thankfully, our to-do list has been whittled away to almost nothing, though there still are a few tasks to complete. We're not expecting the buyers to be lining up outside the door anyway--especially in this market--so I think we'll have time to get to everything!

I can't even begin to imagine how we accumulated so much junk in three short years, nor how we could have let some of these projects slide so long that their enormity grew to unmanageable proportions. But that is the way of the busy life we lead. The house certainly looks mighty pretty now: the delight of living in a clean, repaired house will lessen the disappointment should we be unable to turn it over to someone else.

And so, while the to-do list is all but completed, the juggling doesn't end. Last week presented the kids with sort of a pre-summer vacation. We resumed today and will have to go into June because of our lapse last week. But it will all work out. And my dear husband who took a few days off last week must also get back to work and traveling. So life will resume as normal except that I have the near impossible task of keeping the house clean. The older three have actually done a fabulous job at keeping their rooms clean; it's the little Princess who has turned into quite a tornado, leaving game pieces, Polly Pockets, and Little Pet Shop Pets in her wake. So there is that plus I must resume work on my classes that I'm teaching, and I'm also taking a class to keep up my certification.

Life is never dull or boring. Or relaxing. Maybe in 18 years I'll be able to relax. Of course, then my to-do list will consist of catching up with 18 years x 4 children of scrapbooking!

Minutes from Annual Meeting

Present: My better half and me

Annual Topic: Let's sell the house and move

Notes: Yes, I know we've only been in this house for 3 years, but we built it as an investment. Really, if you know me, you know it's just because I get a little antsy being in one place too long (by too long, I mean more than 2 years). But every year around this time, for some reason, it always comes up. And another recurring topic: Let's move to Florida. The vote was unanimous once again, however, to nix the idea because it really would just be too much work. The fact that our reason for making a move south is based solely on the weather does weaken the option a bit as well.

So we really are serious enough right now that we're having a realtor in tomorrow to assess the house and see what he thinks.

Action items: Because we love to pull off a good first impressions with our realtors who visit once a year, this past week has been a major spring cleaning week for me (with a little school in between the scrubbing, vacuuming, and dusting!). And, if selling doesn't seem like a good idea after the realtor stops in, well, at least the house will be clean for a few weeks!