mermaids and moss

{this moment}

[inspired by SouleMama]

the camera collection

{ my camera collection}

I started collecting long ago, in high school... some were found at yard sales, thrift stores and flea markets, a few were presents and one is even my mother's old Brownie. I shot film with some of them though I had to cram the film in because the 125 film paper was too wide. They produced nice, grainy images with lots of light leaks. But now it's time to pack them up. Hope they'll find a good spot in the new house.

the toys

I'm going to miss those late afternoon play/photo sessions in my daughter's bedroom. We especially use that sunny space during winter afternoons trying to get the most out of the daylight. I think her new room will be facing north and east. Time to start packing those toys...

this rug

We've had so many spills and accidents since the house has been on the market. While I'm chasing dust bunnies my children are dumping and jumping and spilling and getting into everything. Last week an entire bottle of bubbles was spilled on the rug. I spent two days trying to get it out, but the rug was drying in a distorted way with horrible-looking stains. It looked like something very bad had happened... something that would probably scare away possible house buyers. So we headed for IKEA and found a much nicer rug. I'm very happy with it, especially because the dust bunnies seem to blend well with it.

Happy Monday to you!

from the road

Keeping this house clean is beginning to take it's toll. It's an impossible mission. Feeling like I may need to flee town for a long vacation. The low point was when an agent called to see if they could show the house in ten minutes. It was late in the afternoon, I'd let my guard down... beds were unmade after naps, dishes were in the sink, trash in the trashcan, the boy wasn't wearing clothes... etc. I had to say no. And then I felt terrible.

the cat in the basement

It has been advised that Klaus the cat should be kept in the basement during showings. On Sunday during our open house, he was apparently sitting on the dining room table next to the stacks of brochures [knowing Klaus he was probably on top of the brochures] waiting for each visitor to give him the attention he feels he deserves. He is a god, after all. This is all fine for people who appreciate cats, but sadly not everyone likes cats. Poor boy.

our home

We've finally finished preparing our house to go on the market. And we had our first open house Wednesday, one showing Wednesday night and one showing Thursday afternoon. It's been a long, busy and stressful week. The boy and I have been living out of the car and taking naps parked under a tree in a nearby park. I've been sitting in the same spot in the park so often that I'm noticing the same people running and biking at the same times each day. Let's hope this home sells quickly, though of course, I'll be sad to give it up.

Here are some photos of our house:

painting house

Lots of progress has been made on the house. We'll be putting it on the market on Wednesday. I'm so happy with how it's all coming together... finally. I'm not sure how we'll maintain it, especially when the boy's latest escapade was cracking open more than a dozen eggs on the kitchen floor. Here are a few photos that I took last week when our house was being painted. Do you like the color? I'll try to take photos of the newly planted gardens and the rest of the house this week.

a few more tulips and things

I may be taking some breaks from writing this week. My head is filled with house, house, HOUSE. We are hoping to put it on the market Friday, if all goes well this week. We spent almost every minute of the weekend fixing and painting and cleaning and arranging and removing. I think we made a lot of progress though there's still more to be done. Meanwhile, as I clean and organize the children seem to be undoing everything that can be undone... peeing on the family room carpet, breaking a lamp, ripping the vintage dress on the dressform in the dining room, smearing blueberry muffins on the newly painted walls, tramping dirt through the house [well, they did help their father plant a holly bush in the back garden]. Wish us luck. I'll try to take some photos to show the progress.

an alligator in my family room

We've been under the weather a bit these last few days... passing around colds and sniffles. I've been feeling sad and frustrated about the house. I feel like for every step forward, we take about seven steps back. I have to remind myself that we have a two-year-old [and a five-year-old] in the house. I'm trying to remember what my daughter was like at this age... I can't believe I'm already forgetting. Trying to remind myself to take it slow with my son and to be equipped with patience and understanding. I'm so looking forward to finishing up all our projects and getting this house on the market. I'm missing our missed vacations and weekends away and fun in the outdoors. Obviously, we've had too much fun these last seven years and haven't spent enough time at home fixing things.

I was so surprised to see that my son had built an alligator out of blocks the other day. He was looking at a plastic alligator figure when he arranged the blocks... it was all his idea. I didn't take the best photo but he gave it four legs and a triangle block for the tail.