Thursday, July 29, 2010

More Surprises

On Sunday, Jim and I were emptying the last of the cupboards & closets at our house. We were placing junk into "throw away" piles and treasures into "keep" piles. Things were looking quite unkempt when my phone rang. It was our realtor's office informing us that an agent would be bringing a client to the house for a showing in nine minutes.

Say what?!

I glanced at the clutter sitting all over the floors and countertops, and asked exactly when our house had gone back on the market. Apparently our realtor had re-listed the home, but failed to let us in on this news. Ugh. Jim and I quickly tossed everything back into cupboards & closets and left. In the days since then, we have had quite a few showings, received numerous positive comments, and have been told that a written offer is on the way. So much for houses selling better with furniture in them! We should have moved our stuff out months ago.

Now, if only we could teach real estate agents to actually lock the doors after they show our house, we would be all set. One agent left all of our doors - including the doorwalls - wide open. We have always found it humorous when potential buyers have left on all the lights, rifled through drawers, and obviously used our toilets. Today a realtor turned our air conditioning down to 64 degrees and the house was absolutely freezing when I went over to check on it later! In our search for a home and a condo over this past year we have looked at scores of dwellings, yet we have never found it necessary to change someone's thermostat setting. Strange.

Our condo is still in a state of disarray, but I am ever-so-slowly chipping away at the piles of things that have followed us from the house. I bought some begonias and impatiens to put out front, so if I keep the garage door closed, the exterior of the place looks fairly decent.

This is our neighbor's pesky cat, Madison, who would not go away the whole time I was planting my flowers at the condo. She was friendly and affectionate (ick), and was not the least bit intimidated by my hissing and foot stomping.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Swamped

Over the past 10 days, Jim and I have been busy signing, notarizing, and Fed-Ex-ing sales contracts back and forth between Michigan and Texas. For whatever reason, we were required to turn our home over to Jim's relocation company in order to complete our long-awaited house sale. I knew, though, that I shouldn't have mentioned publicly that we had sold the place and had a closing date, because one thing lead to another and our buyers backed out of the deal. We will find out on Monday if Jim's company will just pay us for the house, or if we need to put it back on the market. Either way, we have to get the entire house emptied and cleaned out ASAP. When I peeked around the other day at all of the closets and cupboards still loaded with stuff, I felt totally defeated. How would I ever clear all of that out myself?

Shortly after that, Jim phoned from Texas with the news that the roof of the house down there had a leak. Knowing nothing about clay tile roofs, he called a specialist. Fortunately, the news was not as bad as we anticipated - the roofer was able to fix the tiles without too much trouble. He is sending his bill in the mail.

When we bought our condo back in May, we knew the sale was "as is," meaning whatever needed fixing was our responsibility. The hot water heater has given us problems since we closed on the place, and after numerous parts and a gas valve cleaning, it was determined that we should just buy a new tank. It was recently installed, and I no longer have to boil water for laundry & dishes or run over to the house for showers. Hurray for working water heaters!

Unfortunately, the condo furnace (actually the part that runs the air conditioner) spent two days creating puddles on our laundry room floor last week. After 48 hours of alternately mopping up the water, then drying the soaked towels, I arranged for a repairman to come look at it. The leak mysteriously stopped before the guy ever came over. I wonder what that was all about?

During an unusually heavy downpour the other day, rainwater began to trickle from the tops of all three of the big westerly-facing windows in our condo kitchen. The seepage soon became a flow, and Jacob and I hastily placed towels underneath the windows and all over the floor. Feeling totally overwhelmed, I did what any wife would do - I sent out a whining plea to Jim in Texas to pleeeaaase come home this weekend to help. He hopped on a plane Friday afternoon and was back in Michigan just in time to accompany me to the wedding of a friend's daughter on Friday evening. (And that was tons of fun and a very nice break from the chaos that has ruled my life lately!)

We ended up having quite a productive day today. Right after breakfast, Jim and I attempted to reorganize the condo so that we could fit the rest of the things from the house inside of the unit. With the help of Jacob, Adam, Nancy, and Richie, we almost completely cleared the house and hauled box after box after box to the condo. I am finally confident that we will be able to empty the old homestead within a few days. What awaits me now are mounds of clothes and household goods that need sorting and their own place at the condo. Maybe I will even be able to fit the car into the garage before winter arrives.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Camping

Our annual camping trip took place over the weekend. Some of our regular campers, including Jim, were absent this year. (Which makes me appreciate my husband even more - geez, it is a lot of physical work to pack the car, set up the tent, actually paddle during the canoe trip, clean, etc.!) The weather was beautiful right up until it was time to go home on Sunday afternoon. We enjoyed beach time, canoeing, and lots of chit-chat around the campfire. And, yes, Jacob logged plenty of driving miles on the back forty at the farm. All of the other young teens (Jenna, Nick, and Corey) got some driving practice in as well.

Once again, some hearty souls went on an hours-long hike across the Sleeping Bear Dunes.

Adam and Julia discussed wind velocity and wave swells. And the Care Bears.

The hikers met the non-hikers at the beach after their trek.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Surprise Move

Ever since our house has been on the market, we have had to make sure that it maintained a "lived in" look. Apparently, research studies have shown that homes with furniture in them sell better than empty houses. (Although when we were looking at houses and condos, I much preferred touring the ones that were vacant.) We abided by the rules set by Jim's company's relocation representatives because they were the people who would be buying our house from us if we didn't sell it on our own. Having a buyout offer as a back-up, even though it was a lower price than we had hoped, was a relief. So we kept our furniture in the house, and Jacob and I stayed there whenever we were in town. I cleaned and cleaned the place each time we went out the door in case a potential buyer breezed through for a peek. After almost 100 showings, no one wanted to buy it. (Ok, we did have a few offers, but none were above the company's buyout price.)

Last week when we were in the Upper Peninsula, our realtor called to inform us that we had received a decent offer on the house. As we drove down I-75 towards home on Friday afternoon, Jim was finally able to get the consent from his company to move our furniture to the condo. Jim was due to fly back to Texas on Sunday, so that left us one day to move all of our stuff. We rented a truck on Saturday morning, and Richie, Fatty, Rob, & Nancy came over to help us. Even with over half of our couches, dressers, and beds in Texas, it was still a grueling job! We managed to get all of the large items out of the house, leaving only small, lift-able things for Adam, Jacob, and I to finish moving. The house is still under contract with the pending offer, Jim is back to work in Houston, and the condo is now quite messy & unorganized. My fingers are crossed that all goes well with the sale, which is due to be finalized before the end of July.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Mini Travelogue

During our recent travels, we have seen numerous fascinating things and encountered many fun & interesting people. Three and a half weeks ago, we took one of our typical routes down to Houston from Michigan. From there we drove over the flatlands of Texas, through the corner of New Mexico, and into mountainous Colorado. Next, we traveled across the prairies of the Great Plains - yawn. We skirted the far southern 'burbs of Chicago and regretted that; the traffic there was hideous! We then drove 600 miles from southeast Michigan to the tip of the Upper Peninsula, where we met up with family from out-of-town and had an absolute blast. We arrived back home on Friday and have been busy ever since.

This is the Capulin Volcano in northeast New Mexico.


The boys rented bikes in the U.P. and tackled some grueling trails.

We watched the sun set over Lake Superior.

Jim got his hands on the camera for five minutes and took some unflattering candid shots.

Jacob had fun with his little cousin.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Stats

The family and I, along with Irma and Richie, are in the Upper Peninsula this week. The weather has been very pleasant, especially when compared to the heatwave that the rest of the country is experiencing.

In the past 17 days, Jim, Jacob, and I have logged well over 4,000 highway miles. We have slept in nine different buildings, including three houses, one condo, and five separate hotel rooms. We have roamed through ten states. We have dealt with temperatures as high as 100 degrees and as low as the upper 40s. We have been down near sea level and at elevations above 5,000 feet.

This gypsy lifestyle, while sometimes exhausting, certainly satisfies the wanderlust! Good thing I enjoy it - we have approximately 1,200 miles left to travel in the next ten days.

Pictures of our adventures to follow soon!

Friday, July 2, 2010

Purple Mountain Majesties

After finishing Adam's search for a grad school apartment in Colorado, we drove around the area to see what it had to offer. Being situated in the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains certainly has advantages - the scenery is pretty spectacular out there. We discovered a reservoir only a few miles from Adam's apartment that offers boating, swimming, hiking, camping, fishing, and more.

Here is the Atmospheric Sciences building (the tall one) where Adam will be working and taking classes, as seen from the foothills.

A view of the reservoir.

The boys at the reservoir.

Adam's new apartment is on the left. That darn tree will block his view of the mountains.

On our drive from Colorado to Michigan, this truckstop was a must-see for Jacob. It had numerous stores & restaurants, a truck showroom, and a dentist office!