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Do I sound desperate?
It just dawned on me over the weekend that we're getting to the point now that if we don't sell soon, we won't be in our new school district by September ... so we might need to get Micah and Luke enrolled in schools, not knowing yet if they will be our neighborhood schools ... and it's kind of freaking me out.
We're still having showings almost daily, but no offers.
... but our house is really clean, and looks cuter than we ever made it for our own dang selves!
So, hi everyone. It's been a wack-o six weeks. Are you ready for a super long post? Go get yourself a drink, find a comfortable spot. We could be here for a while.
1. The House
I'm really proud of the fact that we did manage to get the house ready to sell, but we sure couldn't have done it without a TON of help. Here's a sample (though not an all-inclusive list):
For our paint-a-thon weekend, Mim was the Queen of Kilz! She prepped any and all surfaces she came near. Julie and Kelsey were the Trim team - Julie even taught Luke how to paint a door. Kelsey got all the spindles in the staircase painted a fresh coat of shiny white. Next day, we had a fantastic team - Murray on prep and trim, Jen managed the team of small ones (ages 4-10!) painting the boys' bedroom, I did the bathroom, and Matt totally rocked the hall and stairway - floor to ceiling! Meanwhile, Mark was tearing the playhouse down, and Luke was having a meltdown! He (Luke) got past it amazingly fast, though.
I was inspired by all that help and did the kitchen over the course of a few late nights, the trim on the front of the house (3 colors, lots of masking tape, and a bit of panicking on the ladder!) the porch floor ... and I'm sure more that I can even recall right now.
THEN, we cleaned, and sorted and packed and cleaned --- and we're STILL NOT DONE! It is an unbelievably huge job. So more saintly friends came to help. Sandy did her magic on the hutch --- the girl knows how to make wood sing---AND she washed windows and packed stuff! Cathy helped pack up junk in the basement, and staged the bookshelves. Mark came back and then he came back again to do a zillion handy-man things, the biggest and ickiest of which was replacing the ceiling tiles in the basement. Mark is my house fixing hero!!! Mim came back and kilzed some more.
So now, we're spending a lot of time tidying up the house and leaving for showings ... the good thing about this is that it's forcing us to just go out as a family for an hour at a time: play at the park, have a picnic - very good things to do when we are so task oriented the rest of our waking lives.
2. The Car
A couple of weeks ago, we noticed that Eric's car was making funny sounds. I heard a clicking type of sound. Eric noticed a louder engine sound. Then the oil light came on. Then our wonderfully honest mechanic at Ellwood, our neighborhood shop looked at it and pronounced it "mostly dead." So... imagine this in your best game show announcer voice: Eric and Diane You're getting a NEW Minivan!!!!
Our new moving-to-the-suburbs 2007 Toyota Sienna.
We were kind of planning to upgrade sometime around the time we sold the house... but this has been kind of a crazy add-on to the rest of our craziness. When we actually get it, I'll tell you all about how great it smells and its other features. I fondly remember the days when the only feature I really cared about was a cup holder. I think this model has, like, a dozen.
3. Please say a prayer for ...
Eric's dad, Don. The last few weeks have been such a long haul for the Sponheim family. Don has been in and out of the hospital and a care center with multiple issues. His health picture has been complicated for a long time, and now, all of his conditions seem to be worsening. Yesterday, his focus of care was switched to hospice care. Eric and his siblings are all trying to help Bev care for Don during the nights, but it is getting too difficult for them all to manage. Please pray for wisdom and patience to prevail ... Thanks.
So. Life is hard and busy and complicated. But - God is good and merciful and kind.
Over and out for now. I hope to update again in less than six weeks!
