Many of you have asked for an update on house selling and moving. Here's what's up:
We are having house showings every other day. I am sweeping and mowing and cleaning messes the second after they are made. All this displaced grasping for control over an uncontrollable situation has yet to result in an offer.
Perhaps our house is too odd for someone else to love. Maybe when so many people say they want vegetable gardens and the urban homesteading ideal, they don't actually want the resulting look. I feel like maybe we're weirder than we thought. The fact that I giggle at the idea of a Realtor Llama confirms that I'm weird, right?
Meanwhile, we found a house we want to love just a few miles from our current house. It has room to grow, cook, host, and teach. There are outbuildings to house creatures including a cat for Lil. We're dreaming a little, but we can't make a successful offer until we sell our current house.
I'm detached from our house now but not allowing myself to emotionally invest in the new house. I feel home-less.
The Value Of Home
Feeling as though I don't have one makes me value the idea of home more than ever.
A home is a place where we can create, where we relax, where we grow our own food. Home has edible projects hanging in the basement and fermenting on counters.
A house on the market means our creative toys and tools are packed away and we don't want to make messes anyways. The four pounds of pancetta hanging must be carefully tucked away every time we have a showing.
Our poor hounds can't find a place to rest and just when I think I can put my feet up, I get a showing request that requires a cleaning routine. Meals have become much less exciting and are often cooked and eaten at other people's houses.
In other words, for a true home maker like myself, house-selling is wearing thin.
Silver Linings
Given that we have a very nice house now and are looking to own an even better one puts us ahead of most of the world population. I don't take that for granted for a second. We are privileged folks.
So I try to recognize that some of our house-selling routines have come with unexpected benefits. We combined all the dirty laundry locations to a single basket which is now washed, dried, and folded as soon as it is full. Our new system saves so many piles of clothing laying around. Similarly, we do dishes as soon as we finish a meal. The kitchen has never been cleaner and it is truly lovely to wake up to an empty sink.
I am an impatient person who is uncomfortable with uncertainty, so it is no surprise that I am ready for all of this to be over. I just need someone to buy my house. Know anyone?