Before hubby and I can move to our dream house, we have to get rid of the one we are living in. Paying 2 mortgages has been interesting with both of us toiling at our full-time (and then some)  jobs, but we are really sick of this and want to retire. But retiring means living on less than 1/2 our income, so we can’t –  until we have paid our last payment (into escrow) for this house.

In the meantime our brand new home in the mountains, sits and waits. It’s waiting a lot more patiently than we are. Nerves are bent and frayed. Bodies aching. Some of us (not yours truly, but the other one) are getting more and more grumpy. Some of the pressure lifted yesterday, since we finished up the work that had to be done before we could officially get the house on the market.  Strangers could be walking through my house this very minute!

The house looks fabulous. It never looked this good before. Probably because there’s no trace of people living in it. Nothing sitting on counters. No dishes drying in the kitchen. Fridge is totally naked of magnets, pictures, appointment cards. The simplest task is a pain now – you have to find where you hid the crap you need to do it. To add a doctor’s appointment to our family calendar, one has to look for the calendar. The chances of a writing utensil close by is slim. These items used to hang by the phone in the kitchen. Now they are hidden away inside a cleared out drawer in the dining room china cabinet. Annoyingly inconvenient.

God help you if you need a tissue. No boxes of tissues are allowed to be on any counter – even bathroom counters can’t have tissues. Bathrooms, BTW, cannot have any personal items in view. “It just isn’t done” our agent told us, and we believe her. Toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss, soap, lotions are big no-nos. Toilet paper was not mentioned and frankly, I was afraid to ask. Some very grumpy someone would not tolerate hidden TP, I can guarantee you.

When I get home,  it feels like I’m walking into an empty house. Where’s our stuff? OMG! We’ve been robbed!  I am secretly, absolutely, loving the fact that hubby isn’t piling his stuff on the dining table and the kitchen counters anymore. He actually puts it away! I have spent 24 years of complaining about his “piles”, and suddenly they disappear.   Apparently, that is how much power Natalie, our real estate agent, has.  Impressive.

To Be Continued…