Yeah, that’s right. Some realty rule. I can’t be in the house while they are showing it. Now just how am I going to convince someone they have to buy this house if I can’t be here gushing about its many features?

We had a showing Friday evening. And yes, we left the house as instructed. But we didn’t go far. Just one street over. And we spied on people as they were going into the house. They stayed 40 minutes. I think that’s a good thing. But I’m sure they were not aware of certain features that are must-haves. I told our realtor all of the upgrades, but did their realtor know them all?

I racked my brain for a solution. And, as usually happens when I rack my brain, I got a headache. But I persisted because this house needs to sell.

It paid off. I came up with a brilliant idea. And my realtor agreed it was a good idea. Check these out….

These are hung strategically throughout the house to alert potential buyers of things they may not know. Things that will make them sit up in bed at 2:00 a.m. and yell, “I simply must have the house with the tilt-in Krypton-filled windows!”

Features that are obvious are not touted on signs. No point in hanging one that says “6 person hot tub” when they can clearly see there is a 6 person hot tub right there in front of them. I’d say there are about a dozen of them scattered through the house.

I’m really hoping the strategy works. And who knows, maybe my idea will catch on, and in a year realtors across the world will share a home’s features on cardstock.

KT, as a typical teenager, thinks the signs are “cheesy.” What say you?

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When you give things away, people come out of the woodwork to snag them up. Seriously, if you ever want to quickly get rid of things, give them away. I also found out feeding the people who come to take your stuff keeps their energy levels up and they can scavenge for longer periods. (grin)

My parents came back down with their Suburban and trailer to pick up the last of their stuff, my brother’s stuff, my sister’s stuff, and my niece’s stuff. And some other stuff that I threw into the pile just because I needed to get rid of it quickly. Did I say that out loud?

So here is the Suburban with its load. That big TV fit in the empty spot and we were able to squeeze in a slightly smaller TV too!

And the trailer. Stuffed to the gills.


The result? A van in the garage!!!


Ta-da…..


Oops, sorry, that was the before picture (actually, it was before I got all of the cra….treasures in there!)

Oh, yes, here is the correct picture!

For some clarification……


Pile A is the pile of bins and storage containers I reclaimed by giving away what was inside of them.
Pile B is the pile of things ready to pack up as soon as we get some moving boxes.
Pile C is a pile of things that need to go to Play It Again Sports–kid’s ice skates, roller skates, ski helmets.
Pile D is a pile of things that either need donated or freecycled.

We’re definitely getting there.

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This week’s theme is “What is that?”

Sure, I could show you some strange stuff. Some took me awhile to figure out what it was, some I still don’t know what it is was.

Like this little mouse. I had to get pretty up close and personal with him to figure out what it was.

Or this mouse….

Then there is this. Up until that point, I didn’t know cashews came in girl versions and boy versions.

But this is a true “What is that?” picture. Because I have no idea. There were two of them roaming around my backyard one day.

Any ideas what it is???

To see more Photo Hunt pictures, click here: PhotoHunt

Technorati Tags: photohunt

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So you know we’re moving and leaving #2. But where will we end up? Well, a lot depends on what happens with #2.

Because the house we love, the house I showed you the other day, that is a spec home. And not just any spec home, it has served as the model home and sales center. So that means upgrades galore. Like wood floors. And upgraded cabinets. And all the bells and whistles. And it is for sale. But it could sell at any time.

So #2 needs to sell soon so we can put in an offer on that home. Cuz we aren’t rolling in dough and we can’t do two mortgages for long.

Now, the second best situation is this….the model home sells (sniff, sniff) and we have to rent for awhile. That allows a little extra time to sell #2. And we probably could go into contract to build the same home minus most of the upgrades. There are advantages to that. For example, we could pick our lot and not be stuck on the lot the model home is on. And we could pick our colors and styles and upgrades. Another benefit of building our own is KT’s room would have a full bath instead of a half-bath. So that’d be cool. The downfall is we won’t be able to afford the high end upgrades the model has.

So we’re doing the realty dance. And it’s not a dance I’m particularly fond of.

By request, here is the link to the virtual tour of the model home. Of course, this is decorated in true “model home” style. Try to imagine it with our furniture. HA!

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Yup. It’s now official. Our home is on the market. We’re moving!

To Florida.

Orlando specifically.

Two miles from Walt Disney World. Is anyone that surprised? So #2 is up for sale. We’re hoping for a fairly quick process. You all know I couldn’t have staged my house any better than I have already. In fact, a few of you have privately emailed me with your suspicions. Well, you were right.

So someday in the near future, we will leave this…..

And hopefully move into this…..


And of course, whenever your travels take you to Central Florida, we’ll just have to meet up!

For those of you who are nosey and will spend hours trying to find my house online, I’ll save you some time….click here. I only mention it because I’d probably do the same!

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