Scraped knuckles, pruney fingers

This is the first time I've ever gone through a house sale as a seller. What a job! I'd had no idea--when I bought my house a long long seven years ago, I thought buying a house was an ordeal. All the open houses! All the drudgery of walking through one ugly house after another! All the nervous waiting--would I ever find the right house for me?

That's nothing compared to being the seller.

Our house officially goes on the market on Friday, but today was the "preview" day for the local real estate agents and the day that the photographer showed up to take pix for the web. So, we spent our "holiday" weekend getting the house in shape (in and among other obligations, like Aidan's music lesson and his long-delayed 5th birthday party!).

There's nothing more humbling than viewing your house through the eyes of a judgmental potential buyer. Oh, the cat hair! Oh, the grubby handprints on the wall! Oh, the paint chips and the dented moldings and the unfinished projects!

Yecch.

However, now our house is a gleaming jewel. Tim put up crown molding in the hallway that gives an elegant touch to our modest entryway. I thinned out my collections (okay, I'm a pack rat) and packed away all the extras. Tim hauled it all away to hidden corners of the basement. And then we scrubbed. And scrubbed. And scrubbed some more.

It's a good thing I've never been vain about my hands. I've always had short wrinkly fingers with a lousy manicure, and a weekend of soaking in cleaners and degreasers didn't help any.

But the house sparkles.

And somehow, magically, it got about ten times bigger! Isn't it amazing what happens when you get rid of the clutter? Note to self: remember the joy of anti-clutter. BECOME the joy of anti-clutter. I want to live like this, always!! (Of course, that means fighting with a habit that's been entrenched for 40+ years, but it's never too late to change, right?)

Next hurdle: the open house on Sunday.

Oh, but the good part about all of this is that we don't have to be a buyer at the same time as a seller. We have a second home in upstate New York--Tim's house from before we got married--and we've decided to leave the big city in favor of some semi-rural peace and quiet. It'll be a big change, but a welcome one. I'll miss Boston, but I'm ready to slow down the pace, enjoy life at a quieter pace, and have LOTS more time for knitting!!