Gone With the Wind

Here is a conversation that went on in our neighbor's house when they looked out their window towards our yard the other morning and saw this:

Wife:  "Why do the Brenchley's have a clump of stuff all arranged in that one spot of their yard?"
Husband:  "There used to be a shed there!"

Shortly afterwards, I got a text from our her.
Neighbor:  "What happened to your shed?"
Me:  "It was obliterated!"

The crazy thing was, we only found two [broken] pieces of it in our yard.  Did it disappear?  So where did it all go?

Well, another neighbor (who live two houses over in our cul-de-sac) will tell you it all went in their back yard (at least four bigger-ish pieces).

But, THAT wasn't all of it......

And as I've been doing my walks (for my Fitbit steps) around the neighborhood, I have found several other pieces in various sizes, small to large, all over the place!

Now we've had to move everything into our garage (boo hoo!) which also sustained terrible damage to it's door from the wind, as well.  (It's nonfunctional!)

Is it possible to have P.T.S.D. just from hearing the wind?  After what happened three years ago to our old home, too!

 The basketball standard [even with water in it's base to weigh it down] couldn't remain upright through it all, either!

#weliveinawindtunnel

Work Woes

It hasn't exactly been a breeze at work for Matt & I lately.

MATT:
It all started on Christmas Eve.....

When THIS GUY walked into Matt's work (a Credit Union).

And THEN he proceeded to ROB one of their tellers!  He just verbally told him, "This is a robbery.  Give me all your money."  The teller looked at him like he was kidding, to which the robber clarified, "This is FOR REAL."  So, the teller complied.

(And got away before law enforcement arrived - within minutes!)

The president was out that day, so Matt spent a lot of time searching the security camera footage and prepare it for the cops and going through all the other procedural steps for robberies.  Never pleasant.

In the News:  This same guy went on to rob two other financial institutions over the course of the same week!!  Story HERE.

THEN, on Monday, just 13 days after the 1st robbery, they got robbed AGAIN.  (Different robber, same teller!!!)  We couldn't believe it!

He imitated he had a weapon, but one was never seen.

AGAIN, the president of the credit union was still out, so Matt went through the whole "recovery process" that day, as well - LIKE HE DOESN'T HAVE ANYTHING ELSE HE NEEDS TO DO!  HA!
This time the FBI was there with their masks on, collecting fibers, and the whole nine yards!
Understandably, some of his employees were VERY distraught and shook up.  They kept the outside door locked the rest of the afternoon.

Why do these thugs think they can just commit such crimes...which involve REAL PEOPLE????  (It's an epidemic - like 24 bank robberies in the last two months in our state!)  And cause all kinds of [mental & financial] damage along the way.  

ME:
My hopes to start the New Year off "low-key" at work were completely dashed THANKS TO THIS:

The first winter storm of the year has arrived bringing with it significant snowfall, strong winds and extremely frigid temperatures to the Northeast. Going into it we knew this was going to be a challenge, but boy, were we unpleasantly surprised for how big it actually got.

It caused us to deal with THIS:

Which resulted in a TON of THIS:

Which meant a "Code Red" was issued on NEW YEAR'S DAY.  A "code red" is when it is mandatory for everyone to work a certain number of overtime hours that day.  (In addition to your regularly scheduled work shifts.)
The CODE RED was still in effect for January 2.
And then another CODE RED was issued for January 3.
And another on January 4.
And on January 5.
And January 6.
And even on January 7.

But, to look on the bright side....{cue ABBA's song, "Money, Money, Money"}  I'll probably make more money in this one week time period, than I did in the last 2 months!

Finally, for the 8th, overtime will no longer be mandatory, but it is still being asked of us, on a volunteer basis, because there are still so many [sometimes irate] customers calling trying to either get a better/earlier/different flight, or get their money refunded/adjusted.  Or to just complain, cancel, compliment, cross-examine, cuss at, or confuse us!

But, we tried to MAKE THE MOST OF IT:

Good thing my friends gave me a case of this:

And this:

;)

To cope, Matt also took me away, out on a date Friday night to a steakhouse we have been wanting to try for years, and then another day I got together with The Girls for a sort of "bridge club."

Friday will be my first day off work in 11 days!  I am looking forward to it!

The Things He'll Do for [the love of] March Madness

Once upon a time my husband's Young Men's basketball team at church went all the way to the Region Tournament.  It was one of THE BEST times of his whole entire life.  He has NEVER forgotten that memory!  He never tires of talking about, thinking about, reliving with the boys "The Glory Days." 

{Matt #32 on the front row, far right}

So much so, that one year for Christmas several years ago, I gave him a "Church Ball" DVD that had all the old video taped footage of games on it.  He considers that one of his favorite gifts of all time.  (Until I gave him THIS gift.)

Welllll.....Because of his past experience, which created an extreme fondness for Church Ball, he's always  wanted to keep on playing it - he can't give it up - even today, 27 years later.  His biggest error of judgement, though, is NOT realizing (accepting?) he no longer is playing with his 14 yr. old legs & body!

Which leads us to a couple of weeks ago, when during a game, he jumped up for a rebound, and when he landed, he just fell to the ground in a crumpled heap.

Then he yelled out.

Everyone stopped, including me on the sidelines, and stared at him laying there on the court.

Then he started to pound the floor with his fist and chanted, "It's Bad!  It's Bad!"

The other guys reached out their hands to him to help him back up.

But, he informed them HE COULDN'T MOVE!

In the end, all those guys found one of the 6 ft. long folding tables at the church and transferred him onto that (amidst his yells of pain for them touching/moving his leg) and carried him out, Pallbearer Style, to my make shift Hearse (mini van with all the back seats removed or folded down into the floor.)

(Nice dinosaur-cell-phone pics)

We then spent the next couple of hours in the E.R.
{Complete with more yelling as they roughly handled his leg}
The E.R. was very familiar with Church Ball injuries - they all guessed correctly when they found out he'd been playing basketball that evening.

The Findings:  A Ruptured Patellar Tendon

They sent him home with his left leg in an immobilizing brace and pain killers, and instructions to contact our Orthopedic for necessary surgery (Who has a personal orthopedic?  Not us.)

Which led to Matt going under the knife four days later.

Pre-Op room at TOSH

Both Matt & the Surgeon had to each confirm & agree (with a written "yes") which leg would be cut open.

Can you tell that there's no "shape" to his knee?  The knee cap in floating up in his quad.

Miss B says Matt looks like "a Baker" with his required sterile head wear on!  ;)

It took him a [longer than expected time] to come out of the anesthesia.  When they finally allowed me into the Recovery Room, his eyes showed NO SIGN of recognition when I came into his view at his bedside!  And then the Effects lasted for a while..... 

I (the instructions were for "a responsible adult" - and he got ME) had to stay with him for the first 24 hrs. to monitor his state.

He was cold and requested the heater, and then he was hot and wanted the A/C.

He thought I was going up hills and down valleys on the ride home even though I was driving straight on the freeway.  

He said a lot of wacky things and asked all these questions that I finally just started replying, "Don't worry about it!" to him.  

At one point, he started playing his Japanese music through his SmartPhone and he held it up to his ear and was singing along (in Japanese) out loud.  

But, I think the funniest thing had to be when he was sitting in the La-Z-Boy and he, all of a sudden, says, "Do I have a THIRD nipple?" as he's feeling across his chest.  Then he lifted up his shirt and found this:

Apparently, the surgery team had failed to remove all the probes from his body before they released him!  ;)

Over the last couple of weeks, I've added another title to my duties:  Full-time Nurse.
I've been administering all his medication, (& documenting all his meds intake since I can't remember it all in my distracted brain), assisting with transfers, hooking up his ice machine, unhooking his ice machine, refilling his ice machine, aiding with bathing, toileting, dressing & grooming, chauffeuring, guiding him up & down stairs, calling the Dr. with reports of too much pain, calling my Pharmacist friend for advise on a better pain meds plan, calling the Dr. back with my suggestions for new meds - which they TOTALLY hate - and which makes Matt/me look like we are "addicts" asking for drugs, remove dressing wrap on knee (while wearing blue sterile gloves), perform infection inspection, re-bandaging his incision site, reposition for comfort, put on socks, take off socks, turn off the lights & tuck him into bed.

THUS the lack of New Posts to this Blog!

That first week, post-surgery, I felt like I had a newborn again, because I was setting my alarm to wake up every three hours to give meds, or take him to the bathroom, or change the ice.  And then when we or I tried to go anywhere, it took twice as long because I had to do a 10-point check list and get all our equipment before I was ready. 
Thank goodness we had people bring us in dinner the first several evenings since I had no time for that!!

It also happened to be the beginning of MARCH MADNESS, and since he had to be down anyway......he didn't miss a game!  Hmmmmm.....great timing!  Was this REALLY an "accident?" ;)   j/k.

He has to be in a straight-leg brace to immobilize his leg for 6 weeks, and then be in rehab for four months.

These days Matt can be seen wearing sport shorts or pants (the only clothes that work over the brace) and attractive panty hose (full-length compression socks), hobbling around on crutches.

He's come to reconsider if [Old Man's] Church Ball is even worth it.  What?!?  I never thought I'd hear him utter any such thing!  ;)

I Never Should Have Been Writing this Post

Are you wondering if we got on the Cruise?

Ya know THE CRUISE that was suppose to cure my Winter BLAHS?

Well.......NOPE!

I am back in the hazy frozen tundra (A.K.A. UTAH)

We DID try, though.  We flew down to So. California on Friday night, so we could be on time for the Saturday ship departure - because THERE JUST HAD TO BE A CANCELLATION for us!  I NEEDED to get on that ship, right?!?

We arrived at the cruise ship terminal and every other person tried to take our bags to load them - I would've LOVED to have let them, but we had to tell them that we had to keep them with us since we weren't "FOR SURE."   When we got inside the ICEBOX terminal, we found out there was another couple there waiting, too.  (These strangers we didn't even know all of a sudden became "the enemy" :) - which of us was going to get on?)  The people who worked there told us we just had to sit on the blue iron benches and wait for "the powers that be" to come down and tell us IF there were any cabins for us.

WHAT?!?  My Personal Cruise Consultant - who I stalked on the phone over the last 5 weeks - had told me that I could get through security and up to the ticket counter and they would be able to check me in on the computer and be all ready to go when there was a cancellation or a "NO SHOW."

And with that big Nor'easter storm that hit on Friday/Saturday, I was feeling pretty confident about "NO SHOWS" with literally hundreds of flights that were cancelled and delayed.

BUT.  The "procedure" was quite different at the actual port.  They said that the ONLY way we could get on is if passengers actually called in and confirmed their cancellation.  And they could not let us have the cabin of a "NO SHOW" just in case they flew in to another port of call halfway through the cruise and showed up to get on the ship -- UNLIKELY, but they couldn't fill their cabin with US in case it happened.

So, my brother & sister and her husband were on the inside of the ship harassing the ticket counter and the front desk telling them that we were out there and were part of their group.  They were reminding them not to forget us and asking them how many passengers had not checked in yet.  Meanwhile, I was on the outside calling Holland America headquarters on the phone asking to speak to the ship inventory dept.  (I was denied, but PUSHED, and got the agent to call for me while I held.)  I was getting updates on the cancellations status - in our case, the LACK OF cancellations, but the people on the phone still told me I could buy the cabin of the "NO SHOWS."  My brother was able to get the Front Desk to disclose to him that 30 people had not checked in yet....so we were HOPEFUL.  This waiting and calling and communicating with my family on "THE INSIDE" went on for three hours.  The other couple gave up and left earlier - YES!  (More hopeful!)

But, in the end - no one cancelled!!!  Yes, there were NO SHOWS, but no one cancelled.  So, here's a lesson learned and a PLEA to everyone -- if you're not going to make it, CALL IN and cancel, because you could be helping SOMEONE ELSE.  Unless those passengers had purchased trip insurance (and a lot DON'T - do you?  Or do you just take the risk and save the money?)  they couldn't get any of their money back anyway, so they probably just didn't even bother to call.  I do not know why employees in the SAME company were giving out DIFFERENT bits of information.  There were a few different "Officials" who came out to talk to us -- they had all HEARD ABOUT US :) -- but they all had the same bad news, to which I asked them if they were aware that their phone agents tell their customers something opposite of the real deal.  They were not aware.  Aaaugh!

WHAT A BUMMER!!!

Actually, that doesn't even begin to describe it!  Even though we knew it might not happen.....to actually BE THERE but not be able to get on....and see the ship sail away....to think of what "might've been"....and know what the weather was like back home......it was SUPER, MEGA DIAPPOINTING!

Like we were seriously SADDENED.  LET DOWN.  DISILLUSIONED. BROKEN-HEARTED.  UNHAPPY.  DISENCHANTED.  BEATEN.  DOWN IN THE DUMPS.  HOPELESS.  IN  THE DEPTHS OF DESPAIR.

It might sound stupid to y'all, it's just about a vacation, but I REALLY wanted to go at this particular time!

We did have a plan B - to go use our free week in Cancun, but thanks to that same storm that was suppose to increase our chances on the cruise.......decreased our chances for flights.  The flights in & out of the East (the connecting spot to Cancun) were all filled up FOR DAYS with the leftover customers that were displaced previously.

Plan C was just to go home on Sunday.  (It was too late to get back on Saturday evening after the ship left.  THE SHIP LEFT US!!  I can't believe it.)  How depressing!

Plan D was to find another last minute cruise departing out of California.  We found a 4-day cruise to leave on the 11th, so I called.....and guess what?!?  It was SOLD OUT, but the reservations agent happily infomed me that he could put us on a "WAIT LIST" [for a small deposit].  You've GOT to be kidding me, right?!?  This news coming just RIGHT AFTER I spent my day in the icebox on a wait list!  NO WAY!  BEEN THERE, DONE THAT!

We went and got dinner in a Mall Food Court -- so different from the lavish dinner we should've been having in the Cruise Ship Dining Room!  Boo hoo!  Thanks to Hotwire.com, we got a last minute hotel and tried to put an end to this day.

Matt came up with a Plan E:  To stay in San Diego at least a few days so the whole effort wasn't a total BUST.  But, that would cost more money and it wasn't really what we wanted to do.  But, if we went home, that would be worse!  Or would it?  We couldn't decide.  Our minds were too muddled to even know what the best plan of action was.  We would lean one way.....and then the other.  One of us decided one thing, and the other one started to agree, and then the first person would change their mind.  It was so tiresome.

I thought after a night's sleep, I would feel better, but I woke up still disheartened.

My first thought was that I should -- I DESERVED - to just stay in bed all day in my comfy clothes and no bra (my favorite outfit) and do NOTHING, except feel sorry for myself!

But, it WAS Sunday.

I had my iPad with me, and it was super easy to go to www.lds.org and find the closest church to where we were staying.

But, then one of Satan's lies popped into my mind, IF you would've got on the ship, you weren't going to go to church this Sunday anyway, since they don't even have church on the ship.
AND  
You've had a hard day, treat yourself to a day of 'vegging' in your hotel room.

Thankfully, I came to my senses enough and we did go to church.

IT WAS JUST WHAT I (WE) NEEDED!

I felt a little bit better the minute we drove into the parking lot and I caught sight of some men in white shirts and ties.  I felt even better when we walked inside the church and the door greeter gave us the HUGEST smile and a wave.  From there, things got increasingly better and better.

I was reminded of and gained a new appreciation for the scripture in D & C 50:22;  Wherefore, he that preacheth and he that receiveth, understand one another, and both are edified and rejoice together.

Guess what one of the speaker's topic was?  HOPE vs. DESPAIR!  Perfect.

It filled me with the right amount of Spirit that had been missing.  Going to church can do that!  Note to self:  Don't forget that! 


After church, we were able to even JOKE about our situation - and we decided to STAY.  We already had work off.  We already had caretakers for our children arranged.  And we had Hotwire.com......which we used to get a Hilton BEACH resort.

 And THIS scene outside our hotel window:

 Was TONS better than THIS scene back home:

 

I even got in a swim suit (with a hoodie over the top of it) and sat by the pool -- because the SUN WAS OUT!

BTW:  My "Personal Cruise Consultant" called me when I got back to Utah - maybe in response to all my voice mails I left her the couple of days before we left? -  to say she was sorry we didn't make it on the cruise.  I told her that she had given me INCORRECT info about getting on the ship if there are "NO SHOWS" and had I known the REAL policy, we wouldn't have even gone down to CA and waited for the DENIAL!  She claimed she didn't know.  Well, it seems like that would be a good thing TO KNOW so as NOT to lead customers (not anymore) astray!  I think the purpose of her call really may have been to try to book another voyage with me, but after she learned of our situation, and that she had screwed up, she didn't even bring it up!  ;) haha.  Smart Girl.

Blog Post Flashback

I'm sick.

I'm reminded of what I posted 4 years ago.  {Have I been doing this blog 4 YEARS?!?}

Moments when it's okay to say, "OH CRAP!"

The only thing that made me feel better about it 4 years ago, was I told myself,

It'll all be over in 4 years.  
(There's NO WAY he could get elected again, right?!?)

wrong.

I'm sick.

Irony

I got rear ended today while driving in Salt Lake City.

While waiting for the cops to show up, we pulled over to the side of the road.  I turned my car around and parked behind him......

......and I noticed his van had one of THESE bumper stickers on the back:

 {But it had his REAL 1-800 number to call on the 2nd line}

 But, maybe he should consider changing it out for one of these instead:

hahaha :)

Another reason why I should just stay home!

Capitalizing on the Misfortunes of Others

We must've had a HUGE windstorm RIP through these parts last week....

Because my front door has been covered with these fliers ever since! :)
And our neighborhoods are being dotted with election candidate-type signs stuck in the grass on every corner from other "concerned" companies.

(Their "marketing strategy" has worked - I've personally called several of them for a bid!)

Our damage?

• Tons of shingles - GONE! In fact, our home was getting pummeled by the shingles flying off our neighbors' to the east.

• Siding ripped off the side of our home - or disfigured if it managed to stay on.

• A cracked window. It happens to be the Master Bedroom window - and our bed is right beneath it. As I lay there in the middle of the night AWAKE because of the HOWLINGS & WHOOSHINGS of the wind, I had visions of the window crashing in on my head/face.

• A broken deck (it was swaying in the wind!)

This type of thing does WONDERS for trying to sell a home, I'm sure! ;)

A Minute Matters

Here's how my day went a couple of days ago.

(It just so happened to be a day that I was catching a flight.)

Our flight departed at 11:20 a.m. and our plan was to leave our home at 9:20 a.m.
.....but you know how that goes. Wait! Do you? Or am I the only one who rarely makes their "scheduled time of departure?" (I first tried to abbreviate that, but it had a bad result! :))

We ran into a few delays.

1. Miss B's red shoes (and she HAD to wear her red ones - she's her mother's daughter!) were no where to be found around our place. But upon replaying, in my mind, her whereabouts the last time I saw her wearing them, I was led to my next door neighbor's yard. I eventually located them in the very last place I looked - on their back deck swing.
2. I had gotten in the car to go, but then went back into the house to get an apple, since I'm trying really hard to get "5 a day" for a month, and I knew it would be hard on a travel day.
3. We stopped at someone's house to drop off a check (that couldn't wait until we returned from being out of town.)
4. I called the Jr. High on the way there, since I had forgotten to call when I was still at home earlier like I had intended, to get Kyle checked out of school to go with us. The drive only takes a couple of minutes, so when we arrived, he hadn't had enough time to get out front yet and we had to wait.
5. Then I remembered that I had failed to bring any books to read on the trip, so we swung back by the house and I grabbed the stack of books I had left on the dryer.
6. Matt dropped Kyle and I off at the airport terminal curb, at least an hour and 10 minutes BEFORE our flight, while he went to park the car.
7. Kyle and I got all checked in for our flight and dropped off our bags, and then sat down in some chairs by the escalator leading up to the security check point to wait for Matt. There were four different groups with "Welcome Home Elder" banners waiting with baited breath for their missionaries to come down - it provided good entertainment while we waited, about 20 min.
8. Matt came to where we were and went up to the Security Line (in Terminal 2). He came back down and said it seemed pretty long and suggested we go over to the International Terminal since that one is always less busy.
9. We speed-walked over to the International Terminal and saw a sign blocking the entrance informing us that it was closed between 10:00 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. It was 10:28 a.m.
10. We half-jogged back over to Terminal 2 and got in the security line, which was very long - much too long for Matt's liking.
11. Matt left us in line there and jogged over to Terminal 1 to check out that security line. He called me and told me he thought it was shorter over there and that we should come over there with him.
12. Kyle and I jogged over to Terminal 1 and got in line with Matt.
    
13. Did I mention I was wearing new clogs for the first time? That were not broken in, yet? Not exactly great jogging shoes.
14. We waited in that Security Line. And waited. 10 minutes. And moved forward little by little. 20 minutes. And zigged back and forth in the line. 30 minutes. And the clock ticked forward.
15. RIGHT WHEN we got to the front of the line, a bunch of First Class and wheelchair passengers both came through in their respective lines and our line stopped for a while.
16. After going through the body scanning machine, I got pulled aside for a "pocket check" (done by a female TSA agent, with the back of her hands) and swabbed for explosives powder on my palms.
17. Matt & Kyle took off sprinting to our gate. I trailed behind in my clogs, running on the moving sidewalks - what a sight. (I now have a line of bruising across the top of my instep!)
    
18. Our gate was D-11....clear down at the END of the hall. Remember, we were in Terminal 1, where the "A" gates are. Of course, our gate couldn't have been any of the "C" gates, or even gate D 1-6, which are also Delta airlines gates - AND were CLOSER!
19. Matt arrived at gate D-11 at 11:11 a.m. The plane was to depart at 11:20 a.m. (whew!) BUT the door was already closed.
    
20. The Delta airport employee informed us (with a stone-face and NO compassion in her attitude) that they close the door 10 minutes before departure. One minute too late! THE PLANE WAS STILL SITTING THERE at the end of the jet bridge, but we were denied boarding!

If ANY of these events/situations would've been different, that ONE minute wouldn't have even been an issue! Matt about made himself crazy thinking about, "If only we would have/wouldn't have __________." If the shoes would've been in Miss B's closet. If we would've taken the check over the night before. If I hadn't wanted a book. If we wouldn't have waited for Matt. If we wouldn't have played "Musical Security Lines." If the departure would've been from a "C" gate. If only Delta employees were as awesome as our JetBlue crewmembers. (I'm not biased! :) There's a reason we've won SEVEN consecutive J.D. Power & Associates awards for best airline.) etc. etc.

Man! All this "experience" we have with air travel, ever since I became an airline crewmember 4 1/2 years ago, and we're still learning......

I tell my kids ALL THE TIME that every minute counts (a minute wasted here, a minute wasted there) and they don't believe me -- well, here's PROOF!

{We got on the next flight FOUR hours later!}

A Simple Math Equation

{fingernail polish}

+

{a 2 year old}

=

I think it'll be really great for trying to sell our home, don't ya think?!?

To Be a Pioneer

You don't have to push a handcart,
Leave your fam'ly dear,
Or walk a thousand miles or more
To be a pioneer!
(LDS Children's Songbook, pg. 218)

..... You just have to live in Farmington, where winds & rain will knock off your power for 3 hours and 45 minutes!

This was our story last night. The power went out at 5:55p.m. Just at the moment I was about to reconcile a customer's account who I was on the phone with for work. Just in time [NOT] to fix dinner. Just in time [NOT] to use the computer to type up school papers. Just in time [NOT to be able to open the garage door] to drive my son to baseball practice.

Ryan had homework he HAD to do, however. So, he spent a "Little House on the Prarie-ish" evening in the garage doing it by [propane] lantern light. As the evening progressed, the temperature in the garage dropped (we had to keep the side door open for ventilation with the gas), so he donned a hoodie later.

Poor Brookelle wanted to "watch a movie" all evening. And she thought we were cruel for trading in her WARM milk for COOL milk at bedtime.

Having the power go out REALLY throws you for a loop! Just about everything I thought of to do required electricity. Sidenote: That reminds me of a story. My friend told me she had a baby 9 months after they'd once experienced a 3-day power outage where she lived! ;) haha. Even though we all KNEW the power was out, we still [habitually] flipped the light switch on every time we entered a room. (with NO results!) Kyle & Haylee eventually fell asleep on the Living Room chairs/couches sitting in the dark looking at the candle that was lit up on the mantle.

I did go to the grocery store (and ALL the groceries got in safely this time, thanks to ME) 3 miles away and they weren't affected by the power outage. I spent a good amount of time there because:
#1) I quite enjoy light and heat
#2) I didn't want to walk back outside and be pelted/frozen by the sideways rain again.

The power came back on just in time for me to catch a clip of the 10 o' clock NEWS on TV where they showed Vice President Biden asleep [for 20 minutes] during President Obama's speech yesterday! What d'ya think of THAT?!? :) I thought it was AWESOME.

My Punishment

I feel like I should RECALL my last post. My ridiculing/disgust of a house we looked at has brought me BAD KARMA!

Not even 12 hours after publishing that post, I was sitting in the hair salon chair with foils in 1/3 of my hair.

My cell phone rings. It is my listing Realtor. He says someone wants to come look at our home between 11:00-12:00 TODAY. It is 9:50 a.m. My hair appointment will go until 11:00 at which time I need to go check Ryan out of school to take him to his orthodontist appt., followed by taking him out to lunch & to get a smoothie - it is his 15th Birthday! I'm not going to be home for the next 3 HOURS!

He tells me that, typically, if you ask an Agent to come later, THEY WON'T. They'll just cross you off their list due to inconvenience.

I'm torn. The house is not ready. I'm not going to cancel my plans with the Birthday Boy to return home and get it ready. If a potential buyer sees it in it's current state - they won't want to buy it (most likely). But, if they don't even come to see it at all, they most definitely won't buy it. I finally decide that letting them come to the unacceptable-for-a-showing home increases my chances of a sale SLIGHTLY over refusing a showing. The slightest chance. Very Faint chance. Almost next to nothing chance. But SOMETHING all the same. Oh Crap! My Realtor told me he would just disclose that no one was home, and we wouldn't be all morning, and to "look past" the mess. (It didn't work for us - we were incapable of "looking past." See previous post.)

The hairdresser was ears to this whole conversation, so she hurried it up a bit and I was able to get out of there at 10:45 a.m. I zoom up to my home, hoping I can haul out the "STUFF" before they came....but there were already 2 cars parked in front of my home when I came upon it. What?!? Only 1 hr and 10 minutes notice to begin with AND then they come EARLY, too?!!? THE NERVE! Such is the life of selling a home.

I drove on by and tried to recollect just HOW things looked when I left it this morning. (I was pretty certain it wasn't good.)

I didn't get the full picture until I came back 3 hours later and did a "walk through" myself. (It wasn't good. No. No. No.)

Here are the "HIGHLIGHTS"

In addition to not being able to do the USUAL last minute things of vacuuming, sweeping, spraying air fragrance, turning on the lights, and opening the shutters.....

• First of all, it is Ryan's Birthday, so they were greeted with our traditional Birthday signage on the garage.

• 
  Also, on the driveway....it appears that the kids got a hold of all those rotten apples I'd thrown away and had a "Apple fight" with them, causing them to splatter on the driveway. It very much resembled vomit.
• We had opened all of Ryan's Birthday presents this morning before school, so that aftermath (presents and wrapping/boxes) hadn't been cleared out of the front room, yet.
• Laundry in the baskets on the Laundry Room floor
• "To-be-washed" stack on top of the dryer'
• a bag of "Squeaky Cheese" left out on the Kitchen counter
• dishes in the sink (since the dishwasher was CLEAN and the child on dishwasher duty had failed to empty it before leaving for school!)
• cups, plates, knife, toothpicks on Kitchen table/counter
• coloring paper, pencil, crayon box out on the table
• FULL garbage cans in just about every room, including in full view in the Kitchen
• Kitchen table not wiped off - complete with crumbs, spills, & smudges
• Blanket on Living Room chair
• scriptures left on the floor from this morning's reading
• Miss B's clothes that she'd had an "accident" in were soaking in the bathroom sink
• Bath towel on the floor
• The toilet seat was UP -- and there was PEE in the toilet!
• NO beds were made - including mine that Miss B had made a "nest" on with 8+ pillows this morning while I was getting ready
• I had pulled all the contents out that didn't belong on Katelyn's closet floor this morning since she couldn't find her shoes, and then told her to "take care of it" - Did she? NOPE.
• PJ's, shoes and socks, & backpacks on the bedroom floors
• wilty plants that needed watering
• Towels sloppily flung on the racks
• a Piggy Bank in the middle of the Family Room floor (random)
• clothes bulging out of the dresser drawers in the Boys' room
• the Hamster smell in the Playroom
• bathroom counters cluttered with toothbrushes
• Toys not organized in Playroom

(Just to name a "few")

I was laughing for most of this "tour" - I was. I had Matt on the phone and I was commentating to him the "State of The Brenchley Home." Because WHAT COULD I DO at that point? If I didn't LAUGH, I would CRY, so I laughed (and cringed!)

But, there was ONE THING that made me SCREAM. When I went into MY room, I saw my underwear out IN PLAIN SIGHT. And what's worse is that they weren't exactly clean. I had partially hand-washed them last night after a certain monthly "incident" had taken me by surprise....ya know....and then hung them out to dry to avoid putting wet items in the hamper....I am officially horrified! Yep, I just CAN'T lose that Murphy! ;)

I just can't wait to hear the feedback from these people!! :)

After I cleared off the counter a little bit, I did find the Realtor's business card. I'm glad she found somewhere to put it! :)

So, is this a case of What-Goes-Around-Comes-Around? I ripped on someone else's house, and NOW those people get to do the same about me! But the house I looked at had at least 36 hours notice....I had none.

I went right to work cleaning the kitchen (and taking care of that "article of clothing") when I got home to help relax my CRINGING muscles!

GOOD THING, too, because I got another phone call from the Realtor. Someone else is coming to see our home at 6:00 p.m.

We'll be ready this time!!

House Hunting Horrors

We found a house online that we wanted our Realtor to take us to see. The photos online were decent. Matt thought the garage looked a little strange since it was "out of proportion" with the house (height-wise) but we went to see it anyway.

We walked in the front door and immediately had to STEP OVER the play swords that were on the floor right in front of the entryway. Kyle said, "COOL!" and picked them up to entertain himself with, but then he couldn't decide if he should keep playing with that or choose the bat & ball, light saber, dump truck, crayons, or one of the other 20 things that were sprawled across the floor. Brookelle went straight to the rocking horse that was in the foyer and mounted it.

As the rest of us stood there in shock, Katelyn posed the question, "Are they trying to SELL their house?" As in my Katelyn, the one who is synonymous with "MESS."

{Exhibit A}

The first thing out of Ryan's mouth was, "I guess they weren't expecting us?" Ryan said that. The same Ryan whose room looks like this (after "cleaning" it).
{Exhibit B}
Now I wish I had my camera that day to document the...."experience" but I did not. Maybe from now on, that'll be a good idea. You'll just have to visualize this time.....

We went through the rest of the house.

There were:

• various toys on every stair.
• Mattresses on the floor (in between 2 other beds) so we couldn't even walk in.
• make shift boards for shelves
• dishes in the sink
• dirty clothes on the floor of the laundry room
• books, scarves, papers, blankets, towels - you name it - on the floors throughout the house
• boxes and JUNK that filled the whole back half of the garage

I really felt the URGE to start picking up the place!

When they took the photos online, obviously the house was in a much different condition, and the bathroom looked nice.

But, the day we went there, I don't even remember seeing this bathroom. I kept trying to verify with the Realtor that this was the same house.
In the Master bathroom, the floor was piled high with:

• panties
• towels
• clothes
• magazines
• toys
• cheese grater -- just kiddin' on that one, but I wouldn't be surprised!

On the bathroom counter/vanity, they'd opened a drugstore, I tell you - it was covered with:

• bottles of personal care products
• hair dryers
• make up
• brushes
• strung-out dental floss
• [used] kleenex
• photos
• homework
• Town House crackers -- I didn't actually SEE this, but I'm sure it was under everything else. ;)

The photos online are PROOF that there are SINKS in this bathroom, but I couldn't view any that day!

After that, we "passed" on going into the other bathrooms. Because if the Master looked like that....what would the kid's bathroom look like?

The photos on the Real Estate website were taken when the house was vacant. Obviously. Here's a sample of a bedroom. Pink. Good. I have three girls. No problem filling that one...

But, ya know...now I'm having the hardest time remembering a pink room at all.

I DO remember:

• every single bed was UNmade
• a mountain of shoes on the floor of the walk-in closet
• boxes (unpacked?) on the floor
• all curtains were drawn shut - maybe that was a good thing? Limited the view.
• more toys, clothes, pencils, empty water bottles, and toenail clippers

We had to keep telling the kids to "quit playing with stuff!" But talk about DISTRACTION! We found that we, too, quit looking at THE HOUSE and were only noticing the "shock factors."

We opened the door to the basement and noticed that it was unfinished, I opted out of even going down and instead said, "Let's go!"

As for the kitchen.....

It could've been nice, it really could've... if you could get past the crunching underneath your feet as you walked and the cupboard doors that were hanging off by only one hinge. It would've been nice to see what the counter tops were like, but the bowls/plates with half-eaten food left in them and boxes of food were covering it up.

There was also a wad of chewed up gum stuck to the Kitchen counter. NO LIE!

I thought I'd seen it all until I saw THIS there, too:

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME, right?!? As I was trying to control my GAG reflexes, and NOT think about what goes on in this house, a closer look confirmed to me that it really wasn't what it looked like at first sight, but instead.... was a Ramen Noodle seasoning packet. Whew! Since when do you say, "Whew!" for a disaster Kitchen?!? Needless to say, we did not open the fridge or turn on most of the lights - thus the misinterpretation of the Ramen packet?!

We did find out that the owners have moved out, but they couldn't afford to leave it empty, so there are renters living in the house.

And the last thing Renters want is to be OUT of Housing.

On our way out of there, I actually said to Matt, "I feel like our home is pretty darn clean!" And that's coming from me, who prays that unannounced visitors don't come over [again] because of this:

{Exhibit C}