Home Sale Update: When It Rains…

Apr 9

Remember in my last home sale installment when I said I needed to practice patience and embrace rolling with the punches? That notion was sincerely put to the test this Monday. Looking back on yesterday, I do have to laugh. But in the moment, I swear – you guys – I was teetering on the brink of either tears or full blown screaming.

I have been living in this odd phase of “if it’s not one thing, it’s something else” for the last few weeks. Look forward to leaving this phase behind fo sho!

Fasten your seatbelts because this all happened in the span of about 2-3 hours last night. As I say all the time on the job – “Where are the video cameras??!!”.

FLOORS ARE DONE!

Yes, hip hip hooray – the floors are done so let’s start this blog on a positive note, shall we.

Done. D. O. N. E.

But while I loved my flooring crew guys…their blaring Euro rave music wasn’t exactly something I could handle while trying to source products or write blogs or edit photos. I even took a call on Monday amidst the noise. At first I found my knee bouncing to the rapid tempo at my desk…but it quickly turned to nerve grating. I fled my own house a few times to work from a local coffee shop or a friends home.

Anyway, they were great and pretty quick. There were a few hiccups – including a delayed timeline and more, which you’ll see below. But otherwise, good guys and more than happy this phase is behind me.

BROWN DUST

On Monday the kids came home to me – so from 3pm to about 8pm it was a legit comedy of errors. The crew was still here when we arrived after school. They were installing the last of the baseboards. But I walked into a house that was full of a thick brown dust coating every surface. From the front porch through the entire lower level of the house – brown thick rusty looking dust.

Did my best to contain myself. I cleaned off the kitchen table to focus on schoolwork until the guys were gone. Then once they left, I cleaned the entire kitchen top to bottom, got snacks going and prepped for dinner.

As the night went on we all chipped in to clean up but the brown dust was overwhelming. Still unsure where the dust came from – the floor company owner seems to think it’s from the guys cutting the bottom of the walls / moldings to fit the flooring underneath?? Not sure – all I know is it was a fricking mess.

SAWDUST IN THE BLACK MULCH

Remember the new black mulch I laid a couple weeks ago? Welp, let’s just say it’s now glittered with gray floor shavings. A complimentary touch…

The guys thought my front porch was the perfect spot to trim flooring pieces. Guess where the shavings ended up landing?

If you guessed the black mulch, winner winner chicken dinner.

I may have cried. I may have screamed. I may have run in circles through my front yard pulling hair, falling to my knees, screaming at the sky “WHY!!???”. I may have called Rob, the flooring company owner, in a voice octave not typically heard out of Sam.

Seriously?! Come on guys! I legit cried. Even when they assured me their vacuums could handle it – those shop vacs didn’t. And when they asked me to borrow a rake so they could turn over the mulch? That attempt didn’t work either.

All I could do was take a deep breath, turn around and walk in my front door, tail between legs and softly closing it behind me…except…

FRONT DOOR WON’T OPEN / CLOSE

When I tried to close the front door, it wouldn’t. And then when I tried to open it, it wouldn’t.

??

Turns out when they added flooring near the front door threshold, maybe they changed out the plate under the door. ? And now the door won’t open or close without a very solid shoulder shove or yank.

Really?

Yes, really!

UNLEVEL FRIDGE

Trying to move on with my night and enjoy / love on my kids after a long weekend without them, figured I’d get lost in the kitchen making snacks and prepping dinner. But for some reason my fridge door was slamming closed each time I opened it.

*scratches head*

Anyone notice something about my fridge?

If you guessed it’s not level and leaning backwards…damn, you’re good!

Yes, the fridge is leaning backwards – and significantly enough the ice maker is having an issue.

Of course I couldn’t get the front feet to turn so I could level it. Rob is coming back tomorrow to settle this issue for me. Sure, I have the tools and the know-how to get this done…but I’m sorta at the end of my rope, if I’m being honest.

DEAD MOUSE UNDER COUCH

With dinner cooking and the vacuum humming, I set my mind to the things that always make me happy and snap me out of any funk = cleaning and organizing.

I started by vacuuming the living room couches. My plan had always been to move the living room couch to the playroom. Another set of couches from a sweet friend of mine is arriving this week for staging purposes. So I set my sights to vacuuming the couches and the area rug and getting it all moved into the playroom before dinner.

As I was moving the corner piece of the sectional…hello dead mouse, who can be seen here in the lower left corner of the photo…

The poor guy! Looks like Charlie has been stuffing his own feelings by turning to his hunting roots.

Why and how this little guy ended up under the couch? Not sure. Wish I had a hidden camera to see the antics. But what was even worse was when my daughter and I screamed after finding this little guy. In a literal sitcom moment, my 14 year old son came running through the kitchen to see what was up. But I saw him running in slow motion – head down with his cell phone in hand….he ran straight into a kitchen pendant light. Why? Because I had moved the kitchen table out of the way in order to move the couches through the kitchen and into the playroom.

SHATTERED KITCHEN LIGHT

Oh my gosh, if there was ever the need for a video camera – it was this moment.

His head hit the glass pendant.

It shattered into a billion pieces.

All over the brand new flooring.

He stopped in his tracks.

We all looked up to see his face.

My hands were gripping either side of my face.

I was taking in his face to make sure he wasn’t cut or bleeding – that was THE MOST important thing.

Once I knew he wasn’t bleeding, I literally cried. Cried and laughed. Then laughed. Then just yelled out of frustration.

Seriously, so so grateful nothing happened to him. I checked in on his forehead every 10 minutes and he has only a minor bump – grace of God. But really??? REALLY??? I have to replace this entire light.

Unreal.

Then as I was wrapping up dinner and getting everyone settled at the table, it started pouring rain.

RAIN IN THE FORECAST?

Did I mention the painter was arriving today to begin prep for the exterior paint?

For a few days it showed rain beginning on Thursday. Then when we checked late weekend it showed NO rain in the forecast for at least 10 days. We planned to get going first thing Tuesday but Monday evening here we have rain.

???

!!!

Come on.

Really??

A PINK MICROWAVE

Head hanging down, I shoved / used my shoulder to close my front door…and returned to the kitchen to finish dinner and clean up more brown dust. As I was cleaning the appliances I noticed a pink glow coming from the microwave.

Turns out my daughter – who never ever ever touches anything in the kitchen – thought it would be a good idea to soften her pink putty in the microwave. Just in case you wondered what happens to a microwave when you do just that. It turns the inside pink and your house smells like a gas leak.

Good times.

GOOD times, people.

Really, all I could do at the end of the night was pour a stiff cocktail, grab my kids and pull them into the playroom for a movie, and make the best of it. On a positive note, I did get the living room sectional and area rug moved to the playroom and it looks great…

The media center may be sticking out to get ready for the interior paint, but hey – I don’t care…

Oh, and my apologies for the yellow photos – I snapped these in the moment at dusk. What can I say? I keep it real for my special people.

I also took a very long bath after getting kids to bed – so that always helps turn a bad night around for me. And in even better therapeutic news, on the way to a client consult today I had 30 free minutes. I stopped at the car wash and had my truck washed after over a year of no washes. I mean it. I feel like a new woman today!

Speaking of great news from today – the painters were here and we power washed the entire house! I’ll have another post for you tomorrow with all the details.

Hope you guys are having a great week! If not, hope this dose of reality brought a smile to your face! All we can do is laugh guys.

Back soon with more!

xx,

Sam

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comments +

  1. Please tell me the painters power-washed the OUTSIDE of your house & not the inside!!

    Glad your son’s head is okay. No stitches is always a good outcome.

    May tomorrow’s adventure be a lot smoother!

    • Samantha says:

      OMG – YES!!! Just the outside….although I will say, I was working here today with my assistant and one window wasn’t closed all the way. FUN TIMES!!! LOL! Seriously – this is my life! haha!!!!

      xx,
      Sam

  2. gee dodds says:

    NOOOOOOOO… This post had me needing a glass of wine at 10 in the morning! ???? You poor thing. All will be fine in the end but what on earth is wrong with having a smooth ride? I can’t find a big hug emoji but consider yourself hugged. The playroom is looking great. XXX

  3. Marianne HICKEY says:

    Hang in there. This too shall pass (though its never fast enough if you ask me). I’m sure in years to come this will be a great Thanksgiving story to retell. I’m thinking of you..from one who has been there 🙂

  4. Maggie says:

    Oh no! Let me say first that I hope things will be better for you from now on. The floors look beautiful!
    And second: thank you for being real. Sometimes we just need to know other people have things going wrong too. My life is similar right now, though things that go wrong are mostly paperwork and bureaucratic stuff. So frustrating!

  5. Anna Haley says:

    Do you mind sharing where those pendants are from? Love the classic, updated look of them. Sorry you have to replace one! Nothing is worse than making more repairs once somethings perfect…

  6. Christina says:

    Awww! Wish you lived closer! I’d come to help…and I also would’ve referred you to MY flooring guys! We just LITERALLY got all our floors done (finished yesterday), so I know exactly what you mean about all that dust! Luckily my guys were nice enough to tarp everything, so the dust was somewhat contained. I still had SOME to deal with, but it was not everywhere! Ugh! Sam, I can’t imagine! Glad your son wasn’t injured! Hope that was a GOOD cocktail! Today has GOT to be better! Yes? Thinking of you girl! Hang in there!

    • Samantha says:

      Awe, hey friend!!! How are you?? Dude, I wish you lived closer too – it’s been a sucky week. Big time. Wish I could say today was any better but no such luck. Oh well…it’s part of the deal.

      Sorry you had to deal with the same type of dust. But your guys tarped your stuff…???…so lucky!!! This place was a mess.

      All that matters is that Aiden was ok and he is. I was so worried about his little head. My poor guy! He keeps asking me if he can pay for it…such a sweetie!

      I need to check in with LJ – miss you guys so much!!!!

      xx,
      Sam

  7. Kristin says:

    I feel you! A comedy of errors for sure, that happens for whatever reason at our house ALL the time with every project, every everything! I even have the EXACT broken light that you had when my now 6 year old broke it with a play broom. He was thankfully okay! And I did the exact same thing that you did, checking every inch because when my daughter was 1, she had a serious accident with glass, so I hear you! Thinking happy thoughts that all is smooth or smoother sailing for you. Love everything you do, so this labor of love is bound to end well, even if it’s bittersweet.

    • Samantha says:

      Oh my gosh – how funny! Well, I’m just grateful nothing happened to your or my kids…AND that PB was still carrying the light. I was worried I’d have to buy 3 new lights instead of replacing 1. Ugh!

      Thank you so much for the supportive comment!!!

      xx,
      Sam

  8. Jessica says:

    Oh Sam! This is why we’ve been dragging our feet on a bathroom reno. It’ll be a comedy of errors and painful to the pocketbook! Good for you for being able to roll with the punches. As always, an inspiration!

    • Samantha says:

      Awe, thank you! I’m definitely trying – been tough. And thank you – I’m trying to stay positive. You guys have been so awesome and supportive during the process with your comments / kind words. Thank you!

      Hope you can get started with your bathroom at some point!

      xx,
      Sam

  9. Jaclyn says:

    What a series of unfortunate events! I had one of those days last week too and you just have to laugh until you cry—or vice versa!

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