Well, not our most productive weekend in terms of preparing for this sale, but we made some good headway on clearing out and cleaning up per our stager's guidance.
Audrey continues to crank through these TYCTR lessons. She read us lesson 91 this morning.
We are getting lots of inspiration from South from Alaska.
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Struggling... Audrey forges ahead with lessons, while I've come down with whatever the rest have had. No idea how we will have the house ready in time to list.
3/27
Amazing how much junk can accumulate in 1800 square feet. We keep hauling away loads of stuff and I keep pulling out more loads of stuff. Here's what I pulled out this evening:
And here's the state of the garage:
And here's the state of the garage:
It's actually way better than it was, but I think I may have been premature in my declaration of park-ability. Well, we'll continue putting one foot in front of the other. Hopefully we'll be ready when our listing date arrives.
Audrey handily dispatched lesson 88 and a lesson from our Kumon addition book. Lorelei did a few lessons from her Kumon cutting book. Not sure what the educational value of it is, but who doesn't love cutting?
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3/26
Audrey did a nice job with lesson 86 today. Yesterday, she wrote down her first original sentence: "Yer the gratist mom."
Lorelei made it through her first day without a potty accident. That's a big first. It will certainly help with selling the house not to have a smelly diaper pail in her room.
We got a bunch of the decor items that the staging consultant recommended. I've often thought how strange it is to fix up a house only when you're trying to leave it. So of course I wanted to see what that was like.
I dropped off 5 boxes of old papers at the transfer station that we had cleared out of the office this weekend and 90 gallons (in 3 30 gallon trash bags) of other junk from the garage. April also took 5 boxes of old kid stuff down the hill. Every box and bag we get rid of feels like a weight off of my shoulders. It makes me think of those boats at Cabo which were able to abandon their ground tackle and get away relatively unscathed.
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Lorelei made it through her first day without a potty accident. That's a big first. It will certainly help with selling the house not to have a smelly diaper pail in her room.
We got a bunch of the decor items that the staging consultant recommended. I've often thought how strange it is to fix up a house only when you're trying to leave it. So of course I wanted to see what that was like.
I dropped off 5 boxes of old papers at the transfer station that we had cleared out of the office this weekend and 90 gallons (in 3 30 gallon trash bags) of other junk from the garage. April also took 5 boxes of old kid stuff down the hill. Every box and bag we get rid of feels like a weight off of my shoulders. It makes me think of those boats at Cabo which were able to abandon their ground tackle and get away relatively unscathed.
230.3
3/25
Audrey did lesson 86 and and a bunch of simple addition lessons.
We finally completely unloaded all the too-small kid clothes. All the books we're unloading will go tomorrow, and 8 boxes of old papers to the recycle bin.
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We finally completely unloaded all the too-small kid clothes. All the books we're unloading will go tomorrow, and 8 boxes of old papers to the recycle bin.
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3/24
We did it. Almost. The garage will be park-able once we sell, donate, and throw out the contents of those respective pile. That was pretty exhausting. We also plowed through most oh what remained in the office which just boxes of miscellany
Audrey did lesson 85 in TYCTR and lessons 3, 4, and 5 in our Kumon Simple Addition book.
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Audrey did lesson 85 in TYCTR and lessons 3, 4, and 5 in our Kumon Simple Addition book.
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3/23
Audrey did lessons 83, 84 and 85 in the last couple days, and has been reading me some Frog and Toad. We also started our Kumon simple addition book.
April and I made good progress on the final office clean-up. We also did a purge of the kitchen cabinets so they're looking a lot nicer now. Tomorrow, we will get the garage to 2-car parkability.
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April and I made good progress on the final office clean-up. We also did a purge of the kitchen cabinets so they're looking a lot nicer now. Tomorrow, we will get the garage to 2-car parkability.
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3/21
Audrey did a great job with lesson 82.
I finished Vigor's Things I Wish I'd Known today. Lots of great info in that one. We'll definitely take that one with us on the boat. Thanks Mom!
Now for a little Mike and Alissa.
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I finished Vigor's Things I Wish I'd Known today. Lots of great info in that one. We'll definitely take that one with us on the boat. Thanks Mom!
Now for a little Mike and Alissa.
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3/20
I have really been struggling to keep up my daily accountability to the blog. I'll get back on the horse...
But anyway. Audrey continues to make great progress on TYCTRI100L. She blew through lesson 82 this evening.
We've gotten Mike and Alisa through the Marquesas and into the Tuamotus. He's a really good writer. Really interesting new posts from him recently on thelifegalactic.blogspot.com.
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But anyway. Audrey continues to make great progress on TYCTRI100L. She blew through lesson 82 this evening.
We've gotten Mike and Alisa through the Marquesas and into the Tuamotus. He's a really good writer. Really interesting new posts from him recently on thelifegalactic.blogspot.com.
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3/17
We spent 4 hours in the garage purging. Man, does that feel good. Some of it was a little emotional too, but it sure feels nice to have it done.
Audrey did very well with lesson 79. 20 more lessons to go! Next I think we'll try some number games. We have these nice little Kumon books for that.
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Audrey did very well with lesson 79. 20 more lessons to go! Next I think we'll try some number games. We have these nice little Kumon books for that.
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Letting Go
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| Lorelei wearing her 1st Christmas dress |
The purging is going well otherwise though. As Jacob mentioned, we really reduced the amount of STUFF in Audrey's room! It is so nice in there now, I don't know how we lived with it before.
Some photos from the last couple weeks that I have been meaning to post:
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| Audrey at her Mermaid swimming pool 5th birthday party |
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| reading one of her birthday cards |
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| Lorelei and Nani at the party |
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| Lorelei with Grampsy |
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| making a Build-a-Bear for her birthday |
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| Everyone helping Grampsy re-level the dishwasher after tiling |
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| Grampsy installing our new window sill |
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| mountain climbing |
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| mud-puddle splashing |
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| tree hugger |
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| shoveling our spring snow after dance class |
3/16
We cleaned the ever-loving stuff out of Audrey's room. It took all day long, but it's finally really show-able.
We also got the last of the monstrosities down from the top floor.
Audrey read lesson 78 and a Curious George story.
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We also got the last of the monstrosities down from the top floor.
Audrey read lesson 78 and a Curious George story.
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3/14
Audrey and I struggled with lesson 78 this evening. I'm observing a definite impact of the time of day at which we attempt the lesson. We do much better with the lessons early in the morning, when we are both well-rested.
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3/12
We said goodbye to Len today. He was a huge help.
Here's everything that got done during his visit: installed the overhead light in the kitchen; replaced the kitchen floor; cleaned out the fridge; installed a window-sill over the kitchen sink; built a mudroom bench and shelves; installed a bi-fold door on the upstairs bathroom; replaced bi-fold doors on the laundry room; and moved out the monstrosity, the chintzy shoe-racks, the baker's rack, and the plastic tupperware drawers.
As of this morning, I have finally lost 50 pounds from my high weight of 284.
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3/11
We got the kitchen all put back together, mostly. Hopefully tomorrow I'll get the time to post pics and check off all the items we completed during Len's stay.
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3/8
We spent pretty much the entire day working on 100 square feet of kitchen floor. We're about a third done with it. Turns out flooring is kinda labor-intensive.
Audrey read her first new story in normal orthography. The last couple were repeats of stories we'd read previously with Siegfried's fancy letters. It went surprisingly well, though a bit of a struggle at times.
The hardest part of this whole learning to read thing for me is how she can read a word perfectly the first time she sees it and then struggle with it in the next line. I guess it's just part of the process. But literally today there was a sentence with "far, far" and the second "far" was really challenging, while the first didn't give her a second's hesitation. Crazy.
I might be a believer in un-schooling. Since about lesson 20 I've abandoned pushing Audrey on this thing in any way. We only do it if she chooses to when I invite her to, and I always offer that we can set it aside for the moment if she gets really frustrated, but she almost always chooses to push through.
235.2
Audrey read her first new story in normal orthography. The last couple were repeats of stories we'd read previously with Siegfried's fancy letters. It went surprisingly well, though a bit of a struggle at times.
The hardest part of this whole learning to read thing for me is how she can read a word perfectly the first time she sees it and then struggle with it in the next line. I guess it's just part of the process. But literally today there was a sentence with "far, far" and the second "far" was really challenging, while the first didn't give her a second's hesitation. Crazy.
I might be a believer in un-schooling. Since about lesson 20 I've abandoned pushing Audrey on this thing in any way. We only do it if she chooses to when I invite her to, and I always offer that we can set it aside for the moment if she gets really frustrated, but she almost always chooses to push through.
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Memories
I helped my dad rip out our kitchen floor this morning. It brought back lots of good memories of helping my dad on job-sites as a kid.
3/7
Len finished up the mudroom bench and shelves. They look really great. Len and April got the fridge really nicely cleaned up. We got the new bi-fold door in on the upstairs bathroom. We also got rid of those chintzy shoe racks. I had Nick the plumber in to look at the upstairs shower and he said he'd do the job for $50 plus parts. And he'll also help me with hauling away refuse with his truck for $50. So good deals, I think
Tomorrow we'll work on the new window sill; replacing the downstairs medicine cabinet; replacing the laundry room bi-folds; and replacing the kitchen flooring. The garage is getting really chaotic at this point with 17 projects in varying stages of completed-ness and a million things we've moved out but not decided what to do with.
Audrey did great on lesson 76.
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Tomorrow we'll work on the new window sill; replacing the downstairs medicine cabinet; replacing the laundry room bi-folds; and replacing the kitchen flooring. The garage is getting really chaotic at this point with 17 projects in varying stages of completed-ness and a million things we've moved out but not decided what to do with.
Audrey did great on lesson 76.
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3/6
Man I'm struggling to stay on the wagon. Must ... blog ....
I've got my neighbor Nick the plumber coming tomorrow evening to take a look at these crazy shower fixtures we're trying to remove. No screws, no holes, no nothing.
I'm also going to try to talk him into renting his truck a few weeks from now do I can haul away demo refuse from all these projects.
Len's got a bunch of new stuff varnished up beautifully and ready to install: window sill for the kitchen; mud room bench seat and shelves; bi-fold door for upstairs bathroom; assorted other pieces.
235.4
I've got my neighbor Nick the plumber coming tomorrow evening to take a look at these crazy shower fixtures we're trying to remove. No screws, no holes, no nothing.
I'm also going to try to talk him into renting his truck a few weeks from now do I can haul away demo refuse from all these projects.
Len's got a bunch of new stuff varnished up beautifully and ready to install: window sill for the kitchen; mud room bench seat and shelves; bi-fold door for upstairs bathroom; assorted other pieces.
235.4
Birthday Week
We have been so busy with getting this house ready to sell! We are doing lots of work boxing up, de-cluttering, and small maintenance projects (very well documented in Jacob's blog posts :). Also, we have been getting prices on painting, carpeting, and handyman projects. My dad is in town again (Yeah!) and helping with some other big projects, like our mud-room, doors, and kitchen floor.
Yesterday we had a stager come in and give us lots of helpful tips on making this house sellable. I'm excited to post some before and after photos of the house once we put her ideas in place.
One big thing on the shopping list is going to be art work. She wants us to have one or two pieces of framed art in each room. I asked if she thought my paint and sip art would work, and she said no. Oh well.
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| the new shelves for the mud room. I'm so excited about the pretty trim! |
On top of all this housework, we are in the midst of Audrey's birthday week. Before the week began we brainstormed all of her favorite things, and we are trying to fit them all in. On Sunday she went skiing with Jacob and had hot chocolate, so that is one thing checked off her list. We already went for a fancy breakfast out where she was allowed to order fancy herbal tea and put in sugar and cream, so that is another check off the list. We are still going to go Build-A-Bear this week (Lorelei did one for her birthday, and Audrey has been waiting patiently since November for her turn), eat at Benihana, and the grand finale will be her swimming pool mermaid party with her friends. Oh, and she also requested that we make ice-cream cone cupcakes for her school party again this year. It seems like a lot when I write it all down….I really do love birthdays though, so it is fun for me to try and make if really fun for her. Also, with Grampsy in town the birthday stuff is even more special and exciting!
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| riding the Indian Peaks lift with Daddy |
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| making cupcakes for her friends at dance and school |
3/4
I gave notice at work today to start a new gig. The new job should be a little more travel-friendly so we'll see how that goes.
Len made great progress on the new mudroom bench.
Audrey did the first half of lesson 76
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Len made great progress on the new mudroom bench.
Audrey did the first half of lesson 76
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3/3
April and Len picked up new bi-fold doors for the laundry room and upstairs bathroom. I stained the one for the bathroom today. Len installed the new kitchen light and started building the mudroom bench, which is going to be great, and we moved out the monstrosity.
Audrey did lesson 75 this morning. It was our first story with normal type, and she didn't miss a beat.
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Audrey did lesson 75 this morning. It was our first story with normal type, and she didn't miss a beat.
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3/2
We had another realtor up today and found her much more to our liking. Pretty sure she's the one.
I managed to replace one faceplate.
Len has arrived so now we'll start getting things done for real.
Audrey did the first part of lesson 74.
238.
I managed to replace one faceplate.
Len has arrived so now we'll start getting things done for real.
Audrey did the first part of lesson 74.
238.
3/1
Audrey did great with lesson 73. Next lesson is regular orthography!
We spent some time organizing our task cards and planning for the best ways to use Len's help while he's here for the next 10 days. Hopefully we'll be able to make good progress on replacing the bi-fold doors on the laundry room and upstairs bathroom; adding a little bench and shelves to the mudroom; repairing the busted drawers in the kitchen; putting up the lights in the garage; adding pantry storage; and possibly replacing the flooring in the kitchen and bathrooms.
234.9
We spent some time organizing our task cards and planning for the best ways to use Len's help while he's here for the next 10 days. Hopefully we'll be able to make good progress on replacing the bi-fold doors on the laundry room and upstairs bathroom; adding a little bench and shelves to the mudroom; repairing the busted drawers in the kitchen; putting up the lights in the garage; adding pantry storage; and possibly replacing the flooring in the kitchen and bathrooms.
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