That’s what our potential buyers said today. Changed their minds. Backed out. Even before the inspection. They drove by when they got into town and the church across the street was having a function. Too many cars for their liking.
I felt like having a breakdown, but took a hot shower, and am trying to be ok with it.
My mind is racing, and can’t seem to focus on any one thought for long. I’m a bundle of nerves (and if you asked Lee, I bet he’d say I was cranky). It’s a good stress, but it’s still stressful.
We FINALLY heard back from the buyers at 10 p.m. last night. Only 54 hours past their deadline. We didn’t get exactly what we wanted, but we got a number we think we can live with, so we signed it. As of this morning, our house is under contract, contingent on the inspection.
What makes me want to kick and scream is that they absolutely wouldn’t budge on timeline. If all goes as planned, this time 2 weeks from now we’ll no longer own this home. They were insistent on the quick close, and said they had to take possession at closing, giving us no time to vacate. If they are in such a hurry, why did they drag their feet for 3 days before responding to our counter-offer? Argh!
Ummmmm… how exactly are we supposed to work full-time jobs, take care of a baby, and pack our whole house (and attic and workshop/garage) in 2 weeks? Still working that one out in my head.
Meanwhile, we made an offer on the house we want to buy, and we’ll hopefully know by Sunday whether or not the seller wants to play ball with us. I certainly hope so, because the house is vacant so there’s a chance we could move right in. However, I’m less freaked out about that than I was, thanks to the very kind offer of a friend who has a condo for rent. It’s an adorable home, fully furnished, and available to us to rent as temporary housing. Such a relief. If we end up needing shelter, that would be much better than living at the Motel 6.
So… there is so very much we need to do to get ready to move -but what am I doing right now? Sitting on the couch, typing. The inspection is happening tomorrow, and the potential buyers plan to be here during the inspection. We want the house to look nice and homey while they sit and imagine themselves living here. They have 7 days to back out of the deal, and we don’t want that. And what if we packed a bunch of boxes, then the inspection didn’t go well and the contract was voided? That’s our excuse for waiting just one more night before beginning to pack it all up.
That, and the fact that I’m so overwhelmed it’s nearly paralyzing. I’m excited about all the potential changes, but not really sure how to get it all done. Thankfully, Alva is here this weekend and can help keep Camille happy and entertained while we pack. Starting tomorrow, right?
The good news: we got an offer on our house.
The bad news: it was pretty low, so we submitted a counter-offer yesterday morning, and they had until 2 p.m. today to respond.
Meanwhile, Lee and I started house hunting. Because these potential buyers want to close so quickly, we scrambled to get into several homes for sale and found two possibilities. We think we know which one we’d put an offer on if our sale comes through, but we’re both trying to be cautious and not get too attached. I’m not doing a very good job.
I slept with my computer and my phone by the bed last night, just in case our realtor called. After all, these people want to close in 2 weeks, so I figured they wouldn’t dilly-dally in their response.
I had a hard time falling asleep, trying not to imagine our furniture in the new house. When Camille woke up this morning, I knew before I even opened my eyes that it was too early. My whole body protested that it was too early. 5:11 a.m. I propped my eyelids open with toothpicks.
All day I carried my cell phone with me, except when I tried to “jinx” myself. I’d go get something out of my car and leave it behind, thinking, “If I don’t take it, that’ll be the moment I get a phone call!” I’d come back and no messages would be waiting from my realtor.
Any time I called Lee, our conversations went something like this:
Lee: (answers on first ring) “Hello?”
Me: “Haven’t heard anything. Sorry.”
Lee: “Are you serious?”
Me: “Yeah. Just calling to see about your lunch plans.”
1:45 rolled around and I felt like a wreck. 2:05. I had to finally begin to accept the very real possibility that they had just decided to let our counter-offer expire without even a response.
My realtor called me around 3 after getting a frantic call from the buyers’ realtor. Their realtor hadn’t bothered to notice the deadline listed on our counter-offer, and didn’t realized they’d missed it. She said they planned to submit something in writing to us ASAP.
I was encouraged.
It’s now almost 9 p.m. What the heck? These people – who are in such a tremendous hurry – are 7 hours past the deadline to respond, and we’ve heard nothing. I’m trying not to take it personally, but I really do think it’s quite rude. I’m getting very grumpy.
I want to go crawl under the covers and get to sleep early, in the hopes of recouping some of the sleep I lost last night. But instead, I’m going to sit here and stare at my phone. I wish it were easier for me to turn off the anxiety, but I know myself better than that!
Perhaps St. Joseph believes I need a lesson in patience?
I’m not Catholic, but I hope the Saints won’t hold it against me. Several months ago, my friend Karen told me about the St. Joseph statue tradition. Apparently, some people believe if you bury a statue of St. Joseph upside-down in your yard and pray to him about your real-estate transaction, he’ll intercede for you and bring you good fortune. Then, as a sign of gratitude, you must give the statue a place of honor in your new home.
Karen’s sister had just tried it and had success selling her home. Karen tried it and has a contract on hers. So Alva bought us one, and Lee buried him upside-down in our front yard last weekend.
We had two showings, but no luck with those.
Yesterday, two more showings, and one realtor indicated her clients were interested. But I’ve learned not to get my hopes up.
Today, Lee, Camille and I went for a playdate with baby Sterling and her parents, and we both left our cell phones in the car. Both of us were thinking the same thing -“I deserve an hour or two to relax without interruptions.”
After playing for an hour or so, we loaded up in the car to head out for dinner. I had 3 missed calls and two voicemails, and Lee did too. From our realtor. My phone was already ringing again.
Turns out the clients are very interested in our house and one other, and they wanted to look inside again. RIGHT AWAY.
I started kicking myself for not cleaning during Camille’s nap. I usually take a chunk of that time to put away toys and load the dishwasher, but we were all drained from a busy weekend and I felt I deserved some down time with a book. In retrospect, that was a bad idea.
Our agent was able to buy us 45 minutes, and we were about 20 minutes from home. We might have broken a few speed limits.
Thank goodness Camille was hungry, because we were able to strap her into her highchair and fill her tray with an obscene amount of goldfish, and she chowed down while we raced through the house making beds, cleaning up dishes, tossing toys in bins, opening curtains, turning on lights, etc. etc. etc. We walked out of the house with 2 minutes to spare.
We ate a fast food dinner while my stomach churned. We finished eating and rode by the house. We could see them standing in our foyer. It felt very surreal.
IF these people want our house, they want to close in about 2 to 3 weeks. We haven’t been looking at houses to buy because things have been moving so slowly, much less are we ready to put a contract on one. We would probably have to move into an apartment. And packing. Holy crap, how would we manage to do it all? What if they want to buy this house? What if they don’t?
But I had to take a deep breath and remember St. Joseph. From what I read, and I would tend to agree, you’re not supposed to use him like you would some superstitious voodoo object. You’re not even supposed to demand that you get your way. You’re supposed to ask for guidance and for the right thing to happen with the real-estate transaction. Burying the statue isn’t a magic trick, but a sign of faith.
Sometimes the idea of moving is so overwhelming, and since we don’t have to move, maybe we shouldn’t right now. We’ve talked about taking it off the market, and we may. But at other times I want to move so badly I can taste it. And sometimes I just feel confused. So I’m asking St. Joseph to intercede and help things turn out the way they should. Whatever that may be.
It was Nikki’s birthday, but I felt like the one getting a treat. The Valles family came into town Thursday night, just in time for some birthday cake and one (or two) strawberry daiquiris (for the adults, of course). We stayed up way past our bedtimes just talking about nothing and everything. It’s kind of nice how it worked out. I spent my 30th birthday at their house, and the schedules and stars aligned for her to spend her 30th at ours!
Friday morning the kids played and played. There was a good bit of coloring:
And a fair amount of horseplay.
As Camille and Nate get older, their age difference seems to matter less and less, so they play well together. But I’m always surprised and pleased to see how well Nia plays with Camille. Nia will be 5 in just a few months (hard to believe!), but she still seems to enjoy getting on the floor and rolling around with Cami. I know Cami loves it too.
They’re headed back home today, much to my dismay. I can’t help but have a small pity party, thinking, “If they still lived here, every Saturday could be like this…” But at least they’re not so far away that we never get to enjoy being with them. I’ll take what I can get!
I could hardly wait for 11:15 this morning so Camille and I could go to our first Starbabies class. We signed up at the Chatham County Aquatic Center after a friend recommended it. It’s a swimming class for children ages 6 months to 36 months, and since Camille seemed to enjoy splashing around in the pool last summer, I thought we’d give it a try.
Instead of packing our usual diaper bag, I decided to use a little beachy backpack she got for her birthday. As a joke, I showed her how to wear it … but then she didn’t want to give it back. So I let her wear it even though it threatened to drag her down because she enjoyed it so much. She marched around the house like this while I finished gathering our things.
The aquatic center was great, although a bit overwhelming for her at first. It was pretty loud, with a college swim team using the lap pools for a rowdy practice. After singing a “get to know you” song, the teacher told us to get in the pool.
I held Camille’s hand and asked her if she wanted to get in the pool. She shook her head no. Definitely not.
Hmmmmm.
Luckily, she didn’t fight and let me carry her into the warm water. The teacher led us in various songs and activities to encourage babies to be comfortable in the water. At first, Camille didn’t know what to think. She complied, but seemed a bit reserved.
But about halfway through the class, she decided the pool was fun. She really liked the activity where she sat on the edge of the pool, I counted to three, then plopped her into the water with me. Repeat. Eventually, she’ll learn to jump in that way. She didn’t mind the droplets splashing in her face, and she gave me a big, toothy smile every time she hit the water. After that, she was loving every minute of it. She kicked, she floated on her back, she played with pool toys, and she had a great time. So did I.
Miss Camille and I got all dressed up to cheer on our bulldogs tonight. Right now, Camille is in her pajamas, but I know she’s cheering in her dreams.
It’s been such a nice few weeks with all the holidays, all the visits and all the quality family time. My parents left on Saturday morning, and by lunch Lee’s Dad and Donna were in town. Camille got even more fun toys and plenty of doting.
Tomorrow, I’m not going to be too thrilled about taking Camille back to school. We’ve had a lot of fun these past few days, and have really enjoyed our happy, healthy baby.
She’s hilarious. Sometimes she just starts shrieking and running around with her arms out – but it’s the shriek of a child who is just so happy she can’t stand it. I think she likes cutting up and watching us laugh, like in this photo. “No mom, this is how you use a spoon!”
Then she asked for more. When she says it, it sounds like “MOH!”
She’s also started playing dress up. I cleaned out her closet and found this tutu. She wasn’t so sure about it at first, but when I paired it with a hat she couldn’t stop grinning at herself in the mirror. Now I have a whole basket of hats I bring out so she can stand in front of the mirror and try them all on. Then inevitably, she leans in and kisses her reflection. Can’t blame her!
And I just love this picture Lee got of her Monday with his camera phone as they took a walk. She looks kind of mischievous, like she’s thinking about breaking a rule. And she looks so grown up in the baseball hat Uncle Trent gave her.
See that puddle on the floor? That’s me. I melted.
Camille has enjoyed coloring for months. When she spots her coloring book, she says “Paper! Paper!” Then I pull out the crayons, which she also calls paper. That’s because whenever she starts coloring on the floor or the table I sternly remind her, “No Camille, on the paper,” so she just associates that word with her coloring book and crayons. I guess I say it a lot!
Her method of coloring had mostly been in the Seurat style. She “stippled,” basically stabbing the paper with the end of a crayon and creating a bunch of dots. But today, Lee bought her some new jumbo crayons and a big tablet of newsprint, and Miss Camille’s artistry blossomed into something new.
I wasn’t at home to watch her because I had to work, but Lee was sweet enough to send me photos. He put the tablet on the floor and she dropped to her hands and knees and colored so intently.
The work paid off in long, beautiful strokes of vibrant color. The artwork is just so different than anything I’d seen her do before, and I could’ve cried. There’s just something so amazing about seeing her creativity on paper. This is a keeper.
…so I guess that’s why she got so many great presents for Christmas! Seriously, Camille made off like a bandit and we have to go out this afternoon and buy containers to pack up some of her old toys. But I’m certainly not complaining! She got a ton of great stuff and it has been so much fun watching her play with it all. We’re going to put away her old toys for a month or so, and when the newness of her Christmas gifts wears off, we’ll switch them out for a bit.
We were able to spend about 4 days in Fitzgerald with Grammie, Erin and Dave, which made Christmas a special treat. Camille was spoiled mightily, and even learned a few new tricks – like the proper application of rouge. She loved getting into Aunt Erin’s makeup bag, but what freaked me out was how quickly she figured out how to apply the makeup.
Christmas morning, Santa-Grammie left a little something under the tree for our girl. Or rather, a BIG something. Miss Baby LOVES her rocking elephant!
We got up Christmas morning at 5:30, and even though waking up that early was her idea, she was still pretty sleepy and non-verbal at that hour. But as she started tearing through the gifts she began waking up a bit. About halfway through the presents, Lee helped her get the wrapping paper off a gift that was inside an old box of business envelopes. The box had a picture of envelopes on the front, and when she saw it she shrieked, “Oooooooooh!!” Like it was the best gift ever – and she hadn’t even seen what the actual gift was inside. Next year, I’m saving us all some money, and instead of all the fancy gifts, I’m buying the kid some envelopes.
Once we finished opening gifts she started getting sleepy again. The excitement was overwhelming and all she could do was crawl onto Daddy’s tummy and snuggle. He didn’t mind.
Then we packed up the car and headed to Moultrie where she entertained us all by “cooking” with a spoon and a bowl and walking around the room to feed everyone. She also snuck outside for some one-on-one seesaw time with Grammie. I think she looks too grown in this picture.
After Moultrie, we headed home to Savannah. It was strange, because we usually go from Moultrie to Macon to see my extended family. Last year, all the travel was just too much and none of us were able to really enjoy the day, so we decided to start alternating, and next year we’ll go to Macon instead of Moultrie. While I think this arrangement is better, it’s still not perfect. I really missed seeing my family, and we still had to spend about 5 and a half hours on the road Christmas Day and do a lot of packing and unpacking. We’ll eventually figure out the best way to celebrate the day, but meanwhile it’s always a little hard to break with tradition. But fortunately for me, Nana and Granddaddy were able to come here the day after Christmas and are visiting until Saturday! Yay!
The day after Christmas, Santa Claus was finally able came to visit Camille at her house (even though he almost had another delay because the playhouse was delivered without instructions and without the needed screws. Luckily, Daddy had some Santa could borrow). Camille seems to really like her new playhouse! She says her new playhouse is number one!
Christmas was wonderful – Miss Baby had a super-fun time and got tons of good stuff. We have some great pictures too that I’ll post ASAP.
But first, I didn’t want to forget what I saw last night that made me laugh so hard. Lee and I were in a little dollar store, and saw a box with sticky-pad rat traps inside. On the front, the package boasted this claim:
“WITH PEANUT SENSE!”
Oh how I laughed. My only regret was that neither of us had a camera.
