I Hope You See This Heart Behind My Tired Eyes

Trying to sell our house is the hardest thing I've done in a long time, and that includes having two babies. It's not fun. It's exhausting, and in this market, it breaks my heart. I love this house, and it's hard for me to picture leaving this house, but I know it makes sense for my family. If you would have told me 15 years ago that I would willingly move to Ste. Gen, I would have laughed in your face. Behold the power of love.

We had the sign in the front yard from May 17th to September 17th. We had at least 4 open houses, plus a handful of people make appointments to see it. We had zero offers. We lowered the price $13,000.00 =( We landscaped, spiffed, sweated, organized, and stressed ourselves out to the max. The hardest part was keeping the house clean. We are clean people, but keeping our house clean enough to show at a moments notice is entirely different. It sucks. We are up every weekday morning at 5 a.m., and our family of 4 is out of the house every morning by 6 a.m. Then, if that's isn't impressive enough, picture trying to have the house spotless on top of all that. If they call at 1:30 p.m. at work, and ask if they can show the house at 3:30 p.m., I can't get home and clean it before they get there, and we never wanted to, or did turn down a showing. The weekends were their own disaster. We didn't want to be home, because the girls can destroy a clean house in about 8 minutes flat, and we didn't want to leave the house because that meant we had to we all of us in the car and a clean house. Don't even ask about the cats and the kitty litter. My brother reminded me that Phyllis Diller once said, "Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing is like shoveling the sidewalk before it stops snowing." So, our contract with our real estate agent was up, and we decided not to renew. Wasn't anything she did wrong, just October is the busiest month for John and I, he with marching band and me with grape harvest. Now, here we are, wondering what to do next. Should we call and interview new agents, and try to decorate the house cute for the holidays and put it back on the market pronto, or should we wait, the holidays are busy enough and get it back out there in January?

I don't know what all these people are looking for anyway, our house is as cute as a button. We loved it the first time we saw it. After looking at dozens of city houses, I can guarantee this house is in tip top shape. While we were in Chicago, my cousins' wife Lisa had just been to a live taping of Oprah, and in true Oprah fashion, suggested I should write down all the things I love about my house and send it to the universe. Instead, I'm going to send it to you. I love my house because:

It is brick. It has unique arched doorways. It has beautiful stained glass windows. It has a two car garage. It has hardwood floors that we refinished. It has tile on the walls in the bathroom and kitchen. It has a brand new kitchen that we redid ourselves. It has the most darling nursery. I'm in love with those slanted walls. It has 4 bedrooms. It has a functional mud room. It has daffodils that I planted. It has a laundry shoot. Our mailbox is built into the wall. It has a rose, a mum, a crepe myrtle, and bleeding hearts that all bloom. The walls of the basement are in excellent condition- not something a lot of city houses can say. It has a brand new electric box. It has matching, original, art deco looking chandeliers in the foyer and dining room. It is within walking distance or Tower Grove park, an amazing coffee shop, the Library, 3 playgrounds, the grocery store, dry cleaners, restaurants, and all sorts of other fun city stuff.

Sounds perfect doesn't it? Want to buy it? =)