My Gold Medal

Rick did you hear something?

No babe, HA, now you're hearing things.

Mmm..maybe. 

Peg gets on the podium to collect her gold. 

The YIPS

 Inspector was here 30 minutes early at 8:30a. I was eating a bowl of chex cereal. We have always been at home when the inspection has taken place in all of our homes. We just stayed out of his/her way. The inspector always has a ton of questions so it was always good we were there. But apparently this time the realtor and the buyers came too. So they asked us to leave. But not before the inspection dude asked us some questions. What a cluster. He broke something on my desk. He left things askew. Come on people, you inconvenience me and then do this shit to my house - still mine, I still live here.

I am going to address a few things left in comments here so they will be sure to be read so I don't have to address them again.

1. The house sale had no contingencies - meaning  'as is' and they can find whatever they want but they can't back out of the sale. 

2. Closing is the 30th. We have movers coming on the 25th and 26th. Going to Raleigh next week

3. We know all about model homes. We bought this place from a model home 21 years ago. We know there is the base price and if you like things you see you just begin adding them up in your head. The only upgrades we got when buying this home were the crown molding and fireplace. We knew Rick and crown molding and plumbing are his kryptonite. We really wanted the fireplace so that was not something we could do so that had to be an add-on.  So those 2 things. Having granite or quartz in your mortgage is just dumb to us. We got it far cheaper on our own and it was paid for and not in our mortgage. So we certainly understand when buying a model home what you see is not always what you can afford to get. They should tell you this upfront and most do. 

4. While it is an interesting notion that the fall of the market is due to foreclosures it began before that was changed. But I think that doesn't hurt either. If you google it, you'll see that they believe it is the market/people saying NO to the obscene prices. All stories I've read in newspapers and seen on TV have stated the buyers are setting the market because of the prices.
Here's one. But whatever the darn reason for it all is I got in 3 weeks late. 

I'd have made 50K more if my first realtor did their job. 

Last night we were watching the Olympics. I love gymnastics and even though Simone has the YIPS I still love to watch.  But I do feel for Simone. I've seen this with a pitcher but never another athlete, but I'm sure it happens all the time. 
What is so scary is if she doesn't know where she is in the air she could come down and break her neck. Not a good time to get the yips but is there ever a good time? As Rick said to me last night, it'd be like your ace pitcher having the yips during the world series. Bad timing but no one asks for them. But to me, she is still a rock star. And just because she didn't succumb to the pressure and do it anyway I applaud her. I would have been a people pleaser and done what was expected and hurt myself. So, go Simone!

I've Got a Minute.

There was still a frenzy in the air in June. 

We expected to be sold by July 1st.
But you know the story of the idiots we hired from Redfin. So we went with the guy who left me the chocolates - remember that? 

We got the new contract in 30 minutes. The next day a stager came to my home. She complimented me up the waazoo and while it was nice to hear she liked everything about my home she still made me do a couple of odd things that I felt were sterile. But okay then. After this was done she asked if I was moving nearby because she would love to offer me a job. She apparently thought I had an "eye" 

Nope, moving so no job but it is one I'd love to do. Oh well.

Then the photographer came 2 days later. The pictures and brochures were great. Far superior to the 1st one. (no brochures on the first one)

Then the house went on the market Thursday, July 22nd. They request times to visit the home. We have the ability to say yes or no on the app. We were not refusing anyone! but if you tell me you will be here from 6p-7p, then show up during those times. 

The 6p-7p appointment was coming up and we were running around like crazy people moving the dog things again to the garage - heaven forbid we show them a house that has a pet!  We get out the door with 3 minutes to spare. 

We drove around and that made Izzy happy. We got home at 7:06p. We were very hungry. Put Izzy's food and water bowls back in the kitchen and began to feed her. Then I began to make some quick tacos. Onions and burger meat in the pan. Then we get a text from our realtor - oops the realtor is running late - they are on their way. Friggin' Great!  They kept telling us no offensive cooking smells in the house. So much for that. I threw the food in the pan in a zip-lock freezer bag. Threw the pan in the dishwasher. Put all food away and cleaned up. Put the queer shit on the island like a show home ( more on that later) and Rick ran Izzy foods bowls and bed back out to the garage.

We load her up in the car and off we go. We decided that day to sit up the street. We watched these numbnuts go in the house. They stayed for 23 minutes. We thought that was a good sign but honestly just get the hell out of my house. Finally, they did and we went back and home and got everything out again and tried getting something to eat again.

Thursday, Friday, Saturday was appointment showings where we'd leave. You get in the house for 1.5 and then the next one comes in. We could tell who had kids and who didn't. If they had kids the beds upstairs would be sat on and messed up and the outside pillows would be strewn about. It was interesting. So after each one, we'd fix up the house again and make it a show home. Can you hear my angst?  Oooh, and did I mention that a couple who wanted to see this came alone without a realtor and told our realtor at the open house they wanted to see this but their realtor wouldn't because it was by redfin. They went online and saw that there was another realty company so they came by to see this home instantly. They told our realtor it was nicer than the pictures but they thought their kids were too small right now to be on the 3rd floor while they were downstairs. (infant and 2 yr old) We get that. So once again realtors won't show redfin properties. Assinine.

Then on Sunday was the opening house. We already had an offer but everyone at the beginning of this was told we would view all offers and a decision would be on Monday. We went back and forth and choose the offer that sucked the least. This one had no contingencies. Sold it for the asking price only. Unheard of until recently.

We were feeling the slowdown. We were seeing a slowdown. A house exactly like ours only very dated has been on the market for 2 weeks with no offers. A gorgeous townhome 500sq ft larger than ours has been on the market for 2 weeks as well. That was unheard of a few weeks ago. Everything was selling for over asking and in an instant. Not anymore.

The new realtor told us it was cooling off and he wasn't sure what was happening. We were seeing it and feeling it and unfortunately for us, we didn't sell when we wanted or we'd be in a far better place. Then we watched something on CNBC and then we read an article on CNBC website and saw on CNN about the larger cities are beginning a slow down in home sales. Big cities on both coasts are showing slowdowns so it will trickle to the middle soon enough.

A lot of the people who came to our home left great feedback. Great because it was nice. LOL, 

All loved our home and 12 said it was so warm. So that was nice. But almost all said they were just beginning their search. One couple came back twice and we really thought they were going to make an offer. But nope. So we took this first offer and called it a day.

Then last night on the local news there was a story about this slowdown. Great for Peg and Rick - we live under a black cloud we feel like. Always doing what "they," say is the right thing to do but we are always on the short end of the stick.

They waived all contingencies but are still asking for an inspection. It is Friday at 9am. They told us to leave the house but we are not doing that. Been there done that, not ever again. So we will be here. 

The closing is on the 30th. We have 25 days to find a house. 

Here is the thing.

I am moving because I have to.

I am moving to a home that will be far 'lesser than'

I am moving to what will most certainly be a shit hole fixer-upper. 

None of this is making us thrilled but it is what it is. We are a step above living under a bridge. I have to be thankful for that.

Now living without all my things on the counters was painful if you cook at all.  I would turn from the island to the knife block to get a knife and remember they are all in the garage. No knives at an open house or someone could get killed I was told. 

I asked Rick one morning if I could make him an Eggo - no pans and dirtying the stove. He laughed and said the toaster is in the garage. Then I said, how about scrambled eggs and we burn a candle so it doesn't offend them! LOL  

They wanted this stage set on my kitchen island.

I have an 8 ft island as you all saw. They had me take a cookbook and put it in a holder as if you are going to be making it. That was up against the big cherry cutting board with a fancy EVOO bottle on it with a perfectly folded dishtowel that matched our kitchen. It was a vignette they insisted on.

Oh for the love of God, do you really think all that shit on my island made my island look larger? Better? It was just setting a scene and I get it, but I had to live like this. All toilet lids, not seats, HAD TO BE DOWN. I put them down but Rick was always forgetting. He went into the powder room and sat down without looking and hit his 'buddies' on the toilet LID that was down. Oops! I heard him swear in the living room. 😂  

There could be nothing on our bathroom vanity. Normally in my corner are 3 silver cups with makeup brushes in them. And my electric toothbrush. Apparently, that is offensive and too much clutter. Okay but my toothbrush can't stay in the charger on the counter? We can't show them we brush our teeth? Nope, too gross she said. Okay then. So this messy counter below was emptied of all things showing life in our home. We even had to remove the shampoos etc in the shower.  If you recall we have several niches in the shower. What are they for if not for shampoo? One bottle can't be left? No sir she told me - remove them all. So shampoo had to be hidden in the linen closet and I had to remind Rick for some reason every day where it went. Sheesh.

Rick would bitch about this daily. So not only do I feel the stress. The money stress, the big money stress, but Rick bitching. I am cleaning and vacuuming every friggin' day and most days 2 times a day. Someone broke a piece of my centerpiece and I have no idea so that is shot. It's been such fun and I know more stress is coming. It won't be easy because as I said nothing is for us.  

My neighbor came over during this fiasco and said my home looks better when my things are out - homier, warmer. I know, but they want it sterile and I am going with the assumption that they know what the hell they are talking about. I think to stage is one thing. I think sterile is another. I understand how others need to "see themselves" living here but it felt a tad bit overkill.

When the stager kept saying there really is nothing to do I felt like she had to tell me something so she got a bit nuts about my toothbrushes and her friggin' vignette in the kitchen.

When you go to a model home you see things on the counters. 

Cookies and a cookie jar for example. 

I know the difference between my mom's cluttered kitchen to my kitchen with a couple of things on the counter. 

Watch anything staged on HGTV and you'll see. 

There is a show called One Week To Sell. 

I have binged them all on Discovery +.  They don't make things look sterile. They make them look homey. Big difference. 

All in all, this is painful but we will survive. It's not life or death...yet

We may live under a bridge when this is over but we will survive.

All is Well...sort of.

I'm sorry I got a message from Paul worrying about me.
I am fine. That's a lie.
But I will be fine.

Sold, going to Raleigh, doing a lot of things right now, and no time to share.

I promise I will though.

Some memes I found quite funny this week - 

I loved this - it's so very true. This team sucks on all levels this year. It's so bad I found this funny too!

Ya gotta love Colin. 

To those who are not lucky enough to have a Wegman's, it's a fabulous grocery store!

Now, this would prove to be interesting.

This is us once again sitting in our car - can you tell how thrilled Izzy and Rick are?

Each time someone came to see the house we'd have to leave. After a while, it's like where do we go? We sat up the street a block and watched people go in and out.

doesn't she look happy here? LOL

This for some reason made me laugh. I know a woman who wears weird hats like this and it so reminded me of her. It's also something she'd say to someone else wearing something odd.

Happy Wet Dog. She's a cutie even at 12.5 yrs old. ♥

Very Early

First the early morning swim before the worst of the heat.

Then the contemplative mood.

Bad Behaving People

I hate when fans act like a game is life or death. It's a game. When you are in the throes of it I get being worked up but violence is not at all necessary. 

I have waxed poetic about horrible Philly fans. I have read horror stories about what these fans do to the opposing teams in football. It's ugly man. Then of course there was a Boston fan who killed a Yankee fan as he walked to his car. He said when asked why "he was wearing a NYY shirt" Nice. Try that in prison. If it's my team or another team it is always wrong. 

I recall going to a World Series game in Toronto in 1993. The license plate on our car was Pennsylvania. We were rooting for Toronto Blue Jays who were playing the Phillies. We did not want them to think we were the horrible folks from Philly so we put all the banners they were handing out all over our car windows. So while the car said from PA, we showed our Toronto support and prayed it would be enough to have our car survive. 

We worried if we didn't our tires may have been flat by the time we got to our car at the end of the game. How sad is that? Toronto won and our car survived. 

Then the other night my favorite team was playing Boston.  
As the Red Sox outfield jogged off the field, he threw the baseball into the crowd of Yankee fans. A Yankee fan threw it back on the field, in other words, we don't want your stinkin' ball. But instead, it hit a mouthy Boston player in the back. The man was immediately removed from the stadium and has been banned from all Major League ballparks for life! Serves him right, there is no room for this behavior. Period. End of story.

Sadly if he was trying to hit the guy he never would have made the connection. But it was damn stupid of him to throw it back. Everyone assumes it was to hit the guy but either way it hit him and it was a dumb idea. I get it, but stupid, and he showed he was not thinking. Bad behavior will get punished - we hope anyway.

Then it happened again. This young man just ran out on the field with his little backpack on. This little man who was a security guard tackled him like a pro. He was fast and man he was nimble and he took this bigger dude down like he was a rag doll. At first I thought it was a woman. He was a short fella but mighty! I loved that he could take him down the way he did. He wrestled with him until the rest of the security crew came to help. 

I read that the security guard has a wrestling background and some of his moves showed that. I actually laughed but it really wasn't funny.  Another idiot who is now banned and fined. What is the point of this? Are we just so used to bad behavior and doing any damn thing we want to do with no concern for others now? That was rhetorical because I know sadly it is what we, the collective we, do now.

Full Size Bar

Look what someone surprised me with yesterday.

We both are in a funk and he was trying to cheer me up. 

Ah, a full size no less. 

Apparently found online. 

God he's a keeper! 

Yes, I'm easy to please. 

😍

#2

I had the weirdest conversation with the ole hubby the other night.  

He was explaining to me his vivid strange dream.  

Okay strange to me, he acts like it's normal.

He said he has been down this hall in another dream so he felt he recognized it but the rest was different. He had to go to the bathroom and the doors to this were finger joints and they had a plastic tie locking it shut. But you had to put that plastic strap through each joint and this was apparently 1 of many design flaws that upset him. 

He felt the design was off the mark and then he goes off on a tangent telling me how it should have been done to function properly.

Okay, I say, go on with the dream.

He tells me, "No this is what I was thinking in my dream, how it was not a good setup and bad design flaw. Epic fail, he tells me. 

There was no toilet but a large piece of Formica, yes the 60s style that we both recalled with triangles and half-moons. You had to sit on this Formica top.  There were 3 pieces that you opened that had hinges. Only 1 worked, the one in the middle. So in his dream, as he opened that hinge, it opened under his butt where he was sitting and it allowed the poop to go down. This upset him in his dream he tells me because this is a huge design flaw. Even as he is telling me this you can see that this is upsetting to him and I am laughing. (I mean it's a dream) He kept saying a "design flaw"

"Margaret, first the door, come on, by the time you undo all those straps you would shit your drawers"   (how the hell was I not to laugh, c'mon)

He animatedly tells me why this is a design flaw and how he would change this to work better. I'm not really listening because I am thinking, who the hell dreams of pooping and pooping devices? I'm snickering because as he vividly and enthusiastically explains this oh so important info to me I see how serious he is. So I listened to him go on about how to improve the design of this crapper in his dreams that will never ever need to exist- but I did not laugh. Why you ask? He was so damn serious I didn't because I love this goofball. But later in the day, I brought it up and we both had a good laugh about it. I imitated his enthusiasm telling me about poop and he was howling. He told me when I say this back to him it sounds so weird. 

Ya think Rick? 

You are weird.  But my God we certainly needed the giggles.

You know I have written about him and these issues before. 

Then there is this ditty about our first date - I was given a sign and I didn't pay attention. I think there is another link in that first date one taking you to another. You can see the pattern here my blogger friends. He has issues.

Or maybe it's me because I stick around. :-)

ARGH!

We picked a realtor. She promised the world and never delivered. As I told you her "boss" gave us someone else. All seemed like nice enough people.  But they were like no other realtors we've ever worked with. Worse. How bad is that?

You know I have no faith in realtors. I find them lucky and lazy. These 2 did not disappoint. But other factors were in there as well. It took her two weeks to get me a contract but not until I got a new realtor from her firm. That was 2 weeks' loss right there. They were so damn concerned about the photos yet they posted shitty photos of paint cans in the bathroom etc. I asked to have them taken down and they said yes, but never did.

1. They were not proactive.  They were barely reactive. We had no communication with them unless we called/text/reached out to them in some way. They did respond.  Selling for sale by owner would have had me doing the same amount of work. You can list your own home on the MLS for $500. Then you get a realty photographer and you do the same thing. I should have tried it.

2. A realtor was not at our open house. A kid who gets paid by the hour sat here. He had no marketing material. He knew nothing about our home. He was a nice young man but a drip as far as real estate. The 2 hrs of our open house he text me the entire time asking questions so he could answer those who came into our home. Things like, does your home warranty cover this? How does it work? Do the clothes in your master closet off the bathroom end up smelling musty? WHAT? (for petes sake they do not and yes we have two big walk in closets for the master - one for rick and one for me) 
This kid could not overcome an easy objection when someone said to him, but the A/C is 20 yrs old, right? He said I guess so. They made a face like that wasn't good he told us. OMG. Yes, it is 20 yrs old and there is a home warranty that will be transferable to you and it will cover it should it fail and you get a new one by just paying the $100 deductible. But he just said, I guess so. 

3. The realtor doesn't do any heavy lifting ( surprise!) A person brought the sign and we had to put up the open house on top of it. Someone else brought the lockbox. Someone else called me about photos. The redfin realtor doesn't actually do anything that I can see. 

4. No communication after the open house. We called him. He said he would follow up with those interested. Did he? How was he doing that? We did not know because he never followed up with us after our attempts.

5. We called and said what is our next step after the open house? (we have since found out no one wants to show a redfin home for sale) Rick asked, should we discuss pricing strategy or should we have another open house? He said if you want to sure. IF WE WANT TO? how about some of your expertise? Rick said yes, let's move forward. He never posted it. No open house ever listed. That was the last straw for Rick.

We reread our contract and we knew we could just walk away but decided to reread it to be certain. We could. We did.

We wrote an email explaining that we wanted to leave them immediately. We explained the reasons why. Rick wrote it. It was perfect. We got a call 5 hrs later and said they would be by on Thursday to pick up the booties and the sign and return our keys. They sent a document to sign.  Great. Never mentioning anything they did or even asking if we could discuss. They wanted to be rid of us as well I am certain.

Do we expect a lot? Apparently so. I want a freakin' professional. I want an open house with a realtor here, not an assistant with no skin in the game.

After going through all of this I have talked to 3 realtors we used to work with. 
(Sadly they are still calling for Rick to do work.) 
 All 3 have told me independently that they won't show a redfin home for sale unless the client wants to really see it. Redfin is difficult to work with, difficult during closing etc. Redfin won't assist in closing issues when they arise. They would let the deal fall through before they get involved. All 3 told me that without me asking. They gave examples. I was shocked. Why didn't someone tell me before this? One agent told me a story of how things happened at closing, redfin walked away, this realtor did her due diligence, worked on it, and then got it fixed. Yes, it took time and energy but it worked. that agent called redfin's client and told them they got it worked out so they could still close. If this hadn't been done the sale would have been lost. Redfin again has no skin in the game and doesn't care. They still get paid.  The agents get paid a salary - no commission. Everything in their business model is different. While we were promised the world, in actuality they do nothing for you. No staging, nothing but photos/videos. They don't even control the showings. We had to do that ourselves! I got to thinking how much we had to work with realtors who go to the home they are selling and work and line up all the contractors. This company or my former company would NEVER have done that and they told me that after we signed. This sadly was an epic fail.  

So we got a new realtor Wednesday night. He's aggressive and I like that. Not an in-your-face aggressive way but he asked for the sale. He came in and we asked him so many questions. I even said things like, if someone asks you about XYZ what would you tell him? I did this with several things that annoyed us over the course of all this. We have had more communication with him in 24 hrs than we ever did all these weeks later with the other guy. Stager is coming today. Photos on Monday. Who the hell knows if this will work out. I'm telling you Rick and I have had no luck with realtors on so many homes. I hope this kid can change our minds.

The good news in all of this? I won't have to make the bed all weekend!!!

Searching

Stress and I are a funny thing.

When I was going through my divorce at age 27 I suddenly had skin issues that I had never had and other assorted ickiness. 

Yes, that is a word...at least for now it is in my world.

I enrolled in school with a bunch of 18-year-olds and lived with kids a lot younger than myself. I was determined to complete school and thrive. I drove myself to the point of getting myself sick. But I graduated with a 4.0 and got hired before I graduated. But in the meantime, I had to cut my long hair because it was falling out. I had to see a dermatologist for rashes that everyone thought were stress-related. 

When I was really sick again in the 80s with a few ruptured discs in my back I lost all my eyelashes and I began to lose hair. The pain was so consuming and I couldn't take pain meds and work at an airport ticket counter in heels. A friend, trying to make me laugh, said that everyone will think I am having chemo and feel sorry for me. I did chuckle slightly but I was in too much pain to even have humor. After surgeries and rehabs, I was better but my hair was never the same and my eyelashes sure didn't grow back fuller.

It's all rearing its head again. Why must it come out physically? I mean I don't wish to lose hair or get zits at my age. I don't want my eyelashes to all go away, as I've aged they are sparse enough darn it! 

It's funny because I have a sister who once said depression made her skinny. Nothing makes me skinny. Only eating 500 calories a day for a year didn't make me skinny. Depression, happiness, stress, anxiety, nothing makes me skinny, I couldn't be so lucky. I get disfigured.  See this is what happens when you worry about vanity issues I suppose. 

On a high note, Izzy does not have cancer but she has some issues we are dealing with. She is doing fair and we are just trying to keep her comfortable. I wish it weren't so hot, this weather and Izzy do not get along. She isn't allowed to swim for an undisclosed amount of time. This just means when they feel she can do this again without harming herself. Who knows if and when she can swim again.

There has to be a lesson here somewhere in all of this shit storm that is swirling around us.  

I'm searching. 

I'm looking.

I may need stronger glasses.

Hair

I curse my Italian heritage. 

I've told you here before the joke in the '70s was, Why do Italian men grow mustaches? To look like their mothers.  

That damn joke goes through my head each time a wondering hair shows up uninvited!

I have a damn white hair that will raise its ugly head under my chin to the right. Somewhere along the line, my body has forgotten I'm female.

Now I have a mirror in my bathroom that is 10x. Oh, it's frightening to look into but if I don't wish to look like Tammie Faye Baker I must use this when applying makeup. I look over this area daily to be sure it's not there. 
The next day it's long like I could put beads on it. WTF is that about?  

Oh, so damn attractive.

I felt it this morning and asked Rick to get it. He moved me to the window for light, cuz you know he's an old fart. Then he took the tweezers and yanked that sucker.  Then we both began to laugh and at the same time we say, "oh so this is retirement"

We amuse ourselves. 

Life

Nothing positive to report only negative things are happening and it's all awful. So we are having fun. 

Izzy is not well and we are hoping this isn't cancer. We will know this afternoon.

A few things I found interesting of late.  

1. Southerners who keep saying on my blog to me 'Bless Your Heart.'  When I moved here and heard that it never ever felt like they meant it, it felt more like a fuck you. So one day I asked my neighbor who is from the deep south and she told me that is exactly what it means but for some strange, out of their mind reasoning 'they' think that sounds nicer? Does it when it means the same damn thing? I prefer straight up no chaser than wrapping shit in sugar if that makes any sense. So while I never know how to take it because I can't hear a tone in a comment I always assume it is meant as a bad thing.  I will never understand this so-called "niceness" when there is nothing nice about it at all.  Give me a NY'er any day. No guessing that is for certain. 

2. When I write a rhetorical question it always makes me laugh when you all answer it as if I really didn't know. It's cute. I actually giggled out loud by a couple of them.  Hey, at least you aren't telling me to fuck off like the above.

3. That even in the blog world July is a very slow month.

When my niece was here I asked her to allow me to use her phone and sign in on her apple device so I could get apple TV. Well, the little shit just signed in with her name and said, "use mine!"  So we've been binging when we can The Morning Show. I really like it. Boy, Steve Carrell is a creep in this unless something surprising turns it all around. I am still on the first season so it could change. But the acting is stellar. Billy Crudup is so weird and a bit creepy as well. I am not a big Reese Witherspoon fan but she plays a great role in this. I always like Reese's movies, but there is something about her that I don't care for but my God she is good in this. 

Due to immeasurable insomnia, I am watching a lot of shit in the wee hours of the morning. Virgin River is a sappy Hallmark-type show. It is so corny with the "romantic" stuff that I want to vomit so I FF through that and move on. It keeps my mind off things, sort of, at 3am. Early this morning I was watching it and I wanted to scream at the sap and I thought, Boy if Rick were awake he'd be howling with laughter. Older women acting like 13 yr old little girls. It is all just such fluff and an unrealistic portrayal of a real relationship. If women think like this no wonder they end up with jerks.  

I can't wait until all the shows return so there is real TV and I do not have to resort to something on Netflix that is comparable to a hallmark TV movie.

My niece's shower was this past Sunday. It was a Sunday brunch. If you recall this was the shower I was throwing her. I paid for it all but did not get to be there. I was supposed to be here per the realtor. I should have gone.

It looked lovely, the tent, the centerpieces we made. I spent a small fortune on this. I hope it was nice for her.  She wrote me a beautiful thank you. 

She is such a sweetheart and I hope she will be very happy! 

All my nieces are da bomb!😍

My Youth

Conversation in our home last night.

Rick: I have a surprise for you!

Me: Oh that scares me a bit - what are you up to?

Rick:  Here!  

He extends his hand and unfurls his fingers - lo and behold he is holding a few midge tootsie rolls. He knows how I love those little suckers. He hands them to me.

Me:  Yeah! I miss these. All the candy of my youth is gone.

Rick: HA. Your youth is gone!

Remind me again why I love this guy?😊

Anxiety Ridden

Still Not Over.

The End.

Our Humble Abode

Here is the 3D tour of our little townhome.

The photographer was a nightmare. Then I see in one photo that he took a pic of the master bath with a box of paint supplies still in it. When I went upstairs I saw that and said that I'd move it. I mean really, do people wish to see that? 

Thankfully in the 3D video tour it's gone. Click 3D video tour and it should show you our home. Hit the circles on the bottom to move from floor to floor and room to room.

Fingers crossed this is over soon!

When I get a minute to come up for air I will tell you about this photographer.

I will share that he had a hissy fit because my closets were not empty.

I took out half our clothes and packed them in the wardrobe boxes. We have full walk-in closets where I can walk in and spin with my arms out and not hit a wall. So they are big.  He told me the realtor should have told me to empty them. I said she told me to take out 50% which I did, but I still live here and need to have clothes.  He made a remark, oh yea, Redfin. Redfin doesn't get commission so they don't do anything right for you. WHAT? They are paying you and you are slamming them? WTH is that about. Unprofessional man.  He was so unhappy with us. Oh well.

Gotta Run. 

Where in the world is Margaret?

Well after that fun review I have been in a non-stop mode. Last night I sat down for the first time in ages at 8pm. I poured myself a big glass of ice water and I fell asleep.  It's been that kind of a week. Last week I felt every day was Thursday. Today is Tuesday I am told. This not punching in and sitting at my desk has me all confused. That is the only part of this "retirement" that feels different. Not being at this desk. Otherwise, I've been too busy to feel like I'm retired. I think that will happen after the move. But in the meantime, I now understand our blogger friend Mike when he never knows what day of the week it is. It's an odd feeling that I hope to learn to love.

The company arrived on the 2nd. I loved seeing them all so much, but we had so much to do. My sweet niece asked if she could help and honestly, the things I needed to do I didn't want help - painting some things - touch-ups - staging - still going through office files, etc. I cooked a lot but honestly, I felt bad because when you come to my home I feed you, there are baked goods, there is free-flowing liquor if you want it and we go out on the town. We just couldn't this time. I haven't had time to bake. I haven't had time to do big meals. It had to be quick and easy peasy. We gave them our car and said - have fun!  I hope they did. They spent one full day in DC. They rode the train into the city they didn't get home until after 8p. Museums, monuments, etc They did the full tour. And if I am being honest, the best thing about that is I didn't have to go to all the monuments, museums all over again for the 100th time. 

It's great living in a city that has so much to do but when company comes they all want to do the same things and after 5 times at that one museum you've had enough. So here's your metro card, here's my car to get to the train station, and have fun!

My niece's baby is so friggin' cute!  I adore her and that was fun. An almost 3 yr old is so much energy, I realize now why you must have your children when you're younger. :-)  They all left yesterday at dinner time. I came back home from dropping them off and painted. Rick touched up some areas and after sanding them I have to paint it again. Fun times. 

Today is the photo and video day of our home.  Today is also the day the refrigerator repairman comes. Yesterday our water supply out of the door and the ice stopped working. It is making ice but it won't come out of the door dispenser. The first guy came and said you need a whole new door and it's not covered under your warranty. He left and I called the warranty company - I am covered. I asked for them to send someone else. So today he comes. Why when selling your home does everything fall apart. My fridge is around 5 yrs old. This is crazy. I LOVE my fridge. If I could afford it I'd want to buy it again but I can't, too many issues of getting it repaired. There are few that are certified to work on LG and most don't have a clue. Those types have been to my home in the past. There is one man that is certified and who went to LG school but for some reason he was not sent. I knew then that this guy was going to be an issue.

You see it is the best layout of any fridge I have ever had. I love the size as well. But most don't work on LG's. And there are issues and when there are issues, it's never minor. Oh, the cord in the door can't be fixed so you need a whole new door.  Geez, that is a crazy way to build this. Everything else inside this area of the door is working, it makes ice, it has all the other lights that light up work, etc. But this one wire is not working. The man literally shook it for 5 minutes hoping it would come on. I felt like he had no idea what the hell he was doing. I am not paying for a new door if for some reason my home warranty does not pay for it. I will sell it as a fabulous fridge but the water dispenser doesn't work kind of thing. I don't want to but I will if it comes down to it. I feel guilty, but I will keep brushing it aside because we will need to buy a new fridge in our new place, I am certain.  

I hope to be able to exhale tomorrow. We have no one coming to the house again until the 8th. Lockbox on the door, the for sale sign is up. The old woman across the street is riding our coattails. She said if you are going to get what you said I might as well sell. Thankfully her home looks like a Grandma's home. She used to be a realtor and she thinks she knows everything. Her realtor told her to modernize a few things and she just can't let go of doilies, but she is getting some new floors upstairs. But homes are scarce, if young people can look past it and see the square footage, it will help her. Her back yard is 1/4 the size of ours and not set up for anything more than to walk from the garage into the house. So we have that going for us too. Fingers crossed.

Okay, I'm off to vacuum before the photos and make my bed. I will be thrilled when this is over for so many reasons but making my bed every day is a pain in the ass. I do not like making my bed every day. I pull it up. I make it on the day I change the sheets. It has never been a priority to me as I know it is for so many. So don't shame me if you are an everyday bed maker. I know I should, I'm an adult. But in all honesty my feeling is, "I don't have to, I'm an adult" 😁

Performance Review

Well, well, well, look what arrived in my email this morning.

What an ass. And he signs it 'Gleefully'  That made me laugh out loud.

I thought you'd all enjoy his B.S. especially when he says I have such "feelings" oh my God that is so him. I have a blog to vent and get it off my chest and then it's gone. His is pent up unless released on me when he gets home. 

But I thought you'd find humor in his lying ramblings...okay a few, err a couple, ok some of them are true. 

_________________________________________________________ 

RE: Final Performance Review

 
Dear Ms. Malizia,
 
It has come to the attention of all upper management that you have returned to some unattractive habits that had been discussed in prior reviews.

      1.  Providing wrong address to field crew.
While on occasion the field crew does stumble into the wrong home and clean their tub without pay. Even some have had breakfast made for them. But I digress, giving the wrong address takes additional time and effort. Perhaps you should have your dyslexia checked? Either way, you had been warned about this behavior in past reviews, yet it is still an issue.
2.       Being pleasant to rude customers. The saying “the customer is always right” isn’t just for when you are on the phone with them. It’s for after the phone call too. Speaking so badly about a customer once they hang up is not only unprofessional but a bit disturbing that you have such feelings about our valued customers.
3.       Spreadsheet errors. Adding the columns each month then adding them again for the year really throws our tax responsibilities totally out of whack. It’s not the IRS’s business how much we make.
4.       Office clutter. You have “misplaced” several items such as auto registrations, boat registrations, and much more. Being an office hoarder is not an admirable trait we want in our employees.
5.       Refusal to play. When you were hired, you came with recommendations that you occasionally get naked in the office. We liked that about you. However, your failure to sexually harass the upper management staff is intolerable.
 
With these issues continuing to be problematic even after having performance reviews, and your failure to conform with our expectations, we have no other alternative but to end your employment as soon as you clean out your office.
 
Gleefully.
 
Your CEO