As I've mentioned several times, I've spent the last two years divesting myself of most of my husband's possessions and embarking on the rest of my life. I had told my sons that when Caleb graduated from high school I would have to sell our house, so we've been working toward that goal. His graduation is about 5 weeks away, the house has been on the market 4 1/2 months, and I've sold it!!
Luckily I had a very low offer to consider first. I countered this offer and they went away, however, this gave me an opportunity to think about the reality of actually selling the house. It hadn't really hit me until then. All of a sudden I was in an emotional turmoil. This is the only house we've lived in since moving to Nashville 10 years ago. We had made numerous improvements to the house to make it ours. Granted, most of the things we did were things my husband wanted, not necessarily things I was in favor of. One of those was a large stone fire pit. The pit is surrounded by a thick, hand-laid stone wall that winds around it and also serves as a retaining wall. In my opinion this was a very frivolous waste of money that could have been used to update bathrooms or do something that would add value to the home. My husband was set on having a fire pit though. The sad part is that he never used it.
Emotional ties aside, this pretend offer made me realize that the house could sell at any minute and I'd better start looking for our next house. This was about the time I realized that I hadn't asked Caleb how he felt about selling the only home he really remembers. Without hesitation he said he wanted the house to sell because it holds nothing but bad memories for him. That's probably an exaggeration, but that's how he feels. His only concern was that we don't have a house to go to. His only request was to have a second floor bedroom in our next house.
We didn't have to wait long for the next offer, and this was a good one! The only catch in this offer was that they wanted my lawn mower. Once again I had to sort through some emotional baggage. The lawn mower is a very nice zero turn riding mower that my husband had bought because our yard is a full acre on a slope. He absolutely loved his mower and really enjoyed mowing the lawn on it. It's one thing that would truly make him smile and I remember how happy this made him. Therefore, emotions hit when I thought about leaving the mower behind. It didn't take long for me to realize that the new owners would need this mower way more than I will because, no matter what, my next house will not have a big yard! It was interesting that Caleb had the same initial reaction that I did, but then realized that we wouldn't need it. So, now the house has been sold and we're in the process of doing paperwork and waiting on the appraisal and closing. My turn to hit the house hunting trail!
I gave my realtor my price range and a list of things I want in a house, and she got to work. We looked at about 20 houses in a two week period and narrowed it down to 4 pretty quickly. There was one that I kept going back to in my mind, so I decided this must be the one to make an offer on. My realtor wrote it up and it was accepted. It will be a wonderful house for us. The kitchen has been recently remodeled with new appliances. The downstairs is beautiful with new paint and bamboo floors. The garage is clean enough to live in. Best of all, the yard is less than a quarter acre! We definitely don't need the big mower. Caleb is happy because it's two stories and his bedroom is on the second floor. We'll close and move the end of this month and begin our new life in our new house.
I've realized once again how blessed I am with friends. The last day that I looked at houses 3 of my friends gave up their Sunday afternoon to go with me to help with my decision. Two were men whose opinions regarding structural issues and building components are very valuable. This gave me a huge amount of comfort because they checked things that I wouldn't think of. All 3 of them agreed that my favorite was the best choice.
I was even more blessed when 3 of my girl friends showed up Friday night to help me pack up my kitchen. I have lots of kitchen equipment, so this was not a quick task, but was very enjoyable with their help. One came back Saturday morning to help more. When I ran out of boxes we went for a pedicure and dinner. Running out of boxes can be a good thing! Without the help of these friends I would be extremely over-whelmed and trying to figure out how to get everything done. I'm even more amazed that 3 of these friends have requested time off from work to help me move at the end of the month. That's true friendship - taking vacation days to help me move! That just blows me away.
Thank you, God, for blessing me we these wonderful friends who care about me and are there to help without thinking twice. Tomorrow is Easter Sunday and, like every Sunday, I'll be in church, but I'll have so much more to be grateful for this year - wonderful friends, new house, new beginning, and, most important, a much closer walk with God. I pray that anyone who reads this has something in their life to be thankful for, and I hope it has to do with friendships, whether with people or with God. These are truly life's treasures.
Thanks for taking this journey with me......more to come!
