After purging anything that would not be allowed in our new/fabulous home, we packed up the rest of the artwork, knick-knacks and many other things (that the hubs was able sneak in while I wasn't looking). We patched up the nail holes, touched up the paint, cleaned the windows and made our home ready to put on the market for sale and have it sell BIG.
But then it didn't...and then the frustrations with the new home set in...and suddenly we decided that our cleaned up old home was going to be way better than any fabulous, shiny new home. We couldn't fight the battle anymore. We stopped stepping across that line, took down the for sale sign and removed our listing from the MLS. We threw in the towel and called it quits. It was almost the happiest day of my life.
Now we have to move back into our old house. I call it an old house because it is not new to us, but it is only three years old so I guess you can't really call it old...here comes the fun part. We have to buy new stuff to replace all of the old stuff we sold in preparation for the move. I am a shopping fool! Our old house is rapidly becoming fabulous! Our wall hangings and decorations are in new places and grouped with other new things and it is like a new place altogether. I guess I didn't realize that by the time I had gotten to putting up the decorations the first time we moved in I was so pooped that I didn't really put them in the right place. Now they are in the right places with other new things and everything is just falling together like it should.
A new sofa for the family room that isn't the size of a school bus....
Moving the girl child back upstairs with her new queen sized bed to entice her to give up the closet that was her room downstairs...
A pool table and a dart board for the game room...
A new sectional sofa for the media room that is cushy and comfy...
In the end, it will be way cheaper to redecorate than pay for movers, twice... and pay for apartment deposits and down payments on shiny new homes. By doing these few simple things, we have changed the way we will live in our home and use more of it.
Now, time to find a cleaning lady that can clean like me....
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
Monday, April 28, 2014
When do you throw in the towel?
I have a bad habit of letting people have one more chance, then one more, then another after that. It's like the man who draws the line in the sand daring you to cross it. Then he draws another line and dares you to cross that one. The effect of drawing the line gets lost quickly.
We are in the process of selling our house and buying a new one. The house we are in is way too big for us and since Mom isn't here anymore, it no longer fits our needs. We are three people roaming around the hallways yelling "Marco" and waiting for the "Polo" to find each other.
I work for a home building company that happens to build pretty nice houses. I bought this one from them about a year before I started working here. We got a really great deal so we just couldn't pass on it.
Now that I work for the company, my deal is not so great. 5% off of the base price and upgrades, nothing off the lot premium. This was my first disappointment as two of my coworkers recently purchased homes from us and made out like bandits with upgrades at cost on top of a discount on the base price. I seriously considered not buying when I got the news. Hubby and I talked about it and decided we still needed to downsize and that even at almost full price, this was still our best option. So, I stepped across the first line....
Then we go to make selections and I had a concern about the layout of our shower. It was like a cave and being claustrophobic, I asked if I could change it up a little. Suddenly we have a new master bath option for this home and we need to wait for the new blueprints to be drawn - because another customer wanted it.
The changes were what they asked for and way more involved than my simple request.The new option is drawn, but instead of just addressing the shower, it adds 3' to the rear of the home and I can no longer add the sitting area to the master bedroom because it won't fit on the lot. Even though I thought the sitting area was important, I was glad the shower issue was resolved and after some more discussion, I stepped across the second line...
Next I met with the sales person to try to update our contract with all of the new items only to have him tell me he doesn't know where the pricing is coming from and basically accuses me of being dishonest. I price options for a living. I know what they cost. I also have all of the pricing details that back up my items which I sent to him and he never read. I told him I didn't appreciate being called a cheat and told him I was really not happy with the way this process was going. He eventually apologized and drew the third line...
We crossed this line too only to find out that with the garage we selected, the home still won't fit on the lot. It is 9" over. The other customer is 18" over so we are redrawing the plan for them at no charge. I don't want to take 18" out of the width of my home just because that is what we are doing for the other customer, I want to take 9" out of the width of my home because that's all I need to take out and I am still a paying customer. I informed them of this last week and now it has been four days and not a word from the sales person or manager as to what we are doing. I think it's time to stop allowing them to draw the line.
We are in the process of selling our house and buying a new one. The house we are in is way too big for us and since Mom isn't here anymore, it no longer fits our needs. We are three people roaming around the hallways yelling "Marco" and waiting for the "Polo" to find each other.
I work for a home building company that happens to build pretty nice houses. I bought this one from them about a year before I started working here. We got a really great deal so we just couldn't pass on it.
Now that I work for the company, my deal is not so great. 5% off of the base price and upgrades, nothing off the lot premium. This was my first disappointment as two of my coworkers recently purchased homes from us and made out like bandits with upgrades at cost on top of a discount on the base price. I seriously considered not buying when I got the news. Hubby and I talked about it and decided we still needed to downsize and that even at almost full price, this was still our best option. So, I stepped across the first line....
Then we go to make selections and I had a concern about the layout of our shower. It was like a cave and being claustrophobic, I asked if I could change it up a little. Suddenly we have a new master bath option for this home and we need to wait for the new blueprints to be drawn - because another customer wanted it.
The changes were what they asked for and way more involved than my simple request.The new option is drawn, but instead of just addressing the shower, it adds 3' to the rear of the home and I can no longer add the sitting area to the master bedroom because it won't fit on the lot. Even though I thought the sitting area was important, I was glad the shower issue was resolved and after some more discussion, I stepped across the second line...
Next I met with the sales person to try to update our contract with all of the new items only to have him tell me he doesn't know where the pricing is coming from and basically accuses me of being dishonest. I price options for a living. I know what they cost. I also have all of the pricing details that back up my items which I sent to him and he never read. I told him I didn't appreciate being called a cheat and told him I was really not happy with the way this process was going. He eventually apologized and drew the third line...
We crossed this line too only to find out that with the garage we selected, the home still won't fit on the lot. It is 9" over. The other customer is 18" over so we are redrawing the plan for them at no charge. I don't want to take 18" out of the width of my home just because that is what we are doing for the other customer, I want to take 9" out of the width of my home because that's all I need to take out and I am still a paying customer. I informed them of this last week and now it has been four days and not a word from the sales person or manager as to what we are doing. I think it's time to stop allowing them to draw the line.
Monday, April 14, 2014
Sporting Parents
I happen to be the parent of a child that is involved in sports. At first I was coaching Cheerleading which I am not really sure you get to call a sport. (Don't get me wrong, these girls put in a lot of long hours, sweat and tears into their practices and their job is not easy.) Now I am coaching Volleyball which is most definitely a sport that involves fewer tears and way more fun. With a team of 8 girls you would think that it would be relatively easy to coordinate the practices (same time and day every week) and the games (same day every week) with every one's schedules, but that seems to be way more of a challenge than anticipated.
Every week I get a call or an e-mail from a parent - what day and time are we practicing this week? Same day and time as last week, and the week before and the week before and that I mentioned in my e-mail THIS MORNING.... I actually had a parent tell me they had three girls in sports and they couldn't keep up with which coach belonged to which girl. Time to stop hitting that crack pipe Mom...
Then we have parents that don't show up with their kids, don't call, don't e-mail and don't return phone calls. Dear Sir or Madam Ass Hat....we had to forfeit our game because we didn't have enough players. Was Sally involved in a major accident? No, she didn't feel like coming today? I wish I could say "Off the team!", but I can't because then we would have to forfeit more games. We have 8 players and need a minimum of 5 to play. You would think that would be easy, but one of the 8 broke her arm the week before our first practice so she's out. Of the 7 left we have had more than one game where we barely eeked by with our 5.
As a parent, when you sign your kids up for these events, you are making a commitment of your time as well. They should have to sign an oath.
I, parent of sporting child, do hereby promise that I will bring my child to all practices and games unless they have suffered a loss of limb or plague. I will pick my child up from said practices and games in a timely manner so that my coach doesn't have to babysit my child for an additional 30 minutes. In the event that I am tardy I agree to buy my coach a pony.
Every week I get a call or an e-mail from a parent - what day and time are we practicing this week? Same day and time as last week, and the week before and the week before and that I mentioned in my e-mail THIS MORNING.... I actually had a parent tell me they had three girls in sports and they couldn't keep up with which coach belonged to which girl. Time to stop hitting that crack pipe Mom...
Then we have parents that don't show up with their kids, don't call, don't e-mail and don't return phone calls. Dear Sir or Madam Ass Hat....we had to forfeit our game because we didn't have enough players. Was Sally involved in a major accident? No, she didn't feel like coming today? I wish I could say "Off the team!", but I can't because then we would have to forfeit more games. We have 8 players and need a minimum of 5 to play. You would think that would be easy, but one of the 8 broke her arm the week before our first practice so she's out. Of the 7 left we have had more than one game where we barely eeked by with our 5.
As a parent, when you sign your kids up for these events, you are making a commitment of your time as well. They should have to sign an oath.
I, parent of sporting child, do hereby promise that I will bring my child to all practices and games unless they have suffered a loss of limb or plague. I will pick my child up from said practices and games in a timely manner so that my coach doesn't have to babysit my child for an additional 30 minutes. In the event that I am tardy I agree to buy my coach a pony.
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Lazy people...
You have my attention...yes, you. Who am I talking to? All of the people out that that just don't give a crap. My 8 year old is at the top of the list right now. How do you teach your children to have pride in what they do? As a parent, how do I run quality control when the minions could care less if their output is sub par?
Brush your teeth...done 2 seconds later, funk still on teeth. Try that again. Aww Mom, do I have to? I assume this is a rhetorical question because she already knows the answer is yes. Time to get up and get dressed...child still in bed 10 minutes later. Oh, you meant now? No, next week dear....
I know that many of the challenges I face on a daily basis are all just part of raising a child, but when it comes to things that really matter (like school work), how do you get your kids to care about the quality of work they turn in?
Homework is the worst...
Me: Good job dear, but you didn't spell walk correctly, why don't you erase that and put the k after the l instead of the other way around.
Child...scratches the k over the l and the l over the k
Me: Dear, you wrote that with a pencil, which I am noticing still has a pristine eraser. Why don't you erase the word and write it correctly. That way your teacher knows what you are really trying to say.
Child: Aww Mom, do I have to? (complete with eye roll)
Me: Yes
Child...partially erases word but not enough to really remove the word and writes over the top making the entire word now illegible
Me: So, you feel like that was the right thing do to?
Child: Whaaat?
Me: You don't care if your teacher can't read your writing? I know what the word was and I still can't read it.
Child: She won't care, it will be fine.
Me: Aaaagggghhhh!!!
It is the same thing time after time and I notice it wherever I go. People are lazy and flat out don't care if they are doing their best work or not. As a society we have gotten so used to trying to make everyone feel good about themselves so we don't criticize, correct or complain.
How do we stop the cycle? How do you create that sense of self worth in your child that causes them to take pride in what they do? How do you develop that sense of competition to be the best at something?
Brush your teeth...done 2 seconds later, funk still on teeth. Try that again. Aww Mom, do I have to? I assume this is a rhetorical question because she already knows the answer is yes. Time to get up and get dressed...child still in bed 10 minutes later. Oh, you meant now? No, next week dear....
I know that many of the challenges I face on a daily basis are all just part of raising a child, but when it comes to things that really matter (like school work), how do you get your kids to care about the quality of work they turn in?
Homework is the worst...
Me: Good job dear, but you didn't spell walk correctly, why don't you erase that and put the k after the l instead of the other way around.
Child...scratches the k over the l and the l over the k
Me: Dear, you wrote that with a pencil, which I am noticing still has a pristine eraser. Why don't you erase the word and write it correctly. That way your teacher knows what you are really trying to say.
Child: Aww Mom, do I have to? (complete with eye roll)
Me: Yes
Child...partially erases word but not enough to really remove the word and writes over the top making the entire word now illegible
Me: So, you feel like that was the right thing do to?
Child: Whaaat?
Me: You don't care if your teacher can't read your writing? I know what the word was and I still can't read it.
Child: She won't care, it will be fine.
Me: Aaaagggghhhh!!!
It is the same thing time after time and I notice it wherever I go. People are lazy and flat out don't care if they are doing their best work or not. As a society we have gotten so used to trying to make everyone feel good about themselves so we don't criticize, correct or complain.
How do we stop the cycle? How do you create that sense of self worth in your child that causes them to take pride in what they do? How do you develop that sense of competition to be the best at something?
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