Counters

The Bank countered on the big house. We dwell on what to re counter. Do we do the much smaller practical house, but a tight fit, well with in our budget, needs work, but has a lovely yard, and is much older, 1955, or go for the big house that needs yard work, is younger, 1989, has lots of possibilities and space, but a little stretch financially.

Tom loves the big house. It could be a real show stopper. I could do either one. Both are great choices. We wait until tomorrow to hear if the small one counters. Hard choices ahead in the next 24 hours.

In had my nephew over today. He is staying a couple days with us. His day camp doesn't start until next week for the summer. He wandered around playing bounce the ball, while I worked on the kitchen. I tackled the top of the cabinets. All the decorative bowls and ceramic chickens that have sat up there for four years came down and had to be washed. They were so dirty it looked like fur was growing on them. I scrubbed the top of the cabinets with concentrated cleaner to cut through the built up grime. I was thrilled with my progress. It was a big accomplishment to clean off the cabinet tops. It is an area often missed and a dead giveaway of bad housekeeping, like the top of the fridge or microwave.

I wanted the "sit abouts" to dry fully before I pack them so they are still sitting on the counter. The kitchen counter is a mess of clutter. Some of the birds are made of hammered tin and could easily bend or crush. I will need to wrap them carefully. They need to be completely dry so they don't rust. I had a couple of Toil painted serving trays. Just washing them caused scratches in the paint. I had to be so gentle to clean them. They had been my grandmothers at one time, true vintage serving trays. They would look right at home in the 1950's house.

My white rooster was covered in brown fuzz. The color change was dramatic after washing. All the bowls looked clean and bright by the time I finished. It took hours. I will do the silver tomorrow. It all needs to be polished and dried also. Everything washed today will be carefully wrapped and boxed. The counters will be cleared to prepare for the next items to be wrapped and boxed.

The movers said the kitchen takes the most time. Honestly, I am avoiding the garage. I will get as much done everywhere else, then tackle that disaster of a garage. That room may just need some thrift store deliveries to clearance. But everything has to be gone through first, since all the papers were messed up when they were put in the garage while preparing the house for sale. I should move what I know for sure I am keeping into the house. That might help bring the mess down to a dull roar.

Today I made a significant dent on one room. I will continue to plug away so when we do move we are ready for it. The boxes are piling up heavy and full. I opened up one of my linen boxes and used the linens to wrap breakable china. It seemed a more practical and efficient way to pack than using news paper. I was out of paper, but this way I didn't have to stop work to go find a new supply of paper.

My printer ran out of ink. I will need to get new ink before any more contracts or extensions arrive to be printed out and signed. My neighbor generously let me print off the last contract at her house. 20 pages of disclaimers to protect the real estate agents from their clients. Only the first page is the important one, stating we want to buy the house that is for sale, and at what price. The rest is so much legalese. Tomorrow I will get ink though so I am not running to my neighbor's again. It is no wonder we ran out of ink with the number of contracts I have printed out.

We offered on the dive at least three times over the course of three months. Now it is beyond our ability to salvage. The big house and now the vintage, both contracts were at least 20 pages long for the standard contract. Nothing fancy just lots of nit picking from the realtors.

Cleaning the house is keeping me distracted while we wait. Luckily with all the kids visiting the TVs all have shows I don't want to watch and the computers are all taken with games. Not much choice but to pack. Keeps me focused on what I need to be doing. But I do need to pick up ink. I will hopefully be receiving more papers to print out tomorrow. Just have to figure out which house we want to have with two different offers now out there. We will see who responds with what first.