The Trip - About Ready to Go

I have a spring in my step and a song in my heart. For two reasons.

First, my kids just got back from Germany tonight, and they stopped here to visit before going back to their dad's house for some sleep before they go to work tomorrow morning (they haven't learned yet that people need an extra day to recover from jet lag).

Second, we've been in California two weeks now, and we're just about ready to head out for Montana. We've spent most of the time getting the house ready. I finally located a handyman who came and did the work I needed--the things I couldn't do myself. And today the junk haulers came and took away the junk that the previous owners had left for me behind the shed (lumber and an engine block), plus a couple things I had that weren't worth salvaging but were too big for the garbage can.

We've cleaned and sorted and hung curtains and weeded and planted. And we took Scooter to the vet's (ear infection, plus enlarged heart with fluid on his lungs--it's déjà vu all over again after Abby).

Today I left a message for the realtor to let him know that the house should be ready tomorrow to get the sign out front and be put in the MLS. We were finishing up getting the inside to look as much like a model home as we can with my stuff. And I still need to weed-eater the yard and then plant some flowers in the now-weed-free front dirt. We'll do that in the morning with the agapanthus plants (4) and the lobelia (4 six-packs) I bought.

But the realtor called to say he had a woman who wanted to look at houses today, and he would call later to let us know when he'd bring her over. So we went into more of a frenzy trying to get the finishing touches finished. We got stuff boxed up and stored away, cleaned and mopped and ready, except the yard. I even hosed out the garbage cans, which appear to have been used while I was gone as a nursery for some baby possums (this from my daughter's friend, who said the babies were so cute, she fed them), including the deposits of fecal material which reeked. The garbage cans smell better now.

Then the realtor called and said the woman flaked on him, and he'll try to bring her tomorrow, which will be fine, because we need to leave in the morning sometime after rush hour. And the house now looks fabulous on the inside, so the realtor scare was worth the panic.

All that to say that sometime tomorrow we leave for Las Vegas, where we'll spend the night. If you're there and want to get together with us for a meal or coffee (or tea) Tuesday evening or Wednesday, send me an email at skyepuppy77-at-yahoo-dot-com. I'd love to meet more of my readers.