An Eventful Couple of Weeks

Things have been pretty eventful since my last post.  We signed the listing papers for the house on Saturday, 16 June.  The listing went "live" on MLS on Monday, 18 June.  We had a showing that night, two showings on Tuesday, 19 June, an offer (which was insultingly low and we rejected) on Wednesday, 20 June, another showing on Wednesday, a showing on Thursday, and an offer which we accepted on Thursday.  It wasn't quite as high as we wanted but it is a good offer and the timeline matches what we needed.  So our home sold in about five days.  Not bad!  The unfortunate part -- a few days ago a full price offer came in on the house but we can't take it because we already accepted the other offer.  Boo!  But it's nice to know there is interest in the house and all of our hard, hard work paid off.

Friday night, June 23, Mark and I headed north to go on our househunting trip.  We drove to Columbia, SC, that night and stayed at a hotel that is usually known for a high level of customer service and good customer experience.  The customer service was fine....customer experience, on the other hand, was not so fine.  The hotel was completely booked due to two conventions and a wedding.  I had to call down to the front desk around midnight or 1 am because it sounded like there was a party, complete with a football marching band and drum line, in the hallway.  We didn't get much sleep because it was so loud.  We got up Saturday morning and tried to find a Chick-Fil-A to get some breakfast...no such luck.  I think our GPS doesn't like downtown Columbia.

We drove to Virginia and went to stay with an online friend of mine.  She lives in Maryland, just two and a half blocks away from the border with the District of Columbia.  We drove by the Pentagon (wow, it's huge!), saw the Capitol and Washington Monument, and drove through downtown DC.  That was an interesting experience.  My friend and her family were so kind and welcoming and her son and husband made a lovely dinner for us.  They live in a neat community and it is a completely urban lifestyle -- something Mark and I have never experienced before.

Sunday morning we got up and headed toward Woodbridge in Prince William County, which is where we had narrowed our housing search.  We scouted out a few neighborhoods and rental properties and went to church in one of the wards there.  It was a friendly, inviting ward in a lovely new chapel.  The gospel doctrine class was great -- there were only about 10-12 of us in the class, but the entire class was filled with discussion from the class members, whereas in our ward we don't get as much discussion.  I think part of it was the small size of the class and part was the fact that the class was in a room and not the chapel with everyone spread out.  Whatever it was, I enjoyed it.  After dinner we scouted a few more areas and went to dinner at the home of someone I will be working for in my new job.  He and his wife and children were very kind and sweet and we enjoyed spending time with them.  They were able to give us great information about the area, neighborhoods, where to shop, etc.  My only regret is that it looks like we won't be living there after all (see a few paragraphs down), because I was looking forward to having them over for dinner and offering to watch their children so they could go to the temple....

On Monday we met with our realtor and visited several homes.  Some of them were strange...like having the ceiling in each room painted the same color as the walls (pea green, or purple, or aqua, or yellowish peach...).  Some were in neighborhoods we just didn't love.  But we found one that we liked and we really liked the area.  We decided to look at it again the next day.  So back to the hotel we went.

On Tuesday we went and looked at the house again and decided to put in an application.  Then we drove around to different schools so Mark could try to meet the principals in his job search.  It was not a fruitful afternoon -- jobs that were posted as being available had already been filled.  It was frustrating.

On Wednesday we spent the day driving to Stafford County to check on jobs there (same result as Tuesday), and going to more schools in Prince William County (same result as Tuesday).  I ended up getting carsick and wasn't much fun at all.  I had poor Mark leave me at a small strip mall so I could be out of the car while he went to visit another school.  It was pretty frustrating and we decided that we would leave to go home on Thursday, with Mark continuing his job search the next week, possibly by coming back to the area.

Thursday morning the realtor called and needed supporting documentation for our lease application so we got that together and then went by the school district office so Mark could talk to someone in their HR department.  Again, not very fruitful.  They had no explanation for why they continued to post jobs that had already been filled and told him he needed "face time" with the principals.  Except it's hard to get "face time" when you live in a different state....  We headed to the mall to get some lunch and then something interesting happened.  As we were leaving the mall, my cell phone rang.  It was a principal in another county calling to schedule a job interview for Mark.  We weren't sure what to do so he told her he would call her back.  We found a wifi connection and looked up the area on the map and decided to go ahead and drive up there and check things out.  It was the first solid job lead we had had all week.

We drove to Loudoun County, about 45 minutes away.  Mark called and left a message for the principal that he wanted to interview and that we would be in the area that afternoon and the next morning.  We got to the area and drove through a quaint, historic downtown area and then got to the school, which is huge and new and gorgeous.  Mark was very impressed with the turf on the football field.  :-)  Unfortunately, the principal wasn't available and my anxiety level steadily increased throughout the afternoon/evening as she didn't return Mark's call.  All of my frustrations and worries over this move came to a head and I had a lovely breakdown.  Not proud of it, but that's what happened.  Poor Mark had to put up with a lot of that on this trip.  I have learned that I DO NOT like change, uncertainty, and moving!

Friday morning Mark decided to go to the school and wait until the principal could see him.  It was the right decision because when the principal arrived at the school she said she would interview him right then.  The interview must have gone well because she said she wants Mark to teach at her school and she is going to forward his name to the school district office to fill the job.  YEA!!!  So it looks like we have a job....in a different county than the house.  We still haven't heard back on whether we got the house or not.  We liked the house and the planned community it was in, so that's sad.  But it's just too far away.  So now we need to find a house in Loudoun County (Leesburg area).  Mark will go back up there this week to meet with a realtor and hopefully be able to find a house quickly.  We are impressed with the schools, at least from the information on their website, and Brie is especially happy that middle school doesn't start until 8:30, unlike the 7:30 start time here.  It is an expensive area to live and I'm a little apprehensive about that, but we have to go where the job is.

All in all, it was an interesting week filled with lots of growth opportunities!!!

On the Market

The for sale sign went up in the yard yesterday.  The house feels so empty -- it actually seems to echo in the kitchen.  Mark, Alyssa, Melissa, Bryan, and my parents worked SO hard to get the house ready.  (Brie and I helped, but they definitely did the bulk of the work.)  The challenge now is to keep the house clean so it can be shown on very little notice.  We're hoping to get people looking at it soon.  The house will go into the computer system on Monday so hopefully the realtor will start getting phone calls....our fingers are crossed.

It is so strange to be in a house so empty and so clean.  LOL  It doesn't feel lived in at all.  It feels sterile and boring.

Brie is home from girls' camp and had a relatively good time overall, although she definitely didn't like the campground they used for camp this year.  Sounds like there were a lot more bugs than there were at the campground they went to last year.  The house was too quiet with her gone this week.

Mark and I will be driving up to Virginia next Saturday to do a house hunting trip.  Should be interesting....I keep hearing about how horrible the traffic is going to be in the area we're looking at, like two hours to go 10 miles on a Saturday...and that makes me nervous.  But it's just too expensive to live in some of the other areas that are closer in and have less traffic.

This has been an emotional week.  I definitely could have used my ballet classes this week to clear my mind and focus on something else for a while!  I really want a beach trip soon...not in the cards for this coming weekend, but maybe the next weekend or the next....

A Little Progress.....

Well, we seem to be making progress, although at times it is hard to tell.  The major accomplishment over the last few days was Mark, with the help of Alyssa, Bryan, and my Dad, getting the new kitchen and laundry floor put in, and the new kitchen countetops are almost done.  Still lots of painting and touch-up work to be done in the kitchen but it's getting there. The challenge now is to figure out what needs to go back into the kitchen and the cabinets and what can be put in boxes, so that it looks like there is as much room in there as possible.  I feel like we're doing all the work that the movers are going to be paid to do, boxing things up.  It's quite frustrating.

The girls' bedrooms are getting there, also.  Alyssa still needs to sort through and box up more clothes and shoes, but the main cleaning is done.  I haven't started on our bedroom yet, really.  I guess I'm going to work on that this afternoon, as much as I hate to do that on a Sunday.  We're just running out of time.  The realtor is coming over tomorrow night to get the paperwork signed to list the house.  We haven't even started on the outside.  And all of the wood trim throughout the entire house needs work...patching up, filling in, and painting all of it.  Not to mention that the hall needs to be completely repainted, and the living room and kitchen need to be touched up and the master bathroom needs to be repainted.  *Sigh*
There is just SO much to do, and at times (ok, always) it is overwhelming.  People keep asking if they can help but I don't even know where to begin to take them up on the offered help.  I wish I had a master checklist and I could just make copies, hand it to people, and tell them to just pick something on the list and do it.

Mark still hasn't heard anything on job interviews, and that makes me nervous.  He is a good teacher and very marketable, but it makes me anxious that we're moving somewhere so incredibly expensive and he doesn't have a job lined up yet.  Prayers would be greatly appreciated.

A Colorless Home

The dining room (formerly cranberry on the bottom half of the walls) has been painted the same color as the living room, entry area, and hall...the girls' bathroom (formerly a lovely aqua/sky blue) has been painted that same color, and so has my scrapbooking room (formerly light yellow) and Alyssa's (formerly hot pink) bedroom, and Brie's (formerly aqua/sky blue but not the same as the bathroom) bedroom.  All a perfectly lovely but perfectly boring shade of tan/beige/whatever.  The color is very, very close to Benjamin Moore brand paint in "Lenox Tan".

I have observed to Mark several times in the last week or so that this just doesn't feel like our home anymore.  Tonight, while fixing dinner with me, both girls made the exact same comment.  It just doesn't feel like our home.  It is still our house, but it just isn't our home.  The pictures will be coming down off the walls and all traces that the Gisseman family made this their cozy home for the last 11 1/2 years will soon be gone.  It's so sad.

Our home is not large, it was not overly expensive, and it is not elaborately furnished.  We're pretty sure it's the smallest home in our subdivision.  There are things I would definitely do differently if we were to rebuild this home.  It's always messy, although I prefer to say that it looks well-loved and lived in.  I never wanted a home that was always pristine and showed no signs that a family actually LIVED in it.  I have at least succeeded at that, LOL. 

But this has been a good home.  It is where letters to Santa were written, where the Tooth Fairy knew to find us, where Brie learned to ride a bike and Alyssa was picked up on her first date.  It is where we planted and tended a garden and enjoyed the fruits (and vegetables) of our labors.  It is where my children made friends and had sleepovers and parties.  It is where we piled on the couch with the dogs to watch movies and TV.  It is where we have made many happy memories.  It has been our home. 

The memories will go with us...at least those that we remember and can take time to write down.  But this house is more than just its walls and doors, windows and floors, creaks and quirks.  This house has been a loyal member of our family for 11 1/2 years and I know I will miss it.

As I opened Alyssa's bedroom door this morning to let one of the dogs out, it didn't really hit me that it would probably be the last time I would be greeted by the glow of her hot pink (really, really hot pink) walls in the morning as the light came through her window.  As I walked by Brie's bedroom this morning, it didn't really occur to me that it would probably be the last time I would be greeted by the cheerful blue of her walls.  My girls' bedrooms, and the colors of those rooms, reflected their personalities.  Alyssa -- glamour, girly, dramatic (not in the sense of having drama in her life, but in the sense of wanting to make a statement with her life).  Brienna -- bright, sunny, full of life.

And now, this evening, those rooms are colorless.  Resigned to boring beige, which the realtor assures us will help the house sell quickly.  The house will be a blank canvas for another family, who hopefully will build a life and and memories of their own, and turn this house into a home again.

Ballet

It's very quiet here this morning. I usually sleep in a bit on Sundays since we don't have church until 1 pm, but this morning I woke up around 6:30 and found myself tossing and turning and unable to get back to sleep. That could be because I'm so sore from this weekend's activities. No, not preparing for the movie. I performed in a dance recital. Yes, you read that right. Me, in a costume, on stage, in front of people. Surprisingly, I really wasn't nervous at this recital like I was at the first two I performed in. In fact, I found it odd that I didn't really feel nervous at all, other than the last couple of minutes before the curtain went up for our first piece. I don't know if it was because I knew that this was probably my last chance to do something like this (who knows if I'll be able to find a studio with adult classes at my skill level in Virginia...), or what. But I wasn't nervous. (Thank goodness for prayer!)

All week long I had been reviewing the steps in my head as I went about my various activities, but even as late as Thursday night I was struggling to remember the order of the steps in our tap routine. I finally got them. We performed three numbers (one of them twice) at dress rehearsal on both Friday and Saturday -- one en pointe, one ballet, and one tap. It was fun and I cried and cried when it was over (in the car on the way home) because it was over and I will miss this part of my life and the wonderful friends I have made through it. Either my daughters or I have been going to Ms. Patricia's School of Dance and Gymnastics almost every year since we moved here 12 years ago. Patricia is one of the sweetest people I know. Brie started taking tumbling there again this spring and will take a "summer fun" tumbling series there this summer. This year, after some personal struggles, I thought I was going to have to give up my beloved ballet classes but Patricia came to me and said that she just wouldn't let me quit and she knew how much I needed those Monday night dance classes and she made it possible for me to continue to dance. I am forever grateful for that. And my teacher, Ms. Beth -- oh, how I love her. She has been my teacher, my therapist, counselor, example, friend, and one of the most giving and kind people I know. Even as she struggled with severe health problems earlier this year and had to cancel classes for a month, she always had a smile on her face and strong, strong faith. I love how she ended each class with a prayer, all of us in a circle holding hands as she said a prayer of gratitude and prayed for whatever needs individual class members had at the time. She is so sweet and I will miss her. I am planning to meet with her a few times this summer so she can help me choreograph a barre workout that I can do at home (did you know most kitchen counters are the right height to be used as a subsitute barre?) so I can at least keep up my basic ballet, pointe, and tap skills.

I really don't know how to explain why I love dance so much. One thing I like is that it is exercise but it doesn't feel like regular exercise. I can't explain that...I know it sounds silly. It is a very disciplined art...controlled movements requiring exact placement and movements. I think, honestly, it can take a lifetime to truly master it. But there is something very freeing in movement that is so controlled. As I focus my mind on muscle control, posture, feeling the rhythm of the music, body position, and movement, all of my other cares and concerns flee and for that hour and a half all I feel is joy -- really, that's the best way I can describe it. Joy. The endorphins at the end help, too! I am usually sore at the end but it's a good kind of sore. And I am definitely sore today!!! I ache all over -- especially my feet -- but it is a good feeling. The kind of feeling where you know you accomplished something wonderful.

I am not comfortable having my family watch me dance. I think that makes them unhappy, but really, I dance for ME -- solely for ME. I know that is selfish. But if they are there (and I know because they were at my first recital), I am worried about not messing up and wanting to be perfect for them and it changes the experience for me. I lose that inner focus on the dance and movements and the motion and the joy. For my Christmas recital this year, I didn't even tell them when/where the recital was! I finally broke down and told Mark yesterday morning when/where the recital was (he knew it was yesterday but that's all he knew) but told him that he didn't have to come, and if he did come, I did NOT want to know about it in advance. Crazy? Maybe. But when I dance, even though there are other people in the class and in the performance, I selfishly dance just for me and for what it does for me personally.

So yesterday, I asked one of the girls in my class to take a picture as we were warming up so that I could prove to everyone that I really did put on a costume and perform. She took the picture with my phone and I posted in to Facebook. One of my friends took the picture and edited it and made it really wonderful....she got rid of the people in the background and made this something beautiful that I love. And so here it is.... Yes, I'm not looking at the camera. Why? I don't know -- it just felt too posed and unnatural. I was trying to figure out what to do with my head and arms when Amber took the picture. And I like it this way.

Door Knobs and Drawer Pulls and Hinges, Oh My!

An update on this week's adventures in moving preparations.... -Why is cabinet hardware so expensive? And why can't door hinges for cabinets be universal? Because changing out hinges is such a huge hassle (as we learned when Mark refinished the vanity in the master bathroom), we decided to leave the hinges as they are in the kitchen and just replace the cabinet door knobs and drawer pulls with something in some sort of antique bronze or hammered bronze or something that would go with the old looking hinges. It has been a real effort to find something that would work. Mark finally found something that will do. No what I would use if we were staying here, but at this point in time it's the best we can find. Cabinet hardware is SO expensive. It's crazy to pay that much for a cabinet door knob. -And speaking of door knobs, I wanted to change out all of our door knobs throughout the house to brushed nickel or satin nickel but the price for that was crazy, too -- $400 if we had purchased everything through eBay. At this point in time, with the discouraging price forecast for our honme, I'm just not able to spend $400 on door knobs. And, of course, switching out the door knobs would have meant also switching out the hinges.... -The dining room is now painted and looks like a generic dining room. We had a beautiful cranberry color on the bottom half of the walls. It is now gone. The girls' bathroom is now painted -- no more aqua blue. Now it's the same tan color the rest of the house will be. It looks so strange and impersonal to me. I am looking for a new light fixture for their bathroom. -Mark re-popcorned the ceiling in the master bathroom yesterday and he did a great job. It's nice being married to a handyman!! -We met with the realtor again and she has done a downward adjustment on what she thinks we can quickly sell the house for. We will be lucky to break even. I need to get in touch with the government relocation program office to ask more questions about closing costs and things like that. If it turns out that we're going to lose money if we sell, we will probably just try to rent the house for a while instead. *Sigh* -My husband is now unemployed. STRESS! We are hoping to hear very soon from one of the several school districts he has applied to. We know we are supposed to make this move and so I am trying hard to hold onto my faith and to hope and not get discouraged, but it is hard at times. The tears have flowed on more than one occasion. But we will press forward and hope and pray for the best. -I really need a trip to the beach but won't be able to do that until the house is on the market. I'm so in need of some beach time!

Remind Me Why I'm Doing This....?????

The next time I get the hare-brained idea to apply for a job that will require me to move my family 750 miles away, sell our home, start a new job, and look for a new job for my husband, please knock me over the head with a 2x4, because maybe -- just maybe -- that will knock some sense into me. Actually, I'm going to blame this one my Mark and Dad who seem to have really pushed the idea. Dad, are you trying to get rid of us? I am trying so hard to have faith but there are times, like this very moment, when it's so very hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. As of May 30 my husband will be unemployed, since he is leaving a perfectly good, stable, secure teaching job so we can move. Not only is he leaving his teaching job, but giving up the opportunity to be head boys basketball coach at the school where he teaches -- something he has wanted to be as long as I have known him. I am having a pessimistic moment. We have SO much work to do to get this house ready to sell. We have SO much work to do to get this house ready for my in-laws' visit -- and they arrive tomorrow. No sleep for me tonight. I have been having some health issues and saw my orthopedic surgeon today to get some test results. They don't look good. In the big scheme of things it's not horrific, but right now it's just not good. I will be seeing a rheumatologist in the near future, I suppose, for further testing and hopefully a diagnosis. Rheumatoid arthritis is a definite possibility, along with other joint problems. My husband does not have a job where we are going. We have moved like this before -- with him not having a job lined up before we moved -- and it worked out fine, as he is wont to remind me regularly as I have these pessimistic moments. But I would feel so much better about things if the school district there would at least call and schedule an interview for him. Just something to give me a little hope on that front. Alyssa is graduating from high school on Saturday. And the tears are already starting. I'm not ready for this. I haven't done enough to prepare her for the real world. I haven't done enough to prepare her to live on her own. I'm stressed about paying for the expenses that her scholarships won't cover (but in good news, she received another $1000 scholarship this week). There is so much to do right now, and just not enough time to get it done. Although I am continually blessed with answered prayers, the one prayer that has not been answered is my prayer for more hours in a day, less need for sleep, and more strength and energy to do the things that really, truly must be done ASAP. Oh, and did I mention that I have to speak in church on Sunday? And haven't had a chance to start writing my talk yet? And that I'm also playing the piano for seminary graduation Sunday night, where Alyssa will be singing in a group number? Yeah, I think it will be rather difficult to see the sheet music through the tears. Here's a word of advice -- just leave well enough alone. Maybe "good enough" is just that -- good enough. But on the other hand, there is a huge world of adventure out there just waiting for us...if we can just manage to hold on long enough to get there.