My new buddy: Mr. Clean

We haven’t even moved into the house yet and we already had our first dance show.  Yesterday.  Amazingly the girls waited two days after getting the keys to perform for us.  The yard is rather large – enormous compared to the one at our old house, so the girls have lots of room to run, play, do cart-wheels and dance.  They are so excited to have the outdoor space.  Although you would think that would stop them from fighting, but noooo.  Oh, I can only dream of that day!

The last three days have been filled with bottles of Mr. Clean, Lysol, and Windex, armed with long yellow gloves, buckets and a humongous pile of rags.  Let’s just say it’s been a ton of fun.

As of Wednesday morning, the previous owners were still at the house and I was anxiously waiting for them to make their exit.  They had lots of family drama go on over the weekend, which delayed their departure, not to mention their inability (or desire) to pack.  So finally by Wednesday mid-day, I was “Just leave.  Leave now.  Leave all of your junk.  Leave the dirty house.  Leave the garbage.  Just please exit as I really want to get in and get started on making it MY home now.” 

OK, so I really didn’t say these things to them, but nicely said something similar.  It was a bit of a difficult situation because they had been my parent’s neighbor for the last 32 years and I knew there were family dynamics playing a part in what they were dealing with and why everything seemed to be such a struggle.  But by delaying the inevitable and “trying” to clean wasn’t going to help anything or anyone.

Little did I know how dirty the house actually was - I had a feeling, but it's nice to wish for more than what you think reality is going to be.  And by me saying “dirty”, I’m being VERY nice right there.  I almost took a picture of my mom’s face as we were scrubbing down one of the rooms yesterday…I asked her if her facial expression was of “ugh, this is hard work and I’m really tired right now” or “OMG, this is so disgusting.  I need a good shower now!”  Obviously, my wish didn't come true.

The house needs a lot of work, but nothing that we are not capable of doing and nothing that we haven’t done before.  The end goal is what I keep remembering and staying focused on.  The long term potential is exciting for me to think about.

The girls are very excited to get settled in and already know which rooms are theirs.  Katelyn has already measured her room and furniture and had decided on the layout for everything.  She’s ready to move in now!  Vanessa has just been enjoying the fact that she can do cart-wheel after cart-wheel and not run out of room in the backyard.  Paige just loves the fact that the house is empty so she can twirl until her heart is content.  We have lots of work ahead of us and soon it will become our home where we’ll enjoy an evening sitting in the backyard while the girls play on the grass.