It's showtime!

I always think of "Beetlejuice" when I hear "It's showtime"...when Geena Davis says "Beetlejuice" three times and Michael Keaton appears.

That movie was a hoot. One of my favorite parts is when the dinner party sings along to the Banana Boat Song. (This one is in English but has foreign sub-titles...couldn't find just a regular one.)


Anyway, "Beetlejuice" is not the reason for my post tonight. If plans had gone according to schedule, I would be here right now.

But VivaAerobus cancelled my flight "due to the swine flu virus." In reality, I think it's because they weren't making any money flying out of Austin, so they've cancelled all further flights from there. Now they're flying out of Las Vegas, however. We'll see how that goes. At least I got my full refund.

The real reason it's "showtime" is because I've officially put my house on the market and signed all the papers last Friday. So this baby is up for sale. (No "For Sale" sign in the front yard yet, though.)

Since I've been thinking about doing this, I've painted the entire exterior. (I did the tile work in the front entry shortly after I moved here in 2004, so that wasn't part of my recent improvements.)

Close-up of the telltale real estate lock box.

So I have totally de-cluttered, de-personalized and minimized furnishings in the house. Very few knick-knacks, neutral colors, etc. Painted the living room a neutral taupe...

And the dining room...

And decided to move my desk/computer into the quirky room with the cement floor off the kitchen/dining area...

...on the other side of the window I made (and posted previously) to give it some aesthetic appeal. It was empty before and some people don't have the ability to imagine what to do with an empty "bonus" room, so I thought making it my office would give it some definition.

Painted my bedroom 'Vanilla Wafer' (boring but sellable)...

And bathroom (a kind of light sage green...slightly more interesting)...

And painted the little deck on the backside of the house. My garden ain't got nothin' on Beck's, Ann's and Vee's yards. I should have paid them to come out and give me some tips. I just planted a few more flowers and threw down some fresh mulch. It's amazing how fresh mulch will make a garden look so much better.

Even painted the garage. I don't mind painting the interior of the house because the final outcome is always so gratifying...especially when you're painting a vivid color. But painting my garage was damned boring because I don't spend any time in my garage...only to get into/out of my car and when I'm looking for a paint can or tool or getting the lawn mower. The most time I've spent in my garage at any one time is about two minutes...tops. Except when I was painting it...then it was like a whole bunch of boring hours. (By the way, all those red boxes are full of books which I'm giving to the senior citizens center who I keep forgetting to call to have them pick up.)

So I sign the papers on Friday afternoon and the real estate agent goes out to my house to take pictures and measurements. She said I wouldn't have any action this weekend because it takes several days to post. NOT! I woke up on Saturday thinking I had the whole weekend to do little odd jobs like dust the ceiling fans, swiffer the floors and wipe down the cabinets. I pulled into the Target parking lot where I was going to get some new towels for the bathroom so it would look spiffy, when I get a call from my real estate agent. Someone from her office wants to show my house at 3:00. What time is it now? 2:15. Forget about the towels...call Jared to get him to arrange his room and clean his windows. Rush home and do as much as I can before 3:00. Throw the litter box and cats in the car (because we don't want potential buyers to think we have pets) and drive around for an hour listening to MEOW! MEOW! MEOW! while they're climbing on the dashboard, around my legs, wondering why I am being so cruel to them taking them away from home in this strange machine. (Why is it that dogs LOVE riding in cars and cats HATE it?) And since we're in South Texas where the days are approaching 100 degrees, I have to keep the air conditioning on so that they're comfortable. Wouldn't want the SPCA on my back.

Oh, well...that's what happens when you're selling a house. I'll have Sunday to catch up on those things I wanted to do. NOT!! On Sunday morning, I got calls for showings at 11:00 and 2:00. Shit!! I got the 11:00 call at 10:00 and still hadn't mowed the yard so I asked them if they could back it up by a half hour...which they did. So I mowed the yard, threw the cats and the litter box in the car and drove around for an hour to MEOW! MEOW! MEOW! Get the hell in the back seat and shut up, for God's sake! (I didn't really say that, but I may have been thinking it.)

Okay, so we get through the 2:00 showing and I'm thinking "Whew! That was fun." Then I hear, "...have another beer in Mexico..." (That's my ringtone.) I look on my phone and it's from the realtor. Oh, God, no...please, no. Yep...it's another showing...at 5:45 tonight. I have about three hours and I'm so tired I don't want to do a damn thing. I should be glad that I'm having this activity but if it weren't for the damn cats (who I love, but maybe not so much when I'm trying to sell a house)! One last time today...throw the cats and the litter box in the car and drive around. By this time the cats were actually getting used to it and just laid down in the back seat...probably from being tired of the whole ordeal.

So these are a few things I did to boost the sale. Good smelling candle...

Fresh daisies on the table...

And even bought an inexpensive fountain with zen-like water trickling...

So I'm at work on Friday and I'm telling the UPS guy that I'm trying to sell my house. He says, "Isn't there something you're supposed to bury in your yard to give you good luck?" Hmmm...come to think of it, I had heard that myself but couldn't remember. Then the lab technician guy comes in an we ask him. "Yeah...I think it's St. Joseph...you should Google it."

So I did. And St. Joseph it is.

I guess you're supposed to bury him upside down next to the "For Sale" sign facing the house. I'm not Catholic but I've learned through the years that we should get all the help we can get, so what the heck...I got one. I don't have a "For Sale" sign yet, so I'm waiting to bury the poor guy (seems kind of cruel to me...especially upside down for cryin' out loud), so he's perched on my window sill above my sink.

So my office is the only place in the house where I have some momentos. These are sitting on the table next to my printer. My real estate agent was at my computer last week looking at local listings and she said, "So, is that your son?"

HaHaHaHaHaHa! That was a good one! I told her that was one of my favorite photos from Isla Mujeres...a little island off the coast of Cancun. I took this picture in May of 2007...he was one of the workers building the new pier. He was about 100 feet away from me and didn't have a clue I was taking his picture...which makes his cocky pose genuine.

Well, I wish I could be like a bug in the window and hear what potential buyers think about the house.

And, finally (thank God)...it's time to relax...

Spring Chores

I won't be blogging as much in the near future because I will be doing a lot of work on my house and lawn that I've been wanting to get to for some time and this will be taking priority. When I first moved into my house almost five years ago, this is what the front lawn looked like.

This is what it looks like today.

It has been a continual work in progress and has taken over four years to cut back what was there when I moved in. There's still more work to do, but at least it's not as overwhelming as it used to be.

My first project of the season has been to paint the outside of the house. This is what the back deck area used to look like. It certainly didn't look bad, but after the five years I've lived there, it definitely needed repainting. I actually like the look of the trees coming out of the decking in this picture, but they were growing so much that when you went out there, you would have to duck under the limbs and most people want a patio area they can use for sitting or entertaining, so I took those out. (That's my youngest son in the chair not wanting his photo taken.) By the way, another big difference is how green the yard is. When I moved here in the summer of 2004, it was a very rainy season which you can tell by the green grass. We haven't had a good rain in I don't know how long, so now all the grass is brown.

So this is it now after the re-painting and taking the trees out. Looks a little more stark but more functional. (I should have moved the grill before taking the photograph.) I painted the door on the left dark red about a year ago, but didn't paint the door on the right. I know they should be consistent, so now I need to decide whether to paint the red door white or the white door red. Any opinions on that?

I was painting the front doorway area and took the light fixture down so I could clean it. I went back outside to put it back up and this is what I found when I opened the door.

Silly Nutter Butter. I mentioned in a prior blog post that Nutter was a stray that my son brought home from Olive Garden one night. Her prior owners had her spayed and declawed. I've never owned a declawed cat and it's been very interesting to see how she makes up for her lack of front claws. She is very adept at catching lizards and shrews from the field behind my back yard. In case you don't know what a shrew is, here you go:

Even though it looks like a mouse, it is a mammal...not a rodent. They are actually pretty slow-moving creatures (they kind of shuffle along because they're so low to the ground...and I don't think they're real smart), and Nutter brings them in to have a little fun batting them around. I'm sure the poor shrew is thinking otherwise about having fun. So it's a game of running under the furniture away from the cat while Nutter runs back and forth from one side of the furniture to the other trying to catch the little critter. So I put Nutter in the garage while I grab a towel and throw it over the terrified creature and release it back into the field.

So I've digressed. The whole thing about Nutter's ability to adapt to not having claws is pretty amazing. When she climbs up the ladder, she actually wraps her paws around the rungs and pulls herself up. It's almost like she uses her paws like we use our fingers.

But all the amazement went to the wayside when she started climbing into the planter box. Don't push it, Nutter.

Another digression. I always get a Hibiscus to plant in my planter in Spring because they remind me of Isla. I bought this one about a week ago for ten bucks. I walked outside this morning and couldn't believe how many blooms were on it...and had to take a photo. Usually there are about two or three. This was just too beautiful.

Critters

Since everyone posts pictures of their pets, I thought I'd do the same. But I'm going to include the critters other than the ones I'm responsible for, as well.

Here's the head honcho...Bud. Bud's looking very smug here, but he's actually a very sweet cat. When my son and I went to check him out at six weeks old, he was the only one in the litter who looked like this...the other six were tabbies or calicos...proof that cats can have litters from more than one dad. Plus, he was the only one who hissed and had his ears back when we checked them out. We took a chance and it paid off. It took awhile, but now he's a very lovable guy to have around.

This is when he was just a wee little thing.

Then we got this little gal. My son, Jared, had a part-time job at Olive Garden and he felt sorry for this stray who would come around for scraps. So he brought her home one night. She must have belonged to someone because she is spayed and declawed. Who am I to turn away a stray? But, I swear that one white whisker irritates me and every time I notice it I want to get a scissors or a tweezers. Don't worry...I won't do it. Don't want the SPCA knocking on my door about pulling whiskers out.

We named her "Nutter Butter" because she looks like a chocolate bar with caramel drizzled on top. Here's Nutter with Jeffrey, my oldest, chilling on a Saturday evening. One thing I've noticed about Nutter, she never ventures farther than the yard. I think having been a stray, she's come to appreciate a comfortable home. I'll let her outside, but she never wanders.

Here are a few pictures of the "not so tame" creatures:

My yard backs up to a little field where these guys graze. If you've never been close to a cow, they're very different. They have long pointy tongues that curl up when you feed them something. Kind of weird. They love Frosted Mini Wheats, but don't like celery.

These guys used to be there, too, but someone has taken them away. I miss them very much. They would always come up to my fence for treats. They loved Toasted Mini Wheats, too, by the way. I hope they're doing okay. I know they were very old horses.

I've posted this guy before. You can have him.

My brother, who lives about a half hour away from me, sent me this pic of a coral snake in his yard. His wife told me that they have to gnaw on you for awhile before the venom takes effect. Nice thought. Welcome to Texas.

I'm posting this in response to a couple comments I got on my Landa Park post. This is the duck with the weird things on its beak. Carl called it a Muscovie. Is that right, Carl?? Not the most attractive duck I've seen in my life...just kind of weird.

That's a short post for me. The Comal County Fair is coming up next week, so that will provide some interesting pictures. Till then...adios...