The House

Our return trip to our old house started out pretty good.  So here are the positives ~

*the tenant had already vacated the house
*The upstairs had been vacuumed
*the trash was in the trash can

Here are the negatives ~

*every upstairs room had to be repainted (neutral) for selling
*the carpet had to be cleaned in one room from multiple spills
*the living room had to be repainted
*the dining room and kitchen needed paint touchups
*the laundry room had to be repainted and shelves put back together
*the master bedroom and bathroom needed paint touch up
*some of the built in shelves and hanging bars in the master closet had been removed
*the upstairs toilet was not operable
*19 lightbulbs had to be replaced
*11 fruit trees had been chopped down
*blueberry and blackberry bushes were gone
*pool maintenance equipment was gone
*yard had not been cut in over a month
*garden planters sported 2-3 foot weeds
*butterfly bush was gone

So we spent the weekend hard at work ~ with some playtime built in!  We did all the painting, touchups, got part of the closet built ins reassembled, fixed the toilet, got the grass cut (thanks to the Tapleys), raked, spread 24 bags of mulch.  Our muscadine vines had finally produced fruit.....lots of fruit ~ Amy and Will collected all that and we made jelly yesterday.  Austin and his parents came up Sunday afternoon and were a great help in all our work.  Plus we got to visit and have fun with them.

Sunday late afternoon, 3 families from our former church & homeschool group came over for a cookout/potluck/swim party.  They all graciously brought side dishes, grilled (thanks Steven), brought coolers, drinks, chairs to sit in, etc.  Lots of visiting, eating, kids swimming, and everyone got to meet Austin.  Our locks on the house got re-keyed thanks to our locksmith friend ~ David F. 

We hired a friend to do handyman stuff that needed to be done for the sale ~ upstairs hall has to be painted, from the living room up, 2 bedroom ceilings needed damage repaired (old damage before we bought the house 11 years ago), tile layed in laundry room (she also removed the "shelf" the washer and dryer sat on and laundry baskets stored under), and house pressure washed.  It goes back on the market today.

Pictures ~

Ragen

Sara

Lauren loved to jump in

my twin friends!

the pool gang

After years of coaxing Lauren finally climbed the slide ladder and went all the way down.

patio visiting

water fun

muscadines ~ we had pounds of these beautiful clusters

Yard cut and mulch spread ~ curb appeal

fun afternoon in the sun with friends of all ages

We are thankful for ~

an awesome real estate agent
time in our pool with friends
fun cookout
no structural damage ~ windows, walls, doors, etc.
water in the pool
friends that don't mind helping~(or if they minded, they hid it well! :)
4th fun at the MS braves game and wonderful fireworks show
trips to OEC, Backyard Burger, Dickies Barbeque & McAllisters
sweet hugs at our former church
Amy & Austin getting to spend more time together