"This House Is Clean"

Right now, our house is feeling well and truly exorcised.

Yesterday was my first experience in hiring a professional cleaning crew.  A team of about five ladies showed up and tackled the worst of the worst and in about an hour's time. That kind of speed is incredible, and my hat is off to them.

This week it's the "finishing touches"- little details that were not as important a goal than making sure the house was gutted, arranged and cleaned. Now I get to focus on the details of deep organization, gardening and showing off the house to the best of its ability.

Enjoy progress pics and a slide show here below. As a small warning, I've learned how to use the panorama feature on my phone.

Letting Go

Today marks the end to a difficult week. Both Kent and I had to say goodbye to some truly wonderful co-workers. No cliche says it better than to mark this as "an end of an era".  

The next week is something that I've both been anxious to start and dreading for it to begin. This next week, I dedicate myself to cleaning my house and  getting it ready for the market. Unfortunately both Kent and I have learned that instead of working from home this next week, he's heading out of state to spend a week at his employer's California office. This means I will not have a week with my best helper to get the house ready. 

I will have to do it solo, but it is not something I mind so much. I know that I will hit my moment of 'zen' and be one with the windex. 

And the house needs  to be cleaned this week before anything else can proceed. To sell, you need to clean and repair your home, and then "stage" it. A big part of it is "staging" the house to show off its most attractive qualities. 

Thankfully some friends and family, are helping me empty my house: 

And, what won't empty my house, We'll have to donate:

I'm sure this post seems like it is about loss. Jobs, Possessions, Home. Right now I'm not feeling any loss. Letting things go feels like letting things heal, especially when trying to recover from such an abrupt change to our lives.

As I look around at everything that has to be done, I'm feeling a sense of both anxiety and relief.  Anxiety for the future. There is so much to be done and not too much time to do it in. Relief, because having a tidy, clean house is always something I will enjoy no matter where we end up.