Big Plans

My mind is spinning, and I'm getting that feeling of being overwhelmed. You know the one, where your shoulders feel heavy from the weight you have placed on them, your energy level saps, and you just want to run and hide. Preferably in your bed, with the covers over your head.

I have totally done this to myself. I made a decision, concocted a plan, and it is getting close to execution. I. Am. Terrified. I don't follow through on things. I don't make goals. I ride the wave of what life throws at me. Not very healthy, but I do what it takes to get through the day.

I am selling my house. At least, I am going to try my damn-dest to sell my house.

Little back story...

We live in a country club neighborhood, on a golf course. The intention when we built this house was to live in it for 2 years and then sell and build again. We put a nice For Sale sign in the front yard. Then the market crashed. And then the golf course got in trouble. And houses in my neighborhood either stood still with For Sale signs in the front yard or people gave up and took the signs down.

We meant to stay for two years...it will be eight next weekend.

I've been toying with the idea of trying harder to sell for a few months. Houses have began to sell again, others have put theirs back on the market, and the golf course isn't in trouble anymore. A few weeks ago, I visited an old friend of the family who just happens to be an interior designer and home staging expert. I invited her to see my house.

She had so many nice things to say. She loved the colors, she loved the layout. She loved the garage and the back porch and the bonus room. And then she said...de-clutter. Paint. Re-arrange every. single. room.

It was exactly what I had expected her to say.

I took next week off of work.  Not for a vacation at the beach, or on the lake, or in the mountains.

I did it so I can de-clutter my house. Pack up all the crap we have accumulated after a wedding and two kids and a dog and a cat that we don't need every day and send it away. To storage. The majority of the girls' toys will be gone. Our office will be empty looking compared to how it has been for the past 6 years. Closets will be bare. Even our storage area in the basement will be pilfered.

The scope of the work scares me. Three floors and eight years of crap.

I am an accountant. I don't clean, or organize, or re-arrange. I play on a computer and an adding machine all day and shuffle papers. Workaholic tears things apart and puts them back together for a living. I have often watched him from afar, to be honest in amazement, at his energy level and his gusto. He does this every day. He gets a plan in his head and executes it. 

I can't remember the last time I have done this.

The "de-cluttering" (isn't that word so insufficient??) is only the beginning. We have paint colors picked out and Workaholic has been instructed to call painters that he knows. After the painters the carpets have to be cleaned and repairs made to various things that kids and dogs have broken over the years. THEN, our friend returns and we re-arrange all the furniture and hang pictures and mirrors and buy fresh flower arrangements and clean some more.

And then, ONLY THEN, it will be listed with a reputable and successful real estate agent. 

I want to get all of this done in the next month. 

Wish me luck...I am scared shitless.