Sell This House | BulgingButtons

June 24, 2014
by BulgingButtons 4 Comments

Chaos in My Corner of the World

The Replacement Bulb

Did you know that halogen lightbulbs for pools installed in 1996 are difficult to come by? They are. There is one of them available in the United States right now, and it is currently in Dallas, Texas. I, however, am not currently in Dallas, Texas. It doesn’t matter though. I need that bulb. The bulb alone costs about $35.00, and then there’s the shipping cost. Of course if I want it in a hurry, it will cost more.

I have lived in this house for a little over two years and have never had a functioning pool light. Apparently I’ve been living on the edge, because this is a hazard, according to the inspection that was done on the house. It wasn’t a hazard back when my inspector looked at it, but now it is, and it’s up to me to remedy this situation so that my buyer doesn’t stub his toes in the dark when he goes night swimming. Having this responsibility makes me feel important, like I have a civic duty to keep my fellow human being safe from this apparently very real threat.

Why is it that when I’m the seller I have to bend over backward to change and fix everything, but when I’m the buyer I’m lucky if the air conditioning even works? The kicker is the house I’m selling is priced considerably less than the one I’m buying! Still, I’m really excited to say that I’m buying my next house. I found it last Friday, looked at it again on Sunday, and wrote an offer last night. This morning it was accepted. HOORAY! There are lots of good things about it, and a few things that are less great, but right now we’re not going there. Right now we’re trying to get out of THIS house. That means fixing a few things and packing a lot of things (well, everything actually) and doing lots of chores, like calling the utilities and setting up a forwarding address. What a pain.

I’m trying to remain calm and take things one step at a time. It’s tough, though, when all progress seems to grind to a halt over a single lightbulb (that I went to four stores to locate, then called two other places before, hopefully, finding it in Dallas). Hopefully the bulb issue will be resolved shortly, so that we can figure out why the new bathroom faucet is leaking. One step at a time. One step at a time.

June 23, 2014
by BulgingButtons 11 Comments

Racing Toward Milestones

Next week I will have been blogging for exactly one year. Holy cow! When I started writing BulgingButtons it was really for me, but I HOPED that someone, anyone really, would read it and chime in with a comment or two. Well, the good news is that you DO read it, and chime in often. I love reading your feedback and seeing where our experiences overlap, and where they differ.

It’s amazing to me that people from all over the globe (and I mean that quite literally) have stopped by and added their two cents to the conversation here at BulgingButtons. Sometimes we disagree, but more often we have similar experiences, and most of us are glad to know that we aren’t alone.

Soon there will be 1,000 people following this blog. That completely blows my mind. Yes, I know that not all 1,000 read every pearl of wisdom that finds its way into the blog, but that’s ok. There are still an awfully lot of you who do read and respond, and that just makes me happy beyond belief.

Have I reached my goals with the blog? Well, yes and no. Do I have a forum for sharing my ideas and a reason to write on a regular basis? Absolutely. Have I achieved my personal goals (aka the 47 for 47 challenge)? Hell no. Did I expect to? Not really, but if you don’t have any goals at all it’s harder to achieve anything. At least it is for me.

So far I’ve achieved almost a year of blogging and almost 1,000 followers. That blows me away, and I’m pretty tickled about both of those milestones.

Now the real life milestone. My house is supposed to close next Monday, so then I’ll officially be homeless. I do have a place to stay, thank goodness, and I’ve found a house I like. Tomorrow we’ll submit an offer and see what happens. Wish me luck. This is an incredibly stressful process, as many of you can attest to, and just not that much fun. It will all work out in the end though, it always does. Still, any positive energy you can send my way would be much appreciated.

And to those of you that have been around for a while, thank you so much for your encouragement. For those who have just found me, WELCOME! I hope you find this a safe, reasonably sane, and occasionally fun place to spend your time on the web.

Now which do you think we’ll hit first, one year or 1,000 followers? The race is on!

June 6, 2014
by BulgingButtons 2 Comments

Hummingbirds and Home Sales

Wednesday morning I was greeted by one of my favorite sights as I left home to teach my summer writing workshop. Just as I raised the garage door and prepared to enter the car, a hummingbird swooped into my yard for a long sip of nectar from one of my obliging plants.

I love those little guys. I love how they hover and dart about from place to place. I love their tiny bodies and their brilliant colors, and I love their impossibly long narrow beaks. I can’t help but smile when I see a hummingbird. I always feel as though they have chosen me personally to grace with their presence, and I take it as an honor.

I got in the car with my whole attitude changed. All of a sudden I was sure it was going to be a good day, and before I drove off I sent a text to my sweetheart saying so. He quickly fired one back stating that he was sure it would be too. I happily and safely drove off to campus, looking forward to the morning’s session with my 9 young writers. They have been a pleasure to work with because of their creativity and enthusiasm. I arrived on campus, and took the short walk to my classroom building, where I was greeted by… yes, another hummingbird. Wow, a two hummingbird morning. Life is good!

The morning session went well and before long it was time for a break. When I glanced at my phone I saw a text message from my realtor. Really? He’s on vacation. In Hawai’i. It had to be something important. It was. It was an offer. A real offer from a real buyer.

So far everything seems to be moving forward. I don’t want to get too ahead of myself, but I do feel some pressure to find a new place soon. I feel good about the situation this time. Better than last time. I’m pretty sure it will all work out, because, after all, why would the hummingbirds lie?