Happy Monday! It was a whirlwind of a weekend! Our house is under contract with a very short escrow. So this Saturday was the inspection. I guessed that the new buyer would want to bring family out to show off the house they were buying (which they did!), so Wizard and I cleaned as if showing the house, took Maggie and were gone before 9am. When we got back, we had both Middle Son and his wife coming out, plus a notary for another set of endless documents. We got the notary done, then took the kids over to see the house. And after that we all went out to dinner and just hung out. And Kudos to Middle Son and his wife for braving nightmare traffic due to some road closures to get out here. Wizard and I truly appreciated their effort.

Once they left, Wizard and I were exhausted from two weeks of nonstop cleaning, showing, going through offers, etc.

Sunday, Wizard was able to go racing, and I had a nice morning of a long walk with Maggie, a yoga practice, then as I was finishing getting ready to go see my sister, the fire department knocked on my door. Okay, it was a single firefighter, but it sounded more dramatic to say it was the fire department   We had literally just put in a request to have a fire inspection because we live in a fire zone a day or two before and they already showed up! But actually it was pure luck because he was inspecting a house up the street that sold weeks ago. The firefighter told me that if he hadn’t been able to work our house in on this stop, we’d have had to wait another month which would have delayed escrow. This is a California new requirement for the sale of the house.

Can I just say that it’s ridiculous that our firefighters are having to do this?  Our fire crews here are invaluable and need to be available instantly, not off doing inspections that some city employee could be trained to do. Our house is fine, because we fully understand the fire danger and don’t invite fiery disasters with dead brush or debris.

Also,  a little humor. When the firefighter was at my door, I was figuring out if I should let him go through the house to the back or not. So I asked him, “Are you really a firefighter?” LOLOL! I didn’t think a bad guy would say “No, I’m a serial killer trying to get in your house.” But this guy answered, “Ill show you my badge and I don’t need to come inside your house, just walk around the outside of it.”  That was the correct response. So I had him come through the house because Maggie was in the backyard and I didn’t want him to scare her.   And yes, he was in a uniform, but I was looking for the right body language. Plus he knew we’d submitted the form through our escrow company less than 48 hours ago. All that said, my question of “Are you really a firefighter,” still sounds dumb, LOL. He took it in stride through. As it turns out, he’s married and has an 18 year old daughter, so he fully understand I was evaluating my safety.

Once that was done and signed off, I went to the new HomeGoods store with Biker Witch and we had lunch. I got to catch up on her Hawaii trip. I’m jealous in all the good ways! But I also LOVE that she got spend a week with her daughter.

When I got home, youngest son was in our driveway getting ready to leave. He saw me coming, and hung out with me for an hour or two. I love when he stops by so I’m glad I caught him before he left.

It was a really good weekend. I’m sure this week will be busy and spring-loaded with some small stresses here and there, but soon, if all goes well, we will be renters here in this home until our new home is ready! And so far, that is still on track for early August.

How was your weekend?

TGIF! Time to share 5 random things about our week. I’ll start

1. Stuff is happening here, but I can’t talk about it yet. That’s frustrating for me!
2. It’s hot again! Really hot. It feels like it’s going to be a really hot summer. We’ll see.
3. Maggie has been confused because we’ve moved her kennel and other stuff in and out, leave the house, etc. I feel bad for her because we can’t explain, but after a day or two, she’s gotten the hang of it. By the way, we’re not “hiding” that we have a dog, this is so we can make sure we clean before showings. When they look in the garage, they’ll see we have a dog. Or if they look in the panty, there’s a whole shelf of dog items.
4. A couple nights ago we ran to Home Depot and took Maggie with us. I did something I rarely ever do. I let a “stranger” give her a treat.  Maggie was thrilled! They lady worked at Home Depot and had a bag of dog treats in her apron pocket. She was clearly dog savvy and asked me first, showing me the treats. She ended up giving her two small pieces pea-sized pieces of the treat because Maggie’s a con artist, but this lady was totally on to her tricks, LOL. I was impressed. I know it may sound harsh, but due to Maggie’s previous really bad bladder stones, I’m strict about her diet, and I don’t always trust strangers and their idea of treats. But this was perfect timing, Maggie had a stressful week, which is why we took her to Home Depot with us just to get her out, and then she got a surprise treat in Home Depot. Like I said in #3, for about a day and a half, Wizard and I noticed she wasn’t herself, mostly like from the stress of having the house up for sale. Of course, we worry that it’s the lump on her tummy, but that’s truly less likely. (Reminder, I do have a vet appt for her on June 22nd).
5. On Saturday, we have some house-related stuff to do. Sunday, we are hoping Wizard can go racing, and I can meet up with Biker Witch. While I talk to my sister every day by text, I want to see her in person to hear about her Hawaii trip, plus we have a new Home Goods store we want to check out just for fun.

Well those weren’t the most exciting five ever, but hopefully I can talk about more next week. Now I’d love to hear about your week! I hope you have a great weekend!

Just a Wednesday funny. This year I will have one of those milestone decade birthdays. I haven’t thought much about it because we’ve been focused on other stuff. But…

Monday morning I had an appointment to get some routine blood work done. (Why I would schedule that for 8 am on a Monday after a weekend of open houses makes me question my judgement, lol)  There was a line, but I finally got signed in and found the last chair to sit. Then I saw a mature woman come in, and debated if I should offer her my chair because I’m younger…and that’s when it dawned on me that I was probably as old as her. LOLOL! I’m hoping I didn’t snort in laughter at myself, because that might look strange.

Anyway, before I could offer her my chair anyway because she looked like her health wasn’t great, another man in the office offered and she declined.

I got my blood work done, then crossed the parking lot — and nearly got hit by a car. Well it wasn’t that close, but close enough to scare me into jumping back.  The lady parked and never noticed me. I’m guessing she really needed caffeine I went into the Starbucks, and no lie, I saw 4 motorcycle cops sitting at the table with a view of the parking lot. If the woman had hit me, I would have had some good witnesses!

Happy Wednesday everyone!

It feels like a year has passed in the last couple days, LOL! So…we bought a new computer, but haven’t been able to set it up yet. I’m on my laptop typing this, but it seems to be running fine, so yay for that. We should get the new one set up today. I figure we will have the office torn apart and someone will want to see the house, because life has a strange sense of humor.

Wizard and  I had to be gone for the open houses. Saturday was sooo long because there was an appointment after the open house closed and traffic help them up for an hour and a half. A long day! But we did get in a visit to Wizard’s mom and that is worth a lot. We try to see her as much as we can, but time, distance and traffic make it a challenge. Sunday went much faster as we only had to be gone for four hours.

The market is shifting here in CA, but seems still decent. I don’t know what will happen, and Wizard and I are just following the plan, trusting our relator to do her best, and not letting ourselves detour down Stress Alley.

Maggie has a new boyfriend, this one is human. I don’t judge Although I do think she broke his heart a little. So we were picking her up, and this guy came in and we assumed he was another client. Then he asked if we were picking up a dog. Wizard and I were confused, since the owner was getting Maggie for us and we had no idea who he was. But we said, “Emily is getting Maggie for us.”

This guy lit up. “Maggie! She’s so sweet. I gave her a bath and she kept snuggling up to me.” Then he introduced himself. And he kept raving about Maggie.

Wizard and I finally caught on that he worked there, chatted with him, and then he went in the back.  Wizard was paying and I took Maggie outside.

The guy comes running out to say goodbye to Maggie, and she’s like. “Later dude, I see my car.”

That’s right, my dog was all sweet and loving to this guy when he was taking care of her. But once she was with me, and saw the car parked in the lot, she barely said goodbye. But then he crouched down, and she let him have about 15 more seconds of her time, LOL.

As for me, I’m just happy she has people taking care of her that genuinely like dogs. So while Maggie’s love can be fickle, my appreciation is real and lasting!

And lastly, Wizard and I had two really good lunches and a dole whip float over the weekend. We’ve been eating too much since the previous weekend. This house buying and selling stuff is costing us both $$ and calories!

So that was my weekend, how was yours?

TGIF! June is here! I don’t know why I’m excited, LOL. Now let’s getting sharing five random things about our week. Also I’m posting this on Thursday afternoon to bypass the scheduling since it’s unreliable for me lately.

1. Our desktop computer locked up and then when I had to force reboot it, it refused. And refused. And kept refusing…so after 7 hours of struggling with it, we went and bought a new computer. We came home…and the computer had booted up and was running. I swear it’s true. Both of us laughed In any case, we knew we needed a new computer so it’s all good.
2. I took Maggie to the vet for a routine appointment with the tech (not the actual vet). While waiting, a woman came in with two dogs and sat near us. Maggie made friends with both dogs, then when the woman held out her hand, Maggie loved her so much, she sat and leaned on her leg. While Maggie’s friendly, but this level of trust so quickly surprised me (in a good way!).
3. Maggie also has a lump on her stomach that is likely a lipoma–a harmless fatty tumor. Both the experienced receptionist and I think the lump is a little harder than we like, so I made a vet appointment to have her check it out in a couple weeks.  I’m doing this because when Maggie had her bladder stone surgery, we discovered that she was spayed in an unusual way and still has her uterus, which ups her risk a bit. But I’m not worried right now as she seems healthy overall. This is one of those judgement calls — do I want to spend some extra money for peace of mind? In this case, yes. Wizard was okay with it too.
4. So our house is up for sale. Yesterday our realtor came over to retake a few of the pictures we took. And by we, I mean Wizard took them while I cleaned, arranged and vacuumed each room ahead of the pics. Guess who was sulking (with good humor) about his pictures not being good enough???? And guess who teased him about it???? Wizard is such a good sport. Truthfully, we both appreciate that the relator has more experience which gives her a better eye on how to get the best pictures.
5. This weekend is an open house. There are so many things I’d rather do, LOL! But this is part of the process and we’ll do what it takes. Maggie will be going to boarding for those two days. We’ve told her it’s her “spa weekend” since they will give her a bath while she’s there. I’m not sure she believes us, but she’ll have fun.

So that’s my five, now I’d love to hear yours! I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!

I’m listening to a book that I consider a great example of how dialogue should be done. It’s called BOOK LOVERS by Emily Henry. If any of you are looking for examples on how to write great, snappy and fresh dialogue, read or listen to this book. If you are not a writer but enjoy reading smart and fun dialogue, get this book. The dialogue moves the story forward, stays true to the characters, all while entertaining the reader.

The heroine is a literary agent and thinks in terms of tropes and character types — especially in regard to her dismal love life. The hero is a hard-ass editor with very strong opinions. When he annoys her, she sends him bigfoot erotica. Just as any high-powered, self-respecting agent would. Or is that just me???

I am finding this book fresh and fun.

You know what’s not fun? Getting a house ready to put on the market. This book is keeping me smiling — or at least not screaming — during the process.

What’s the last book that kept you smiling?