The house goes on the market today!

Well, we've finally gotten through this stage of chaos. The house goes on the market today.

The wallpaper has been torn down (about ten square feet of it by my and my kids and friends, the rest by the professionals after we realized there was no way we'd get it done) in the kitchen and it's been painted some bleaugh neutral house-for-sale color. It's covered in new granite.

The walls have all been cleaned with Magic Eraser. This makes me sad, because one of March's favorite pastimes is jumping up and slapping the top of the door frame, just like mine was when I was a kid. And I had to erase all those finger prints off the door frames :(

90% of our furniture, knickknacks and stuff has been sold (eBay or Craig's List), given away (Goodwill or freecycle) or stuffed into boxes in the basement.

Our front door has been painted an appropriate Feng Shui red.

The above ground swimming pool has been removed and replaced with a rather odd looking 15' round garden of impatiens and greenage. The grass has been watered. The windows have been professionally washed. The roof has been repaired.

Every light fixture has a brand new lightbulb.

I spent last night craning and twisting my neck, painting the ceiling in the sunroom, where the roof leaked (hmmm, apparently no one told the window washers that they needed to cushion the feet of their ladders when standing on a roof). I didn't fall off the ladder.

Now, comes the worst and hardest part. The waiting and stressing, and keeping your house looking like a Stepford house.

These last few weeks I have not been a good SuperMom. I've spent no time whatsoever with my kids, and have been cranky whenever I've seen them. They started school this week, March started middle school. I've barely heard about it, and can't name their teachers. Quality time with Mommy has largely been me yelling at them not to touch this or that. Sigh, it's so hard to have it all sometimes!