House on the market is hard

Have you heard of the book Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six Word Memoirs? In case you haven't, here's the Amazon review: Can you describe your life in six words? That's what the editors of storytelling magazine SMITH asked readers in 2006; the results, though decidedly uneven, make for compulsive reading and prove arguably as insightful as any 300+ page biography. Taken as a whole, this cascade of quotes from contributors famous and unknown creates a dizzying snowball effect of perspectives and feelings. Highlights from professional writers and artists include journalist Chuck Klosterman wondering, "Nobody cared, then they did. Why?"; pop singer-songwriter Adam Schlesinger lamenting, "We still don't hear a single"; and comic strip artist Keith Knight illustrating "I was a Michael Jackson impersonator." At their best, these nano-memoirs evoke the same kind of rich emotional responses as a good story: 9 year old Hannah Davies considers herself "Cursed with cancer. Blessed by friends"; Zak Nelson says "I still make coffee for two"; Scott Birch claims "Most successful accomplishments based on spite." Some entries read like bumper stickers (Rip Riley: "No wife. No kids. No problems"), and others are just plain weird (Amy Sedaris: "Mushrooms. Clowns. Wands. Five. Wig. Thatched"), but this compelling little book will have readers and their friends hunting for favorites and inventing six-word self-definitions of their own. This review in six words? Read. Enjoy. Pass it on. Repeat.

Right now mine could be house for sale leads to divorce. It's killing us, I tell you! In an effort to keep the house show ready most of the time, we are rarely relaxing. At night after we do the usual clean up there's a deep clean to do, papers to file away, laundry to fold and put away, our desks to straighten, etc. It is really stressful to leave the house knowing that while you're gone someone might come in, and if they do you want them to have a good impression of not only your house, but of you.

In my search for a new house I've been to at least two places that were completely messy, dirty, and cluttered. In one there were plates of half eaten food on the kitchen counter, dirty diapers on the floor, and laundry spilling over the beds. Last week we walked into a lovely from the outside house only to find beds unmade, the toilets peed on and overflowing garbage. I hope no one ever sees my house that way.

But because of this pressure to have everything just right, I am on edge and snapping at everyone. The least little thing out of place makes me uptight, because I know there's a good chance I'll be the one picking it up or putting it away.

We're going away for Spring Break and I hope lots and lots of people view the house while we're gone, leading to an offer so we can stop showing it!