Never Dull

I was cleaning out my van on Saturday and decided I needed a rag. I went inside the house to get one when suddenly I heard a giant crash.

That really happened.

A burst of wind in an unusual direction + a weak spot at the top of the tree = Are You Forking Kidding Me?!

The good news is that I wasn’t under it, the garage is REALLY well built, and my van survived with only a pretty impressively cracked windshield.

The tree was quickly (and professionally) removed — so that is good.

There is indeed repairs to be done on the roof but that process is already underway and won’t impact the sale of the house or the closing date. That white door in the photo works just fine. I haven’t tried the automatic garage door opener but I bet it also still works. That garage is SOLID.

My daughter checked the security cameras and I had left the van/garage less than one minute before it happened. I cannot decide if I am really lucky or really unlucky 🤔🤷🏼‍♀️

Down in Boise, Moonshadow Obi had a near miss of his own — with a skunk 🦨

Luckily, he only caught a whiff so a bath took care of it. Isn’t he so handsome?! Thanks, Linda, for the photo and update.

Bright Star Atlas says he will just stay safe from trees and skunks by staying in bed!

Excellent plan, Atlas!

Happy Thursday ❤️

Another Step in Some Direction

This was the view from my deck at dusk last night as thunderstorms rolled through.

How is it possible that I will be leaving such a beautiful place?!

But I will.

The inspection contingency has been released — it was easy peasy. We are on a smooth course to closing on September 4, and then this chapter of my life will officially be finished.

I have a lot of feelings about all that 😱🤯💔🎉🦄😭🥹😳😬🌈🤞🏼😵‍💫🤩🥳🍾❤️

And no, I do not have a new house — yet.

But I will.

Thank you for your support, encouragement, and packing ideas 💡

❤️

Inspection

Home selling is a wild and stressful adventure.

Once an offer is accepted, the deal is not done — there are more steps and the decision-making power basically shifts to the Buyers. Sales contracts have various contingencies that must be released for the deal to proceed to closing; one of these is The Inspection (cue the scary music).

A Buyer can change their mind at this stage for any reason. A drip can sink the whole thing. Buyers are not required to allow the Seller to correct an issue and so the inspection phase is a great opportunity to act on Buyer’s Remorse, if so desired.

My house was inspected on Wednesday afternoon and on a Stress Scale of 1 - 10, it was a 24.

I knew the Buyers would be here for some of it and so I wanted things to be clean and nice. I also knew the inspector would need access to every place in the house and so the cats could not stay in the Safe Room; they had to be out of the house.

Claire helpfully tested one of the stove burners the day before inspection while I was outside setting up a cat kennel in the garage. Unfortunately, there was a plastic egg container on that burner.

FYI — it is very, very hard to get plastic off a stovetop burner.

I typically keep knobs off the stove but with all the showings — well, I forgot and so yes, this was my fault.

Because having to get the cats out of the house was not quite enough stress, I also had an extra dog — Daisy was here while her family visited Bethany’s parents.

Harper B and Daisy

I worked and cleaned and worked and cleaned. Hours and hours.

Finally, the house was ready and it was time to load up.

Some cats were very cooperative and went nicely into their cat kennel in the garage but one — age 15 and not very mobile under normal circumstances — waited until I was closing the kennel door, and then bolted with amazing speed and agility not seen in many years. A formerly feral cat, Carlos was quickly gone from sight 😭

The two younger feral cats I adopted 18 months ago were absolutely panicked at the thought of getting in a crate and it was a total circus, with one fear peeing on the floor (luckily it was vinyl flooring). This was not helpful.

I finally got the poor, scared cats in a crate and in the van. I cleaned and mopped the floor — because I needed one more thing to do. I also called my sister at this point, crying about Carlos being loose and just everything. Thank goodness for a calm sister.

With six dogs and two cats in the van, some cats in the garage, and Carlos on a walkabout — I finally left the house.

Sparkle and Capella were dropped off with Suzanne to have a playdate — that was very helpful. The rest of us spent FIVE hours driving.

Yes, five hours.

#neveragain

I knew where Carlos was — hiding in this giant bush off the deck.

I set up a trap and cameras.

The cameras spotted him investigating the trap but he has been trapped before and wasn’t hungry enough to fall for it again.

Last night (Friday) I saw Pozy at the fence and I figured she was talking to Carlos.

Pozy: Are you ready to come home yet?

Carlos: I am a badass Camper Cat now, living dangerously off the grid.

Pozy: You are literally under mom’s bedroom window, Carlos.

Carlos: Is there tuna involved?

I went out to investigate and sure enough, there he was.

I grabbed the can of tuna and raced around to where he could emerge from the giant bush if he so desired.

He was apparently hungry enough to give up the dangerous Camper Cat lifestyle because he came out and I was able to grab him.

What a relief.

Carlos, sort of domesticated once again.

And so with the capture of the Camper Cat, the inspection trauma was finally over — two days after the actual inspection.

I won’t know anything about the inspection findings until next week.

Whose idea was all this?!

Happy Saturday to all ❤️

(Including me because I sure need it!)