Many, many, MANY years ago when I was a younger mom trying to stay above the household chaos and clutter, I read this book by Marla Cilley, a.k.a. the Flylady. She had some great tips on how to keep a house clean enough. Not showroom ready. Just ready enough for a neighbor to pop over for a cup of coffee without causing your premature death due to embarrassment.
I remember Marla mentioning this important point:
Would your house be ready if your spouse came home one day and announced that the family was moving to Peoria? Would you need six months to get it ready for the realtor? Six weeks? Six days?
At the time, I remember thinking "Yeah, like THAT ever happens in real life."
Did I mention that I was a much, much younger mom? Did I mention that I had not yet begun a nine year odyssey in corporate relocation?
Why do I mention this now?
Because it nearly happened to us last month.
And when we were presented with the possibility of another corporate relocation, my stomach did a little lurch.
We were not ready.
We have only lived in our Pittsburgh house for nine months. It is a quirky old colonial nearing its fiftieth birthday, and while it has a lot of charm, it also has a long list of necessary updates.
Bathrooms that needed painting.
Windows that needed new rods and draperies.
A kitchen that is a little rough around the edges.
Yard and garden projects that are waiting for spring weather.
Thankfully, we received the good news that a corporate move was not necessary....today. But that doesn't mean that it couldn't happen tomorrow.
It got us thinking about tackling that list of home repairs, sooner rather than later. And it has also got me thinking about how quickly one can get comfortable in a house and lose track of the accumulated clutter.
No time like the present!
We're pushing up our sleeves and getting serious about home updating and repairs again. You never know when opportunity can come knocking on your door. When it does knock, I don't want to be too embarrassed to open the door.
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