Our Home on Arizona Avenue

The house is on the market. As of the time I'm writing this, we've had one showing. Welcome to a soft housing market in a small city. 

To commemorate the tidiness of our home, here are a few pictures. Mind you, I doubt we can keep up this level of declutter (we do keep the place clean). But I thought I'd let you see what the magic of camera filters can do. 

Our grass really is this green, thankyouverymuch.

This originally was earmarked as my sitting room. However, Buck used it as his man-cave up until last week. I'm sitting in that chair right now typing this up because my desk is packed.

Oh, and that green table? Buck refinished it last winter. He's very proud of it and we like it.
I fought Tessa to keep it in the house. That's also my Dad's stained glass lamp on top of it. The table on the other side of the chair was also one of my refinishing projects. 

For the record, that fire is photoshopped. The table in the forefront is solid walnut, and yep, refinished.

I hate that backsplash.

Polly is housesitting for Tessa this week. She brought back the bedspread. 

The greenhouse looks so small. The yard is pretty large. And the grass really is that green thankyouverymuch. 

The Coffee Shop Crawl

Deb had never been to the Stained Page. How this happened, I have zero idea. So, I met her Friday morning at the best coffee shop/book shop in town. Don, the owner, greeted me (adding to Deb's theory that I know everyone in town). He also told me I'd sold another book (squee!). 

I'm here a lot.

Anyway, Deb and I sat and visited. For me, I hadn't been out of the house much for anything memorable in weeks. The packing the house had been priority. But spending time with Deb is always special. I know it's coming to an end soon, but I'm trying not to think about that. 

After enjoying my tea and she enjoying her coffee, we made our way a quarter mile to Good Luxe, another local coffee shop. We just breezed in, decided their selection and prices weren't for us and breezed out just as quickly. 

We didn't feel the vibe.

From there we went to the newest coffee joint in town. I don't know the name (it used to be called Alley Cats). This old time train car serves coffee and "food." However, they were out of coffee. We ordered a breakfast burrito plate to split. I asked for water and was told they don't "serve" water. So, I asked for a cup of ice. They do serve that. Deb looked at the beverage selections and opted for beer to go with her Mexican breakfast. She was disappointed on both fronts. First, she ended up with a non-alcoholic beer. And second "breakfast burrito" was a generous phrase for this lump of unacceptable grossness. I believe it is covered with soy cheese filled with mock-sausage. We ate about two bites and high-tailed it out, with my cup of ice in tow. 

Inside an old time train car

Toxic waste

After that atrocity, Deb and I walked around downtown. She showed me where the Woolworths used to be. And the JC Penny. And the first Dillard's Department Store* had been located. She told me of coming to downtown Texarkana as a teenager and a young adult, giving me town history and sharing her lore.  At some point, we meandered into a cute little gift shop. If I wasn't in the process of packing up my worldly belongings and if Marty wasn't out of work, I might have dropped a few bucks on another garden gadget. Probably. I mean, can one really have enough garden whirligigs?  

Downtown Texarkana (Arkansas)

As we made our way back to the car we made one final stop at Kilwins. They'd just opened up as well and were nowhere near as icky as the train car place. Kilwins is an ice cream and candy chain, with locations all over the South. I'd never heard of them before last Friday, but I had plenty of time to check them out while Deb shopped for gifts for a few Coronas who have birthdays coming up. 

There happens to be two locations in the Orlando area. So I've heard.

I've decided, when I grow up, I want to be just like Deb. 

*A word about Dillard's Department Store. The FIRST location was a small five and dime in Nashville Arkansas--about 50ish miles from here. Mr. Dillard wanted to expand, so he closed his Nashville location and opened a bonified department store in Texarkana. That was the flagship for his empire, which happens to have its corporate headquarters in Little Rock. 

Just a Day in the Life

What a day! After a master gardener event this morning, I met the Thursday lunch bunch at Jason's Deli. The ladies suggested many ways to make my house not sell, including they'd drive by and throw trash in my front yard. What a way to tell someone they'll be missed. 

When I got home, I stared at my ultra-clean house and sighed. Today is the last day before our home goes on the market. It's clean and all but Roosevelt cares about this. Roosey would rather eat the silk flowers Tessa brought over and knock the vases to the floor in protest. Not that I blame him. 

Anyway, after about thirty minutes of wandering around aimlessly, I convinced Marty to go on a road trip. We ended up in Idabel Oklahoma, which is about an hour away. I'd tell you it was a cultural excursion, but we'd both know I was lying. Idabel is a dump.

For those of you who love-love-love Oklahoma!
This is the "Welcome to Oklahoma" sign taken in Arkansas while driving 70 miles an hour.

Marty and I did find one thrift store, which did not have my 9" mixing bowl I'm trying to replace. I was told by the shop owner, what I'm looking for is "valuable" because it's pyrex (lower case). It isn't. I can replace the entire set of mixing bowls for less than $20 mail order. I only need one bowl. So, the the hunt continues.

We also wandered into a weird convenience store/fast food restaurant called, "Braums." I've heard folks in Texarkana rave about the place, waiting for one to magically appear in our town. However, I didn't understand the appeal with the overpriced groceries and a questionable-looking kitchen to cook a burger.  

I did find a place called "Mia's." Though we didn't stop, I did take a picture of the front and side and sent it to my pal, Mia*, telling her if the whole physician thing doesn't work out, it looks like she has a backup plan and it consists of Jesus and diabetes. 

Mia replied, "I like you, even if you are crazy and watch baseball." 

The side of Mia's Sweet Tooth 

After all our travels, Marty and I stopped by Big Jakes BBQ and bought an order of ribs. We made it home by 5 p.m., made a salad and ate dinner. 

 

*One of these days, I simply should write about my pal Mia, who I spend almost every Wednesday with. But not today. 

Staging

The house is more or less ready to be listed. I guess. Or I thought it was when I told Tessa to order the photographer. 

When I sold houses in Arizona, the rule was less is more. Declutter. Depersonalize. If you have pictures on the wall, it distracts buyers from looking at the features of the house. But, what do I know? 

Our décor style is minimal-eclectic. Most of this has been boxed and stuck in Uboxes. We bought new stuff 28 years ago. Since then we had gifted artist children, whose pictures (and photos) graced our walls. I've refinished several pieces of furniture, which we use. My children have quilts which were hand-made and live on their beds. Plus, my father was an accomplished stained-glass artist, and I have several of his lamps and this beauty that I love, and I would have done a lot of low and dirty things if my brothers even thought about claiming this for themselves when my father died. 

My Daddy made this.

Anyway, Tessa came over yesterday and decided our décor was too white trashy "abrupt" for buyers. "Abrupt" she explained would turn buyers off. For example, the table cloth on our kitchen table "makes the house look like old people live here." Or--hear me out--the table cloth hides the stained and scratched kitchen table. She brought over a table runner and jug to decorate our kitchen table. That table runner will not be on the table before we wake in the morning, because the Overlords LOVE playing under tablecloths when nobody is looking. I'm moving the jug to the counter. Oh yes! She also put an area rug under the kitchen table. Why? I don't know. Something else to vacuum.

Additionally, Tessa told me to buy more fruit for my fruit bowl, because it looks "too empty." I can't eat more fruit! I eat an apple a day, buying enough apples to fill the bowl would be another 10 day's worth of apples. Nope. 

She felt our bedspread needed to be changed out to bring "color" to our bedroom. Because, white and purple aren't colors, I guess. So, she brought us new bedding. Because colorful bedding sells houses. 

This hideous bedspread is being removed exactly
1.3 nanoseconds after the photographer leaves. 

She also insisted that Polly's quilt should be covered up, calling Polly's quilt "old lady" which totally pissed off my daughter. To Tessa's credit, she didn't have any comments about the lamp in her bedroom. 

Colorful but not as unsightly as my bed. But Polly wants her quilt.

To be fair, Tessa is a great agent. She sells more than anyone else in the area. She has great instincts. But I honestly don't think that adding throw pillows to my couch or grouping my lighthouse pictures on my wall and adding a nautical shrine to a corner of my house that never had, needed or wanted a nautical shrine really matters in a starter home in Wake Village. This isn't a Paradise Valley mega mansion. 

I'm not making this up. 
(excuse the paper towel roll)

The housing market is soft. I don't expect this house to sell very quickly. So, maybe adding fake flowers and white rolled up wash cloths in my bathroom (you know, for "color") will be what it takes to bring in a buyer.  

Getting the House Ready

Oh the act of moving is so delightful. We've been packing, cleaning and getting on each other's nerves for the last two weeks. Our steam mop finally decided it had enough and gave out today.

Thank you for your service

Don't Mess with This One

Found this photo when I was cleaning out something this past week. Polly from our trip to Galveston a couple of years ago. 

Packing Update

Not to brag or anything, but today the Sunshines ate take-out chicken wings at the kitchen table. All four of us. On one mostly-cleaned off table. And--get this!--we moved enough boxes out of the way so that Luna could get to her water bowl. Because that's the crazy way we roll. 

In other news, we have three Uboxes completely packed and the master bathroom has been deep cleaned--except the floor, which I'm too tired to do anything about right now. 

In other-other news, with random doors open as we hauled stuff outside, Leon only escaped twice today. The second time I found him by looking into the sky and seeing where the hawk circled. $*%&! cat. 

Oh yes. I want to commemorate our clean garage in posterity. We earned it.