When a house is not a home

At long last 939 Wisconsin is on the market (MLS #: 07174364). Wow, what a long strange trip this has been. More than six months of intense activity and work while we watched the realestate market plummet. Like Ryder said, we don't need to buy a new house, we have a new house. This is what we did.

• new construction, porch conversion to office/vestibule with crawlspace, upgrade electric to 200 AMP service.
• remove stairwell wall paper and new paint
• pack up all the stuff (part one) and move 30 boxes of books to new crawlspace
  
• finish molding/baseboard trim projects (in progress for >15 years)
  
• living room paint and sand and refinish hardwood floors
• master bedroom, carpet removal, wall repair and new paint
• load up POD with 1/2 our belongings
• donate 1/4 of our belongings to charity
• bathroom paint
• 3rd bedroom clear out, repair and repaint
• sunroom stain and finish baseboard, repair veneer on paneling, paint ceiling
• kitchen repair plaster and repaint
• clear out and clean out basement
• hire Olga to do deep cleaning including blinds
• hire McMahon to clean windows in and out
• rearrange furniture, put down new rugs
• trim yews and paint front steps, clean flower beds
• pack up even more stuff
• clear out pantry
• throw out even more stuff

Now, all that we need to do is find a new place to park my commuter bike and make the vestibule into a room, instead of a bike garage (grudgingly).

And then we can start to work on the yard and garden, which we would naturally do now anyway.

Now we have to walk on eggshells, don't make messes, keep the house spotless and free of clutter, and hope that someone likes the house as much as we do and will turn it back into a home.

though I must say, last night cooking dinner in my own kitchen was an act of great and restorative normalcy.

ok, deep breath. I guess I better get some real work done. Med lectures, grant and paper writing, and oh yeah, packing up the lab. At least no one is going to come to my office tosee if they want to buy this place. My office and lab are now my refuge.