What I did on my Spring Vacation

I have finally made it back to Montana. For all of you who have emailed and otherwise commented on my lack of blog posts in the last three months, here's my excuse: I've been in Mukilteo and Whidbey Island the whole time. And I've been BUSY.

The main thing that kept me there was helping to wrap up my parents' transition from their big five bedroom house to a two bedroom apartment in a Retirement Community. We moved them there at the beginning of January. I returned the first week of March to do what everyone calls "downsizing" for them. It consisted of getting their house ready to sell, putting it on the market, and sorting through and disposing of all the accumulated possessions that they couldn't fit in their new digs.

Back in January, my brother David and I tore out the old, worn carpet from the family room of their house, and replaced it with laminated oak flooring. But the kitchen and family room, both of which were re-floored, ended up at different levels which just didn't work. So when I came back in March, I took most of the new floor out and put a new sub-floor under it to bring it to the level of the kitchen floor. Then I put the floor back down again and replaced the trim.


After that I repainted every room on the main floor of the house, replaced a bathroom sink that had a big chip in its enamel, sanded and stained some windowsills that had sun damage, pressure washed the driveway to get rid of the thick growth of moss there, and replaced the handle and latch for the sliding glass door to the deck.


I rearranged the furniture that had not been moved to the new apartment so that every room looked furnished. Apparently, this is called "staging" a vacant house for showing. I don't know anything about that. I just didn't want it to look bleak and abandoned. The biggest problem was that the master bedroom, which is huge, did not have a bed since they moved their king-sized bed with them to their new home. So I built a box the size of a king-size bed out of lumber I had lying around on Whidbey, put some slats across the top, and covered it with a foam pad and a bedspread, and voila! It looked real enough that someone who was looking at the house sat on it, and fell through between the slats to the floor. Oops.

When most of that was done, we put the house up for sale. This entailed keeping it clean and making an attempt to keep the garden in order while random real estate agents and their clients stopped by and toured the place. I stayed there off and on while working on various projects, and it was always exciting wondering when someone was going to barge in, since the place was listed as vacant. I got up early and took quick showers.
Then I started the arduous process of sorting through all the accumulated possessions of 60 years to see what needed to be kept in the family, what needed to be sold, and what needed to be given away. I learned how to use ebay and craigslist. I took part in the Great Mukilteo Garage Sale, when every other house in the town has a garage sale, all on the same weekend, so serious garage sale shoppers from all over the area come to town with pockets full of cash and go from one sale to the next. Then, I had another garage sale two weeks later to get rid of the things that didn't sell the first time. I hauled boxes and boxes of books to a used book store. Meanwhile, I carted things over to the new apartment that they didn't want to part with and we tried to find a place for them.

I was agonizing over what to do with the family china and crystal and silver, which had belonged to my mother and my grandmother, when I heard that one of my nephews had just gotten engaged. Suddenly a light bulb went on! Three nephews and a niece had either gotten married or engaged in the last few years, and maybe they would like to start off with the family heirlooms that my siblings and I had no room or use for. It seemed like a long shot, but I asked anyway, and hallelujah! They all wanted the stuff. So then I spent several days carefully packaging a large quantity of delicate china and crystal in a way that would allow it to be shipped across the country without arriving as crumbs. I did not get time to send them all, so there are now twelve giant boxes in the garage waiting to be shipped. I'm pleased that it will all stay in the family, and that I don't have to try to sell it for a pittance to strangers.
While all this was going on, I took on what I thought would be a two-to-four day project fixing a spot on my bathroom floor in my Whidbey house where water from the bathtub had gotten in the plywood and made it rotten and soft. Well of course, like all simple projects, this turned into a major disaster. It turned out that the rot had spread under the tub and into the structure of the bathroom wall. I ended up having to take the bathtub out, remove ceramic tiles from around the tub and from the floor, and cut the cement board a few inches above the tub so that I could get it out. Cement dust ended up coating the whole house (Yes, I know I could have prevented that by closing the bathroom door, but I didn't think of it until too late). I had to cut part of the wall studs and base out as well. Then all the rotten wood had to be replaced and sealed, and the bathtub put back in place in a way that would not allow the water to spill over onto the floor again. All of which meant that I could not bathe at home on Whidbey Island, but had to take the ferry over to Mukilteo to use Mom and Dad's house, hoping no real estate agents would barge in while I was in the shower.

Three months went by in this highly amusing way. I took an occasional day off to visit a friend or attend the 40th anniversary of my old karate school or drive to Richland to visit Tom. But mostly I went back and forth between working on my Whidbey house and working on my parents' house in Mukilteo. Lots of people were looking at the house, but no one was buying. Finally, I decided I had to go home to Montana. Tom has guests coming here in the end of June and early July, and I have work to do to get the house ready (a small issue of broken plumbing from last winter). So I set a date to leave, thinking Mom and Dad's house would be on the market most of the summer.

As soon as I gave up and planned to leave, there was an offer on the house. After a bit of negotiation, a price was agreed on. An inspector came and looked at it and gave it the highest rating for overall condition, but still listed lots of picky little things that we had to negotiate around. An agreement was reached. The closing date is July 18. So after I spend a few weeks here in Montana, entertaining guests, I will have to go back to take care of the picky list of minor repairs and dispose of the furniture that was used for staging and clean out the house so they can move in. Oh, and replace the wall and floor tiles in my bathroom on Whidbey while I'm there.

But, of course, I was very happy that the house sold. In today's market, it is not easy to find a buyer. My parents are happy to have it almost over with, but they are sad to lose their beautiful, cherished home so finally. The garden there was a labor of love for 30 years, and it is absolutely magnificent. It is hard for them to let go of everything they have built so carefully, and I cannot blame them for mourning the loss.

A neighbor and I gave a party for them after the offer was accepted, so they could say goodbye to their old neighbors. Everyone in the neighborhood came to see them and say how much they miss them. It was very moving. And fun. It was wonderful for me to see how much my parents were valued and loved by all their neighbors of all ages. It makes me feel lucky to be their daughter.

Meanwhile, they seem healthy and are settling into their new home. Once the stress of the sale is over I think we can all relax. And maybe I can stay home for awhile.