SOLD!

I was casually packing for my pre-Thanksgiving trip to California, realizing I would have another 6 hours of leisurely waiting at home before heading out, and the thought actually crossed my mind, "Wouldn't it be funny if someone called to see the house this afternoon? I might actually have time to clean it." Ten minutes later, the phone rings and schedules a showing that evening at 5:30...right when I had planned to leave. That was okay, though, since I had oodles of time to clean and it turns out the first leg of my journey was flexible.

I cleaned out the fridge first...why? I don't know. I guess I didn't want to start the real work too early. Kids have a way of messing it up again if you give them enough time. We cooked the rest of the gingerbread dough into Ninjabread men. I even had time to decorate them. Then I started the hard work of putting everything away and cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. It had been a couple months since someone came to see the house. I made spiced apple cider in the crockpot. We watched Baby V again, which kept Alice well-occupied during the last part of the cleaning and organizing marathon. I bundled up the kids, dropped off Baby V, met Bobby for dinner at the Apple Dumpling, and took off towards Chicago. Bobby tells me the young couple was still there when he got back from dinner at 6:15pm. I took that as a good sign :)

The next morning, we had an offer. An insultingly low one, but we still countered. And over the course of a day with emails and phone calls across two time zones, we agreed on a price. It sold!

Still can't believe it. Really. Not our house anymore. It's what I wanted, right? The immediate joy has passed, leaving a lingering solemnity in its place.

And now it's time to get to work.