staged

All the world's a stage...

back when i sold my last house, er my first house, i'd never heard the word 'staging' in reference to anything other than the theater. probably owing to the fact that there weren't entire tv networks dedicated to series such as 'sell my house' or 'curb appeal'. whatever it was though, it was much, much simpler. do the necessary repairs. clean thoroughly. post sign in yard. sell house.

now it's much, much more complicated. not only do you have to do all of those things, but you also have to remove anything that gives your home a personality. pictures? out of here. calendar? put it out of sight. newspapers? magazines? recycling, here they come. supposedly it helps people imagine themselves in your home if they can't detect you were ever there. (yeah, ok. previously owned but never lived in house for sale.)

there are even professionals that specialize in this very thing, staging homes for sale. they guarantee you less time on the market and a higher sale price. i'm sure it's all very valid, but i have to draw the line there. in my situation i'm hoping to merely break even when i leave closing, so i'm going to have to pass on luxuries such as professional home stagers.

And all the men and women merely players:

this weekend i've invited some friends over to help me stage my house. knock out the punch list that seems to be growing rather than shrinking. if i can make a dent in that list, i'll consider it the best birthday present ever.

though it may be less of a draw for them than our usual birthday plans, i think that projects together can be just as much fun. and frankly i'm looking forward to it as much as i would be - and probably more - if we were meeting at our groupon-du-jour restaurant for dinner.

They have their exits and their entrances;

it is an arbitrary deadline that i set for myself, i admit. "by spring" i said. but the end of march is drawing near. only two weeks away now. i think that spring is officially here, judging by the warm sun and the cool evenings. it's my favorite season. i'm sure i've said that before.

as the cold takes leave and warm slowly edges in i always find myself antsy for change. spring cleaning, sure. but i also like to change things up. i bought my car a few springs ago. i fell in love one spring ago. i often move furniture in the spring. and i love, just love, to open the windows. i haven't done it yet, but as soon as the nights get out of the low 40's (and sunday is supposed to be 34!), i'll lift the sashes and welcome the pine pollen.

this spring i'm hoping that the fever for change takes over someone else. specifically the someone else that is meant to be in my house. because i'm ready. oh so ready to take my exit.

And one man in his time plays many parts,

haley is urging me to try and put playtime on my schedule for the weekend. reminding me that stage manager isn't the only role of importance these days. admittedly i've been pretty preoccupied lately and she's reasonably ready for me to relax.

i know it's not my only role, of course. after all i just cleaned up a gallon (is that the right unit of measurement?) of vomit my youngest son spewed across my bed and adjacent floor. (lucky me, i let him sleep in my bed tonight because he didn't feel well.) so i figure, i can add the roles of janitor and medic to stage manager.

oh and i can't forget laundress. after all, i'm on my fourth load tonight.

His acts being seven ages.
-as you like it by william shakespeare

i am turning thirty-six on thursday, officially on the tail end of my thirties now. i still remember that show 'thirtysomething' being on when i was in my teens and thinking those actors and actresses looked so old. so old, trying to be hip. now i guess that's me.

i went with todd on a field trip monday. he signed me up to chaperone himself, so i assumed that meant he wanted me there. for the first few hours of the trip he barely said two words to me. he'd approved my outfit before we left the house but he failed to tell me i'd put on my invisible cloak.

i knew that day was coming. i was frankly more surprised he wanted me to come than surprised at his acting as if i hadn't. but it still was twingey. (is that a word? it should be.) on the way back to the school he left his friends and joined me in my seat on the bus. it was only thirty minutes out of the entire day, but it made it all ok.

today he told me that i'm the youngest mom any of his friends have, save one. (she was a teen mom, he reported.) he says that's a good thing. i'm glad he feels that way. i do too.

and so, i'm ready to close the curtain on this act and watch the set transform. i feel certain that the next one is the big one.

d: queue the lights, it's almost show time.
b: right on time.
g: it's as i like it...