Still stressed out, but moving forward

Life is so hectic right now. While I thought things were set with Jon starting his new job on June 27, I was very wrong.

On June 2, Jon went back to WI to view a house we may have been interested in (more on that later). The showing was at 9am, and since he was in town, he stopped by to see his boss. Around 2:30pm he called me to let me know that his work schedule was going to change. Instead of starting on June 27, he was going to start on June 16. WHAT? He would be in WI June 16-17, then home for the weekend, then fly out to be in PA June 20- July 1. Then he'd fly out July 12-29.

I hung up the phone with him and just cried. Him starting on June 27 was going to work so well. He'd be done with his job on June 10 we'd have two weeks to organize and pack and prepare for us to live apart, if needed. There were things on the calendar that necessitated him to be in IA, but that would not happen. Fortunately, and thankfully, I think it's all going to work out, but by the end of July, I may be insane.

I had a neighbor girl over on June 2 and 3 to watch Gus and Lucy so that I could focus on our house and getting it organized so we could list it and have showings starting on June 4. She was there while I was crying about Jon's schedule, poor 13-year-old. Anyway, she is going to be able to babysit for me for all of the things that were on the calendar that I would have had to cancel otherwise. I still get to have my massage (yea!). Lucy won't have to go to Gus' t-ball games, which means I will actually get to watch Gus play instead of walking around after her during the games. And, what I was most worried about, Gus will still get to go to the library's pool party, which will take place after Lucy's bedtime. I am so grateful that the neighbor is available so that I don't have to tell Gus that I can't go with him (kids under 7 are required to have an adult attend with them).

Now, having to deal with keeping the house in showing shape while Jon is gone, having to deal with a new house and unpacking while Jon is gone, and having it all lead up to Oscar's and Bella's 7th birthday, is something I'm not sure I'm going to really be able to handle as well as I'd like to.

As mentioned above, our IA house was listed the week of Memorial Day. We've had four showings so far and one scheduled for tomorrow. We've gotten feedback from each showing, not that it's been anything we can control. The first showing said that the house was too dated for the price. The second said they liked the big back yard, but wanted a big kitchen; they liked another house more than ours. The third only said they liked our house, but had no other comments. The fourth really liked the house, thought it was a great location and are going to think about it. My fingers are super duper crossed that we get an offer soon so I can stop worrying so much about trying to keep the house clean or not feel panicked when I do get a showing request because I've let the tidying slide and feel like I have a ton to do prior to the showing, both of which are difficult when I'm the only adult here.

Then there's the lawn and house maintenance to worry about. Lawn maintenance while Jon is gone in June and after we move. (Yes, I know that in theory I could take care of the lawn, but when would that happen? It usually takes Jon about an hour to mow the lawn. Should I do that while Lucy is trying to nap or while Lucy and Gus are trying to sleep? Neither seems like a good choice). We received 2 recommendations from our real estate agent, and only one has returned Jon's calls. That quote is $38 every 10 days. It doesn't matter if the grass needs to be mowed or not, they will mow it and charge us $38. I called 9 businesses today. One said he'd take a look at the property and give me a quote. Three phone numbers were dead/unanswered. I'm waiting to hear back from one and the others don't provide services in our town. As for house maintenance, we are hiring a company to come in and deep clean after we move out ($744 for that, ugh), so then it's a matter of hoping that nothing catastrophic happens. We ARE planning on setting our programmable thermostat and shutting off the water, so there aren't any unnoticed leaks that happen, but I'm not sure what's going to happen if this house still isn't sold by winter. And yes, the market here can really move that slowly. Unfortunately, we are in the gray area for price. Many people don't make enough to afford our house, and those that can, usually opt for the more expensive houses. So, we are kind of stuck.

As for after the move, Jon and I have started getting things in place for the move itself, cancelling services here and setting up new services in WI. I'm just so worried that we won't have enough of the house unpacked before he leaves again and I will go insane trying to take care of Gus and Lucy, while living in a complete state of chaos because I can't work on unpacking anything while Lucy's awake, which means that I only get a little more than an hour each day to unpack until after both Gus and Lucy are in bed. At which point I'm exhausted and don't want to do physical labor. *sigh* Fortunately, it sounds like one of my sisters may be able to come up several days that first weekend to watch Gus and Lucy so Jon and I can work together to get as much unpacked as possible before he leaves again.

Speaking of the house, the house that Jon visited on June 2 and wrote an offer on was accepted on June 2! The appraisal was done on June 9, but we haven't heard anything back from that yet. The radon test and inspection were completed on June 13, and everything checked out mostly okay. (Radon levels came back at 2.1 and we asked the sellers informally to trim a tree and clean the tract for the patio door so that it functioned properly). So, the only thing preventing us from closing on our WI house on July 8 is the financing to be processed and the paperwork to be done. This is not our dream house, but from the pictures and videos that Jon's taken (yes, he's the only one who's seen the house) it is a nice house, has our bedroom requirements and is in the school area we want for Gus and Lucy.

If you've read this far: Wow! Thanks for reading. So, as stated in my title, I am still stressed out by everything that needs to be done/is yet to come, but I'm trying to focus on one item at a time and think of the long-term reasons of why we're going through all this craziness: I still get to be a SAHM, we will be in a more tolerant, open-minded, larger and modern city and our whole family will have opportunities for family- and self-growth.