A Final Goodbye

As I mentioned in my previous post, Jessica and I went to our old house on Friday. We cleaned up a little, grabbed the few remaining things, and said goodbye! We handed the keys over to our real estate lawyer that afternoon and they'll be given to the new owners in three days. Here are the final pictures taken in our first home (you can also play spot the Jessi in each photo).

Last time climbing up those stairs

The girls' rooms ♥

A favourite activity: running around the pool table

Another favourite: hide and seek in the pantry

Taking a break for a snack on the counter

Jessica helping me clean the floors

While the above picture looks like a sweet mother-daughter moment, it was actually filled with stress. Jessica insisted on doing the 'spray' while I wiped, but it was just 15 minutes of me loudly repeating "Just spray a little bit. No, that's too much. Jessica stop spraying. Ok, spread it around. No, don't step there. You're spraying too much. Ok, wait for Mommy. Jessica, wait for Mommy. We already sprayed there. Please stop spraying.... Ok. That's better." She only got the hang of it by the end. Ha!

Then just a few minutes before leaving, poor girl was opening and closing the office French doors and got her finger stuck! It was a pretty big pinch and I didn't have any bandaids so I fashioned one with some paper towel and an elastic (there was no blood, so it was more for comfort than protection).

Goodbye house!

Post-Move Mess

This Saturday was spent moving the last few items from our old house (left for showings) to the new house. Yay! Now our house is a big mess. Not yay! The basement got the worst of it, as you can see from the pictures below:

Rec room

Office

Guest room

The main floor just has a few new items hanging around...

Steve testing out the new chair

Old kitchen stools and rugs with nowhere to go

After 8 months we finally have a bed!

It'll definitely take a while to get things in order, but it sure feels good to wrap things up. We'll probably head over to the old house a couple more times to do some cleaning before the closing date in mid-February.

The best part about Saturday? I got to stay home and hang out with the kids (including cousin Lorelei!) while everyone worked hard moving (in a snow storm no less). Thanks to all our helpers!

Lorelei napping in the morning

Playing "rice" with the cousins

This weekend sure flew by.

A Letter to my (Old) Home

Dear Home,

The time has finally come. In exactly one month you will no longer be ours. You were on the market for 10 months and vacant for nearly 8 months. There were many interested potential buyers and two failed offers before the final one came along. It's hard to believe the road was so long. You must feel so unloved, but trust me, you are a fantastic and beautiful home. You're just a bit pricier than the average home for sale in our area, so it took a while to find the right buyer for you. 

You were custom built just for us, in the spring/summer of 2007. We chose everything about you, from your layout, to flooring, to fixtures, to the smallest details like where your outlets should be. We walked through your doors as an engaged couple, and left married with two children.

You were there the morning of my wedding day. I brought both of my babies home from the hospital to you.

08/08/08

Emily & Jessica at 26 weeks 

We hosted countless family dinners and celebrated many, many occasions with you. You are a great size and your open concept leads to lots of conversation and family time.

Your main windows are south facing, so you're always bright and warm (which can be great but also a curse!). You are walking distance to three parks, and a short drive to all the major shopping centers. That is definitely one of your best selling features.

Your (ensuite) bathtub is the most luxurious tub I will ever sit in. We paid far too much for it, mostly because I was naive (I didn't know what "normal" baths cost) and because I thought it was the perfect tub for us (which it is!). I miss it sometimes, but I'm glad I made a much more sensible choice the second time around.

Those lights? Chromatherapy.

You are far from perfect. I spent six years criticizing you, and for each criticism I would say "In our next house, we won't have (insert problem)" or "... we will have (insert solution)". I'm sorry I was so hard on you. We made the mistakes; it wasn't your fault.

Your exterior leaves a lot to be desired. We didn't take good care of your lawn. We didn't mow it as often as we should and it has tons of weeds. I hope your new owners give your lawn new life and make it look great -- I think your neighbours would really appreciate that.

We also didn't take good care of your hardwood floors and I'm sorry about that. There are many scratches and dents, all because of our carelessness and lack of knowledge. So far I've been much better about caring for the floors in our new home; I thank you for the learning opportunity.

Your laundry room is just too small and in a very impractical location. You have to walk through the muddy mudroom just to get to it and it's a struggle to fit anything but one person and a basket in it. Your laundry room also had a tendency to make socks mysteriously disappear... The bane of my existence.

There's a sound system installed throughout your walls. It's great for listening to music while showering or playing music during dinner. There's also a rough-in for a home theater in your basement. We paid $5000 to the installer for the screen and projector that we never got. We took him to small claims court and won, but still we never got any money or equipment back. I hope your new owners take advantage of the rough-in because we were too bitter to do anything with it. We didn't bother getting a sound system in the new house, but I'm sure your owners will really enjoy it!

Speaking of our new home, it's just a 10-minute drive away. We will probably sometimes drive by you and I'll always wonder how you're doing, what you look like inside, and whether or not the people living inside you are happy.

You contain some of the most precious memories of our lives. You heard our babies' first laughs; you saw them walk for the first time. It brings tears to my eyes to think about the significance of these last six years with you. My dear home, you will always have a special place in our hearts. Thank you.

 

Farewell.