We finally had the public sale for Rick's mother. We made money for her, but whoever would have thought that we'd get snow in April? I know, I know, it's happened before, but after the mild winter we had? Who knew? And what a mess it was. I've never seen so much mud tracked into a house. Thank god his mom wasn't there; she'd have had a heart attack for sure.
We've been working steadily pretty much for this thing. Rick's sister got "sick" a couple weeks ago, essentially once they took everything out of the house they wanted, then they left Rick and me hang. So we got things ready. I took vacation days Thursday and Friday to clean things and to help with last-minute stuff. Rick took the entire week off work and while his sister did come down, she spent most of her time talking to Rick about how bad she felt and about how she was feeling so sad. We get that; it's a big step to do this, but sad or not, it needed to be done. She pretty much sat inside the house and felt sorry. Even Rick was frustrated by that point. It's not easy doing a public sale, especially when somebody is in the way more than anything. Rick said that every time he and our BIL came into the house to get anything, they had to get around her and Rick finally told her to please just sit down and stay out of the way. I went inside one time to bring out a chair and she said she needed to talk to me about her feelings. I told her right out, we could talk later, but I was really busy right now and whatever she needed to said could be when I had time to listen. At that point, enough was enough.
Thank god for my sister and BIL. My sister and I had never done a public sale before, so while we weren't the best runners, we did the running. Once people bought items, we took the items back to them. My sister was a real trooper; man, she piled right in and she and I ran all day, from the start of the sale to the end. My BIL hauled stuff out of the house, right along side Rick. Rick's cousin had come over to work, too. And our son drove up in the snow, just to help out, and during the early morning, even the main roads were bad. We were blessed to have the help that we did and to have them work so hard.
Once it was all finished and the auctioneers had taken their tent down and left, it took us an hour to wash that filthy kitchen floor. Rick's sister didn't even offer to help; she was exhausted from all the work. I was not leaving that house looking like that.....my mother didn't raise me like that. Our son grabbed a mop, too, and between the two of us, we got it done. The carpet still looks horrible; I'm going up this afternoon to clean it as best I can. But Rick agreed with me that we're going to have to spend money on professionals to come in for a thorough carpet cleaning. I think we'd have been fine had we not had the snow. From all the people, the snow turned the back yard into a huge mud hole where people were walking around in and out of the tent and all that mud came into the house. I'm going to call some people I know who run a good cleaning company and let them attack the carpet....it's beyond anything I can do. Then Rick and I can clean the rest of the house. My sister said she'd come over and help.
As it was, we had originally planned to put furniture out on the front porch for people to view, in the garage, out in the driveway, etc. Mother Nature changed that agenda. The auctioneer and the people went through the house back into the bedrooms, into the basement where he sold from there. It wasn't an ideal solution, but we had no other choice.
So....once the house is cleaned, it will be ready to show and sell. And when the house is sold, I think we're going to spend a week or so, just taking it easy. It's been a journey, I'll say that.
We've been working steadily pretty much for this thing. Rick's sister got "sick" a couple weeks ago, essentially once they took everything out of the house they wanted, then they left Rick and me hang. So we got things ready. I took vacation days Thursday and Friday to clean things and to help with last-minute stuff. Rick took the entire week off work and while his sister did come down, she spent most of her time talking to Rick about how bad she felt and about how she was feeling so sad. We get that; it's a big step to do this, but sad or not, it needed to be done. She pretty much sat inside the house and felt sorry. Even Rick was frustrated by that point. It's not easy doing a public sale, especially when somebody is in the way more than anything. Rick said that every time he and our BIL came into the house to get anything, they had to get around her and Rick finally told her to please just sit down and stay out of the way. I went inside one time to bring out a chair and she said she needed to talk to me about her feelings. I told her right out, we could talk later, but I was really busy right now and whatever she needed to said could be when I had time to listen. At that point, enough was enough.
Thank god for my sister and BIL. My sister and I had never done a public sale before, so while we weren't the best runners, we did the running. Once people bought items, we took the items back to them. My sister was a real trooper; man, she piled right in and she and I ran all day, from the start of the sale to the end. My BIL hauled stuff out of the house, right along side Rick. Rick's cousin had come over to work, too. And our son drove up in the snow, just to help out, and during the early morning, even the main roads were bad. We were blessed to have the help that we did and to have them work so hard.
Once it was all finished and the auctioneers had taken their tent down and left, it took us an hour to wash that filthy kitchen floor. Rick's sister didn't even offer to help; she was exhausted from all the work. I was not leaving that house looking like that.....my mother didn't raise me like that. Our son grabbed a mop, too, and between the two of us, we got it done. The carpet still looks horrible; I'm going up this afternoon to clean it as best I can. But Rick agreed with me that we're going to have to spend money on professionals to come in for a thorough carpet cleaning. I think we'd have been fine had we not had the snow. From all the people, the snow turned the back yard into a huge mud hole where people were walking around in and out of the tent and all that mud came into the house. I'm going to call some people I know who run a good cleaning company and let them attack the carpet....it's beyond anything I can do. Then Rick and I can clean the rest of the house. My sister said she'd come over and help.
As it was, we had originally planned to put furniture out on the front porch for people to view, in the garage, out in the driveway, etc. Mother Nature changed that agenda. The auctioneer and the people went through the house back into the bedrooms, into the basement where he sold from there. It wasn't an ideal solution, but we had no other choice.
So....once the house is cleaned, it will be ready to show and sell. And when the house is sold, I think we're going to spend a week or so, just taking it easy. It's been a journey, I'll say that.
that you've got that behind you; you all must be utterly exhausted. Snow was really the last thing you needed. :nod: 
