Friday, February 24, 2006

The Urgency of the Matter

We had our new real estate agent Venise over today for an all-day work session. And boy, did she work! She brought her assistant with her and between the two of them and what Ed and I could contribute, the house got a makeover in several places today. No job was too dirty or difficult for Venise to tackle. She and her assistant took down screens, washed windows, hung doors, vacuumed, dusted, mopped, scrubbed tile - it was totally amazing and gratifying to find someone who wants to sell the house as much as we do!

When we lived in Tennessee, one of our favorite things to do was watch the cable channel A&E, and one of our most enjoyable shows was America's Castles. From that show, we learned how the mansions of America were built for names like the Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, and other lesser known but just as filthy rich families. A thread of poignancy frequently ran through the mansions' histories, however. So many times the rich old man would spend years having the best architects and craftsmen and goldmiths and engineers build his dream house, then he would move in and about a year or two later, he would die.

We joke about our own dream house, which exists so far only in our minds and in the detailed drawings of the Coastline Homes company, but Ed has mentioned a few times that his desire to start building it ASAP is due to watching America's Castles. He is so afraid that he will finally the get his dream house and then not live to enjoy it.

It is a dream house for us, even while we are living in a house which might serve as a dream house to others. Our future house will not be big, will not be grandiose or splendid in form or decoration. It will not have the most expensive flooring, won't have a hot tub or the latest "must-have" in the major appliance department. But it will be our castle, and we want to have many years ahead of us to appreciate it.

So time's awastin' - and after being stuck with Ed all day, listening to his endless stories, taking his teasing, "laughing" at his jokes, Venise now knows the importance of selling the house quickly, so Ed can live many years in his dream house - that is, if she doesn't kill him first!

2 comments:

Miss Meg said...

Hi! You have a realitor that helped you prepare your house to sell by cleaning, decluttering, etc? I think you are dreaming. They don't DO that! They come through with a clipboard and tell YOU what needs doing... yeah, you're dreaming!
Miss Meg

RJB said...

Miss Meg, this is Carol's daughter. Venise is a dream! She was not only our realtor, she was (and is) our friend. We love Venise!