Saturday, June 26, 2021

Saturday, June 26, 2021

Tonight's picture was taken in June of 2009. Mattie was in the hospital recovering from lung surgery. That day we got Mattie out of bed, but he was resting in a chair in the room. The stuffed animal snake was given to Mattie by his cancer buddy, Jocelyn. The snake's name is Sunshine, and Sunshine remains in Mattie's room today. Jocelyn gave Mattie Sunshine, because she knew how much he enjoyed meeting a real albino snake at his 7th birthday, hosted by Reptiles Alive. 

Quote of the day: Today's coronavirus update from Johns Hopkins.

• Number of people diagnosed with the virus: 33,621,391 
• Number of people who died from the virus: 603,885

Today was the first morning in a week, where I did not get up super early and head to the new house. Instead, we met up with my friend Margy's husband and daughter. My friend Margy died in March from ovarian cancer, and this is the first time I met her daughter. Margy was a board member of Mattie Miracle, and I am honored that her daughter will be taking her mom's position on the board. 

We headed to the house later in the afternoon. As you can see Sunny made himself at home. Fortunately the previous owners left us some patio furniture, because it is the only thing we can sit down on in the house.

I am very disappointed in the state that the previous owners left this house. Everything inside is grimy, bordering on dirty. This isn't just Vicki being picky, I am hearing this across the board from people coming in to give me estimates for services. I keep wondering how I did not see this when we toured the house! I blame COVID and the way potential buyers are shuttled through homes so quickly and in a way forced to make quick decisions. With more home buyers than houses available, the whole process was extremely competitive.  

At the end of the day, I believe the property speaks for itself. In the 40 houses I saw, none of them had the thoughtful landscaping that surrounds this house. 

Meanwhile, Peter and Sunny are spending the night in the new house. Indie and I are back in DC. Peter wanted to see what it was like at night, to test outside lights, and to get more demolition of closets and bathrooms done. Tonight he showed facetimed me lightning bugs, a huge toad on the walkway, and the sun setting. 

It is only week 1, and I am already worn out from this house. To me the whole thing needs to be cleaned from top to bottom, and unlike our smaller place in DC, where I could manage it all myself, this place is much bigger. So I need to rely on professionals to help me. Which is fine, but it requires patience and working on other people's time schedules. 

We are still working on getting estimates for services, so I feel like I am in a standstill with no solid plan in place. All I know is until every wall has been painted, wood floors restored, and tile floors deep cleaned and sealed, I am not moving! Once those things are done, I can live through bathroom renovations while living there, or SO I THINK!