So the month May, sigh - it turned out to be a rather emotional, tumultuous month. Sell, don't sell, sell, don't sell. May seemed to be all about evaluating our current lives here in inland north Orange County vs. what they could be like in coastal south Orange County. And after much, much, much agonizing, we finally decided that trading in our current lives for a cooler, ocean-adjacent community chock full of ocean-related activities was something we really, really wanted to do.
But it wasn't all home selling agony in May by a long shot, as a lot of really nice things occurred as well, so onward to my sentences.
- Did laundry, grocery shopped, cleaned house and just generally got things organized around the house after being away for so long.
- Had dinner with a dear friend that gave me the sad news that she and her hubby were moving south upon retiring in June - boo hoo!
- Attended a scholarship awards luncheon sponsored by my Art Alliance group, and so enjoyed the energy and enthusiasm that only college students can deliver.
- Spoke to several realtors by phone in the areas we are targeting, then had fun going through the MLS links they subsequently provided to see if we could locate our coastal dream home.
- The cabinet installer arrived to deliver and secure the final countertop in hubby's home office, only to realize that, oops, it needed to be cut down first, and he didn't have the correct tools to do so.
- A second set of cabinet installers arrived, did successfully cut down the countertop, and, yeah, finally finished the job to update my husband's home office that had been started way back in March.
- Met my oldest daughter for lunch at the Anaheim Packing District and had a really nice time together drinking Mexican-inspired cocktails, and noshing on chips and tacos.
- Met with a realtor to discuss listing our home, which was more emotional than I'd thought it would be.
- A long, completely fun day in Los Angeles taking a tour of the Music Center, visiting the Broad Museum, having dinner at the amazingly delicious Otium, and attending a performance at Disney Concert Hall.
- Spent the entire day obsessing over whether or not to make this dang move!
- Met with a second realtor to discuss listing our home, and decided that yes, he was the one, even if we weren't quite ready to commit.
- Toured view homes in a nearby community to see if we might want to remain more local, then attended a very fun OC Wine Society event hosted by the owner of Jamieson Ranch Winery, where we tried to spend the evening not obsessing over where to live!
- After a very restless night decided that, yes, we were really ready to do this, and contacted realtor #2 to let him know we'd like contract with him to sell our home.
- Attended a Mother's Day cooking class with my oldest daughter at HipCooks Orange County, making and enjoying a scrumptious brunch comprised of pomegranite Bellinis, chevre-stuffed grapes with pistachio, smoked salmon potato pancakes, eggs benedict wrapped in ham, and hazelnut, lemon & ricotta cake.
- Attended my monthly book club meeting even though I ended up boycotting the book, The Sellout by Paul Beatty, about a third of the way through - a brilliant book without question, but also so incredibly distasteful I simply could not carry on.
- Met with our realtor to sign selling contract and bombard him with questions about the current status of the market, and what we might expect to occur as a result.
- The realtor's For Sale sign arrived, which caused all kind of not-so-happy emotions to arise as I watched it being placed into my front yard.
- Home stager arrived and said she had absolutely no suggestions to make because our home was already staged beautifully, and P.S., did I want a job? 😊
- And yet another day spent
obsessinglooking at homes online to determine if we really wanted to go through all the work that was going to be needed to make this happen. - Attended a BBQ at my girlfriend's new home, a gorgeous, drool-worthy 1912 Craftsman home located in an adorable Pasadena historic area titled 'Bungalow Heaven.'
- A diverse day, my favorite kind, which started with services at our UU congregation, lunch at The Gypsy Den in Santa Ana, then a fascinating after-dinner lecture about Israel's strategic challenges in the Middle East given by former Israeli television and print journalist, Alon Ben-David.
- Entertained friends that dropped by both for lunch and to see our newly updated home, tiptoeing around the professional photographer that was shooting photos for our upcoming MLS listing as we did so.
- Attended a theology seminar, which was uber-interesting even as I continue to ascribe to the John Muir way of thinking: "Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt."
- Our home went live this morning on the MLS, so we set up a meeting with our tax accountant and financial advisor to review all matters pertaining to the expected proceeds we'll receive from our home once it sells.
- Woke up in a panic, convinced we were making a mistake by selling, which my husband (and this article on the internet) assured me we were not.
- A terrific, busy day comprised of a Skype Spanish lesson with my Venezuelan-based teacher, yoga class, cycle spinning class, and a married-couples fellowship meeting.
- Escaped an Open House here by doing our own house hunting at Open Houses down in South OC.
- Got an offer on our house after just four days on the market!!!
- Spent Memorial Day hiking, BBQ'ing and countering multiple offers on our home.
- Countered more offers on our home here, then spent the rest of the day with our realtor in coastal OC looking 'for real' for the first time.
- Spent the entire day with our realtor again, returning home utterly exhausted from trying to take in, absorb and imagine ourselves living in so many different homes!
My fervent wish for June is that we find a home, open escrow and are forward focused on our next chapter.
