Soul Sucking...and a Meme!

I swear, why do people bother to sell their house? We've only had our house on the market for a month, and what an entirely soul-sucking experience it's become. C'mon, people, what the fuck do you want from me? It's a ROWHOME. A great starter home, but after 5 years here with pets and a kid, there's NO MORE ROOM. What brings this on? Today my new realtor (yeah, we've already had to fire a realtor!) came by to take some new pics of the house, and gave me feedback from the showing Monday. The one where I had 90 minutes notice, and no hubby to help. I almost had a heart attack literally running around the house the entire 90 minutes trying to clean up. Even though the house has been cleaned and straightened almost every day, it took me 90 minutes at full speed to get everything done. AND pile a cranky toddler, 2 of the 4 cats, a 95 pound dog, and a screaming cockatiel into my overloaded Mazda and get over to my in-laws' house. And the feedback? The floors are gorgeous, and there's too much stuff in the house so it's hard to visualize it. That's from the realtor. Wow. Too much stuff, huh? Well, let's see, we have a 3 year old who has enough toys to support a FEW daycare centers, we have NO attic, NO garage, and a basement with only minimal storage. We already moved TONS of stuff to my in-laws' house and I have 2 contractor trash bags full of stuff over there for a yard sale, too. And my realtor told me to put pictures away and do things like clear off my fridge. My fridge is cleared of everything but my daughter's artwork, and there's NO FUCKING WAY IN HELL I'm taking that down. Spare me. If you can't visualize what the house would look like with your stuff in it because my daughter's artwork is on the FRIDGE, you're a retard, plain and simple. This house is spotless, and yes, there are a couple of toyboxes in the living room (but in corners) and yes, the smallest bedroom (seriously, it's 6x10 - more of a walk-in closet than a bedroom!) is full of fiber (all neatly stored in either cubbies or storage containers) but it's a ROWHOME. It's a big rectangle. That's it. There are no redeeming features, no special things about it. It's basically an apartment you can earn escrow on. That's it. Get the fuck over it. We've mostly had positive feedback - from the whopping 7 people who've been in the house - everyone loves the floors (damn straight they'd better!), mostly people think it's well-priced, someone didn't like the garden (it's been a very dry summer, so the garden's looking a little past it's prime - oh, wait, it's FALL! Of course it's past it's prime!), and I can't change how busy the street is, or the fact that it's a completely nondescript ROWHOME. Sheesh. And don't get me started on the house we've put an offer on and that asshole's idea of a counter-offer. Just. Don't.

So, on that note, Colleen tagged me for a meme. Here it is.

You have to open the book you're currently reading on page 161 and read the fifth sentence on the page, then think of 5 bloggers to tag with.

"These horses were all we knew and recognized because from time to time they'd wander together across the farm to the little wooded meadow at the southern boundary of St. Peter's domain and stick their heads inquisitively above the gate that backed onto Goldsmith Avenue, where the crap game I'd come upon was taking place."

From The Plot Against America by Phillip Roth. He's verbose, huh? Let's put it this way, that sentence? The fifth on the page? Started easily 3/4 of the way down the page. Great fucking book, though.

I'm not tagging anyone. Just consider Black Cat Handspun the blog where memes go to die.

There is knitting. And dyeing (check Colleen's blog for pics of the day - I forgot my camera). And spinning (for this year's Craftland - oooh, the suspense - can she spin 30 skeins of yarn and card 15 batts by mid-November?)

Edited to add: This, though, this makes me happy!