There will be blood…

It was a week I had expected; one where the stars aligned to hand me lemons and I had to make Limonata. I had a positive showing of my house through it didn’t start out that way.

The days are warming and we are back to the old “Outside toys don’t come inside” again. I had the showing scheduled for Thursday so Wednesday night was all about cleaning and polishing after a week of workmen tramping through to fix small stuff. I finally slumped in front of the TV to eat a hastily prepared, unappealing plate of leftovers.  Out of the corner of my eye I spotted movement in the hall. “Oh no, oh no, oh shit…”

“I didn’t see anything, it’s my imagination, I must be tired.”

Mr. or Ms. Mole came slowly scampering to the end of the hall and sat upright, sniffing the air. I gasped and he/she scampered back into the dark. Skeedles was napping in the loft and didn’t appreciate my rough grab as I dragged her to the kitchen where Ms./Mr. Mole was just emerging.

You can’t show your house with a mole running about, regardless of how friendly and harmless it may be. Needless to say the mole was eventually dispatched with very little bloodshed,  and my heart beat settled back into a normal routine. The showing went well, according to the realtor and we had an appointment the following day to go look at the “Ugly House” as I had dubbed it. My realtor is fun and loves poking around so even though I had very low expectations, it sounded like a pleasant distraction. The Ugly house was worse than just ugly. First, the skies opened as we parked and started walking the property. The land was perfect, secluded with lots of open space for gardens and a view down the valley to a small lake.

The house was uninspired, old without being antique and poorly laid out. The apartment on the second floor was so drenched in stale cigarette smoke it made my eyes water. Where am I going to live? I can’t step that far from my creature comforts. I need a fireplace in winter and summer night skies from my deck.  What am I going to do for a job? Why did I throw all the cards in the air at once??

The week redeemed itself through a visit and dinner with Hanni and her pack of personalities. I promised Alice, in lieu of a walk, the ‘cousins’ would be here for entertainment. The weather was miserable so we cooked lamb chops on the fireplace and played Uno while four dogs cavorted and snarled, leapt and lunged about us. You can’t help laughing and wondering at their pure sense of joy and abandon as they take turns entertaining The Husky.

We realized we both had splurged on new jeans. I was trying my damnedest to rock the look of my new relaxed “boyfriend” style while Hanni had picked up a bargain pair at work with a bit more bling.  We ate and laughed and covered every topic that came to mind from memories to cooking to farming. Finally, Alice climbed into my lap. I pushed her off and realized there was blood on my jeans. She had torn a nail in the mayhem but it seemed to be stanched with just a small smear; proving once again, there will be blood…