It seemed only fitting to start a new blog since we were beginning new adventures as a family in a new state. Or as I like to call it, our "next adventure"! 

I'll still refer to posts from the Portland blog, but will be posting on our new blog 100% from now on. 

We cordially invite you to come join us! 

http://littlefluffycloudsaz.blogspot.com

We will no longer be Oregonians in less than a week. The house is getting nicely packed up and organized for the moving trucks. 

Yes, that wasn't a typo, that was plural. 

We expect to fill two 20 ft. trucks. Or most of two trucks. We have bought with intention over the years and I don't see the point of getting rid of things just to have less to move. We are moving, we are driving the trucks ourselves, regardless of whether we have one truck or two trucks. I already had a budget for moving and two trucks and all that goes with it works with that budget.

Bean will ride along in my truck and Lulu will go with Eddie. One of us will tow the auto transport with my car behind their truck. It takes roughly three days to get to where we're going, so ideally, we should arrive sometime on Thursday.

Thursday!

Can't believe this is happening...!

I have a vacation condo set up for at least a month in the center of town. I have a P.O. Box set up at the post office in the center of town. I have doctors appointments set for our new family doctor two weeks after our arrival. Tomorrow I fax over the preliminary paperwork to get the girls registered for their new schools.

And what if we have extra space on one of the moving trucks when we head out of town?

Don't worry, I've already worked that out. 

I have been coveting something for the past year I saw on our last vacation to Sunriver. If the space is at least 9 ft. long by 8 ft high, we will take a short detour to Central Oregon after we leave the house and pick this lovely gal up. 

Do you think they would let me keep the dino-sized knotted pearls around her neck???

Our house sale finalized today. It's a done, done deal. Like, money in the bank and probably by tomorrow, the mortgage company will have received and accounted for the payoff payment.

I spent the last couple days this past week starting the next phase of our transition. The vacation rental is booked for a month and one day, and I think I got moving trucks and storage unit space reserved for the last week of July going through August.

Tomorrow, we have a couple more virtual home tours to do since we decided not to go down to look at houses in person this weekend as we'd have had to flown down and back. We didn't want to put my mom at risk, especially for the last week and a half we were here.

This post is short and brief because my brain is like scrambled eggs, completely MUSH! I have had such a whirlwind day and I need to go to sleep. I've another busy day, tomorrow.

Eddie and I can't believe we're finally to this point. We thought it would never come...So surreal!

Bean: "Momma, the sand wizard gave me some sand!"

Me: "Sand wizard? What are you talking about?"

Bean: "The sand wizard gave me some sand in my eye this morning!"

"THE SAND MAN!" yelled Lulu from her bedroom, just on the other side of the living room.

Bean: "Ooooh! Ha Ha! The sand man, that's what he's called!"

I kind of like "Sand Wizard" don't you?

"How did you sleep last night?" I asked Bean when I came into her room this morning. She was lying in her bed, staring at me through the side-rail bars on her loft bed.

"Swell, because of my crystal!"

That Amethyst Tower was the best $40 purchase I've made in ages.

We were up at the Fairy House a few weeks back waiting for potential buyers to be done looking through our house. While we were there, Bean found someone had left a little pouch of natural crystals within all the brick-a-brack. One of the crystals was an amethyst tower, and Bean fell hard for it. She asked if she could keep this bag of crystals for herself and I told her no, it belonged to the Fairy House. That, of course, didn't deter he from asking me several more times (more begging and plea's). I told her I would buy her an amethyst crystal in the future, but that one stayed put. So it did.

Less than a week later, I found a website back East that sold a pretty Chalcedony ring I had been hoping to find. Before I placed the order, I noticed that they also sold many varieties of natural rock crystals, including Amethyst, so I bought a tower for Bean before completing my order. Her Amethyst Tower included a crystal card that explained all the benefits and protections of that particular crystal, especially that it helped with anxiety and protection and protection from bad dreams. Bean suffers from bad anxiety (in which she takes medication for it) plus she has a hard time even going into another room or up or downstairs either at our house or my mom's house, if someone isn't with her. Something you'll hear her say often is, "I'm just so nervous..!.". I'm afraid it's become a crutch for her. 

But our package finally showed up and her crystal was quite pretty and impressive! It has a very nice weight and heft to it. Bean asked me to find a bag of some sort to keep it in and I had a sheer organza gift bag someone had used when they shipped me earrings a week ago. It was perfect for her to keep it in when she went to bed at night!

The next morning when Bean woke up, I asked her how she slept. "Oh, I slept so well!" she exclaimed to me as we walked to the kitchen. "My crystal just ebbed all my anxiety away!" she continued.

Ebbed. 

What ten year old kid knows of that word, let alone knows how to use it properly in a sentence?

Our kid.

This is the kind of vocabulary your child creates and uses when they are a voracious reader!

I can appreciate that natural beauty of crystals myself (depending on the birthstone chart you read, Agate often comes up as my birthstone, which just isn't so fancy when you are looking for jewelry...) but I've never been into natural crystals for decoration and to use for healing and energy. However, I can totally imagine Bean as that kind of individual when she is older. I can see it now: all her cats, a couple of Corgi dogs, chickens outside, and crystals all over in their proper positions around the house and on the counters and ledges!

Here she is showing off her treasure:

 

Our months of patience and depression have finally paid off. This past Monday we had a house showing in the morning. We were all ready for the same old-same-old feedback we've been receiving afterward when we were pleasantly surprised: this buyer LOVED the house! The buyers agent described her client to our agent as an "older hippie" and from what we could tell, the kitchen, the paint colors and the bedrooms were not a problem for her. In fact, she loved the house so much, she wanted to come back and see it again the following morning to make sure she hadn't had stars in her eyes on the first visit.

No problem!

The next morning, Tuesday, she came back, and this time, they spent over an hour and a half in the house. We took that as a good omen! Our agent had shared with us earlier, that this prospective buyer was a cash buyer, who had been set to buy a different house, but the inspection discovered foundation issues and those sellers refused to take care of it (pay). That killed the deal and this buyer walked. Our agent was so happy we had decided to take care of our foundation costs, literally a half an hour before this woman came to see our house, because that meant our agent could say to theirs, "There were foundation issues but the sellers are taking care of." 

Our agent was pretty sure that sealed the deal!

That Tuesday afternoon we got a solid offer from this buyer: full current asking price, with a close date of July 15th. Additionally, she offered for us to remain in the house, rent-free, until the end of the month before we had to head on to wherever we were going.

Next Wednesday morning is our inspection. It should be pretty uneventful. They'll do a sewer scope and a radon test. Both were done with the last offer we accepted and we had the sewer replaced when we moved in 12 years ago. Everything else has already been disclosed prior to her offer.

The buyer asked if she could come back this morning to see the house once more, before she went back home to where she currently lives, in California. Our agent shared the buyer wanted to have some work done on the inside of the house once we've vacated, like updating the bathroom to her preference, and she wanted to get the info she needed before going home so she could start getting her contractors lined up. While we waited for her to finish this morning from our go-to hangout point up the street, we saw the buyer met two different neighbors before departing. Those neighbors coming to introduce themselves and chitchat helped further cement the deal. 

Her agent emailed our agent the following when she was done:

"Sorry, we have been done. Out talking to neighbors next door. Everything keeps getting better for this house. Thank them profusely for letting us come by. She loves it more each time."

We are happy to oblige to get this deal to the finish line!

Eddie and I agreed this morning, that if we're going to get someone to buy the house, we will have to pay to fix the foundation.

And like that - (POOF!) - those additional things we had budgeted and hoped for once the house sold, will most certainly not happen, now.

Whether or not I will need to repaint certain interior elements remains to be seen with this latest development. 

Our agent believes our decision to finally fix the foundation will help get us the offer that has been eluding us up to now, and if we instigate it, we will have more control and power over whom we choose to do the work and what we agree to pay to have that done. Today we each spent time contacting foundation contractors to line up getting bids of the work to be done. So far, we'll have two bids this week. Perhaps a third before the holiday weekend.

Meanwhile, I have been adjusting and reducing the various number scenarios on my Excel spreadsheet for this new expenditure once we get an offer, it's accepted and finally closes. Still a bit of room for play, but alas, nothing like it would have been, before.

Easy come, easy go. 

Right?

It still hurts figuratively, literally, mentally and of course, financially.

And who knows, it might even be a little more painful than we expect it to be because the job hasn't even been started, yet. Never underestimate what the hired contractor will "helpfully discover" as they get into the task at hand, right? 

We are all, the kids included, suffering the effects from the beat down this whole real estate experience has brought with it. The showings, the mostly absurd subjective suggestions and feedback, the super-low-ball offer here and there, the neighborhood comps going down, living with our favorite things packed away, not being able to cook many of the meals we'd like to (lingering smells being a concern)...collectively, we are cooked.

So hopefully, we will finally have some progress and move forward, soon.

We now suddenly have a coffee bar.

The feedback from the showing this afternoon, with the pregnant woman.

"The couple are avid cooks and the kitchen is ultimately too small for them so they are going to pass."

Hi Vicki,

Thanks so much for reaching out.

The house reads very dark inside, even on a beautiful day. I would recommend painting the ceilings white to give natural light something to reflect off of, and opening all window coverings for showings might also help make the space feel inspiring.

Ultimately the buyers had a difficult time seeing past so much personal property - perhaps the sellers could pack away more items to make the home feel as roomy as it really is?

Lastly, the condition of the foundation wall in the basement laundry room was alarming, and I think that sealed the deal that this wouldn’t be the one for my clients. 

BDE

Okay, Breylan, I'm adding you to my newly created Burn Book!

This is the feedback our agent received from a recent showing. After she sighed and rolled her eyes (trying not to sprain them in the process) she called to get more details as to what exactly he meant by "...so much personal property." Huh??? Our agent, as well as us, were flummoxed.

According to Breylan, all the pots and pans we had hanging on our pot rack across from the breakfast bar, conveyed to his buyers there wasn't much kitchen storage to be had. [And evidently, not at all that we liked to cook.] This also was considered "too personalized." Additionally, the food pantry we have set up in the basement under the stairs, ALSO conveyed lack of storage. A big no-no in Breylan's book, evidently. Breylan also found our having two beds in our bedroom to be strange and thought that was an additional reason the house would not work for his clients. This was TOO PERSONALIZED, as well, and made it hard for his buyers to feel how roomy the house really is.

"Listen..." I told our agent when she called to share Breylan's additional comments about the kitchen and our bedroom, "I wondered when someone was going to finally bring up the fact we have two beds in our bedroom. Eddie has a medical condition which requires us to sleep apart at night because it is not safe for me to sleep with him, otherwise. This, is a non-starter!"

You'd think these buyers who are coming through are previewing a potential AirBnB rental with their ridiculous comments and suggestions. 

THE HOUSE DOES NOT COME WITH TWO BEDS IN THE MASTER BEDROOM ONCE YOU BUY IT, PEOPLE!!!!!

I did my best to calm down and took a deep breath. 

Of course, during this moment, while I'm on the phone, Lulu decides (like clockwork) to ask if she can get on the computer to play games. I snapped at her so fiercely, that she ran and hid in Eddie's closet immediately afterwards and I thought, for a moment, she'd run away from home once I got off and the phone and went looking for her. (To apologize for snapping, but also, to remind her, for literally, the 1,000 time, to stop waiting until I am on the phone, and with our AGENT no less, to ask me anything, unless the house is on fire. That is the only reason she should interrupt me when I'm on the phone!)

So, where was I? Oh, yes. Deep breaths.

And I told our agent the following, "Here's what we're going to do. We will re-locate the island in the kitchen to where the bench is to make it seem bigger. I will move the bench over by the front door. I will bring a lamp into the kitchen for additional brightness and I will remove even more things from our counter tops and open shelves (under the island). I will pull all the blinds up to the tops of the windows in rooms that have blinds, especially in our bedroom, where the dilapidated privacy screen between our house and our neighbors house - the one that is falling apart - will now be on full view, but the important thing is we will have MADE THE ROOM BRIGHTER!  If the buyer who is coming this afternoon to see the house decides the house isn't right for them, Eddie and I already talked and we will temporarily take the house off the market, again. During the time it is off the market, I will paint all the ceilings that aren't white, white. Including the kitchen. Eddie will skim coat the wall in the laundry room and in the shop cellar. We will pull down the deteriorating privacy screen outside our bedroom window. I will paint the outside of the front door white. Then we will put the house back on the market as a NEW LISTING!"

She understood, agreed and said she would have new marketing photos done for the new listing, as well. We even took it one step further and Eddie volunteered to temporarily sleep on the basement sofa (putting his bed into storage) if it meant we could get a buyer, faster. And while I won't put our more important and sentimental items into a storage unit (Portland has a big theft problem with storage units, even those in "secured" buildings - as the M.O.'s have included cutting the walls of one storage unit to access the contents of the unit next to it) we will put his bed and our more basic items into a unit temporarily (bedding, drapes, throw pillows, some kitchen stuff) to reduce what is in the garage a bit.

I scrambled this morning and put things in new configurations in the kitchen. I opened blinds high and I packed up an extra box of two of additional kitchen items. Cast iron pans were temporarily placed in the basement cellar room and the pantry food items were moved to the white storage cabinet in the laundry room. 

Eddie even moved his leather chair into his office, around the corner, to make the TV room seem larger.

We shall live an even more spartan lifestyle for the time being...

The buyers scheduled for the afternoon showing spent a respectable 20 minutes looking at the house. I could tell, upon our return, they actually paid attention to the seller binder I have created with all the details and receipts and warranty info in it. The wife (?) of the buyers was pregnant, but once they came out of the house to leave, they stayed awhile longer out front and confabbed with the agent on the leaning wall in the driveway. I got the definite hunch that they liked the house and were trying to figure out what it would entail exactly to repair the driveway wall. Intriguingly, our agent said the buyers agent text (to tell us they were finished with the showing) impressed the same thing: the buyers liked the house and are discussing how one would remedy the driveway.

Meanwhile, we have a second showing with another set of buyers tonight at 7:30 pm. So, we won't know for a little while longer if the house goes off the market for additional improvements or we get LUCKY and get an offer just how it currently is.

Please, please...hope for the latter for us!

A few weeks ago, I bought a package of Squirt, a carbonated grapefruit flavored soda at the store. I had always preferred Squirt to 7-Up or Sprite, but I also thought the girls might enjoy it, too. 

And boy, did they!

The funny thing is, though, Bean has had the hardest time remembering the name. So she will catch me off guard when she calls it by a different name.

Bean: "Mom, can I have that Splat?"

Me: "What?"

Bean: "Splat."

Me: "What are you talking about??"

Bean: "You know, that drink in the cans?"

Me: "Oh! You mean, Squirt?"

Bean: "Yes, Squirt!"

Me: "Of course you may!"

Seriously, two days later...

Bean: "Can I have a Squip?"

Me: "A Squip? What's a Squip??"

Bean: "Squip, you know, that drink I like?"

Me: "Ah, Squirt."

For whatever reason, she just can't commit the proper name to memory. 

But I find it terribly cute what she does think it's called!

Thank you for the chance to show, Vickie! 

An absolutely delightful home and decorated wonderfully. My clients liked it quite a bit, from the unique layout of the bedrooms, to the cozy, but luxurious kitchen.

They also appreciated the privacy and landscaping of the backyard, and bonus space in the basement.

They have been in town 5 days, and have just started touring homes. We saw 6 today, with 2 ‘no’ and 4 possibilities. I don’t know how much looking they want to do, but I suspect there is a bit more to come, and I also think they will keep your listing in mind!

I think it shows very well, too. Maybe a tiny bit on the high side price-wise, but I know they did a lot of improvements.

Best,

Kurt Dahlke 

Lulu submitted a video speech for her 8th grade graduation. Eddie and I had nothing to do with it. She wrote and recorded and sent it in, all by herself.

She recorded it when she still shared a bedroom with Bean. I love that she wore my old Wonder Woman shirt! It's a very honest video, and by that, that Lulu was brave enough to share what she would never have shared had it not been 8th grade and they were going separate ways, and that we plan to move.

Here it is:

It's been a particular nutty few weeks for us in the real estate world. The highly subjective and often unrealistic feedback has been especially draining on us.

We had buyers traipse through our house who broke things and whose agent only fessed up way after the fact when they thought they'd been caught out. They also thought the house was too cluttered, especially our garage, which is storing our things that are already packed away.

There was the person from CA who emailed an offer out of the blue to buy our house at a very, very low ball price, and also expected us to close and be out of the house in less than 30 days.

There was the buyer who felt the few pictures we had hanging on the walls, our furniture throw pills and who knows what else, was too much "personalization" and it way to distracting for them to concentrate on the interior spaces.

Several buyers who thought the kitchen was way too dark. And that the movable center island, which gives additional counter space (sorely needed) and provide efficient traffic flow, should be moved to the breakfast nook wall, or better yet, removed.

We had a couple agents who thought we needed to change the [structural] layout of the house, definitely change the location of the fireplace, and change out the paint colors.

Another agent encouraged us to spend money to build out the egress for the non-conforming basement bedroom. (Sorry, that money went to the roof being replaced two years ago...A much higher priority than a basement egress in the grand scheme of things.)

Fortunately, we had two agents who thought the house was very fun and that we as sellers had great style, even though the house itself it didn't work for their clients. This kind feedback, unfortunately, have been few and far between.

So when we had the buyer call our agent who wanted to see the house this past week, it was odd that she did not have her own personal agent. But upon learning she was pre-approved on a mortgage, our agent connected her with an agent friend of hers to show her our house. This culminated, yesterday. Our agents friend tried to suss out if this buyer was the real-deal or if her preferred hobby was just looking at houses for sale. (Like professional wedding & wake crashers.)  It was hard to determine so we'll just have to see if she's legit or a con.

Last night, another buyer contacted our agent. They are in Washington state. They have looked at the pictures of our house online. They have taken the 3D tour. Supposedly, they LOVE our house and want to buy it.

Yet, they have never set foot physically, inside. 

And wait for it...

THEY DON'T HAVE THEIR OWN AGENT, EITHER!!!

(Sigh.)

If they had their own agent, then they would have been told that a July 17th close date, is unrealistic and impossible. If they had their own agent, they would have been privy to the disclosures and other details about the property that real estate agents can access. As it stands, our agent is forwarding this information on to them.

Something was mentioned in conversation that they may have corporate housing available to them. It is unclear if this means they want to close the transaction on July 17th (still, impossible) and then allow us to rent back while we do what we need to do to move out and onward.

Our agent, who has been a successful real estate agent for many, many years and in her 60's, is just baffled by the recent events. It's all very bizarre, but then, in this new Covid-19 world, this might just be the beginning of how business is also going to get done moving forward.

I know Portland is weird and attracts weird, but it also is starting to feel like we are specifically attracting all the nut jobs. 

And then there is the old adage of "like attracts like" which would mean...we're nut jobs, too???

Wait. On second thought, please don't answer that.

For the last few years, at least, it's been a real struggle to get a current 14 year old to take a shower more frequently than her every 8-10 day routine. I never imagined that basic hygiene in the form of taking a shower and washing your hair (don't even get me started on remembering to use deodorant every day) would be the ongoing-conflict is has been.  

Yet for some reason, since we've had to go into stay-at-home orders since March, this same 14 year old has begun to take showers and wash her hair much for frequently than she ever has before, and doing so of her own accord. It's not like there is anyone she's trying to impress in person, either, because her crush is only on TV, and syndication at that. Which is why I summarize that it has to be out of pure boredom that she is getting clean. Really, there is not a lot else to do during the day right now other than read, draw, eat, and her set amount of computer time each day.

But I'll take it. 

Thanks, Covid-19, for the small victory where I least expected it!

Yesterday was my birthday. My mom rented a mini-van so we could all (with her and my brother) take a day drive out to wine country to see a Heritage rose garden she and I had visited about three years ago, coincidentally, on my birthday.

Because we were going to be gone for several hours, we made a point of getting the house cleaned up and ready for any showings, like we usually do when they are scheduled. 

When we got back early in the afternoon, we were surprised to see someone had come by to show the house (they left their biz card to show they had) because our agent hadn't emailed or texted us that someone was or did.

Turns out, this agent never called to schedule (that we knew of), they just popped by! Our agent was very upset with them. I think she scolded this agent something fierce!

Our agent had shared a few days ago when she dropped off new price feature fliers, that the RMLS system on the realtor side had recently been updated and everything was a mess and hard to find on their end. (We'd had two realtors call us directly for showings when they should have called the agent.) 

Turns out, this was the case with this agent.

Still though, it made my night to see her kind feedback on the house, even though it didn't work for her client. After all the "helpful/not helpful" feedback other buyers and agents had provided up to now, this feedback was greatly appreciated. 

Oh NO!!! So sorry, glad we didn't surprise anyone. I did text you yesterday but I think I might have texted your office?

503-670-9XXX? This new rmls format has me all messed up, sorry.

The house showed great (even without any prep). Love the sellers style, the tall ceilings and yard were a hit!

Unfortunately the layout didn't suit my buyers. 

It's a great house and priced fair. Best of luck with your sale! ~Jenny

I like you, Jenny. You can show our house, anytime. 

When we remodeled the kitchen back in 2009-2010, I wanted to have an upper cabinet with glass fronts of some sort that I could light up. 

Well, we did just that and it looks lovely, but I rarely ever actively used that design feature once we had things completed. I don't know if I can articulate why, but when it came down to it once the kitchen was completed, I really preferred the under cabinet lighting to set the mood more than anything else. I think I found those upper cabinets lit up very distracting, especially if we had company over and were all gathered in the kitchen.

But I chuckle at how much those lights are on, now, as we try to sell the house. They've been turned and left on more in the past three months than in the past 11 years we've lived here!

We decided to lower the price on our house on Monday afternoon and we dropped it by $20 K. 

This meant that all of a sudden we were of interest (again) to buyers whom had not considered us before due to our price point. We had three showings on Tuesday, two Wednesday, and one yesterday. We have another one scheduled for Saturday morning.

However, even at the lower price point, people are still (sigh)...people. 

Recent agent feedback we've received:

"Good morning. First off, I have a couple of apologies.  I think I forgot to leave a card and my client put his foot down at the top of the attic steps and the particle board caved a bit. I meant to send you a message about it last night.

The property has some features they love, but unfortunately it is not the one for them. It came close, so we walked through a couple of times. 

As far as feedback,  I'd suggest rearranging a couple of things in the living room to better incorporate the fireplace and perhaps either removing the island,  or putting it where the bench is near the back door. If they are open to projects, I think an egress window in the room off the family room would make the improvements already down there, such as a full bathroom more valuable.  Lastly, de-cluttering, especially the garage would be worthwhile. Hope this helps, B."

Eddie read the feedback email before I had a chance to see it. He was like, "Um, the garage is full of (packed) boxes because WE ARE MOVING!"  

You think something is super obvious, but nope, it's not. 

Speaking about the fireplace, this has become a really sensitive issue with me. Well, that and the house floor plan. People love to bring that up in their feedback to us. I guess I never realized that some buyers make their housing decisions based on the placement of the fireplace. Especially in a house built in 1910.

Contrary to what feels like popular belief among buyers and their agents, we did not choose to place the fireplace, where the fireplace resides. We do agree, it is kind of in an odd spot in the house and a little tricky to work furniture around. We also believe, that at some point in time (a LONG time ago) one of the previous owners decided to close off the north side and make that into a small den/bedroom. If that room was not there, the fireplace would be more centered in the room than it currently is. 

However.

We did not make either of those design decisions, yet, people act like it is something within our immediate control. 

Same with the house layout. We can't change how the house was originally designed in 1910. Well, not really. And I wish folks recognized that our house is a completely different build-style than the traditional bungalow style our neighbor has directly across the street. Her floor plan is very, very common around here. 

But back to this particular feedback. I had to run upstairs into the attic and see what happened and... 

Wow.

Particle board is pretty soft, but I don't think "caved a bit" is really an accurate description. 

Broke? 

Yes, I'm going to go with BROKE. 

(Eddie swapped the damaged piece with an undamaged piece and will replace that area with plywood to make it stronger during these showings.)

Our agent and I sadly suspect, that had she (our agent)  not followed up for feedback (as she always does) this agent would have never, ever voluntarily mentioned it to us on her own. 

Which disappoints me, yet again, about people in general. Sometimes, I think I'm one of the few who practices The Golden Rule.

And I am practicing at just rolling my eyes and biting my tongue at the recommendation to move the kitchen island over to the wall where the bench is or just eliminate it. 

Other feedback from the more recent showings we've had included "the bedrooms don't work for my clients" and "It's a lovely house, but my husband has a neurological disorder and the layout won't work for him."

Fair enough. 

It gets hard to remember you can't make everyone happy when everyone is a critic, and offers what they think is helpful, but is actually very subjective, advice. 

So things will remain inside as they currently are, and hopefully, the mythical "right" buyer will come along sooner, rather than later.

They sure are taking their sweet time, that's for sure.

So Lulu borrowed a pair of my thick, black woolly tights about a year, two years ago for something or another. Probably a costume for Halloween. During that time, she has (conveniently?) forgotten to give them back to me. 

What's that saying about possession is 9/10th of the law or something or another?

Well, I'm glad she likes them, but during this time of them being under new ownership, Lulu has chosen to wear them, on many an occasion, as if they were leggings. 

I cannot stress enough, that these are NOT leggings, at all. While the lower leg may be opaque, they get a little more sheer in the hips, thighs and bottom. It's not immediately noticeable, however, that can instantly change depending on her choice of underwear color and whether the shirt she's wearing with them is over-sized. 

Lulu definitely has her own unique sense of fashion, yet at the same time, she's comfort driven. It never even occurs to her that bright or light colored underwear becomes much more noticeable when wearing black woolly tights as leggings.

Also, this is probably my fault because until recently, Lulu never had a mirror readily available to her where she could easily see more than her face. I actually liked that the girls have grown up without consulting full-length mirrors when they got dressed, or obsessing over their body and appearance. They just are themselves, and it's rather refreshing in this day and age. But Lulu has two full length mirrors in her new room now (as it used to be my dressing room, and I admit, I obsess over how an outfit is styled or put together on myself more often then not). Yet, I think she hasn't even realized they're there based on her formative years without one.

But back to the woolly tights business...

Lulu has been wearing them regularly as leggings and I've regularly railed against them being worn as leggings, because they are not leggings. She is more entertained by my exasperation over her actions, but she doesn't keep doing it on purpose to get my goat. She simply forgets about it and goes about doing whatever. This is what happens when your child has ADHD..

Just last week, Lulu had come home from spending the previous night at my mom's and volunteering with my mom and my brother that morning at Meals On Wheels (Lulu volunteers twice a week). Lulu was wearing said woolly tights, as leggings, and had worn them to Meals on Wheels. I could see her underwear color through the top of them.

Oh, I railed!!! And she just chuckled, because, this was obviously not the first time I'd railed on the subject and I think she really thinks I'm funny now when I do. 

But I switched things up on her and announced the following:

"You know, Lulu, I think I'm going to stop wearing my jeans and just wear my underwear, instead, since you continue to wear those as leggings and they aren't. I mean, my underwear looks like a bikini bottom, so it's fine. Right? And I'm just going to walk around the house like this and I'll go out and get the mail and just wear them like this from now on if you're going to continue wearing those tights as leggings..."

I proceeded to take my jeans off while I was delivering my impromptu speech, plop them on the nearest chair, and sit back down at the computer desk in my underwear and sweater top.

Meanwhile, Eddie was taking all this in and not sure what to make of it.

But amazingly, both girls reacted VERY strongly to my speech and pants removal action. Lulu and Bean, were both mortified at the thought of me walking around (even around the house) in just my underwear as bottoms and heaven forbid, I go outside where someone might see me! Both girls were begging and pleading me to put my jeans back on and Lulu begged and pleaded, saying she wouldn't wear the tights any more if I put my pants back on.

Again, Eddie just watched the drama unfold in pure disbelief.

Satisfied with this unexpected yet successful outcome, while secretly amazed that it all happened so quickly, I did put my jeans back on.

And should I see Lulu in those damn woolly tights again and not for bedtime, I will just silently take my pants off and go about my business.