This is the week my parents move to my state, which is extremely exciting. And yet everything – everything!!! – seems to be going wrong for them. I am so furious at the community to which they are moving, which in my opinion seems to have the viewpoint that their clients should feel LUCKY to be paying them money, and should not complain about things like borked timelines and shoddy workmanship and complete lack of transparency about EVERYTHING, because there are a bunch of people lined up and ready to take the abuse that my parents are objecting to. I really could go on and on about their experience, which has been a shitshow and I do not use that word lightly. But I can’t do anything about it, and nor can my parents who have already paid a lot of money for the privilege of being jerked around. My ONLY HOPE is that this moving-in nonsense is all the fault of the one seemingly incompetent person in charge of bringing new residents into the community, and that once my parents are finally settled they will find it to be a lovely place that doesn’t suck.
Anyway, while my blood pressure surges with impotent rage, I thought I might type some things.
It’s been a busy few weeks, and the next few weeks don’t seem to have a whole lot of let-up on the busyness front. But it’s very nearly all good busyness, so I’m trying to focus on that and not on the stressy feelings that I get from being so regularly busy.
Realtor Guilt: My husband and daughter and I continue to look for a new house, which is adding to the busyness because it seems like every week or two we have to drop everything to squeeze in a viewing. We are in the excellent position of not needing a new house; our house and neighborhood are wonderful. But we would all like a little more space. And that has become especially clear lately, because we have had one houseguest and will have two more in a couple of weeks and it’s sadly VERY possible that my parents may also need to stay with us instead of in their newly renovated home which was supposed to be done June 1. No, June 6. No, we really promise June 8. We have a guest room; we have two full bathrooms. This is more than many people have! It really shouldn’t be an issue to have a couple of houseguests, and yet it just feels cramped and crowded when we do. My daughter gives up her bathroom so the guests can use it, and uses our bathroom. And it’s fine, it really is, but it would also be SO NICE if we had a separate bathroom that guests could use. Plus I really, really, really want a mudroom. You know how there’s that saying that kitchens and bathrooms sell houses? In my case, a house could have the most gorgeously appointed gourmet kitchen but if it doesn’t have a proper mudroom I’m not buying.
So we are looking for a house, but it has to be The Exact Right House for us to leave our perfectly wonderful existing home. And that means that we are being SO PICKY. Which leads to my realtor guilt. I love our realtor – she is a very brisk, efficient type of person who gets us in to see whatever we need. But I am a little worried that she secretly hates us. She never acts like it; she’s too much of a pro. But she takes us to see all these spectacular homes and then we find some little stupid thing to nitpick and I wonder if she thinks we are jerking her around. We AREN’T. We actually put an offer in on one of the first houses we had her show us, and she was so surprised that she kept saying, “I didn’t think you were that serious yet!” as we were scrambling to get pre-approved for the mortgage and find a lender and put together an offer on a Sunday night.
This was several months ago now (and we still think about the house that got away), and we have seen probably close to 20 houses. The market is BONKERS. A house pops up on the MLS and then by the next day, it has five offers – all over asking. So if there’s any chance of getting the house we want, it feels like we have to act immediately. And our realtor is great about getting us in right away, even if that’s at night or on the weekend. I am aware that she chose this line of work, and that this is apparently what the job entails, and that at some point whatever commission she makes must make it worthwhile. But I feel SO GUILTY.
Earlier this week, we saw a house at, like, eight in the evening. And it was GORGEOUS. The inside was perfection. The neighborhood was lovely. It had a beautiful pool and outdoor eating set up. And yet… the yard was small and not particularly private, and the lot was on a busy road and near the freeway so there was quite a lot of road noise outdoors. Plus, none of the doors seemed to want to stay open, which was odd. Like, you’d open the closet door and then it would slam closed of its own volition; the office had French doors and one was propped open with a door stop and if you opened the other door it closed by itself. THIS IS HOW PICKY WE ARE BEING.
Anyway. I am just feeling so guilty. Not guilty enough to put an offer in on a house that we aren’t fully in love with, but guilty nonetheless.
Skin Update: My face has been doing pretty well lately. I went to see the dermatologist and he prescribed me a) an antibiotic to take if I ever have a flare up again and b) a sulphur-based face wash. I haven’t tried the face wash yet. My dermatologist said that it smelled of sulphur while using it, but that the scent goes away once your face is dry. The pharmacist said this is a lie. The pharmacist’s wife, apparently, also has rosacea and so he has been able to give me both his professional opinion on the things I’ve tried as well as his personal experience. He says that the face wash smells revolting and that the smell lingers. “Your partner will be able to smell it,” he said, a look of revulsion on his face. How fun for all of us.
Also on the topic of my skin, I am still not eating dairy… although I have been trying to add it back into my diet in dribs and drabs. A little half-and-half here or there… A couple of slices of pizza… A taco with a little cheese sprinkled on. I haven’t noticed any big skin differences, so I am going to keep at it. My acupuncturist says that goat and sheep milk have smaller proteins in it than cow’s milk, so I should start there. I didn’t have the heart to tell her about the pizza, with mozzarella that definitely came from a cow. I don’t really MISS dairy, except that I do like pizza and I do occasionally want some mozzarella or goat cheese in my salads. I do sometimes miss yogurt, and I guess maybe the next step is to try a smoothie with yogurt in it.
Note: I have tried almond milk yogurt, which I do not like, and coconut milk yogurt, which is fine. (I cannot eat soy yogurt, so I haven’t tried it.) But I don’t like these non-dairy options enough for how many calories they have, so I’d rather skip yogurt entirely. Also, I tried almond milk sour cream and it was abominable.
Summer Movie Watching: My daughter has a gap between the end of school and the beginning of camp, and I plan to spend our time together doing fun things like going for long walks at the dog park and watching movies. I have decided that as long as we are watching a movie together, it doesn’t count as Excess Screen Time. We have already watched Freaky Friday together, which I think went over pretty well, and Bend It Like Beckham which was both racier than I remembered and also kind of boring, and now I want all your mother-daughter movie recommendations.
I have never seen Little Women, so that’s on my list… but I’m sort of afraid to ruin the book before Carla has a chance to read it. Maybe Thirteen Going On Thirty, which I am pretty sure we watched together several years ago; Carla has no memory of this. Another one we’ve watched together that she doesn’t remember is The Princess Bride, which I would be delighted to watch again. We watched The Labyrinth at some point in the past couple of years, but maybe that would be a good one to rewatch? I’m not as hip to more recent releases, although Carla and I did go to the theatre to see Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret (it was just as well done as everyone assured me it would be). Carla loved it and wants to watch it again.
All movies are fair game. Just please don’t suggest E.T. ; she has thankfully already seen it and that is my most-hated movie of all time, right up there with Space Camp and The NeverEnding Story. (My husband watched the latter with Carla fairly recently; I cannot get past the agonizing death of the horse.)
I will say that my big bias against movies these days is content about sex and dating. For some reason, that’s what I find myself wanting to “shield” from Carla (although “shield” isn’t quite the right word), more so than anything else. Probably an impulse that requires more in-depth analysis, but I think on the face of it is that so many movies are so casual about sex and romantic relationships and tend to overelevate their importance. Like… Bend It Like Beckham has this whole side plot about the two soccer players both having the hots for their soccer coach. And… why? Why did that have to be a plot point? There was plenty of conflict already, between the protagonist and her parents, between her and her sister. If there had to be conflict between the two friends, why not make it about soccer? Or the protagonist’s refusal to be honest with her parents? And yes, I know that Bend It is also about how the main character’s culture plays up the importance of traditional values of femininity and marriage and wifeliness, but that was super clear without any sort of reference to shagging one’s soccer coach. (Or calling someone a bitch because she tried to kiss said soccer coach, after you specifically told her you didn’t like him!) And yet I am fine with The Princess Bride, I think? That’s a romance, and Buttercup doesn’t have a whole lot of agency if my memory is correct, but it seems different??? Maybe because the movie is an adventure, and yes, true love is the driving force and the reward, but the adventure is really what the movie IS, right? Am I remembering this correctly?
I don’t know; like I said, I haven’t really examined this bias in any meaningful way yet. Carla is not yet ten. We’ve talked to her about the mechanics of sex and have bought her books that are frank about sex and try to be open about any and all things she’s curious about, so it’s not like sex is a big mystery. Plus, romance and love are wonderful, in fiction and in life, and make for thrilling, excruciating conflict in movies and books. But I guess I don’t love how important sex and dating are in so many movies, especially those from my youth. Maybe I am just hoping to stave off, for a few more years, that all-encompassing, dizzy, yearning feeling of boy craziness I felt from fifth grade straight through until I met my husband???
Calcium Update: Possibly you remember how I regularly freak out about Carla’s poor calcium intake? Well, we have resolved this by simply giving her Tums during the day. (This is what my father suggested a year ago and we have just now come around to it for reasons unknown.) It’s probably not ideal, and she’s probably not getting exactly as much as she needs, but it’s better than nothing. There was a blissful period of time when Carla was regularly eating yogurt. She wanted the yogurt lumps I made back when I was still eating dairy, but they ran out. So she decided to mix raspberry jam and mini chocolate chips into yogurt each morning for breakfast. Yes, I know; high in sugar. But also high in protein and calcium! She has sort of fizzed out on that fad though, but it was really nice while it lasted.
Home Improvements Inch Forward: One of my aspirations for the past couple of years has been to get our house trim painted. And it is DONE. Well, sort of; the person who painted the trim around the garage somehow only painted the trim that faces the driveway; the trim on the sides is not painted. Looks like he sanded the sides and just… forgot them? The painter in charge assures me he will come back, and I really believe that he believes he will… but I think the nature of the jobs he takes on means that it might be a long while before he gets back to us. For instance, he was able to do the trim the same day I reached out to him because he had another job in my neighborhood and he was waiting on the go-ahead from a larger job. Sigh. I am also hoping to have him paint the front door, which is awful and peeling. In fact, I asked him to paint the door when I asked him to paint the trim and there was some sort of misunderstanding. Anyway I hope that he eventually finishes the job. We shall see. He did our deck last year and it still looks good, so I’m hopeful.
Birthday Angst Redux: We have finally settled on a birthday party plan for Carla, at long last, and after many permutations. It looks NOTHING like what she requested originally, but she seems happy and excited. The theme for her friend party will be succulents, because why not. (Do not ask me how we got to succulents from wolves.) I am trying to gather the courage to call my awesome local plant store to see if they can source party-favor size succulents for the guests. This is an okay thing to ask, right? I mean, I can order them online from multiple places, but I would much rather support a local business. But maybe they won’t be able to do it? Or maybe they won’t be able to do it as inexpensively as the online options? What then? Do I just spell it out up front: I am looking to spent no more than $X on Y small succulents in small pots – is that something you can do?
Also, Carla still wants a wolf theme for her family party. She wants a wolf head cake, and she drew a very detailed picture of her expectation. And look, I know my strengths and abilities and there is no way I can do something like this. Maybe I should just make the cake she wants and buy this cute topper from Etsy and hope she loves it???? I know that I could possibly call a bakery and ask them to do it, but I don’t know of any local bakeries that do this kind of detailed project and my experience with (okay, just the one) local bakery makes me reluctant to put the whole thing in their hands. Also it’s probably too late now, since I’ve been dithering about this for weeks and her birthday is IMMINENT. Please tell me there is some super! easy! way to do a wolf head that I am overlooking. Maybe I could print out a wolf head silhouette and cut a sheet cake in the shape of it and… it’s going to look awful.
All right. That’s all I’ve got for today.
What are you thinking about this Thursday?
I think you have to let go of the realtor guilt. Sometimes they get lucky and only have to show one or two homes to a potential buyer (that happened when my husband and I bought our house) and sometimes they have to show dozens. I’m sure you’ve explained that it would need to be a PERFECT house to move, so the realtor probably knows what’s up.
Um. If a face wash smelled like sulphur even if it was just when I was washing, I would never use it. I’m imagining myself gagging through my face-washing process and then if the smell LINGERED? I’d be miserable.
I bet your plant store will be PUMPED to do small succulent favors. That’s such a wonderful favor. They could even put a small tag on the favors so that the girls know where to go if the succulents need to be repotted! It seems like a win-win for everybody!
I am really not looking forward to trying the face wash! It sounds awful! The pharmacist looked genuinely distressed on my behalf.
SUZANNE! I also hate ET! Although, I’m not sure that’s the right word as I have never seen it all the way through. I was terrified of it as a child and I’m still super squicked out by it now. And it’s such a universally-beloved movie, and every single person I have told (other than you) has said “how can you hate ET? How can you be scared of ET?” I DON’T KNOW, IT IS AN ALIEN JUST HIDING IN THE STUFFED ANIMALS, TOTALLY NORMAL.
I wouldn’t feel too bad for the realtor, in this market. She’s probably doing JUST FINE! I mean, houses practically sell themselves right now. The market is super hot here as well, which was great for us when we were listing our house. And that was in April – things are even crazier now. My friend just sold her house and had TWENTY FIVE OFFERS.
Sorry things have been so shitty for your parents’ move! Hopefully it will be smoother once they are here.
As for the cake I have no advice. I love baking but my actual decorating skills are low.
I would like to join the “I hate ET” club. Nightmares as a child; still squicked now. I remember my peers finding him SO SO SO CUTE, and I still don’t understand.
So completely squicky.
Also hate ET
Yes, hate is not quite right — more like EW and unsettling.
My kids and I just watched Singing in the Rain. (Boys 9, 12,15) Given that they usually like superhero and Harry Potter type movies, I wasn’t certain if they’d like it. They really enjoyed it. Also,Casablanca and the African Queen went over really well. (We’re trying to introduce some classic movies. Rear Window is next.) Princess Bride is so wonderful(child of the 80’s here) .
When my daughter bought a house in a hot housing market, it only went to them because the listing went live at 5pm on Easter, and they went that night. They had to write a letter and pay over the asking price to get it. ( they had to find someplace as their rental lease ended within a month.) It’s crazy what some markets are like. But you should be picky – it’s a big commitment! I think a wonderful laundry room would be worth waiting for. 😉
I hope your daughter’s party is awesome!
I have never seen any of these movies except Princess Bride! I will have to change that!
Favorite part: “(Do not ask me how we got to succulents from wolves.)”
I am a good baker but a very basic decorator, so always use a version of cheating. What if you made a sheet cake with white icing, but then used a wolf baking stencil to layer on a gray crystal sugar (you can buy at Michael’s) wolf face?
YES, something like this! Very good plan! Thank you!
I didn’t care for ET but the movie that truly terrified me was the Wizard of Oz. It sounds like you have some good ideas on wolf decorations and succulents. I feel for what your parents are going through. It seems that everything is a huge frustrating process these days. Hope it works out!
I am not a big Wizard of Oz fan — I don’t know if my daughter has ever seen it!
From wolves to succulents…that is a mystery for the ages. I second Kate’s plan. Yes, call the nursery. Just give them a budget and see if they can meet it. If they can’t, I’m sure they will still appreciate that you thought of them first.
Ditch the guilt over the realtor. Believe me, in this market, they are doing Just Fine. And don’t settle. If it needs to be perfect in order to make you move; then it needs to be PERFECT.
Movies…hmm. My very first thought was Goonies. But, if I’m recalling it correctly, there is some language that may not be appropriate – but maybe not TOO bad? I know you mentioned Little Women (I haven’t seen it) but don’t want to ruin the book (I love that book so very much). Why don’t you read the book together and then see the movie?
I think we have already seen Goonies and my recollection was that I didn’t find it to have aged very well. And yes, I think I need to wait to see Little Women until we have read the book together!
Have you guys watched The Parent Trap movies?? Both the original and the re-make are SUCH great ones!! So cute and funny. A movie I loved as a kid and my boys even got a kick out of was Troop Beverly Hills, about Girl Scouts on a camping trip/competition. Funny! The movie Annie- again, both original and the more recent version are both great. Beethoven movies? Honey I shrunk the kids? I assume you may have watched Matilda already. The Anne Hathaway version of The Witches is great (by Roald Dahl). We watched My Girl with our boys around 10-11 and while sad in parts, it was fine! A Dog’s Purpose my kids loved, and Cool Runnings they found hilarious. They did like A Princess Bride! I loved A League of Their Own when I was young. Ok that’s all I can think of for now.. I’ll keep thinking!! Haha.
YES, the Parent Trap moves! We watched the Lindsay Lohan one a few years ago but I am betting my daughter doesn’t remember it. And Troop Beverly Hills was one of my favorites when I was a kid! Adding the others to the list too! Thanks!
I’m sorry to read about the big problems with your parents’ move and hope it all works out smoothly… eventually. Whenever I read about something like what is happening to them I think that could be any of us later in life and I want to punch whoever is causing the older folks so much angst.
I’m not surprised you’re finding flaws in the properties you’re looking at. With the market like it is sellers don’t have to have *perfect* properties to make a sale. It’s up to the buyers to fix things when they get there. I’m sure your realtor understands your point of view, so I wouldn’t feel guilty.
How about A League of Their Own or Galaxy Quest or Father Goose [an oldie with Cary Grant] for mother/daugher movies? I’m not much for movies, but these three make me laugh.
A League of Their Own — definitely! I have not heard of Galaxy Quest or Father Goose and will have to check those out!
OMG I LOVE SPACE CAMP!! Like one of the best terrible movies EVER. Okay, so, I was a really advanced reader as a kid, and my mom did not censor anything I read, so I was literally EIGHT YEARS OLD reading Danielle Steel. Which is to say, I read all about sex early (Like CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR novels sex), and by the time I started watching movies with adult themes, it was NBD. And because I came to form my own opinions via books, I was able to critique the kind of yucky rape culture undertones in movies. Dorothy did not like Little Women the book (JUST RIP MY HEART OUT ALREADY), but she did like the graphic novel a ton and has since gone back to the original book in slow spurts.
Sarah, I also read Danielle Steel, Clan of the Cave Bear, and also FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC at an inappropriately-young age. Flowers in the Attic aieeeeee
My reading was never censored either and I remember reading Scruples by Judith Krantz at a pretty early age (though not eight!). I blame Space Camp for my enduring fear of outer space. Like, if we all have to abandon Earth for the stars I will not be able to do so.
I hope things start to go more smoothly for your parents’ move. I wish I could remember what movies we watched when the kids were that age, but not much is coming to me. I think Noah was ten when we watched Time Bandits with him. If you like The Princess Bride, that might be up your alley. I will think on it some more and let you know if I think of anything. Good luck with the party!
I will have to look into Time Bandits!
Our kids loved Shanghai Noon and Parental Guidance and Get Smart. What about Goonies and Stand By Me? Is she too young for Ferris Bueller’s Day Off? Big (which has a bit of sex implied, when there is a sleepover and she wonders why he wants to sleep on the top bunk, but I think it is not a huge focus, but I do tend to forget details like this which ticks Coach off at times). The Black Stallion. Legally Blonde. Oh, we always love A League of Their Own. I suppose these don’t exactly count as mother/daughter movies as much as they are family movies.
So sorry about your parents’ moving issues. How frustrating.
I make an Easter bunny cake and I wonder if that can be adapted to resemble a wolf. Maybe a cupcake for a snout? Smaller ears than the bunny? Good luck there. I’m confused by the obsession of late of succulents, but that seems like a farily easy party favor and I would definitely be upfront with your local store. ‘Not sure if this order would make sense for you – maybe you’d prefer I order somthing on line,’ etc.
I laughed out loud at the pharmacist’s description of the smell. Shudder.
The housing market is NUTS and it isn’t as if the rates are really inviting home purchases. I do not think you should feel guilty. You should only buy a home that checks all the boxes and I’m sure the realtor recognizes this. Sorry about the house that got away. That stinks. There is a house that got away from us and it is on the route I run on. It is further off the beaten path, but still. It had a TON of space. I hope you find something soon.
I am Very Interested to hear more about this Easter bunny cake! What do you do for the ears? Details, Ernie, please!
Thanks for all the movie ideas!
Okay- first of all! I’m so glad your face is better. That is hilarious about the pharmacist and his advice. Hopefully your face won’t flare up badly again, but if it did I would be tempted to use the face wash regardless of the smell. You’ll have to let us know if you ever try it.
Last week my daughter went to a party and brought some extra cupcakes home… and the frosting was a weirdly unappealing shade of gray. When I asked her about it she said it was a shark theme- maybe (I’m hoping) there were some cute decorations or toppers in addition to the gray frosting? Anyway, I thought of you. i like the new updated party theme, and for the family party I think that etsy cake topper would look amazing! Maybe if you run it past Carla, she’ll like it even better than her original idea.
I think you have to be picky when looking for a new house- you’ll have to live there for a long time. I get why you would feel guilty about the realtor, BUT then it’s in her best interests to show you houses that have nice yards and aren’t next to the freeway. And I’m sorry your parents are having so many issues! I hope everything works out for them soon.
For movies, my daughter currently loves Legally Blond. But it’s been a while since I’ve seen it and I’m guessing it may not be appropriate for a 10 year old? To be honest, my daughter doesn’t usually like movies so I’m not a good source of information here.
Shark theme! I l love it! And Legally Blonde might be really fun!
We looked for a house for 2 years so I understand the realtor guilt. We were very clear about our “must haves” – which were things like 2 stall garage, main floor powder room, not in need of significant renovations, not a busy road/main thoroughfare, 2 showers. We would not look at homes that didn’t meet those basic qualifications. She screened a lot of stuff for us, too. We had a young toddler at the time so she tried to prevent us from needlessly viewing something. Because we were so specific about what we wanted to see, we did not see all that many houses in the 2 years that we were looking. Plus, she got the commission from selling our house after we bought a house. So I feel like it was worth her time in the end!
I’m glad the pharmacist was honest about the smell of the cleanser! And I am sorry to hear about the run around your parents have experienced!!! But how exciting that they will live near you soon!
It’s comforting to know that you were also very picky and that it took two years and your realtor stuck with you!
I have repeatedly said I am not the ET parent; I will not watch it again! We have done The Princess Bride and she just watched The Princess Diaries movies – but I am so hesitant about some other childhood faves where she’s not quite 10. For example, I love Back to the Future, but one of the main jokes is incest when you think about it. Or how creepy the plot of Big was. My girl is already noticing boys and thinking about how she is perceived – I want so much to be careful about how what she consumes will influence her and just help her grow confidence and self worth outside of that. Sending all the good thoughts to your parents – moves are hard enough without having timelines and expectations dashed!
I dislike ET as well. Ella saw Pretty in Pink in first grade, so maybe don’t rely on me for movie recommendations. 🤣
Carla reminds me so much of Ella at that age. Ella is now 15 years old and the coolest, sweetest teenager I know. So..❤️
Awww I love that description of your daughter! I think Carla is well on her way to being an awesome teen!
We looked at 40 houses before we bought our home…so don’t feel guilty!
I’m so sorry your parents are going through so much drama; hope things clear up quickly and it’s smooth sailing once the renovations are completed. How stressful!
Would you believe…I’ve never seen E.T.!!!
Well, I don’t think you’re missing out but I am biased! Some people love E.T.!
Goonies is very scary for a 10 yr old. Troop Zero on Amazon Prime is excellent- funny and wholesome. My daughter loves Fly Away Home and my son thinks Back to the Future is hysterical. We also like Troop Beverly Hills and National Velvet.
Back to the Future was a hit around here. And I will definitely look into Troop Beverly Hills (which I loved as a kid!) and National Velvet. We watched Troop Zero a few years ago and I wasn’t a huge fan. And I agree about Goonies. We watched that a few years ago too and I did not care for it.
You are not making your Realtor crazy. This is what they do and I’m sure you guys are lovely in all other areas!
I hate that your parents are getting yanked around! Crossing my fingers that things go smoother from here on out.
Wolves to Succulents. Makes perfect sense to me. 😜
I actually went to a girls’ weekend a few years ago, and this was our activity for one afternoon; we each brought pots and the host provided the tools/succulents/soil, etc…it was so much fun. Have you checked with Lowes or Home Depot on the plants, I think they’re reasonable.
I can’t remember appropriate movies with my girls, but Freaky Friday was a hit for us. (the original and the newer one) Oh, also The Parent Trap.
I wonder if we would have time for the kids to fill their own pots??? Hmmm. Something to consider!
I don’t blame you for being picky about your new house! It’s a HUGE investment and where you want to live for many, many years. Of course you’re going to be picky! But I also understand being a people pleaser and not wanting someone to be “mad” at you, lol. I GET IT. I would want to be the best ever customer a realtor ever had! Sometimes, we just have to be okay with being particular.
I’m sorry about all of the hassles your parents are dealing with regarding their move! How frustrating. 🙁
I love succulents/ wolves as a party theme, but if you will recall I once threw a meatball/ monkey party, so I’m not normal.
I am incensed on your behalf and on your parents’. Wtaf.
If there is EVER a situation in which to be unreservedly picky, it is in one where you’re looking for a house when the house you live in is already fine. BE PICKY. (I would also feel very guilty about the realtor’s time, but whatever, if you can’t do the time don’t wear the blazer or whatever).
Oh, absolutely call the local flower shop and say “I would like to know if you are able to source or carry party-favour succulents example this” and then say “Oh, thank you so much but that sort of blows my budget” if it doesn’t work. This I would feel no guilt on at all. (succulents for party favours is adorable).
I am so sorry about your parents’ fiasco with the community that they’re moving to and how badly they communicate (what is it with people and communicating well? It’s been a theme in my life lately). I do hope all works out and they settle in nicely and you’ll enjoy having them so close now. I am envious 🙂
And I hear you about the realtor’s guilt. Jon and I went to an open house (just for fun) a few weeks back – we’re not even LOOKING to buy right now, CA home prices are insane on top of the current interest rate… but now I’ve been getting text/emails from the realtor that was showing the house. I know he’s just keeping people on his potential email/txt list but I feel so guilty for just making him think we’re potential clients right now, even though he’s not looking for houses for us. LOL (The brain is a funny place – but all this to say I can very much understand that you don’t want to feel like you’re stringing your realtor along. However, that is her job and she should be well aware that you can and will only invest if the right house comes along. This is all part of her job!).
Totally agree – dump the realtor guilt. She’ll be fine, promise. I have no movies to suggest (the ones suggested are all awesome…) but I HATED ET and I am so, so glad I found My People here. Nightmares. I hate Bambi, too, and was traumatized when kids I was babysitting insisted on watching it. Yeeks. Oh, movies! HIGHLY recommend the original Parent Trap, too. Loved that movie. I never saw the new one, because I am OLD, but the old one is hilarious.