I need a little humor this Monday, as I am not feeling great. I think I overdid it this weekend with packing and such, because my back is killing me!! Add in the allergies and yeah, not a good day. I thought it would help to share some funny stories today.
Over the Easter weekend, when the whole family went house hunting, I was concerned about how Choo would behave in other people's houses. He was really well behaved, but a tad confused. He would often peruse the contents of people's DVD collections and try to turn on their TV sets. On a side note, I was shocked by some of the titles people had on public display! Really, you are trying to sell your house probably to a family, not a fraternity. So, we decided that Choo would stay in the air conditioned car. We would look at houses in shifts. Dude and I would go first, then he would relieve Bear, who would end up in the house with me. I'm a control freak, so I never left. This worked well, but was a little more time consuming. We come from an area that is FLAT. Hills around here are known as 'interstate on-ramps'. I think you get the picture. So, imagine our surprise when we show up at a house on a hill. Way up on a hill. The driveway was so steep, that instead of running perpendicular to the road, it ran horizontal. You started at the lower right hand side of the house and ended up atop the hill on the house's left hand side. There was a rather sharp turn and a cement pad. At the edge of the cement pad was- nothing but a sharp drop off. Did I mention the pad wasn't very big? Did I mention Bear drives a big-ole SUV? If you know us, you might see where this is going. Yep, we couldn't get out. Matters were made worse when Bear puts the car in park and says, "You drive." Just in time for the homeowners to come see why we are still there. (They had been in the backyard the whole time). I somehow mange to move the SUV a complete 180. We are still parallel to the steep driveway. Then the elderly gentleman who owns the house stands BEHIND me and tries to help me out. His wife is standing next to him covering and uncovering her eyes. This isn't really helping me at this point!! Bear is concerned that I will accidentally gun the engine and take the old man out. Dude keeps acting like we are going to die. The only calm one was Choo, go figure! Then my real estate agent decides that he will take over directing me. I ended up having to make the sharp turn at a horrible angle, so the tires were squealing. Yeah, that almost gave the old lady a heart attack! When we finally made it down, Bear writes a huge NO across my notes on the house. No one can remember anything about the house.
There is a reason homeowners should not be home when perspective buyers come over. I knew this one house was going to be a problem when Dude and I start to open a door off the kitchen area. The male owner tells us there is nothing there but the laundry room. Okay, but if I might buy your house, I would like to see the laundry room. The wife was standing in the kitchen, following our every move. Dude and I decide to head upstairs. She begins to follow us. Dude gives me 'the face' and tells me he is going to get Bear (with a mischievous grin on his face.) While in the master bathroom, wifey plops herself on the side of the tub with the unfortunately looking dog, Cha Cha, and begins to ask my opinion of her renovation. Um, no. At this point, her husband is on a phone call, so we only have to deal with her (& Cha Cha). She follows us outside, back inside, and around the house. I'm about to lose it, so the real estate agent and I high tail it out of the house. Bear is lagging behind. Around this time, the husband gets off the phone and begins to ask Bear questions. I know I should have gone inside to 'save' him, but that was the 17th or so house and I figured he could take care of himself. It was kind of funny when he comes out and says, "Thanks for leaving me." Ha, Ha. Oh, I forgot to mention the boxing dummy in a spare room, the broken exercise equipment barring one entrance into the family room, and the renaissance era pseudo porn hanging on the wall. Interesting house to say the least.
This one isn't a funny story. Bear and I went back to take a second look at a couple of houses that evening, but we decided that Choo and Dude could stay by themselves at the hotel. We had two rooms- Choo and I in one, Bear & Dude in the other. Dude says that he and Choo will stay in Choo's room. We leave Bear's cell phone in case of emergency. While we are out, Choo runs out of drink and Dude remembers that there is more in his room. He grabs two keys and proceeds to go get the drink. All is fine until he realizes he can't get back in Choo's room. He knocks and tells Choo to let him in, but all he can hear is Choo laughing. He does the uber mature thing and goes down to the front desk, explains that he needs another key made for Choo's room, provides all information to prove he does indeed belong in that room and calmly goes back upstairs to care for his brother. He didn't even tell us about it until later. He said he was only gone for about 2 minutes and it was all good. Wow. Good stuff.
Guess I've got to get to washing some clothes. Hope I've brightened your Monday just a tad!!
