Selling the Lake House

Finally in Minneapolis and yes, we are exhausted. We got in last week, took one day to get set up and prepare mentally for the trip to the lake. We drove up on Friday and immediately were put to work... We had our first showing that afternoon and probably would have the house sold--except the couple needs to sell their existing lake house. Their cabin is on the "other side" of the lake--we call it the "mountain goat" side. Mom has probably the best lot on the lake--level all the way to the water with gorgeous views of the lake from the house. This couple is on the highway--and have a huge drop to the water (one of the houses has installed a tram to get up and down the 'cliff'. They also can only see the lake through a break in the pine trees--the houses on this side of the lake are forbidden from cutting down any of the trees. The guy was absolutely wild about my mom's place-had all sorts of ideas of what he'd do (and gave us some good ideas for us to use).

The next day we started with a drive around the lake --John drove, my Mom directed and I was the "jumper"--jumping in and out of the car putting flyers on mailboxes and front doors. Fortunately it wasn't blisteringly hot so the only nuisance I had to deal with was the huge hungry mosquitoes. We finished up and headed back--John got to take the push mower to the shore and cut down the overgrowth (he was not a happy camper!--it was hot and humid and he was trying to mow on sand!). My list was mostly painting and caulking. I had all of the heat registers to prime and paint and in the shower, I had to dig out the old caulk and recaulk. What an awful job--John did get me some amazing 3M stuff that you put on and let sit for 2 hours. It made it so easy to just pull the old stuff off. Re-applying was a mess. I made a real mess of it and sent John back to the hardware store for a "tube" of caulk--more like spreading toothpaste from a tube. In the process of cleaning the shower in preparation for the new caulk, I made the mistake of putting some cleaner on the tile outside the shower--and realized that it would look much better if I did a serious grout cleaning. (Why oh why do I have this grout fetish....I absolutely hate dirty grout.) So, my simple caulking project turned into an afternoon on my hands and knees with toxic cleaners, awful fumes and a scrub brush. I have to admit- it looks like a whole new bathroom but I am still so sore from hours on my hands and knees.