Deep Sigh of Relief

We did it! Working like crazed cleaning/decorating monkeys, we actually got most of the house ready to be photographed by 2pm Sunday. It was a herculean effort, believe me. We only stopped work last night to go to a Christmas party–which we actually attended solely because we could eat for free. Got to bed at midnight, was up at 6:30 a.m., at Kroger at 7 a.m. At one point today, I looked around and counted the elves who were scurrying around: me, Tom, Andy, my friend Marie, who is a professional decorator, Jinx and Ellen, who are members of the posse and Ellen’s husband Joel, who made the mistake of stopping by to see how we were progressing. Of course we put him right to work. The house does look beautiful, if you don’t look too close. If you look closely, however, you might catch a glimpse of the peanut-butter baited mousetraps under the kitchen cabinets. Ooops! Or the basket of dirty laundry in boomerang boy’s bedroom. Double oops. Or the floor lamp in Tom’s office that didn’t quite get a lampshade. Should you manage to shove the laundry room door open, you would get an eyeful. Ditto Tom’s closet. Ditto the back mudporch. But really, mostly it looks beautiful to me. And the reporter and photographer, who are more used to documenting the mega-mansions of rappers and professional athletes, seemed to appreciate all our hard work. When the got here, Tom and I were still in our grimy sweats. But all is well. I’ve had a nap, and a hot bath and some cheap chardonnay, and tomorrow I plan to use that gift certificate for a massage that I’ve been hoarding. And perhaps a manicure and pedicure. And then it’s back to work. We still have more fluffing to do before the tour on Sunday.