Russellsphere

After 10 days of torture, the house is ready and is as of now on the market for $309,500. A very competitive price. We have a number of things going for us:
* Only 1 level home in neighborhood in this price bracket.
* Over 1900 square feet
* 250 square foot expansion space over Garage
* Patio and Front Porch
* 3 bathrooms and 2 en-suite bedrooms
* Cathedral Ceiling in Living Room
* Berber Carpet through out – but wood flooring in entrance
* Upgraded (stainless steel appliances)

We have worked very hard to put it in ‘show’ condition – it is beautiful – I think it is cleaner now than when we first moved in!

So now we wait… and we see what happens – the market isn’t great for sellers, but I know one thing – the Russell’s can overcome anything – I now feel like breaking into song – Russell’s unite – the 5 strong family – hiking up and down, through strife and mystery – selling their home…

We finished most of the painting this evening, and our Realtor is coming to see us on Tuesday to list the house. She advised aggressive pricing, so we’ll see – we firmly believe it will see quickly (but doesn’t everyone?) – but we think 15 days ;-) –

I broke my jogging record this evening, I jogged late, and reached 0.8 miles (recorded in car afterward) – only 0.2 to go until the big one mile. I am still at 49 lbs lost, that last pound just doesn’t seem that interested in going away. Jogging in the open air is so much different than in a nice air conditioned gym.

Have some more Netflix movie reviews:

Children of Men
I was really looking forward to this after seeing some buzz about it and some coworkers recommending it to me. But honestly, I thought it sucked, it was kind of boring – but watched it till the end, and had an unsatisfying ending. The battle in the town was the best part, and was very well done – it reminded me of playing Half Life 2.
Kids Review- Too much blood and guts for us to watch this one.

Eragon
I have never read the book, and had heard bad things – but Jenny and I actually liked this movie – apart from the stupid ending – the effects were quite nice, and had an interesting concept. An enjoyable romp – obviously no Lord of the Rings
Kids Review- This would have been OK for us to watch, except Mommy and Daddy watched it 11PM – and we were fast asleep

A Scanner Darkly
I thought this was pretty terrible, stylish visual design was really all it had, confusing plot line and yet again a ‘artsy’ ending that is meant to make you ‘think’. Just kinda blah, and nothing to it.
Kids Review- Would have had many nightmares if we watched this one

I’m about half way through cleaning the attic, – Office is 75% staged – Dining Room is 100% staged, – slowly getting there :-) – Kitchen is pretty much done – Thursday Night we are repainting everything that needs to be done.

Nicholas for the first time asked about my father, who died when I was 17, and we had to explain that he was in heaven now but was always watching over us. He then asked about heaven, ‘Whats heaven?’ – I am sure these are the first of many difficult questions we will be faced with as all our kids grew up. We explained as best we could, but after a few moments, he switched back to watching Tom & Jerry. I have no doubt that my father will be very proud of my little Nicholas and his two siblings Lauren and Emily.

We have been frantically getting the house ready for the market, Id say we are about 30% through – it needs to be on the market a week from today. We showed the kids the model home of the one we are getting, and they were VERY EXCITED !!

Nicks Birthday Video at Chuckie Cheeses ‘ highlight – Nick hiding from the big mouse, but I would hide too if I could.

We DID sign a contract on a new home, so wish us luck! We have 60 days to sell our home, or we will pull out of the deal (contingency) – or find some creating options… More information about this new Russell Project will appear soon.

We are CRAZY ! But the deals at the moment are just as crazy – it is more than possible that we are signing a contract on a new home tomorrow morning – it depends on the bottom line – and if the house sells in 60 days – if it doesn’t , then it may not happen, but it is a contingent contract so we are protected from not losing our deposit. Here are pictures of the model of the home we are getting ‘The Barton’ and a video. We need a larger home cos we have so many kids :-)

…and Nicholas will be 4!

We took Nicholas out today on a date – first we hit O’Charley’s for some delicious Sunday brunch, we then went to watch Ratatouille – and it was excellent. Nicholas watched through the ENTIRE movie – and although a little fidgety during the end, performed marvelously – we were both very impressed. Rat- is probably the best movie I have seen this year, Id give it an A – a very, very cool movie, and we all recommend it! Nicholas wants to see it again! After the movie we hit Lowes to get some painting supplies and some odds and ends and we came home via Sonic Burger. Nicholas said afterwards, ‘I had a great date, Ratatoille was AWESOME’ – I wonder what our next movie will be?