So great news … Our house sold on day 6 which was perfect timing because Todd came down with some horrible virus. We cancelled the scheduled open house and Todd was bedridden for days! So time to move for real and we did not have the Ranch in any shape to live in it. But our friend who has a lawn company and who needed work, offered to help move the “big things” (I.e. Gun safe, compressor, tool chest).  So the scheduled day of that move I was sick.  That day went so well they decided to move everything. Unfortunately I was no where near ready to move but here we go. The guys did a great job and thanks to my sister, Kellie, Todd’s mom and friends Sue and Steph, we got a lot done in a half a day!! We ended up paying the guys less than 1/2 of the going rate for movers. Of course they didn’t pack or move the small things, but it was a great savings!

Despite our best efforts to clean the kitchen cabinets., there was no hope.

Both the inside and out were covered in grease and grime. So I decided they needed to be painted. It is amazing what a fresh coat of paint can do but again, a lot of work! In the midst of all this I still am not improving. My allergies and asthma have kicked in with a vengeance; worse than it has been in Years! So new meds an allergy shot and rescue inhaler later, I begin to think I’m allergic to the house. Todd installed this wonderful gizmo – an air scrubber!  I’m not sure what has done the trick but I can breathe again!!

Things are progressing slowly at the ranch the last few weeks. The weather turned to crap so with snow and cold we can’t get the roofers out or new electrical in. But we have been able to able to concentrate on our existing home and it is officially on the market!! We’ve had 10 showings in the last 5 days so hoping for an offer soon! With all the showings, we have had to evacuate with the dogs! Our evacuation plan is to hide out at the ranch. Being the optimistic person that I am, I am confident that our house will sell soon and we will officially move into Our Atomic Ranch! So my projects of late have been cleaning. Every wall, floor and surface needs serious cleaning.  I vacuumed 2 bedrooms with hardwood floors and

a hall and had to empty the vacuum twice!! We threw away mini blinds that I’m pretty sure had never been dusted! So I get

people may not be as fastidious as I am, but if you have spilled food on your wall…clean it!

It took about 30 seconds! How about random food and

and gunk on the door to the basement? This took a couple minutes.

But yes, it gets worse!!

This did take a bit more time, and yes, elbow grease! I really didn’t think it would come clean! And although it’s not perfect, huge improvement!!

My clean door is above. Still figuring out how to post photos where I want them!

Two clean doors… Only about 10 to go!!

Since the weather finally broke this week, we were able to have a roofer come look at it. We thought the main roof looked good and our assessment was confirmed by the professional. We were more concerned about the flat roof that runs the expanse of the front porch. Although there are some issues, for the most part that is in good shape. So great news there. Not so great on the electrical however. We had two differing opinions and then had OPPD confirm the bad news. We thought we were fortunate that they had underground service. Unfortunately it was run about 40 years ago, so the service coming into the house must be replaced. That is going to be a major expense.  Those are the big things. At the other end of the spectrum ….closets. We are trying to declutter our current home in order to get it on the market .  Every closet in the Atomic Ranch is a bizarre color. In a couple of them they used this Teflon-like paint.  I tried to take a picture of it but it doesn’t do it justice. No fear– a coat of Kilz and two thick coats of paint and it is mostly covered. Guess there are no small jobs after all.  On another topic… We are looking for a low- pile wool blend carpet with no pattern. Does anyone have a recommendation?

As with any new home, changing locks is a priority.  The previous owners had six kids and who knows how many grand kids. After forty plus years there is no telling how many keys are floating around. There were different options to consider but none were inexpensive since there are SEVEN exterior doors.  We could have had a locksmith re-key the locks but the hardware was obviously old and not really attractive. So we decided to purchase new.  We found some at a local hardware store that are modern and came as handle and deadbolt set. We didn’t want to have 7 different sets of keys so we went to several different stores to find as many as we could with the same keys. We found four that were the same, so we just had to re-key three. The hardware store re-keyed them for a minimal cost. In addition, the hardware store was having a “bag sale” so we got the lock sets at a discounted price which saved us quite a lot. Yes, we could have purchased online with all same keys, but that was more expensive and time was of essence.

Our atomic ranch was built in 1955.  We are just the third owners. The previous owners were there for about 45  years.  The good (and bad) news is that there has been very little updating from its original state! Hopefully, there are some photos here — still trying to figure out uploading  pictures.  But it was some of those original features that drew us to the home! Yes, the kitchen is straight out of the Jetsons! That is not an optical illusion… The cabinets are slanted. In fact, there are very few straight lines in the entire house! Clearly some design challenges!! But that is all part of the fun.

We are starting  a huge adventure so I thought it would be fun to start a blog to memorialize our trials and tribulations.  We bought a fabulous 1950s ranch style home in a great neighborhood.  We weren’t seriously looking and when we came upon this home online; we didn’t have a realtor or preapproval for a mortgage! But we knew this house was special so we got in and it was love at first sight! We should have been on an episode of HGTV’s “Property Brothers” with Jonathan and Drew. I wanted a sprawling ranch with a pool and a walk-in closet. Todd wanted an architecturally interesting home with a 3-car garage, a shed and a basement bar. We both agreed it must be in certain neighborhoods. So most homes were way outside our budget. This home was sold “as is,” so we got it for a great price…with the understanding it needs a lot of love. And so our labor of love begins! Thank you for sharing our journey! We look forward to this experience and would love feedback, comments, suggestions  and encouragement! Hold on…it’s going to be a wild ride!!