Open House Mouse? 

In today’s post I want to share a little about what’s been going on in my life.

Each week I usually focus my posts on online marketing, traffic generation and the like. Today I want to slow it down and get a little more personal.

This summer was a transitional one for my family.

Our oldest “child” turned 20 and moved into her own apartment. Our son turned 18, went to Europe to travel and is off to college in January.

We also put our home on the market and it sold in two weeks.

It was just too big for my wife Elizabeth and I, and we’ve been wanting to downsize for a few years now.

Having rented log cabins whenever we went on vacation, we knew that a log home was what we wanted. When we found a beautiful one just over the border in Connecticut, we pulled the trigger, made an offer and got our house on the market.

Of course, the transition was not without stressful moments.

The last time we moved was almost 20 years go, and I forgot what a pain in the &#@ moving really is.

The first thing we had to do was get our house ready for listing. We were painting, decluttering, fixing, cleaning, and packing for MONTHS.

Talk about a stressful summer.

Then we had to deal with not-so-smooth negotiations, delayed closings, and more.

In fact, it seemed like anything that could go wrong, did.

Get this…

A few days before our open house we had a mouse get in and I caught it in a trap. Little did I know it had babies and they came out looking for mama, popping up around every corner for days! The last thing you want at an open house is mice, but luckily we managed to get them all.

Here’s a picture of one I caught in a box and set free in the woods. (My wife caught me dropping a book on the first one I saw and I promised to “catch and release” after that.)

Then a week or so before our closing our appliances started to die.

Our dishwasher died two few weeks before closing and we had to replace it. Our clothes dryer died one week before closing and we replaced that.

Almost comical really. Stressful then, but funny to think about now.

Man, were we stressed out thorough the process, but we somehow found ways to laugh about each obstacle. If you don’t find ways to deal with stress, it can really do a number on you.

Anyway, it was our first move in 20 years and hopefully our last. We are now finally settled into our new home and absolutely loving it.

I promised a few subscribers I’d post some pics of the new digs, so here they are…

(After the pics, I have some friendly advice about managing stress, along with a great PLR pack that will help you “spread the word” and maybe save a few lives in the process…)

Stress Management Tips:

Look, I get it. Moving is not up there with a stressful event such as illness or loss of a loved one.

But it is one of the top 5 most stressful events people face.

Here are some tips that helped us get through with our health in tact…

1. Exercise

Regular exercise is one of the best ways to de-stress both body and mind. Even 20 minutes on the treadmill every few days made me feel better.

2. Remember that Change is Inevitable

You can’t stop change. So try your best to embrace it, or at the very least, a way to come to terms with it.

3. Don’t Focus on the Worst Case Scenario

Those almost never come true. We were worried about our home inspection, it passed just fine. Appraisal? Hit the number easily. In fact, every concern we had eventually worked out. It’s easy to dread, but worry is really just wasted energy in almost every case.

4. Eat Right

Junk food and fast food is not good for stress. In fact, it makes it worse. Also, it’s tempting to over-indulge in beer and wine. Don’t do it. Everything in moderation is the best policy!

5. Take Breaks

When I need to accomplish something, I tend to work and work til the job is done. But when you are doing many years of home maintenance in a few months, you can’t do it all in one push. I quickly learned that a day or two off from the job made me more productive.

6. Laugh!

My wife and I found that laughter really works to fight stress. I mean, running around chasing baby mice a day before your open house is kinda comical, don’t you think?

If you are going through a stressful time and want some help managing it, I suggest you get this…

https://bizweb2000.com/recommends/stresscontent/

Not only can it help you with any stressful situation you encounter, you can use it to help others!

Have a great weekend!

Jim Daniels