A long list of to-do's

Last week we signed the lease on our new house and this week we've gotten into it to find that there is much work to be done before it is move-in ready. Steph started Friday evening with the pulling of nails and spackling, prepping the walls for new paint. The spackling is nearly finished, but we still have a long list of "to-dos" before we start painting. Yesterday I went through and inventoried everything that was wrong with the place. Our landlord gave us a paper with 10 spaces on it to list everything that was wrong. I filled out all ten lines and added two more. Everything from the place not being cleaned at all, to mold on the windowsills and screens, to doors that are off their hinges and/or won't latch, to badly stained toilets and tubs, and a garbage disposal that isn't operating. We're going to fix all the things that we can fix and do all the necessary cleaning, but then we're going to hand them the list and tell them that in light of the fact that we've done all the cleaning and fixing of the place, (with the exception of the garbage disposal), we don't feel that we should have to pay a cleaning deposit. The only thing left that I wish we could do is pull up that dark green carpeting and reveal the wood floors. I know they would probably require extensive restoration. Ah, well! Perhaps soon we'll be in the position to buy the house and we'll be able to do it then.

We'll be back at it again today!