Apostle Art Home Staging & Design Blog

One Slice of Humble Pie Please!

Humble Pie...continued...would you like a slice?

Ok...Time to wrap up this pie and put it in the fridge for later. 

2 weeks ago, I am at choir practice rehearsing the music that we will be singing on Sunday for Confirmation. I start thinking about how beautiful and spirit-filled the confirmation masses are at our church as we sing for them every year. The royal brass plays with the organ all blending with our voices as the Bishop, priests, Knights of Columbus and conferments proceed down the center aisle. This year, even more special as my daughter is being confirmed as well.

I start thinking about TY. He comes from a very large parish back home and has been attending a smaller local church while here. I consider how much he would probably enjoy participating in this grand affair...I consider inviting him to the ceremony. I think about it for a few days..will my family think I am nuts inviting one of my clients to such a personal event? Well....do I really care...they already know I am nuts!!

I call Ty to touch base on another matter and I ask him if he would like to come on Sunday and back to our home after for some grub. He accepts and is humbled by the invitation...turns out, he likes humble pie too!

 When I saw him walk into the Church all dressed in a suit, I was beaming and so was he...Who would have ever guessed from our first meeting to now??  So, afterwards we all gather at my house where TY stole the show. All my kids and my niece were gathered round him swapping stories about snowboarding , music and all sorts. My Mom and sister shared long conversations with TY and even promised to send him the delicious sweet lima bean recipe he enjoyed from the "mini feast" my husband prepared. 

Ever since my Father passed and my brother moved to FL with his wife and 5 kids, our family gatherings have not been the same. My Dad was always the life of the party and we have been missing that element for quite a while. TY brought some "new life" to us all last Sunday and we were truly blessed by his presence.

Towards the end of the evening, He found his way to our piano and began tickling the ivories for the first time in months. He misses his family and needs to go home soon. We were all delighted to have him enter into our "little world" for a while and I know he was touched as well but I do pray for things to move forward so he can get back to his life that has been put on hold for too long.

 So, Do you think" TY" knows how much I CARE yet????

Funny thing...the reading for the mass the Sunday before this was the story of the wedding feast. the King prepared everything and no one would come so he sent his servants out into the streets to invite anyone willing to join the feast. Ok...so I didn't extend the invitation quite that far but this was a first for me.

Our lives are meant to be shared, we are not meant to be alone but are called to open ourselves up to communion with others and when we do...we are most certainly enrichened by the experience!

:)

Humble Pie recipe coming up next so you can share the sweetness too!

Here it is...Val's secret recipe for Humble Pie.

This post will make more sense if you read part 1...

One Slice of Humble Pie Please!

Ok, my head is spinning...You may say many things but telling me I don't care is complete irony because I honestly and most sincerely couldn't care more and I just met you!! That is just who I am but I get that you don't know that...yet.

So...Do you want me to consult with you or are we going to just continue to debate all afternoon?

I could have just walked out the door at this point but instead, I took a deep breath looking around at the flowery furnishings, needle point wall art, sculpted dark brown 70's carpet, nicotine stained walls, Burgundy curtains and wallpaper borders and I just couldn't do it. This house needed me, the Realtor needed me, this client needed me although at this point he still had no idea just how much. So he finally agrees...let's do a consult...ALLELUIA!!  Um...isn't that why I came here in the first place?

Well you can just imagine how the next hour or two went on. It was almost comical...like am I being PUNKED here? Am I an a merry go round? Swirling conversations, jumping, skipping, hopping, bouncing here, bouncing back there, quickly tell me more but don't talk too fast. Give me options... but here's what I think... but tell me what you would do. I am not doing this... but tell me what I should do. Ok, don't tell me what I could do, but what to do, but I probably won't do it....aye yai yai...Mamma Mia...Lord help me please!!! 

So,in the middle of all of this hoop jumping, I am starting to see a need, an openness, a desperation, a desire to do the right thing and get this home sold. So what's the next step?...Yes, I am insane enough to offer a next step. Why? Because I DO CARE!

The Realtor calls me a day or so later to commiserate and says..."He said you were like oil and water. Maybe because you are so "arty" and he is so "technical"." So I am a bit surprised because I thought we actually ended the consult well and I was sending him a proposal for All the work to be done, painting, flooring, staging etc...So, having no confidence or hope of working with him again I prepare everything and send him the quote.

 Long story shorter than long...

He ends up doing everything I recommended!! Over the following few weeks we are spending a lot of time together. My husband did the painting and finds out that him and "TY" as I will call him, share a love of music and both play classical piano. (Guess he is "Arty" after all!) My son goes to help one day and also shares the music and another common interest...video gaming. Turns out, TY loves his games and they had a blast together in between coats. So I begin to learn more about TY and his situation. He is from the west coast and has been over here, away from his family for over 8 months trying to get affairs in order and this house on the market. It belonged to his Aunt and who passed and he has been getting a lot of pressure from the other heirs about getting the job done. He tells me he has been super stressed in his isolation and lost in what to do and confessed to dragging his butt. He also told me how amazed he was that within 24 hours of meeting with me, his whole outlooked changed! Everything made sense and for the first time in a while, he had HOPE !

Can You imagine...who knew?

Once we moved past that initial...who are you, you just want my money, what's the point...TY was a completely different person. We had pizza together one night when I was staging late and I learned that he is very active in his Church back home...we are both Catholic and love our faith...an even deeper bond was created. We become friends but even something more actually, we are support. I got him now and he got me. We laughed about our initial meeting, about his quirks and mine and our common "OCD" nature. I have been there when "other" people have tried to work with him for the first time and I see him revert back to the same scattered self. I see the perplexed look on their faces and think, "How many seconds till they head for the door...one, two...GONE?" I am so glad I stayed, swallowed that pride and ate that humble pie.

There is just a little more to this story if you are interested.

 I will wrap it up in part 3 along with my secret recipe for Humble Pie

Stay tuned friends!

:) 

Humble Pie... Slice # 3...Yum! 

Well...I knew the day would come when I would get the question from someone. My sister already knew ,of course, but not many others have been privy to our "Private Staging World"!!

That was until Buffy came along...

Sitting in my box truck in Buffy's driveway, waiting for her to gather up so we could head out to our next staging job, I noticed that my dear friend was looking a bit disheveled...No, not Buffy...BARBIE!!

That is just wrong...Barbie always takes time to make sure she looks her best. So, realizing she needed a bit of help, I fixed her bathing suit on straight, took out the rubber band from her hair that was keeping it all tangled and quite unkempt, and started combing through her locks with my fingers. I even had a little bit of hair gel in my purse that I used to smooth out her tresses. Oh...and whats this? A piece of plastic sticking out from the back of her head. Oh my...where are the scissors, quick!!!

AAAHHH...that's better!!

Poor Barbie, she would have been so embarrassed had someone seen her in such a sorry state! Thank Goodness I was able to get her looking presentable again before Buffy arrived in the truck.

Ok...now she is looking at me, wondering why I am posing Barbie on the dashboard for a photo shoot. She naturally assumed that one of my daughters had left her in the truck...NOT So I'm afraid. What Buffy didn't realize was that she was not just sitting in the cab of any old 14 Foot Box truck, but that she was in the "BARBIE Box Truck"

Let me explain...like many men, my husband has always insisted on naming our vehicles. The conversion van I used for staging before I got my big truck was called "BIG BILLY"! So when I got my truck a few years ago we had to name her, but what???

Betty Box truck...no, Birtha...NO..Belinda....well that could of worked since she was a "Go Go"!!

Then the light bulb went off...BARBIE!!  It's absolutely perfect! Barbie is like the perfect staging icon. think about it. She ALWAYS looks her best, fresh, clean, ready to go! Peppy full of energy, epitome of health. She is attractive, beautiful, eye catching...just like our Staged properties! People have, and still continue to buy Barbie year after year. She never goes out of fashion and neither will a home that is properly prepared for the real estate market...styled and looking it's very best!!!

Do your listings look their best???...call a stager today!

C'mon Barbie...Let's go Party!!!