My favorite four-letter word…
February 10th, 2009
SOLD! Sold. Sold. Sold! One more time… SOLD! We’ve had our other house on the market for almost a year and half, and FINALLY yesterday, we officially sold it. I never thought this day would come! It seems like it was decades ago that Cindy was peeking in the windows with me at the new house, and that Angelina was standing in my aqua sewing room at the old house the day before we put it on the market.
It’s been hard times owning two homes - the “new house” and the “old house” - this horrible economy is touching all of us in one way or another. I just hope everyone else who’s been negatively impacted sees a light at the end of their financial tunnel soon too.
A while back ago, I made my own St. Joseph to help sell our house. If you google St. Joseph, you’ll find all you need to know about him. 
I combed google images, and came up with my own version of St. Joseph… St. Joe-Joe-a-Go-Go. My post about him WAY BACK in September 2007 is here. My more “traditional” St. Joe-Joe-a-Go-Go pattern is still available.
Fast forward to now-ish. We got another buyer (the other two buyers bailed, lots of heartache and trouble). When I asked Joe-Joe to find us a NICE family this time to buy our house (after dealing with those not so nice buyers)… Joe-Joe did just as I asked. It took him a while, but he did find a nice family - even though we had to drop our price way, way, way low (ouch!).
One has to be careful what they ask Joe-Joe. When I first made him, I asked Joe-Joe… “will you please find us a buyer, and fast”. Well… the NEXT day, our neighbor came over and asked us about our little travel trailer in our driveway, and were we interested in selling it. Sold. [edited in: I just read my Sep. 07 post. It was St. Anthony who sold the trailer!] So next I asked Joe-Joe more specifically… “Joe-Joe, can you please find us a buyer for our house on such-n-such Ave.”. Enter bad buyers. After great financial cost to us and us bending over backwards… the buyers walked. So then I ask Joe-Joe again, but this time I ask him for a NICE family to be our buyers. Like I said, it took him a while, but he came through.
So really fast forward to now-ish. We were waiting for our closing date to soon approach. It was just around the corner - only a few weeks away. All was going great, inspections great, yada yada. Just waiting on the buyer’s lender. I get an email from my friend Sharon inquiring about Joe-Joe, and I think… why, I’ll just send her my Joe - and she can be his new momma! The day she received him… is the day we got the call that there’s a hick-up on from our buyer’s lender. So I ask Momma Sharon and Papa Hunka if I could have temporary joint custody with Joe-Joe, and if he could take a trip north to visit his old mum for a few weeks. Sharon of course said yes and would do so as soon as she got back home. And then a bee flew in my bonnet. I told Sharon to hold off… I had an idea…
I made a new Joe-Joe… this one different, a little less traditional and more my style… a little bit HelloKittyBabushka-ishy, but still holding the bluebirds of happiness. Hello Joe-Joe!
I finished Hello Joe-Joe last Wednesday morning, placed him on my shelf-o-joy… and by that very Wednesday afternoon I get the call saying to meet at the title company on the following Friday! Done. Sold. Freedom. Thank you Hello Joe-Joe!
I’ve added Hello Joe-Joe to my freebie arsenal of patterns - you can get Hello Joe-Joe by clicking here. May he bring you joy as a guardian of your home & family… or may he help you sell your house… or both! Keep him in a place of honor and do not pass him on if you make one for yourself. If you want to gift one, you’ll have to make a new one specificly for the recipient… but that makes him all the more fun and special! Plus it’s always fun to play with Crayola crayons!
~Whew that was a long post. And now I must nap.
Posted in Quilty n Crafty, How I Live |
Farting around with needle & thread and then blogging about it.
I just found your blog and wanted to say hi! And that I love your blog, it is so cute. Congratulations on selling your home. I know how hard that can be. Take care!
February 10th, 2009too good to be true. i love your generousity and creativeness. hello joe joe…
February 10th, 2009Very cute post! We did the St. Joseph prayers when we were selling our first home and our Joe Joe took a year to finally find us a buyer. Congrats on selling your home…. where are you off to now?
February 10th, 2009I love your Joe Joe and boy did he really bring you the good luck you needed. I didn’t know Janome made a Hello Kitty sewing machine, very cute.
February 10th, 2009Oh, HOORAY! I’m so happy for you! We’ve had unsold homes before, but not for as long as you. I love Hello Joe-Joe, too. How could he not bring good fortune!?
February 10th, 2009Congrats! It is nice to hear some positive financial news. Hello Joe-Joe, what a great story and pattern. I LOVE Hello Kitty (the sewing machine is awesome) and if Hello Joe-Joe is fashioned in her style, well then he must be my kind of Joe-Joe too.
February 10th, 2009Wow!!! I am so happy to hear your good news. And I love your new Joe-Joe… Great tips on passing one along.
February 10th, 2009Zombie!!! Such great news for you! I am sooo happy for you…wow…sold…and in this market, too. Great for you. Did I miss where your new house is, though? Is it in Kapaa? Cuz that would be so great. I’ll be right here to help you unpack.
February 10th, 2009I work at a Catholic college and I was always told by the nuns here that you’re supposed to take Joe and bury him upside down in your back yard facing the house! I don’t think nuns would lie to me about that. Anyways, congrats. My son and his wife have been trying to sell their house here in NH for a year too. Nothing’s moving here.
February 10th, 2009Congrats on the real estate deal! Good things come to good people!
February 10th, 2009Congratulations!
February 10th, 2009Wooooohoooooo! That is AWESOME news! I’m so happy for you, M. I’m sure it’s a great relief.
So, does that free you up for a trip to Spring QM?
February 10th, 2009Congratulations on selling your house! I’m so happy for you.
I love the new version of Joe-Joe. Thanks for sharing.
February 10th, 2009HOLY CRAP! That is INCREDIBLY AWESOME news! I’m so happy for the Zombie family. It couldn’t have happened to a nicer clan. Love to all!! :) Oh, and you-know-what-kind of hugs. :)
February 10th, 2009Hey that is fabulous news…And seriously…I am going to make one of these..we so desperately need to sell our home..it’s been 18 months for us.
February 10th, 2009Your so funny! Congratulations!
February 10th, 2009Congrats Monica! Break out the champagne! Big PHEW!
February 10th, 2009I totally believe in the power of saints. I’ve had a story or two like yours, albeit different guys. I really like your Hello Joe-Joe…it’s so YOU! Luv, Jen
YAY FOR YOU AND MR ZOMBIE! Oh that’s really really good news Monica. You can finally relax!!
February 10th, 2009Way to go Joe-Joe! Congrats on the sold home what a relief! Whew!
February 10th, 2009Congratulations on selling the house.
February 10th, 2009Thanks for the patterns. Very beautiful.
congratulations on the house. What a weight lifted off your shoulders I am sure. Love your Joe-Joes.
February 10th, 2009I love the “High Fiber” comment. That was great.
February 10th, 2009yayyy!!!
yayyy!!!
yayyy!!!
i am SO happy for yall!!!
this is awesome!!!
and sharon still got to keep her joe-joe.
yayyy!!!
all around a great post.
hugs.
February 10th, 2009WOOHOO!!! Congratulations! You’re so darn funny — woohoo to Joe-Joe too! I so feel your pain — we had a house-selling nightmare once-upon-a-time. Third time’s the charm. Our second buyers sniveling snakes actually moved in under the pretense of renting until they could close. Had no intention of actually buying — just needed a place to live for 6 weeks. So glad your ordeal is O-VER!
February 10th, 2009Way to go Joe-Joe! That’s a great story of Faith and Persistence. I so enjoy your posts and your projects! Congratulations
February 10th, 2009WA-HOO! Way to go Hello-Joe-Joe! What a guy~ Glad theirs a nice family to love your old house, and to be nice to your great old neighbors!
February 10th, 2009Fan-flippin’-tastic! It is sooo stressful waiting for a house to sell. Glad it’s all over for you!
February 10th, 2009You Rock Hello Joe Joe!
February 10th, 2009Loved your post-congrats on the sale of your home!!!
~Smiles~Tam!
Excellent!
I thought you had to bury Joseph upside-down in the yard or something? (Obviously NOT!)
February 10th, 2009Woohooo! Thanks NewJo!
February 10th, 2009Congrats on selling your place.
February 10th, 2009I’m new to your blog and wanted to say it’s such a lovely place! :)
Congratulations on selling your house. And to a NICE family, too. That makes all the difference.
I covet your sewing room. Seriously.
February 10th, 2009HELLO…hello Joe Joe is darling!!!!!!!! And a HUGE YYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH on selling the old house. That is so awesome. I’m doing cartwheels of joy for you…well not really, actually I’m sitting here in my underwear and slippers BUT I’m doing cartwheels in my heart for you:)
February 11th, 2009I think it is GREAT that you sold your house! Congratulations!
February 11th, 2009Yay! Congrats on the house sale. Whew! And I looove your new Joe-Joe as much as I loved the first one. Cheers!
February 11th, 2009I am glad your home sold FINALLY. I have to say I think Hello JoeJoe looks a little like Noah (you know with the arc). He is just adorable!
February 11th, 2009PHEW !!! YAY!!! …and AMEN to brother Hello Joe Joe !!!!
February 11th, 2009halellujah!!
February 11th, 2009You are just too cute with your crafty Hello Joe-Joe. Congratulations!! I know you much feel lighter than air with this burden off your shoulders. We are expecting much craftiness to spill over the internet now that you have nothing else to worry you!! HaHa (Wouldn’t life be great if all we had to do was craft!!!)
February 11th, 2009Congrats!!! I think it may have possibly taken him longer since you didn’t bury him in your yard, altho I certainly can’t blame you since that part of it seems downright mean.
February 11th, 2009Fantastic news…and I love the new Joe-Joe…I’ve saved a copy of your pattern as one never knows when one might need him ;o)
February 11th, 2009Congratulations on selling the home. One huge hurdle crossed off your life list. The jo jo story is funny/cute/sweet. Everyone needs good “luck”.
February 11th, 2009Are you going to ditch me if I say I like the more traditional one best? The newer one looks like a spring-time santa and I think I’m just a fuddy duddy.
But OH MY GOD! I am so thrilled that the sale has at last officially gone through. What a weight off of your shoulders and Jo Jo certainly seems to be magic. I ought to have paid more attention to that and things might have gone differently here.
Are you going to have a big celebration?
February 11th, 2009What a great story! Congratulations. That must be a huge relief. Your Joe-Joe is too cute. Is that ok to say about a saint? :)
Your studio is so colorful and cute. You should do a studio post. I love that kind of thing. Maybe you already have. I’ll go search! :)
February 11th, 2009a. Tres amusing story
b. House sold? WOO HOO!!!
c. Happy Dance non-optional!
Now…… You need to sit and light a candle, take some deep breaths and blow out all that bad old house stuff. Get rid of it and MAKE ROOM. Because when you have made room in your life for good stuff, you KNOW that it will come you way.
It is so nice to share great news when some days there seems to be a lack of it! :)
February 11th, 2009My house has been on the market for nearly 4 months, which isn’t all that long in this economy but it’s still breaking me. I’m listing it with a new agent tomorrow so I’m going to print out JoeJoe and color him up tonight. Thanks!
February 11th, 2009OMG CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!
I feel your pain AND your excitement and relief. I’m in the same boat myself but with two houses! One is mine–abandoned when I hurriedly moved in with my suddenly widowed and ill Mother during the last months of her life, and the other was a rental property–inherited and recently vacated (it was Grandma’s).
Grandma’s has been on the market since 2006.
Mine was on the market for a year before I gave up and there it sits. I’ve given up as well. But now, I’m making my own St. Joe’s and I’m SELLING the gosh-darned things RIGHT AWAY!
Do they have to be sewn? Could I print out and color them in, paste on cardboard or something? Thank you so much for the patterns and YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY on the sale!
February 11th, 2009Monica, you’re a saint yourself! Thank you so much! Hello Joe-Joe is already working his magic!
February 11th, 2009Cheers!
That is so cute!!! Tell your husband the Hooters girl said Hi… LOL… gosh, that was 13 years ago.. I wish I still looked like I did then..
February 12th, 2009(3 kids later).. Yeah!!! Right!!!
congrats on selling your house finally! a year and a half is a long time to wait. i’m thrilled for you! hurray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
February 12th, 2009Congratulations Monica! I can imagine what a relief this must be.
February 13th, 2009Hello Joe-Joe is wonderful! I think I’ll make myself one for some good luck.
Thanks for the pattern!
HELLOOOOOO indeed to Hello Joe-Joe!! WOO AND A HOO, MONICA!!! What wonderful, wonderful news!! Your new Joe is adorable, and I’m glad he did the trick! I also think your shelf-o-joy is responsible, too. Joyful thoughts work wonders in every thing, don’t they?
February 13th, 2009Congrats to you and T!!!
well there is hope for me. I must make a joe joe. My house on market since fall of 08…all modern glass, wood, nE, privacy woods, and not one offer. Now I hear there may have been an offer coming but the potential buyer has called it quits with his potential buyer in price haggling. We are going nuts and cannot afford to move on without a sell. My sell will come in for over 100k loss for what i bought it in in spring of 2005. It should be interesting…………..
February 13th, 2009Congrats on your sale. Can you sell me some ambition cuz I seem to have none at this time?
February 15th, 2009just found your blog and love it! your sewing room is so great. high level of jealousy! thanks for sharing. pamela
February 15th, 2009Monica, I’m so happy that your house sold!!! And now Joe-Joe is one busy JOE finding me a buyer. Love the new version too. One can never have too many Joe’s.
February 16th, 2009Hugs
Ooohhh yay, congratulations! That is fab news!
February 16th, 2009Yay Joe-Joe!
Love
Alison
x
I LOVE the Hello Kitty sewing machine. My 5 yr. old daughter got one for Christmas (her only present) and she was thrilled with it. She’s excited that she doesn’t have to hold the threads when she first starts to sew, and loves that it’s a Janome like her mother’s!
February 16th, 2009Congrats on the sale of your house.
February 18th, 2009Congratulations on the home sale (such a relief I know)! We tried a St. Joe at our last house and we should have called him St. Slow. I even traipsed all the way to the Catholic store to get him. I like your guy much better (including his little comb-over)!
February 18th, 2009Sounds like there was too much bad/previous Karma with the old Joe-Joe. You definitely needed a new one. And you made him so cute, how could he turn you down???
I’m so glad you sold your house!!! I know several people in your situation, and it’s not fun.
Now I’m going to go download Joe-Joe and make him (very reluctantly) for my next door neighbor…who has had their house on the market for about a year, and 2 buyers who have fallen through. I DO NOT want her to move, but she thinks I put a hex on her house (LOL!) so maybe this will make her feel better.
February 18th, 2009Hello Jo-Jo is such a cutie! I’m so happy to hear your house nightmare is over! Yay!!!!
February 22nd, 2009I am in love with your Hello Kitty sewing machine! Where did you find it?
Dee
February 22nd, 2009I just realized how long it’s been since I read your blog. I remember your first St Joseph. I was going to make one for my cousin whose house was up for sale but he pissed me off so I said forget that. I love this St. Joe even more — I heart anything that lets me use my Crayolas. Thanks for the pattern! I’ll be making him soon. And, congrats on selling your house!
March 20th, 2009Love your site!
March 26th, 2009And can’t wait to try new embroidery thread!
This is the cutest thing ever! I just love your style.
We still haven’t sold our house in IL. I buried the statue this week, although like you I feel that it’s sort of wrong. Maybe I should dig it up. Anyway, I’m making one of these guys for my mantle. I love it!
August 21st, 2010