holy cow

My goodness time flew by. I am tying up loose ends at the office today and trying to get these last two escrows closed by Wednesday of this week because we are leaving for Cancun thursday......wooohooo. We are sooo ready to go. We have worked so hard this year and focused on growing our name in this community and I think we are moving forward nicely. I have set in stone some enormous goals for 2009 and failure is not an option. So although we are headed out of the country for 10 days....I will be working on our strategies to meet our goals.(it will just be beach side rather then in the office.)

Steven doesn't know it yet but we decided to take him to Sea World when we get back since we fly into LA and San Diego is just a few hours from there. I booked a great room and we will be able to spend the whole day checking out the park without trying to rush through it to get home.
I have been wanting to take him for the past 4 years but it just hadn't worked out. He has worked with us this whole year and sacrificed some serious play time and by doing so he has really improved his professionalism and worked on his manners. We strongly feel he deserves this little something extra "just for him". He is really going to like taking his hard earned paycheck money from savings to spend at Sea World on whatever he wants without hearing a "no" from us (unless it's candy). This will be very difficult because I see LOTS of stuffed animals coming home with us. Shamu is cute .....but 15 different sizes of stuffed shamu looses its appeal. oh well, Showing 187 houses in 1 year lost it's appeal for Steven too, but he stuck it out so we will too. :)

We finally have cold weather and fall foliage here. It still doesn't feel like winter and Christmas here with out the cold and snow but we are looking forward to seeing what Santa leaves for us this year. Steven asked for the nerf machine gun with extra belt to wrap over his shoulder. Santa worked real hard to make sure that gift will be waiting for him when he wakes.

I just completed all of my non business related Christmas cards and I can mark that off of my list of 19 things to do before we leave Thursday.

Last night I packed our suitcases with everything we need other then toiletries. One good thing about going to Cancun in the winter is only packing shorts, swimsuits, tee shirts and flip flops. I can pack a month in advance if I want too. (which I may consider for next year.)

Well now I better get going so I can pick up a few things for the house and eat lunch before going to get the little fireball from school.

Christmas Deco

Well I finally did it, I got all of the interior deco and tree set up for Christamas. phew what a job. I normally wait until after turkey day, but since we are headed to Cancun on the 10th and returning on the 22nd I figured we better get going early if we want to enjoy them.

Speaking of enjoying the deco......the three little trouble making cats are killing me. They are jumping into the tree swating off the deco and scattering them (if they don't break when they hit the tile floor) all over the house.

They eat....yes chew and swallow the shiney garland...they like the gold best by the way. So needless to say a portion of my normal deco is placed neatly back in there storage boxes for next year when the little treasures are older and not as interested in the decorations.

We are having Scott's family over for dinner on turkey day so I need to get to my shopping list so we have all the good stuff. I don't think it will be difficult to spend $90.00 to get a free turkey. We shall see how it goes tomorrow.

We are in the paper

I was so excited this weekend when I opened the paper and saw our names in it. We received an award last week and it was need to see ourselves listed in the Visalia Times Delta Weekend edition.

I hope to see us listed as top sales very soon.

Brooklyn's Ball

This has been a tuff couple of days for us why you ask?

We work with a guy named Joe, he is married to a wonderful woman named Dez and they have 4 kids. One of the children (there second) was born with a condition called Alagille Syndrome that effects 1 in 1 million people I would tell you about it but I am ignorant about this condition. I do know that it can effect the heart, liver, or kidneys....in Brooklyn's case it impacted all 3 organs. At one year of age Brooklyn underwent open heart surgery at UCLA and a year later received a liver transplant. Over the past 8 years, Brooklyn has suffered from the chronic effects of the transplant, and severe injury caused by the powerful steroids that control her weakened immune system. These steroids have damaged her transplanted liver, and now little Brooklyn is in need of both a new kidney and liver.. Unfortunatley the times a liver and kidney were available for her they were just not right for some reason.

Over the past 10 years the medical bills have really piled up so friends of the family thought it would be a great idea to hold a Cinderella style ball for Brooklyn so she could be the princess and raise money to cover the million dollar surgery. It was also decided that a silent auction would be held to raise additional funds. Several people donated items and goods for the auction and 9 days prior to the ball over 450 tickets had been sold. Unfortunatly 5 days before the ball Brooklyn past away. Her family decided to have the ball in her honor and the funds would be used to pay down the medical and funeral costs. At word of her passing, another 300 tickets to the ball were purchased.

Brooklyn's Funeral was Friday morning and it was the most beautiful and heart wrenching funeral I have attended. This is the 3rd funeral I have attended for a child and it never gets easier. The ball was last night and Scott and I were able to attend and it was just beautiful. Over 750 people attended, bid on the silent auction items, and they were able to have a live aution for several trips (including a hunting trip for two to New Zealand valued at $6500.00) and Scooter. I won the bid on a beautiful Christmas center piece and two fantastic bottles of wine. We left around 10:30 before the dancing started but I am sure everyone had a wonderul time. The dinner that was served (buy Brooklyn's mothers co-workers) was delicious. I never thought to take a camera because I didn't think it would be a true celebration of life but it was. Every table had table cloths, candles , home made castles,tiara's , and tons of balloons. I am hopeful that pictures will make there way to the website for the world to see. http://brooklyns-bridge.com/ here is the website if you would like to learn more about this special girl.

On that note, I must dry my eyes and get ready to go show some property. Then we are off to a bbq and football.

Have a blessed day.

something serious after the animal post

Here is a great thought for the day:

We were the only family in the restaurant. I sat Erik in a high chair and noticed everyone was quietly sitting and talking. Suddenly, Erik squealed with glee and said, "Hi." His eyes were crinkled in laughter and his mouth was bared in a toothless grin, as he wiggled and giggled with merriment.
I looked around and saw the source of his merriment. It was a man whose pants were baggy with a zipper at half-mast and his toes poked out of would-be shoes. His shirt was dirty and his hair was uncombed and unwashed. His whiskers were too short to be called a beard and his nose was so varicose it looked like a road map. His hands waved and flapped on loose wrists. "Hi there, baby; hi there, big boy. I see ya, buster," the man said to Erik.
My husband and I exchanged looks, "What do we do?" Erik continued to laugh and answer, "Hi."

Everyone in the restaurant noticed and looked at us and then at the man. The old geezer was creating a nuisance with my beautiful baby. Our meal came and the man began shouting from across the room, "Do ya patty cake? Do you know peek-a-boo? Hey, look, he knows peek-a-boo." Nobody thought the old man was cute. He was obviously drunk. My husband and I were embarrassed. We ate in silence; all except for Erik, who was running through his repertoire for the admiring skid-row bum, who in turn reciprocated with his cute comments.

We got through the meal and headed for the door. My husband went to pay the check. The old man sat poised between me and the door. "Lord, just let me out before he speaks to me or Erik," I prayed. As I drew closer, I turned my back trying to sidestep him and avoid any air he might be breathing. As I did, Erik leaned over my arm, reaching with both arms in a baby's "pick-me-up" position. Before I could stop him, Erik had propelled himself from my arms to the man.

Suddenly a very old smelly man and a young baby consummated their love and kinship.
Erik, in an act of total trust, love, and submission, laid his tiny head upon the man's ragged shoulder. The man's eyes closed, and I saw tears hover beneath his lashes. His aged hands full of grime and pain cradled my baby's bottom and stroked his back. No two beings have ever loved so deeply for so short a time. I stood awestruck. The old man rocked and cradled Erik in his arms and his eyes opened and set squarely on mine. He said in a firm commanding voice, "You take care of this baby." Somehow I managed, "I will," from a throat that contained a stone. He pried Erik from his chest, lovingly and longingly. I received my baby, and the man said, "God bless you, ma'am." I said nothing more than a muttered thanks.

With Erik in my arms, I ran for the car. My husband was wondering why I was crying and holding Erik so tightly, and why I was saying, "Forgive me." I had just witnessed divine love shown through the innocence of a tiny child who saw no sin, who made no judgment; a child who saw a soul, and a mother who saw a suit of clothes. I was blind, holding a child who was not. I felt it was a higher power asking, "Are you willing to share your son for a moment?" The ragged old man, unwittingly, had reminded me, "To enter the Kingdom, we must become as little children."

Sometimes, it takes a child to remind us of what is really important. We must always remember who we are, where we came from, and most importantly how we feel about others. The clothes on your back or the car that you drive or the house that you live in does not define you at all; it is how you treat your fellow man that identifies who you are.

The Animals

Okay, I have heard your requests for some photo's of our crazy pets.

Poker assuming his favorite sleep pose.

Here is Sierra stretching out for her evening nap.

Pismo sneaking water out of a cup because heaven forbid our cats drink the fresh ice water from their own bowl. (we go through alot of cups a day at our house!)

And last but not least here is trouble.....I mean Sequoia trying to figure out the handy dandy hot dog cooker we got for our anniversary. (which works very well and is a kick in the pants to use..big thank you to mom and dad)

As I manage to capture more photos I will try to get them posted. Sorry for the big gaps, I can't seem to figure out how to get rid of them and keep the pictures. What can I say...I'm blog challenged.

Have a great day!!!

Happy Halloween Everyone

Well we walked over two miles and filled the bucket 1 and 1/2 times last night. Our new neighborhood hands out great candy. There were sooooo may people out and the weather was a blissful 70 degrees. We went through 9 bags of candy and some of Steven's before the night was through.

Steven insisted on being a desert commando special forces dude. The helmet did not fit and kept falling off so we finally tossed it away. He wore the costume to bed, and is still wearing it. Boys are just so silly. Steven also realized last night that if he was very polite, well mannered, and chatted with the door openers, he got more then the traditional 1-2 pieces of candy. By the end of the night we were having to pull him away from the doors.

Scott and I attended two halloween parties last weekend and took this fantastic Kitty Litter Cake. It turned out awesome both times I made it and I assure you I will make it every year going forward.

I did not dress up for either because heeeeellllllooooo, who can top Scott's Costume??? He won best costume for the office and won a $50.00 gift card to Chili's. (We had a great lunch on Wed. by the way....I recommend the chicken enchillada soup mmm mmmm mmm).

Avoid Halloween Mishaps

“An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory.” -- Friedrich Engels

Home Maintenance Tip -Avoid Halloween Mishaps

Many homeowners get into the spirit of Halloween by turning their homes into haunted houses, carving pumpkins, and handing out treats to costumed kids who come to their door. If you're a homeowner planning on getting involved in the holiday, following a few precautions can help keep the night from turning scary in an unwanted way:

Make sure any hazardous obstacles such as a garden hose or lawn decorations are put safely away.

Check all outside lights and replace any that are burned out.

Keep sidewalks and walkways clear.

Consider using battery-powered candles for carved pumpkins - they're safer than a real flame.

If you do use real candles, make sure they are kept away from the areas where trick-or-treaters will be walking or standing.

Properly light and clear the path to your door so that trick-or-treaters don't hurt themselves.

Secure all Halloween decorations. You don't want your decorations coming loose and injuring someone, or being stolen by vandals.

You might want to consider adding extra homeowner's insurance for Halloween night. Nothing puts a damper on fun faster than a lawsuit, a distinct possibility if a child gets hurt on your property or in your house. Contact your insurance agency to see if they are willing to do this.

If you're planning a rather gruesome Halloween display, you may want to post warning signs to give the weak-stomached a heads up.

Only give out kid-friendly treats. Items should be prepackaged and big enough that they don't pose a choking hazard to small children.

Courtesy of Move, Inc., www.move.com

Please share this with your clients and friends. You could make someone's day.
Warmly,Jim Scheidt Old Republic Home Protection

Through a Rapist's Eyes....Please Read

When this was sent to me, I was told to forward it to my lady friends, but I forwarded it to most everyone in my address book. My men friends have female friends and this Information is too important to miss someone. Please pass it along and share it with your children.A group of rapists and date rapists in prison were interviewed on what they look for in a potential victim and here are some interesting facts:

1) The first thing men look for in a poten tial victim is hairstyle. They are most likely to go after a woman witha ponytail, bun, braid or other hairstyle that can easily be grabbed . They are also likely to go after a woman with long hair . Women with short hair are not common targets.

2) The second thing men look for is clothing. They will look for women who's clothing is easy to remove quickly. Many of them carry scissors around specifically to cut clothing.

3) They also look for women on their cell phone, searching through their purse, or doing other activities while walking because they are off-guard and can be easily overpowered.

4) Men are m ost likely to attack & rape in the early morning, between 5: 00a.m. and 8:30a.m.

5) The number one place women are abducted from/attacked is grocery store parking lots. The number two:office parking lots/garages. Number three: public restrooms.

6) The thing about these men is that they are looking to grab a woman and quickly move her to another location where they don't have to worry about getting caught.

7) Only 2% said they carried weapons because rape carries a 3-5 year sentence but rape with a weapon is 15-20 years.

8) If you put up any kind of a fight at all, they get discouraged because it only takes a minute or two for them to realize that going after you isn't worth it because it will be time-consuming.

9) These men said they would not pick on women who have umbrellas, or other similar objects that can be used from a distance, in their handsKeys are NOT a deterrent because you have to get really close to the attacker to use them as a weapon. So, the idea is to convince these guys you're not worth it.

10) Several defense mechanisms he taught us are: If someone is following behind you on a street or in a garage or with you in an elevator or stairwell, look them in the face and ask them a question, like what time is it?, or make general small talk: 'I can't believe it is so cold out here,' 'We're in for a bad winter.' Now you've seen their face and could identify them in a line-up; you lose appeal as a target.

11) If someone is coming toward you, hold out your hands in front of you and yell STOP! or STAY BACK! Most of the rapists this man talked to said they'd leave a woman alone if she yelled or showed that she would not be afraid to fight back. Again, they are looking for an EASY target.

12) If you carry pepper spray (this instructor was a huge advocate of it and carries it with him wherever he goes), yell I HAVE PEPPER SPRAY and holding it out will be a deterrent.

13) If someone grabs you, you can't beat them with strength but you can by outsmarting them. If you are grabbed around the waist from behind, pinch the attacker either under the Arm (between the elbow and armpit)OR in the upper inner thigh VERY VERY HARD.
One woman in a class t his guy taught told him she used the underarm pinch on a guy who was trying to date rape her and was so upset she broke through the skin and tore out muscle strands - the guy needed stitches. Try pinching yourself in those places as hard as you can stand it - it hurts.

14) After the initial hit, always GO for the GROIN. I know from a particularly unfortunate experience that if you slap a guy's parts it is extremely painful. You might think that you'll anger the guy and make him want to hurt you more, but the thing these rapists told our instruc tor is that they want a woman who will not cause a lot of trouble. Start causing trouble and he's out of there.

15) When the guy puts his hands up to you, grab his first two fingers and bend them back as far as possible with as much pressure pushing down on them as possible. The instructor did it to me without using much pressure, and I ended up on my knees and both knuckles cracked audibly.

16) Of course the things we always hear still apply. Always be aware of your surroundings, take someone with you if you can and if you see any odd behavior, don't dismiss it, go with your instincts!!!You may feel a little silly at the time, but you'd feel much worse if the guy really was trouble.

1. Tip from Tae Kwon Do : The elbow is the strongest point on your body. If you are close enough to use it, do!

2. Learned this from a tourist guide in New Orleans : If a robber asks for your wallet and/o r purse, DO NOT HAND IT TO HIM. Toss it away from you....chances are that he is more interested in your wallet and/or purse than you, and he will go for the wallet/purse. RUN LIKE MAD IN THE OTHER DIRECTION!

3. If you are ever thrown into the trunk of a car, kick out the back tail lights and stick your arm out the hole and start waving like crazy. The driver won't see you, but everybody else will. This has saved lives.

4. Women have a tendency to get into their cars after shopping, eating, working, etc, and just sit (doing their checkbook, or making a list, etc.) DON'T DO THIS! The predator will be watching you, and this is the perfect opportunity for him to get in on the passenger side, put a gun to your head, and tell you where to go. AS SOON AS YOU GET INTO YOUR CAR, LOCK THE DOORS AND LEAVE.a. If someone is in the car with a gun to your head DO NOT DRIVE OFF, repeat: DO NOT DRIVE OFF! Instead gun the engine and speed into anything, wrecking the car. Your Air Bag will save you.& nbsp; If the person is in the back seat they will get the worst of it. As soon as the car crashes bail out and run. It is better than having them find your body in a remote location.

5 A few notes about getting into your car in a parking lot or parking garage:A.) Be aware: look around you, look into your car, at the passenger side floor, and in the back seat.B.) If you are parked next to a big van, enter your car from the passenger door. Most serial killers attack their victims by pulling them into their vans while the women are attempting to get into their cars.C.) Look at the car parked on the driver's side of your vehicle, and the passenger side. If a male is sitting alone in the seat nearest your car, you may want to walk back into the mall, or work, and get a guard/policeman to walk you back out.IT IS ALWAYS BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY. (And better paranoid than dead.)

6. ALWAYS take the elevator instead of the stairs. (Stairwells are horrible places to be alone and the perfect crime spot. This is especially true at NIGHT!)

7. If the predator has a gun and you are not under his control, ALWAYS RUN! The predator will only hit you (a running target) 4 in 100 times. And even then, it most likely WILL NOT be a vital organ. RU N, preferably in a zigzag pattern!

8. As women, we are always trying to be sympathetic: STOP! It may get you raped or killed. Ted Bundy, the serial killer, was a good-looking, well-educated man, who ALWAYS played on the sympathies of unsuspecting women. He walked with a cane, or a limp, and often asked 'for help' into his vehicle or with his vehicle, which is when he abducted his next victim.

9. Another Safety Point: Someone just told me that her friend heard a crying baby on her porch the night before last, and she called the police because it was late and she thought it was weird. The police told her 'Whatever you do, DO NOT open the door.'The lady then said that it sounded like the baby had crawled near a window, and she was worried that it would crawl to the street and get run over. The policeman said, 'We already have a unit on the way, whatever you do,DO NOT open the door.' He told her that they think a serial killer has a baby's cry recorded and uses it to coax women out of their homes thinking that someone dropped off a baby. He said they have not verified it, but have had several calls by women saying that they hear baby's cries outside their doors when they're home alone at night.

Please pass this on and DO NOT open the door for a crying baby --- This should be taken seriously because the Crying Baby t heory was mentioned on America's Most Wanted this past Saturday when they profiled the serial killer in Louisiana .I'd like you to forward this to all the women you know. It may save a life.

A candle is not dimmed by lighting another candle. I was going to send this to the ladies only, but guys, if you love your mothers, wives, sisters, daughters, etc., you may want to pass it onto them, as well.

The first minutes of life for a baby giraffe

Good Morning Here is a great thought for the day from my friends at London Properties:

Bringing a giraffe into the world is a tall order. A baby giraffe falls ten feet from its mother's womb and usually lands on its back. Within seconds, it rolls over and tucks its legs under its body. From this position it considers the world for the first time and shakes off the last vestiges of the birthing fluid from its eyes and ears.

Then the mother giraffe rudely introduces her offspring to the reality of life. The mother giraffe lowers her head long enough to take a quick look. Then she positions herself directly over her calf. She waits for about a minute, and then she does the most reasonable thing. She swings her long, pendulous leg outward and kicks her baby, so that it is sent sprawling head over heels. When it doesn't get up, the violent process is repeated over and over again. The struggle to rise is momentous. As the baby calf grows tired, the mother kicks it again to stimulate its efforts... Finally, the calf stands for the first time on its wobbly legs.

Then the mother giraffe does the most remarkable thing. She kicks it off its feet again. Why? She wants it to remember how it got up. In the wild, baby giraffes must be able to get up as quickly as possible to stay with the herd, where there is safety. Lions, hyenas, leopards, and wild hunting dogs all enjoy young giraffes, and they'd get it too, if the mother didn't teach her calf to get up quickly and get with it...

Perhaps we're not that different. The challenges we have in life may at first seem harsh, but through them we grow and learn survival.

HMMMM Something to ponder

There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His Father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence.
The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.

Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his tem per at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper. The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone.

The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, 'You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. But It won't matter how many times you say I'm sorry, the wound will still be there. A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one.

Remember that friends are very rare jewels, indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed. They lend an ear, they share words of praise and they always want to open their hearts to us.'

Another Thought from my friends at London Properties

Good Morning. Here is a great thought for the day:

Bill Gates once gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.


Rule 1: Life is not fair — get used to it!

Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year your first year.

Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping — they called it opportunity.

Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine and make excuses, learn from your mistakes.

Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes, and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, have respect for your elders.

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in life.

Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF.

Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

Have awonderful day.

Good Morning.

Here is a great thought for the day brought to me via London Properties:

A man happened upon a limo broken down along the roadway. "I can't figure out what's wrong," the driver confessed, so the Good Samaritan took a look under the hood. He quickly spotted and repaired the trouble. The driver offered to pay him, but the man refused saying he was just glad to help out.

As he started back to his truck, a backseat window of the limo opened.
"Thank you very much for your help," the passenger called. "How can I repay you?"
Looking inside, the man was surprised to see wealthy entrepreneur Donald Trump. Again, the man refused payment, but asked one favor: "Could you send my wife some flowers? She'd be thrilled."

"Consider it done," Trump replied, then asked the man for his address. They parted company, and the man only half expected to ever hear from Trump again.
But the next day, a florist arrived with flowers for the man's wife and a note that said: You're lucky to be married to such a caring person. When I offered to pay him for his act of kindness, he thought only of you.

Then there was a postscript: By the way, I've paid off your mortgage. You now own your house free and clear.

Have awonderful day.

3rd grade already

Steven is so excited about 3rd grade and his new school. We went to meet his teacher and check out his class today and he just can't wait to get started. I really like his teacher this year. She actually read all of the info on file from my notes and the plans from his prior school. She and Steven have already worked out hand signals for when he is having issues and when she needs to remind him not to shout out. I think he will have a very good year. We have adjusted his meds. over the summer a bit and I think that will really help. I hope to get him involved in some after school programs this year and if he can demonstrate focus, follow direction, and not argue....then we will get him signed up for swimming lessons and we will get he and Scott signed up for karate.

Our new kitty Pismo is feeling better and actually putting on some weight. I am glad because we were pretty worried that we were going to lose her. The other two kitties have embraced the little pest and they actually snuggle instead of growl at each other. ahhhhhh. Now we have 3 kitties in our bed. Scott or I will usually cart them off to Steven's bed in the middle of the night because he loves having the little buggers in there.

We are hosting a huge open house at our newest listing on Saturday. We are bbqing tri tip steaks, hot dogs, and all of the goodies that go with it. We should have a great turn out (since we called 237 people within 1/4 mile of the house and invited them to join us) I have no doubt that we will have an offer sitting on our fax at the office Monday morning. :) Here is a picture of the home

This is the fun part of the job......other then handing over the keys to the buyer and the fat check to the seller :)

Well I better go pack Steven's lunch for tomorrow because it's almost story and bed time.

Good Morning.

Here is a great thought for the day:

Milt, who lived at the time in Albuquerque, New Mexico, is a trainer and consultant who periodically has worked with our company. At the end of a week of training, he and his wife, Jane, took a walk on Friday night. Jane said to him, "Milt, you missed my anniversary this week." Surprised, Milt said, "What anniversary?"

"Five years cancer free," said Jane. Five years earlier Jane had had a mastectomy. She and Milt celebrated every year that she was cancer free.

Milt felt awful. He couldn't believe he had forgotten. The week before, when he and Jane had been talking one night, they'd decided that she needed a new car. Since their son was still in college in Australia, they'd decided to wait a year until he graduated. That night, Milt said to himself, "Why am I waiting? I am so lucky that Jane is still in my life."

The next morning he called the Saturn dealership in Albuquerque and talked to one of their salespeople. I'm not kidding — the salesman's real name was Billy Graham. Milt explained the situation to Billy, saying that his kids had told him Jane really wanted a white car. "Could you get me a white Saturn by next Saturday when I get back home from training?" Milt asked.
Billy told Milt that white Saturns were hard to get. "But if you're going to come in next Saturday, I'll have one ready," he said.

The next Saturday morning Milt told Jane that he was running a bunch of errands, but he invited her to come with him so they could go out to lunch. During their drive, they passed the Saturn dealership. Milt told Jane he had to stop in for some materials because he was giving a speech about Saturn to the Chamber of Commerce. When they entered the dealership, they saw only one car; a white Saturn in the center of the showroom.
"Milt, that's the kind of car I'd love to have!" Jane said. She ran over to the Saturn and, with a big grin on her face, got in. When she got out of the car and walked around the front of it, she let out a scream and begin to cry.

Milt had no idea what had happened. When he got to the front of the car, he saw a beautiful sign on the hood of the car that read:
Yes, Jane, this is your car! Congratulations on five years cancer free.Love, Milt, Billy and the whole Saturn staff.

When Billy saw them coming, he got everyone out of the showroom and into the parking lot, so that Milt and Jane could be alone. As they were crying in each other's arms, all of a sudden they heard applause. They looked up to see everyone giving them a hand.

"We do not remember days. We remember moments in our lives." Make them!

Have a wonderful day

Another inspiration sent to me from a dear friend at a local office.

Something to think about

Here is another inspirational story I received from my good friend at London Properties. I hope it makes an impact for you as well.

Good Morning. Here is a great thought for the day:

"And love the people in our lives like we've never loved before."

I recently had dinner with someone who told me that one of his best friends had been killed in a private plane crash, and something happened at the service that he'll never forget. He shared the story with me.

At the memorial service, his friend's wife walked to the podium to speak to the gathering. She said a friend had asked her the best memory she had of their life together. At the moment, she had been too grief-stricken to answer, but she had thought about it since and wanted to answer the question. They were in their late forties when he died, and she began talking about a time in their life almost twenty years earlier. She had quit her job to obtain her master's degree, and her husband never wavered in his support. He held down his own job and also did the cooking, cleaning, and other household chores while she studied for her degree.

One time they both stayed up all night. She was finishing her thesis, and he was preparing for an important business meeting. That morning, she walked out on their loft, looked at him over the railing, and just thought about how much she loved him. She knew how important this meeting was to his career, and she was feeling guilty that she didn't even have time to make his breakfast. He grabbed his briefcase and hurried out. She heard the garage door open and close, but much to her surprise, she heard it open again about thirty seconds later. From above, she watched her husband dash into the house and walk over to the neglected coffee table. Tracing his finger through the dust, he wrote the words, "I love you." Then he raced back to his car.

The new widow then looked out at her audience and said, "John and I had a wonderful life together. We have been around the world several times, we've had everything money can buy... but nothing comes close to that moment.

"Our lives move with lightning speed. Although I'm very proud of my business accomplishments, in the end my life comes back to loving and being loved.

Good Times

The 4th for us was wonderful. We stayed home, watched all 3 netflix movies we have neglected, our computers stayed off, and we ate all of our favorite things. Then we had some firework fun.

Here is some video from our 4th. Remember to hit play twice for it to play.

Here is a video I took a few minutes ago of our kitten in her new favorite place.

$150.00 for a new cat tree and she gets a kick out of this. sheesh.

I'm Glad this week is over.

Poor little guy has been soooo sick. We kept the poor guy in the house all week with the exception of the Dr. Monday morning, and emergency last night. He is doing better today and we did let him go to his best friends birthday party at the park for an hour or so today. I am glad we were able to go as none of Oli's other little friends could make it. Also because of the fires around us the air quality is soooo bad that Oli's grandparents couldn't make it to the party either.

Scott is hosting an open house this afternoon and Steven and I are kickin it at home. We have had a nice week playing video games (Indiana Jones Legos and Star Wars Legos on the Wii) and watching movies. The cats have not enjoyed having us home as they were ALWAYS getting in trouble. Now I know what the cats do when the humans are away. They do listen to "no" about 1/2 the time now which is a great start. I figure Scott and or I will be coming down with this horrible illness and maybe we can get the cats to understand "no" 3/4 of the time. :) I guess this would be considered the upside to sickness. We are soooo tired, poor little guy and his coughing, sore throat, and throwing up took us from about 35 hours of sleep a week to about 18. This morning he actually slept in until about 9:00am which in his 8.5 years has never happened. I was somewhat scared to go check on him, but when I did he greated me with a big smile and sleepy eyes. Oh yeah and a request for donuts (which Scott instantly picked up for him..such a great daddy. Not to mention the camp-outs in the living room at 3:00 am watching old Scooby Doo Cartoons and Pink Panther Cartoons). So far today Steven is able to keep everything down and the coughing is better. woooohoooo.

Well I better get to making my meatballs. I am going to suprise Scott with his favorite spagetti and meatballs for dinner. He thinks we are having grilled cheese so this should be a great suprise.

Inspiration

This is an inspirational message emailed to me this morning and I want to share it with all of my readers:

Good Morning.

Here is a great thought for the day:

At a Special Olympics track meet, a young girl had just won the 50-yard dash and was jumping up and down all excited.

She yelled out to her parents, "Look, Mom and Dad, I won!"
Her parents instantly burst into tears.
At the awards ceremony, the young girl proudly stood there as a medal was placed around her neck.
Then she ran over to her parents, who were crying now even more than before.
The three of them hugged... as the parents kept crying.
A Special Olympics official who had watched this whole scene became concerned and went over to the parents and said, "Excuse me, is there anything wrong?"

Through her tears, the mother said, "No, nothing's wrong. Everything's right... We just heard our daughter speak for the first time."

Have a wonderful day.

Who can have a bad day after reading this? Thank you Barbara with London Properties for sending this to me so I can share it with my readers as well.

Great Weekend

What a great weekend it has been. Saturday Steven had his new friend Killian over for a sleepover and it was big fun. Today Scott and I each sat a different open house while Steven hung out at his friends house. I was able to set an appointment with one family that came to my open house today for Friday. If all goes well we will list their home and sell them their move-up home. We decided to celebrate a great weekend with a great dinner at Red Lobster. It has been a long time since we have gone there. I enjoyed the heck out of it and Steven had a great time cracking open the crab legs he ordered.

Steven saw a new psycologist this past Friday and she is very unique but in a good way. She is totally child focused and she actually read the massive paperwork I filled out. She has decided that Steven does not learn through lecture (duh) so she is going to teach through play. Although it sounds and looks very childish ( like 2-4 years old) he actually responded to it. She only works 1:00pm - 9:00pm so I am glad she will get to work with him when his meds. have worn off and she can see the disrepectful/out of control side of his condition. The Drs. brother has Asperger Syndrom and she has many techniques to try. I am looking forward to it as I do not want to increase his meds again.

Steven has had a very sore throat the last day and 1/2 so I will be calling our Dr. at 8:30 in the morning t0 get him in an emergency appointment in the afternoon. He doesn't have a fever so I don't think it is strep....but ya never can tell. This will actually be the first time he has had to go to the Dr. for an issue since we moved here 2 years ago.

We finally have a hair appt with my stylist on Tuesday morning. I had to cancel the last one when I injured my wrist and had to go to the Dr. two weeks ago. My hair is driving me nuts. I cut it short and now that it has grown out it feels weird especially when I get hot and sweaty. Speaking of which...we set a record here yesterday we reached 110 degrees. I had no idea cause I never left the house. Today however the open house I sat at did not have any power and todays temps were in the low 100's. Not cool at all. Anyway enough about sweat and heat.

Time to do a little research.

Since I have a few minutes

Wow it has been a very long time since I have posted the happenings in our neck of the woods.

I am sitting at the office waiting for some clients to come in and sign a purchase contract and the boys are at home doing laundry and making dinner, so I am taking advantage of the peace and quiet to update the eager world on the happenings of our lives.

We will start with the cats. They are crazy teenagers right now, causing mischief and distruction daily. Steven taught one of them to play catch and it is very intertaining to watch and she will include everyone in the game. Good thing I gave mom a heads up when she and dad came to visit the last two weeks. They are little sweeties though and they add alot to the family. Steven carts them around all over the place and they put up with it so all is good.

Steven has officially completed the 2nd grade and is a little apprehensive about starting 3rd grade in a new school. One good thing is that we met a new family in the neighborhood and both of the children will be attending the same school. The kids have hit it off real well and Steven will be having his new friend over on Saturday for a sleep over. I see pizza, popcorn, candy, and movies in our future. Wooohooo.

Work has been keeping us busy, we sold two homes last week and if all goes well the offer I am getting signed tonight will be accepted by Monday. Our goal is to close 3 escrows each month. Not an easy task I tell ya. One of the homes we sold last week will close in December so I am excited that one is down for that month. We have worked with some really great people and have built wonderful friendships. My Christmas Card List is growing by leaps and bounds.

The weather has been on the hot side so far this month. We have been hovering during the day between 95-104 degrees. We have the big Tulare County Association of Realtors Picnic tomorrow evening and I am really looking forward to it. Last year it was not as hot as it is now, but man it was fun. All you can eat food, sno-cones, cotton candy, soda, and popcorn. They also have lots of blow up stuff and water contraptions for the kids. hmmmm I must be getting hungry cause I really focused on the food didn't I?

Mom and Dad were here for a few weeks and it was great !! We got to see dad on his birthday and Father's Day. Steven spent a week with mom and dad at the coast and had a great time. He can't wait until August so he can spend more time with them.

My clients just pulled into the parking lot so .........back to work I go.

Million Dollar Home Anyone?

I must say again, I Love Keller Williams. We have been learning and growing like crazy people. They are so happy with our eagerness to learn and practice what we learn, that we have been asked to sit a Million Dollar open house. What's so cool about this you ask?....Well the developer is building 32 Million Dollar + homes in the gated community and we can sell any/or all of them. What else is cool you ask....well let me just tell you...... Say someone comes in to check out the home and they then realize that it a little out of their financial comfort zone (duh) then we can continue our relationship with the client and sell them any home we want. woohoo.Traditionaly in a "development" the client stays with the developer. This developer is so smart because he selected only our office to to work with and by letting us keep the client, he doesn't have to hire and train staff to sit the development and we have a reputation for being highly educated and professional so it looks like a Win Win to me.We get today, Monday, next Saturday and Sunday.

This next three days will be in the low 70's which will be perfect, however it could go either way, it is a holiday weekend and people are usually out of town at a lake or campground, however, with the price of gas I think more people will be staying local.

Cross you fingers.

Moving on

Well we did it. We said farewell to our C21 family and hello to our Keller Williams family. It was a very hard decision , but it is the right one for our financial goals and success in this industry. We cleaned out our office and gave our hugs and said our see ya laters today. I am very excited to get started in our new office. I am hoping that all of our office furniture has been put in place so we can dive right in and get started.

Scott is taking us on a suprise get away this weekend since we closed a huge escrow today. Between the packing, moving, unpacking, and working our buns off we have not had a chance to take well deserved family bonding weekend.

The weather is going to be in the 90's Saturday in a weird warming pattern. We are normally mid 70's this time of year. I think we are going to blow up the pool that the Easter Bunny brought us and try it out tomorrow before we leave town.

Our not so little kitties are full of trouble but cute as heck so it's hard to be mad at them for very long.

Well I better go pack for our weekend.

Frolicking

I just couldn't resist posting this silly video of Scott frolicking throught the spring air with the mini. Be sure to press the play button twice.

Mini Horses

This past Sunday our clients invited us to bring Steven out to their horse ranch for some fun. We had a fantastic time with all of the animals and Steven over came his fear of horses somewhat. We had the opportunity to take the reins of one pretty little gal...take a look....

These two horses below were brought to learn how to pull a cart and take direction from the driver. It was great to see. These two guys were very very playful....kinda like large kittens Steven said.

This hen is sitting on eggs and she let our client walk right up to pet her. In the picture below the horse is actually black, because they blanket the horse during the winter months the hair turned white. As we were petting her we were pulling out chunks of white hair revealing the shiny black coat beneath. Very cool.A trainer was on site training riders how to drive carts. Our client said that they will teach Steven if he is interested when we go back.

Finally we have internet again.

It has been a long and terrible 3 weeks with our internet service. We had AT&T for our internet connection since we moved here and our service has been nothing short of fantastic. The second we move to our house it goes all to heck. We finally had to cancel and we gave clearwire a try. Well four days, two modems, a tech guy making a house call, and we still had bad ...we are talking dial up slow....service. Soooo needless to say we discontinued our service with clearwire and we are now back with the Comcast service we had while in Spokane. We have a Comcast center here so we got to go right down and pick up the modem, we purchased some snazzy router from Costco, and Scott got us up and running. I am so excited to be able to get caught up with my blogs, newsletters, and research. So if you are just tuning in, be sure to look at the next several entries because I have been a picture posting fool tonight. The Slowski's must be so disappointed.





Between moving, spring break, work and unpacking, our lives have been very full. I finished unpacking the last of the boxes yesterday and we need to hang all of our shelves, pictures, and things to complete our adventure. (aka: hellish nightmare called moving)





We sold two more homes since I posted last and we hope to open escrow on 3 more in the upcoming weeks. People are finally realizing that this is the right time to buy property and sell property at market value for today (not 2005 during the big boom). We have been meeting several business owners and independant contractors such as ourselves and it has been great developing a network of professionals and friends in different ventures in our area. I had no idea that this community was so full of people relying on self employment rather then the dreaded corporate employment. The only draw back is medical insurance. We qualify for group coverage through the California Association of Realtors, however we bare the full cost of premiums which totaled over 15k last year. Most of the self employed in our community cannot afford premiums such as this and they are very frustrated with "the system". We are as well but with the medical challenges in our family non- coverage is not an option.





I decided to go short with my hair and had my stylist take off about seven inches and we went crazy with layers. I Love it and everyone is commenting on how much younger I look. It is also alot easier to comb out and the curls just spring right up so it takes no time at all to style in the morning...yahooo. Scott stills prefers baldness and Steven as you can see in the pictures in the Easter posts prefers a buzz cut.





I will try to capture pictures from the inside of our fun little rental home as soon as we finish getting everything hung up and the deco placed in it's most appealing spots. Once I do I will post them.





Steven had a glorious time at the coast with Grandma and Grandpa during spring break and has advised us that he requires two weeks with them this summer. I told him that we would have to space it out over the length of the summer rather then take it all at one time. He recommended that we just take two 7 day cruises and that would work out perfect. Gotta love that kid :) He takes after his grandpa. Here are some cute pictures that grandpa took of Steven playing army men at the beach house.

Easter Morning with Grandma and Grandpa

The Easter Bunny and Grandma, Grandpa, and Nanna spoiled us this year. After opening all of the gifts the five of us went to champagne breakfast at sizzler. Here are a few pictures of Easter morning.

Here is a great picture my dad took the afternoon we brought the kittens home. They're home is the third bedroom/work out room. They seemed to like it in there until they experienced the rest of the house. :) As of today they have access to all rooms and tonight is the first night I am not locking them in their room. Should be interesting to see how this turns out. Wish me luck.