STILL HERE!

Ok, so it's been a few days since my last post.......who would have guessed that Christmas would be such a busy time to buy a house!! I met my personal "goal" to close 3 in January.....but just as that happened yesterday, my 2nd deal started falling apart:( I didn't realize how personal I would take the disappointment of someone losing a house they REALLY wanted:( I know it will happen many, many times, but it still stinks for them.....and me:( I'm still pulling every string I can to make it happen, but there's another contract in on the same house, and now the other realtor is not returning my calls:( Hopefully I will have an answer by tonight......I just hope I don't get the call while we're out! It'll be hard to be professional while bringing in the new year!! In the meantime, I have two more appointments before the end of the week, and I know those are anxious buyers as well!!! Have I mentioned I'm having blast doing this!!! It's hard to explain.......in a matter of one day you can be excited, anxious, nervous, happy, sad, frustrated and everything in between!! What a rush! I think this business is definitely something you either love or hate:)

The kids have been keeping themselves busy with Christmas gifts all week. I think Kayla has watched about half of her Sex in the City collection, and went shopping with her dad on Sunday in short pump. She completed her driving school and is counting down the days until what she calls "freedom"! I call it complete panic......she's still my baby......how can they let her drive by HERSELF!!!! She's looking forward to getting a job... and how she puts it, "going to McDonald's whenever I want to" (gee...I hope she gets a good job to PAY for McDonald's everyday)!!
We took Owen on Sunday to pick out all of his fish for his tank. Of course he also HAD to get a crab.....which has already managed to eat one of the smaller fish:( He's been riding his new 4 wheeler, and can't wait to put together his "carnivorous plant" habitat! I told him as soon as Daddy has some time he will help.....I'm not always the best at that kind of stuff! Last year he got some sea monkeys, which I helped him set up.....needless to say, they never amounted to much more than looking like specks of debris mixed with dirty water!! He's going to my mom and dads tonight, so the "big kids" can go out and play:) Then she's taking him to see "Marley and Me" at the movies tomorrow.
Scott has been VERY busy this week, working 10-12 hour days. He's been helping out a friend who's mother was sick and passed away yesterday, but still needs his business running. I'm happy he's been able to help out:) Hopefully he will have a good time out tonight! He's already volunteered to be our designated driver.......I think having a hangover tomorrow is the last thing he wants, he'll just enjoy laughing at all of us!!!

We hope everyone has a SAFE and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!! See some of you tonight, and we'll see you all next year!!!

ps.....I just got an e-mail about my deal while I was writing this.....looks like it may go through today!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

As another Christmas comes to an end, I have to say it was a great one! We got to spend time with family, and NO time at work! We started the day at home, doing stockings and gifts. Kayla and Owen had a blast! Owen was completely caught off guard with his 4-wheeler, and Kayla finally discovered why she was the only one who hadn't gotten her Letterman Jacket at school yet!! It had been under the tree for 2 weeks! She's already upstairs tonight watching her "Sex and the City" DVD collection, and got to show off her class ring to everyone! She can't wait to go shopping and spend all her gift cards:) Owen got his 29Gallon fish tank he's been asking Santa for ALL YEAR! Scott got it set up tonight (but won the dumb-ass award in the process:) He set up the whole thing backwards, and unless we completely drain the tank and start over (because the bottom filter has to come out), he will have a backwards tank:) Oh well-we were going to put a background on anyways, so nobody will notice:) Owen can't wait for us to go shopping for fish next week. He was SHOCKED by the 4wheeler, which was the "last minute" gift Scott was out getting last night...........gold star for that one daddy!! I was actually brave enough to post a picture of me from this morning (my morning wake-up look, and old nightgown is usually not my best look, but who cares....it's Christmas, and let's face it..that's how I look at home EVERY day) Scott loved his new coffee maker, and has already programed it for 6:30 tomorrow morning .......why in the world would he want to wake up at 6:30 the day after Christmas?!? I plan on sleeping until the last minute I can before I take Kayla to driving school:)

So then we headed off to mom and dads for brunch and gifts. The food was awesome, thanks dad for the pancakes and "non-army" eggs!!!:) Although Scott always loves the sloppy ones, I appreciate you making them both:)

We had our marathon gift exchange (which in past years has lasted up to 5 hours!) and we all got spoiled as usual.........thanks mom and dad for all the thoughtfulness you put into everything you guys do:) Although I do still have a bone to pick with you dad...............o.k, so you took Michael to Hawaii last week, your taking Matt to Atlantis in the Bahamas, your taking Jenny and Kayla to Alaska............and your taking AMY.............where..........I thought I was your favorite (JK)! I know..........your holding out to take me toooooooooo Aruba? Tahiti? That's it.....right!!:)

Of course I'm just kidding, having a family it's allot harder to get away. I'm happy you are able to share all of your travel experiences with us all! Scott and I enjoyed watching the video and slide shows from your most recent Hawaii trip. The volcano eruptions were awesome, and the ocean brought back all those memories from our "big Hawaii trip" last year:) Thanks so much for sharing!

So then we headed home, bellies full, and hearts happy:) Scott got to work on the fish tank, while I decided to take an hour long bath in the jetted tub (Owen calls it the super tub) with my new "bath balls". They smelled great and almost made me fall asleep......good thing I didn't, I probably would have drowned!! I got into my new "I love Hawaii" t-shirt, and made cheesy chicken enchiladas for diner..........remembering that the way to a mans heart is still his stomach.....even after 13 years!!! We will end the night with the awesome cookies from mom and hopefully not fall asleep on the couch!! LOL!

Thanks for a great day everyone! We missed you Lori & Josh........thanks for the text video clip of your "white Seattle Christmas"..............

we hope your not snowed in for another week!!

CHRISTMAS EVE

Merry Christmas Eve everyone! We just got back from diner at mom & dad's, classic Italian style....lasagna! We are home right now anxiously awaiting the arrival of Santa:) The stockings are hung, the cookies have been left, the reindeer food sprinkled on the lawn, the kid's are pretending to be asleep........and the parents are exhausted:) Scott has actually gone back out to pick up a last minute "surprise" for Owen. I just hope to be in bed by midnight:) This year dad surprised us all with Santa hats at diner.......cute dad:) The stipulation was that you couldn't eat until you wore the hat.....we all had fun with it, I think partly because we're all a little CRAZY anyways!!

Everyone knows you HAVE to sprinkle reindeer food (oats with glitter) in order for Santa to find your house!

Check out the notes left by the kids. Owen made a yes or no questionnaire for Santa, and then wrote on the back, "I hope you stay warm". Kayla obviously did hers to pacify me:)

One more thing...............you should never hide a Christmas gift in that "special" place, especially when you can't remember where that "special" place is..........a sign of aging I guess;)

It took me an hour to remember where I hid Kayla's class ring, I had wrapped it a week ago and put it away for "Santa" to bring.............I had to laugh when I finally remembered:)

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BAKING, BAKING, BAKING..............

Here are some photos from this weekend. Above is from Friday night. Isn't Owen's gingerbread house priceless? After 4 days the marshmellows have turned into rock-like structures.....at least I know he won't attempt to eat it:) There is also a pict. of his ribbon he got from his wrestling tournament.

This is from my big "baking day" yesterday. My kitchen looked like Betty Crocker's gone bad!! It was fun though, and owen was happy he got to lick the bowls!! He also got to eat all of my "mistakes":)

PARTIED OUT!!

Well....I certainly never thought I would say this.....but I think I'm getting all holiday partied out:) Scott and I spent all day in Fredericksburg finishing up Christmas shopping, and now we have about an hour until we leave for our next party! I think I lost count at 5 or 6...so maybe tonight is #7?? We are truly blessed to have so many people to spend the holidays with.....but I am tired!! My dinner party last night was great, and we got to spend time with good friends....who we definitely don't get to see enough:) We stayed up late and played phase 10....it's a really cool card game, which definitely tests your cognitive skills in counting (especially after a few drinks). I actually won a game....shocking, because I'm really not that good at cards either:)
I'm planning on posting all my pictures tomorrow.....maybe......tomorrow is supposed to be my "baking day", we'll see how it goes!
Kayla starts her behind the wheel driving school tomorrow also.................so everyone look out....here she comes................JK Kayla, I know you'll do great:)
I'm off to change for the party! Happy Holidays everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

6 DAYS (AND COUNTING AGAIN:)

I can't believe it's the end of another week and only 6 days unti Christmas:)
Owen got his first ribbon from his wrestling tournament on Sunday. He placed 2nd in his weight class and got a red ribbon:) He was so excited....the smile on his face said it all:) I will get a pict. of him with it later. He also made a "priceless" gingerbread house today at school....it's amazing it made it home through the bus ride, his teacher made a tin-foil tent to protect it........
soooo cute:)
I ratified another contract today, January should be a stellar month for me in closings. Everyone keep your fingers crossed for a possible 3rd and 4th for January as well:) It's definitely a buyers market right now.........anyone with $ is crazy not to invest in real estate...rates just dropped to 4.7% today!!

I would love to post some picts. of the kids....but I'm hosting my yearly Christmas diner party with our close friends tonight and need to finish getting ready............I'll try and get some tonight:) In traditional Italian style, I'm making manacotti...mmmmm.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKE!!!!!

HOPE YOUR ENJOYING HAWAII!!!

SEND US MORE PICTURES:)

HAWAII

My dad and brother Mike are in Hawaii this week (great graduation present!). They sent me these two picts. yesterday. The first is an erupting Volcano as is meets the Ocean and creates allot of steam. The second is Mike. They said tomorrow they'll be spending the day on the beach and will try to send a video clip. If I can figure out how to download it, I will post it tomorrow:)

5 CRAZY DAYS!

I finally have a few minutes to post so here it goes........

Here was the weekend rundown............

I ratified my contract Friday, the x-mas party Friday night was great, Mike's graduation on Saturday was impressive (once again, we're sooo proud of you), Red Lobster was delicious (even though I hate seafood), signed another offer Saturday afternoon, went to Owen's Wrestling tournament on Sunday (he won 2 out of 3:), got our family picture taken with Santa @ the mall, and yes......made the banquet Sunday night! Wow....writing it down even makes me tired:) I promise when I have more time I will go into more detail! We made it through it all, even smiling the whole time and had a fantastic weekend:)

Gotta go............UPS just got here with some things I ordered for Owen........If I hurry I can wrap them before he gets home from wrestling practice:)

STOPPED COUNTING:)

O.k....I've stopped counting the days down until Christmas! All I know is it's SOON!

Kayla had her cheerleading banquet on Tuesday night and she only "allowed" me to take this one photo of her. It was a good time for the girl's, and they always enjoy the "secret Santa" gift exchange!

I'm trying to play catch-up today at home. It's my first day at home for a while, and I'm hoping to get a bunch of things done:) The next few days are going to be crazy! Work all day tomorrow, another x-mas party tomorrow night, Michael's graduation at JMU on Saturday

(congrats Mike!), Owen's wrestling tournament in Northern Virginia on Sunday, and finally, Sunday night is another sports banquet (which we may have to skip, depending on Owen's wrestling, and my energy level:)

Also, I'm in the middle of negotiating a contract at work....which means I'm on the phone constantly....thank goodness for cell phones, or I'd be tied to the office all day!

My next post will probably not be until next week! So have a great weekend everyone....we'll see some of you on Saturday at JMU!!! Have a safe trip everyone!

I hear we're going to Red Lobster afterwards....mmmm....sounds good!

1st WRESTLING SCRIMMAGE

Last night was Owen's 1st wrestling scrimmage and he did awesome! He won 5 out of 6 matches, and we were so proud of him:) Unfortunately, Scott and I only got to stay for the first 2 matches, we had my company Christmas party to get to (another story in itself:) His first tournament is next Sunday and I can't wait to watch the whole thing!! Thanks dad for staying with him, he had a really good time! He went to mom and dad's last night and stayed for Christmas decorating today...although I think they got allot more done AFTER I picked him up!

The second part of the night was my Christmas party....the actual party was great:) Getting there was a different story!! It should have taken us about an hour to get there.........an hour and 45 minutes later.........we were still driving around! There's nothing worse than already being late, and being lost on top of that! I guess it's time to activate the turn-by-turn navigation in my car!! So we finally got there after getting directions (all different) from 3 different people and having to drive to get cell service!!! It was well worth it, and at least we weren't the last to arrive. I just call it being super "fashionably late"! So that's one holiday party down....three to go! At least we know where the others are:)

Sorry.....no picts. for the parties!!

FRIDAY (OMG...20 DAYS TILL' X-MAS)!!

What a week! In Real Estate you are either slammed or slow......this week was a slam! I always tell people that I'm never too busy for more clients....bring em' on! Anyone that knows me, knows that I love being kept busy, I'm much more efficient (and happy) when multi-tasking my day's away:) This weekend is my company Christmas party, and I'm sooo looking forward to it. Owen also has his first wrestling scrimmage tomorrow night......I'm actually kind of nervous for him:) I watched his practice last night.....little man is really developing skill!! His favorite move is the half-nelson, he has that mastered!! I will hopefully get some good picts. to post:) I hope everyone has a great weekend:)
Gotta get back to work:)

21 DAY'S TILL' CHRISTMAS! (AND STILL HAVEN'T SHOPPED YET)

This was sent to me from a friend today, and it made me smile.....I think I can relate to allot of the "mom" stages.....and look forward to the others:)

Real Mothers know that a child's growth is not measured by height or years or grade... It is marked by the progression of Mommy to Mom to Mother.

The Images of a Mother

4 YEARS OF AGE - My Mommy can do anything!
8 YEARS OF AGE - My Mom knows a lot! A whole lot!
12 YEARS OF AGE - My Mom doesn't really know quite everything.
14 YEARS OF AGE - Naturally, Mother's not as smart as me.
16 YEARS OF AGE - Mother? She has no clue!
18 YEARS OF AGE - That old woman? She's way out of date!
25 YEARS OF AGE - Well, she might know a little bit about it.
35 YEARS OF AGE - Before we decide, let's get Mom's opinion.
45 YEARS OF AGE - Wonder what Mom would have thought about it?
65 YEARS OF AGE - Wish I could talk it over with Mom.

The beauty of a mom is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a mom must be seen from in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides. The beauty of a mom is not in a facial mole, but true beauty is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she shows, and the beauty of a mom with passing years only grows!