We didn't leave town.. but we still had a nice time.  (Minus the LIFE LESSON I had to teach myself before lunch..)

I woke up and jumped out of bed way before everybody else.  'Was certain the day would start early because it would  be PACKED with sooooo many great things.. PLANNED for us to do.

Got my shower first.. so I could be ready.  It was 8am.

Everyone else stayed in bed till after 9...

Ever since we've said "I do" Matt and I have had this conversation:

Me: What are we going to do today/tomorrow?

Matt:  I don't know.  We'll play it by ear.

(I am not a fan of playing-it-by-ear.  I'm a fan of writing things in a notebook and checking them off.)

So as they woke up one by one.. we started playing it by ear.

And it took a little bit for me to get over  "not necessarily having a plan"   ..and just enjoy the fact that we were together.  Ever-so-often a little girl's voice popped up with "Happy Birthday Mommy!"  And Matt leaned over to kiss me (except for early on when I was sulking.. ) 

You know what did it for me?  Realizing it's Memorial Day.  How ungrateful and childish I must look ...thinking I needed to have a planned-out-day..  How many soldiers or their families would give anything to play-it-by-ear today with their loved one? 

I'm embarrassed that I had to remind myself of that at my very new and ripe old age of ... Oh, so you wanna know what we DID do?

He made cupcakes!  They blew noisemakers.  One of them gave me a magic wand!  We lunched with family, grabbed a coffee whenever we wanted, walked the park, visited more family...We even threw shopping in there for a little bit.

These are them.. Funfetti with sprinkles ala girls!



Playing it by ear turned out to be fun.  At my new and ripe old age.. I will try to practice (what virtue is necessary here?)  Patience? The ability to relax?  (Can the ability to relax be a virtue? ..It should be!)  ...I will try it.  ...I can do this! 

 



Don't let yourself get in this position...

Since about 10:30 this morning I am feeling 10 lbs lighter!

HOW? 

I dumped my email account! 

I had over 7000 (SEVEN THOUSAND) emails.  (Maybe not much in some circles..)  

But they were weighing me down..  My email life was in a jumble.. PURCHASE AGREEMENTS and COUNTERS coming in between OLD NAVY SALES and WEIGHT WATCHER RECIPES.

So, how do you JUST -- DUMP over 7000 emails? 

Step One:

Each page on my email account is 50 emails.  I deleted aprox a dozen pages of UNREAD emails.  (I always open anything important ..so I was comfortable doing this.) 

You can select unread emails and then delete them by the batch. This took only a few minutes and took me back to about January in my account.

Step TWO:

I deleted or created a folder for each subject that the pertinent emails were pertaining to.  :)  (That is the "read" emails that went back to aprox January.)

Step THREE:

I convinced myself that if I haven't looked at it in 5 months -- I don't need to keep it.  ...Or else I'll have to use my charm and telephone wit to get another copy of it one day.

Step FOUR:

It took me less than an hour to delete all those thousands of emails

-- and I was entertaining Gina almost the whole time! 

Just select a page at a time ..it takes less time than you think.. TO LIGHTEN YOUR LOAD!!

Pizza, Presents, Poitier, Pasta with Prom, my People, and Proverbs (..not in that order.)

Poitier
I got to spend a little time by myself -- in my own house -- Saturday afternoon.. It was reminiscent of my days at home with Mom and Dad.. They'd leave for a little while and I would TOTALY pamper myself by indulging in a pint of Haagen Daz (I was an ice cream snob in those days..) Perrier (whatever..) and a movie rental.  No kidding.. those three things.. I did it as often as I could.. I was waaay young.. had nothing better going on.

So, yesterday when my husband and daughters went out to do some "secret shopping" I jumped in the bed, flipped on the tv, and came across...

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner!

YES!  I've never seen this movie in it's entirety.. 

And I still haven't.. I'm to the point where both fathers have decided they are not in favor of this marriage but the mothers are about to encourage the kids to go for it anyway  ??? (Maybe..) Don't ever tell me what happens!  ...There WILL be another opportunity for me to catch this... one-of-these-days.

Pasta with Prom
I left the movie to join my family for dinner.  We were once again treated to the fashion show that is "Dinner before Prom in Terre Haute."  ..we have fun with that. 

Proverbs
It's Mother's Day.  Breakfast in Bed, fru-fru outfit (on me.)  Kids in sweet dresses.  Husband lookin' handsome.  Sermon is from Proverbs 31.

At one point I lean over to my husband and admit... "This sermon is a little uncomfortable on Mother's Day."

It's alot to live up to, a checklist of the perfect woman.

Then I got it.. and I was thankful for it. 

The pastor didn't say this but I realized afterwards.. When the kids don't live-up-to-what-I-want-them-to I don't walk away and start humming Cee Lo Green songs.

I will continue to be a better Momma, a better wife, daughter, woman-at-large.. and I will continue to receive great big helpings of mercy when I miss the mark.


Presents
G can NOT hardly keep a secret... she tries.. but it usually goes this way:

"I got you something for Mother's Day.  I won't tell you what it is.. but you PUT IT IN THE GROUND AND IT GROWS!"

How sweet!! (Now where do I have the space to grow WATERMELONS in the backyard??)

My People

Pizza
Final thought:

We usually get the thin crust pizza at Monicals.. but Dad wanted to try the thick crust.. YUM!!!

Pepperoni and sausage pan pizza from Monicals ROCKS!

Loans that have typically taken 30 days to close are now taking a little longer.. I have talked to lenders who say there are so many loans in the pipeline right now -- it is slowing things down.

With that being said, grass stops for no man does it?... Nor do weeds.

Buyers have asked me if they can PLEASE cut the grass at the house they are about to buy.. or pull some weeds.

Sometimes it's hard to tell them...

No. 

Don't touch the house until you close on it. 

Don't cut anything...

pull anything...

scrape anything...

paint anything...

or -- for that matter -- wash anything on-or-in the house until you close on it.

Of course you know you don't own it -- BUT, you are about to own it... None-the-less, until we close, the complete responsibilty for maintenance, risk, loss, utlitilies, anything related to the property and it's ownership belongs solely to the seller.

Besides that -- what if something happens and we don't close?

Sometimes it's hard to watch when a seller isn't taking care of things the way you want them to.

My advice is -- don't look, don't drive by it, don't think about it... (easy for me to say, I know.) 

You know, there is a PENALTY for making any kind of change to a piece of property you don't own without permission.. it falls under tresspassing.

I'll tell you how I know that..

A past client of mine had an accepted offer on a house here in Terre Haute.  Cash.  11k.  The house had a covered (not enclosed) patio on the back. 

Shortly after the offer was accepted, I get a call from the listing agent. 

He was a little "freaked out" when he told me that my client was building an addition on the back of his listing.

What?  I couldn't believe my ears.. My client had just asked me if I thought it would be ok to purchase lumber for an addition they wanted to make.  I had said "Sure.. but keep your receipt incase -- for some reason -- we don't close."

I was at home.. I piled the kids in the car and headed over to see for myself.

I took the alley so as to get a good view of the back of the house

Sure enough.. there sat about 8 ladies in a semi circle in the back yard facing the house.. watching their men hammer away on an enclosed patio.

With a lead foot I drove straight home and called my broker.  That's how I learned this type of behavior ..allthough seemingly harmless to this buyer of mine  ...was/is considered tresspassing to a seller.

So don't temp yourself.  Wait till you close!! You will enjoy working on your new home SO MUCH MORE after you officially own it!

(BTW I called my buyer immediately and asked them to stop working on the house.. I spoke to the wife... Her response was "You told me I could buy the wood!"  My response was "I did NOT tell you you could nail it to the house!!")

Catchin' up as it's been a few days...

Hey!  Did you run in the Indy Mini today?  So many of us Hautians do.. I was thinking we should have a Pre-Mini in Terre Haute on the weekend before the Main Event.... Fun idea? 

Aww I didn't do the mini.. but I did just get in from my 3mi in the 'hood.

Did you happen to hear the news...??  I didn't get a chance to post it on FB but several of my fellow agents did. 

Our office pended 100 (ONE HUNDRED) sales in the month of April. 

Wow! 

That's HUGE!! 

Pended sales are contracts that were accepted and signed by both the buyer and the seller. 

So now ...guess what us peeps at Coldwell Banker are gonna do...?

C'mon ONE guess is all ya get...

(...Like we need a reason! Ha!  We celebrate the fall bdays, the spring bdays, ..we celebrate the start of our sales meetings!!) 

But what a GREAT reason this one is!!!

(*Another good sign the market is on the up and up... I'm hearing there are a few new agents being hired.  I just got an offer from a "newbie" this past week.  A very well written offer I must add...)

So, if you were at the Indy Mini .. Cheers to you!  ...And I'll repost my earlier FB status update as you probably would have missed it...

Going to an Open House this weekend?

3 words of advice:

1.) Go in to as many as you can.  I know you've looked at alot online but a house can appear completely different in person.

2.) Play your cards close to your chest with the agent at the open house.. They are the listing agent and it's a good idea not to spill the beans about which features your in love with.  (But it's ok to leave your phone number... I promise they will NOT sell it!!)

3.) First thing this coming week.. go get pre-approved.  If you decide to make an offer you will have more power behind you and will look more attractive -- right off the bat -- to the seller.

Have a great weekend!!

(Final Note:)  KY Derby is about to start.. I am cheering for Bodemeister  ...There I've got it in writing incase he wins!!