Today is Friday, October 21st

We jammed packed the last two days and we're holding on...Thursday was tour day & Marilyn & I went until lunch and then, I saw a couple homes on my own and went to meet Larry. We have a plan of attack for his short sale. By Wed. latest, we'll list his home and hope the Short Sale Gods smile down upon us. On to have my hair colored and shaped & home to welcome my brother Johnny & Shar, my sis. Immediately, we started preparing dinner and got down to the business of enjoying each other as all good Italians do.. we ate and talked and ate and talked....

Great news finally today! Brian's Short sale purchase was finally approved and we received it in writing. YAHOO!!! Amazing thing... I looked up paint samples online at Kelly Moore to help Amos pick colors to paint his home in order to create better curb appeal. Amos is in Hawaii and his home is in San Jose.... and it will soon look fantastic and will attract a wonderful buyer!!!

Today, we had a 2 hour Santa Cruz County Assoc. of Realtors board meeting with exciting strategy to discuss... I was very glad to be a part of it... after, I went to the office to schedule inspections for next Fri. and get Brian's escrow rolling. Man, I'm glad after 6 months, the banks have finally decided to accept the deal.

Home to my family and a walk to Betsy's to see our sculptures and then, we made a trip to Dr. Wu's office so, we could get to the bottom of T's sore throat. A little scare but, they mobilized quickly, blood test, exam and history and a heavy duty antibiotic later and T was able to enjoy the halibut dinner sans stuffed clams (more for us)...mmmmmm sometimes I so crave all the seafood I grew up with... stuffed clams, fried clams, lobster, scallops but tonite helped a whole lot. Shar put a small cooler in her suitcase with Alaskan halibut (caught by Johnny) and stuffed clams...boy what a great dinner.... the rest of the evening we were setting up facetime accounts so, we could talk to Jayne & Lou and ultimately anyone with a facetime account. Oh Boy!

Now this tired girl is going to finally shut my eyes and dream of wonderful adventures....

Today is Wednesday, October 19th

Indian Summer is still with us...  Yesterday, Tuesday, was a work day (Sales meeting & escrow work) combined with some play... rather than sit anxiously waiting for the other shoe to drop on Granada,  T & I watched  "Limitless"  with DeNiro & Bradley Cooper...pretty good flick and then, it was our best TV night.. NCI & NCI Los Angeles and Unforgettable... since we missed "The Good Wife" last Sun.... didn't want to miss Zeva & the boys... so, we kept on escaping until I checked my email about 9PM and the bad news was finally here.  The buyer bailed on Granada.  My clients are not happy and would like to punish the buyer for being stupid & wasting a month by keeping her deposit.  Unfortunately, I don't think that will happen.  So, the good news is the carpets look fantastic!  The stain is gone and the house is staged and ready to go!!!  The bad news:  it should have closed yesterday...  so, I get to sell it again...  Oh well... this time it will be a great buyer who loves the home and can't be without it!!!

Now today made up for yesterday... After our walk this morning, I played catch up with several clients and then, Tracy & I started working with clay... OMG!!!  I love the feel of molding and shaping clay.. it's amazing to start with a lump of clay and mold it into an otter!!!! and Betsy is an inspiration!  She encourages me to try and it feels like I belong...like I was meant to do this... I love my otter... he'll need a name but wow!!! I can't wait to continue working on him.  He needs to dry and I have to hollow out his body so, he doesn't shatter in the kiln...next week.  So, afterwards, Larry called me and decided he wants to short sell his home... so, I went to the office to put together all the paperwork and we'll meet tomorrow afternoon to list his home... I hope the Short Sale God will smile down upon us and grant us his wish...  we'll see,,, the Trustee Sale is scheduled for Nov. 7th which is a very tight timeline.  One can only hope...  Amos's house will be ready to go by mid - to late next week.  There you go... zero to three listings in no time....  Now if only Brian's deal would get on track...

Went & picked up all the fixins and T & I worked an assembly line to concoct eggplant parmigiana!!  So, one meal ready to go for Johnny & Shar, who arrive tomorrow.
OK, I'm a tired girl now and I wish you all good night...

Today is Monday, October 17th

This is our SUMMER!!! The last few days have been sooo gorgeous!!! We've been walking in the morning and today & Sat. we walked our Hidden beach to Rio Del Mar and the Riley boy can't believe his luck!!! It feels so good to be enjoying our little corner of the world...

Riley & T poised to play

Awwww

Go for it!

Jumpin' Jack Riley!!!

Got our fingers crossed that we get good news by Wed. that this deal is gonna work and this weather lasts long enough for Johnny & Shar to enjoy...

Two more movies of the boys at the beach... which I can't seem to upload right now....
but I'll figure it out...  sweet dreams...

Today is Sunday, October 16th

An amazing day!!! Beautiful warm sunny day on the coast made our neighborhood walk so fun and everyone was out enjoying it... chatting with folks along the way and feeling blessed that we are here.

Home for breakfast and an incredible nail biting 49er vs Detroit game in Detroit and

WE WON!!!! The Niners are now 5 and 1 and we've got to wear our T shirts every week from now on... Patriots and the Bears won too!!!

It was a serious slug fest day and I'm so glad we were able to enjoy it! The Discovery Channel did a tribute to Steve which I'm glad I didn't miss BUT somehow I forgot "The Good Wife" !!! Here's hoping it will be on Hulu or something very soon...

Here's hoping the buyer's agent on Granada gets a little bit better at communications... I don't think I can take a whole month of this...

Blessed are we...

Today is Saturday, October 15th

That Harvest Moon has continually awakened me in the middle of the night this week... Last night it was 4:00 AM and my eyelids were at half mast and there wasn't any sleep left for this weary soul...

So, I was determined to resurrect one of the back up offers on Granada Drive. I sent emails to both interested parties before I went to sleep last night. Unfortunately, both had become involved in other properties. That's what happens when too much time elapses... Next when I awoke at 4AM, I let the confused buyer go and forgave her. She was so scared and wary. My first phone call of the morning was to my go to carpet cleaner, On the Spot. I arranged for Tom to meet us at the house at 10:30. Then Greg, the Seller, called. He said we needed to give the buyer more time... extend the escrow so, she could sell her Menlo Park home, because it was the 'right' thing to do. I love my clients!!! Long roller coaster story short...we're back in escrow. Keep the faith!

So, stay true to your soul and stay centered. I helped to stage the home this morning and clean up..there's your full service Realtor working hard to help my clients... and lo and behold after a wonderful day that found Tracy and I walking our beloved Hidden Beach this afternoon... gazing at the dolphin and a huge sea lion playing in the surf...we find ourselves back in the good graces of the escrow Gods.

Two more essential details: I neglected to mention that yesterday after my 2.5 hour sojourn at the title office I went to the Capitola AT&T store at the Mall for my reward. I waited about 20 min with a lot of excited folks to get my iPhone4S!!! Yahoo!!! I'm just discovering how truly wonderful it is!! I can actually make phone calls from my house in all the areas that I couldn't before AND I love Siri, my new assistant. I've used it many times today.. make an appointment, call a client, check the weather, check stock prices. I love that it understands me the first time I say something!!! Secondly, I stopped on the way home from the beach to see Betsy today and very soon, T & I may begin working in clay... oh boy!

This evening T and I worked together making dinner like we used to... sipping wine, T assembling the add ins and me working the risotto until our dinner was ready to enjoy... I love days like today!!! Peace and serenity surrounds our beloved home...

Today is Friday, October 14th

Sometimes all the hard work and best of intentions just don't pan out.  The last two days I've been noodling through a vague sense of unease.  My intuition kept gnawing at me and I just didn't want to listen.  It started with lots of excuses why the buyer's agent wasn't communicating....jury duty, field trip with 70 kids... hmmm but you have a phone.... so, when I still hadn't heard that the financing contingency had been removed last night... I persisted with hope and best intentions and spent many hours molding chocolate.  Keeping my mind off the puzzle at hand, focussed on the fashioning of roses, shells and all sorts of figure lollipops in dark, white, green & lavender chocolate.  It's tedious work but with enough light, very creative... and at last my psyche was calm.

Today started out with our neighborhood walk & evolved with multiple phone calls to chaos.  There was a solution to the dilemma and we persisted in figuring it out to the buyer's very deep appreciation.   It took all day and both sellers, my broker and escrow officer to come up with a viable solution for all concerned.  All day long we proceeded to work on every angle.... At 7:30 this evening, the buyer's agent called to cancel the contract!!!  She cannot buy a house at this time due to a nasty divorce.  So, after I fell off my chair;  I got back up and tried to resurrect either of the 2 previous offers.... So far that's a bust but time will tell....

Relax and enjoy!!!

Today is Wednesday, October 12th

What a gorgeous warm day on the coast!!!  We were determined to enjoy it and after meeting with my clients at 118 Granada Dr and fielding many phone calls... we were off!!

Tracy & Riley reveling in the surf

An otter and some dolphin played in the surf as Riley chased his ball relentlessly...

The sun took it's toll and we're all tired puppies this evening....

Check out this beautiful flower arrangement Cathy sent me

Cathy's thank you flowers

Not often that my clients appreciate the work I've done for them... Cathy does!  It's so wonderful to be appreciated!!!  Now I'd just like to see Bri & Angela happily start their life in their new home.... first things first.... next step: inspections as soon as we receive the written approvals.

Sweet dreams!