Long Hollow

2023 - A Year for Gratitude

 

Gratitude.

That's my word for 2023.

While I've faithfully written in my gratitude journal every morning for a few years, and have gotten better at noticing my blessings and telling God thank you, I realize I've become neglectful in telling the people around me thank you and showing my appreciation when they help me, my family, my clients or my business in some way. 

I plan to change that this year. 

One challenge I foresee is the same one I faced in 2022 - time. It went by way too fast.

It's natural that some priorities have to fall by the wayside when life gets busy. My goal is to keep this one at the top this year.

You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage - pleasantly, smilingly, nonapologetically - to say 'no' to other things. And the way to do that is by having a bigger 'yes' burning inside.

~ Stephen R. Covey

Thanks to Facebook photos, I spent a little time today reflecting on the past year, wondering where it went in such a hurry. I was relieved to see that mostly it was time well-spent, with a lot of good memories made last year. So much to be grateful for!

For one thing, I now have a granddaughter! I grabbed every opportunity I was given to spend time with her and her brothers, and I'm grateful I was given a lot! I savored every minute. 

 

 

Tom and I celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary in August by spending a weekend in Port Aransas. We had some rain, but also some sunshine (pretty symbolic of 40 years of marriage, right?) and overall it was wonderful. I am so very grateful he asked me to dance 41 years ago and grateful I was smart enough to say yes. 

 

 

Belle turns 13 years old this month. She gave us a scare a couple of months ago. I am so grateful that New Hope Animal Hospital in Cedar Park let us bring her in and treated her (it was a Saturday and our small clinic closed early). She has been fine ever since and is still running and jumping and taking great care of us. 

 

 

I was able to spend a long weekend before Thanksgiving with Tom's mom. I don't get to see her very often but treasure whatever I can get.

 

 

And because of Belle's age and temperament, I wouldn't be able to go at all if it weren't for my middle son who housesits for us whenever he can. 

 

 

My daughter steps in when she can, as well. But...she and her husband are the proud parents of two precious rescue dogs. The love and care they give those puppies makes my heart proud, too. 

 

 

In October I tore the meniscus in my right knee right before my 45th high school reunion which I had been helping to organize. I needed a walker to get around, but Tom had to stay home with Belle, and there was no way I could drive myself. Two dear friends insisted I ride with them, and I am so grateful. It was a priceless weekend making new memories with long-long-long time friends. 

 

 

Thanks to my awesome physical therapist, I am now able to walk without pain. I'm doubtful I'll ever be able to run with Belle again, though. She was impatient at first, but has gotten used to our slower pace in the mornings. She still gets me out every day, rain or sunshine or snow. 

 

 

There are so many other things I'm grateful for this past year, and that includes my clients and those who referred me to them, along with my assistants and the vendors I work with. It was my best year in real estate ever, and since Tom plans to retire in a few months, I am especially grateful for their support and trust.

If you took time to read this, I wish you a blessed 2023 and hope you go through it with eyes wide open, savoring the minutes and finding something to be grateful for in each one. 

Much love,

 

 

The best way to show my gratitude to God is to accept everything, even my problems, with joy.

— St. Teresa of Kolkata

 

 

 

10 Things I Learned from Father Raj

 

 

Our small parish had the same priest for about the first 20 years that we lived here. Father Joe founded the church, first holding Mass at a campground on Lake Travis. By the time he retired (in his 80's) the current church had been built, expanded, and a parish activity center built. Also, I had become a Catholic! 

You can imagine how tough it must have been for the 2nd priest, Father Don, following in Father Joe's footsteps. He instituted quite a few changes in his 8 years as our priest before he, too, retired (in his 60's). Some people were happy with the changes, but some were not, of course. You just can't please everyone, and change is hard when you've become set in your ways. And we were all pretty set in our ways. 

Father Raj was our next priest. Several decades ago, he had come to America from Tamil Nadu in India, where he grew up in a large Catholic family. His sister is a nun in the Missionaries of Charity, the order started by Saint Teresa of Calcutta. Father Raj once gave communion to Saint Teresa. 

He came in with a "watch and see" attitude, not making huge changes but tweaking here and there, and only making big changes after much thought. He was calm and funny (he started every homily with a corny joke) but also confident and determined. 

He also had a giving spirit, personally starting and running several charities in India, including a home for the elderly. 

We were fortunate that he was our priest during COVID. With some parishioners' help, he started recording Mass live so we could watch at home. He remained positive and hopeful, which helped us remain that way, too. When we were able to return to church, he enforced rules that would keep us safe. 

The plans we had for removing the decades-old carpet and replacing old chairs with pews had been put on hold during the pandemic, but as things started opening up and we thought it was behind us, he began moving in that direction again. 

So it was such a surprise when he announced he would be leaving us for another parish after only 3 years at ours! It didn't seem fair to him or us, but having a true servant's heart, he accepted it as the will of God and helped us accept it, too. He said he would miss us because we were such a peaceful parish. I told him we really weren't - he was the peace in our parish. 

We threw him a big party before he left to thank him for all he did in his short time we were blessed to have him. I shared the "Top 10 Things I Learned from Father Raj" at the dinner. When I was asked for a copy of them afterward, I decided I would just write them here and share them with everyone, because I think they are lessons we can all use. 

So here they are....

1. Listen for God's voice and step out in faith
2. Be the calm in the storm
3. Maintain joy in all circumstances
4. Don't let others steal your joy
5. Lead by example
6. Look to scripture and the lives of the saints for guidance
7. Be humble
8. Be available when others need you
9. We are a family working together for a common goal and purpose
10. Life is wonderful - focus on the good, be hopeful, and make a difference in the world. 

 

 

My grandmother once told me that the key to survival is flexibility. She lived well into her 90's and always had a playful, joyful spirit, so she knew what she was talking about. We now have a new priest - Father Ed. He has already made some changes, but I feel he is probably just what we need at this time. God has a way of knowing, doesn't he?

As we slip back into our masks and social-distancing, I pray that each of you stays flexible, safe, healthy, and hopeful.

Be the peace in this constantly changing world.

 

 "The only constant in life is change."

~Heraclitus

I blinked and somehow it's November, so Happy Thanksgiving!

 

It is a glorious autumn day here in Long Hollow.

The window behind my monitor is filled with cloudless blue sky and shimmering leaves of orange and gold.

Tomorrow I will be focused on cooking and celebrating with a few of my kids, so today I'm indulging myself with reflection and the sharing of a few major "sweets" since my last post in May. 

First and foremost, we have a new grandson!

Because of COVID, I haven't been able to spend as much time with him as I did his big brother (who turned 2 in June!) but I'm grateful his mom is so good about sharing photos and videos. 

I did snap this one of my baby and his baby, though. 

 

Any minute now my middle son will be walking through the front door and Belle will go nuts!

She hasn't seen him in a few weeks because in October he started a new job in the Dallas area. He loves it!

While I miss him being in Austin, I am grateful he was given this opportunity for change and growth and he grabbed it.  

 

 

I had a couple of days on the beach in Port Aransas, thanks to my daughter and her husband who let me join them for a part of their get-away.

They had a condo right on the beach. 

Definitely one of my happy places!

 

 

The real estate market here hasn't slowed down a bit!

(Which is why I'm especially grateful for that escape to the beach!)

 

Happy hours, classes, masterminds with Gary Keller, and a convention, all via Zoom! 

Even my grandson's 2-year-old birthday party!

 

 

I experienced a drive by birthday for a 90-year-old friend and a drive by baby shower. 

 

 

I've been intentional about sorting through photos in albums I inherited from my parents, grandmothers, and aunt. 

Eventually I'll mail them to my relatives.

 

Our 13-year-old grandpuppy came for a visit in July as the new baby's arrival became imminent. 

We've always enjoyed having her and she loved being a country dog.

 

 

It was meant to be a temporary visit, but she was soon diagnosed with bladder cancer.

I became very familiar with doggy diapers.

I'm grateful we were able to care for her in her last months, giving my son and his wife peace of mind about their first "baby" while working from home and handling the challenge of  two little ones.

And I'm grateful she was able to meet her new little brother.

She was always a wonderful big sister. 

 

 

Despite the turmoil and sadness and challenges that have surrounded us in 2020, I am especially grateful that my own family has remained COVID-free and employed.

I know there are so many who haven't been that fortunate, but I pray they are still able to find some beauty and goodness in each day. 

May God bless each one of you.

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

 

 

Remember God's bounty in the year. String the pearls of His favor. Hide the dark parts, except so far as they are breaking out in light! Give this one day to thanks, to joy, to gratitude!

~Henry Ward Beecher

 

 

 

Even in the madness...

 

Every morning Belle and I take a walk on our caliche road. We have a set path of about 1.5 miles. First we head in one direction where the road twists and turns and dips, then we backtrack past our house and up a short hill before turning around and returning home. 

Belle sets the pace, mostly at a fast trot which means I'm jogging to keep up with her, but there are a considerable number of stops along the way as she picks up scents and has to investigate. She will also stop and wait for me as I photograph heart rocks and flowers or when I  pause to listen to the birds singing to one another.

In particular, there's a mockingbird living at about the halfway mark on the first leg of our adventure.  I always stop to enjoy his performance for a few minutes. He is so talented!

I also pray along the way, counting the decades of a Rosary on my fingers in time with my steps and breathing.

In the quiet of the morning, I reflect on all that I have to be grateful for...  like heart rocks, flowers, birds, our dirt road...and of course also my family, friends, and clients, asking for the health and safety of each one, along with any other special prayer requests for the day. 

Even before COVID-19 introduced extra challenges and new fears, life could be pretty chaotic and challenging, making it easy to get distracted by what-ifs or worry about things I have no control over.

Some mornings I wake up already feeling overwhelmed by all I should accomplish that day, wondering how I'm going to prioritize them or where the strength will come from to stay focused and get everything done.

And that's where the hill comes in. 

As I said, it's a small hill. Maybe 1/10th of a mile. It doesn't rise at a steep angle and even levels off in a couple of places. 

But I'm 61, and even though I have run up this hill almost every morning for a few years now, it always feels like a huge challenge. Each time I take that first inclined step, I hear a voice telling me I'm just not strong enough for it that morning. It tells me it's okay to just skip it.  

I've learned to ignore that voice and tell myself, instead, to just move forward, one step at a time. If I really need to, I can stop, but I remind myself I've done it over and over and over, and somehow I always have the strength to get to the top.

Just focus on taking one step at a time. Keep moving forward. 

Some days I'm slower than others. Some days I walk a few steps on the level parts. And some days our neighbor's dog notices us and comes out barking a warning, whereupon out of respect for Frankie (the dog) I give myself permission to cut it short and head back downhill. 

But I don't let the fear of Frankie's bark keep me from heading back up the hill the next morning. 

I'm not sure when I started applying the lessons of the hill to the rest of my life, but I do now. Whatever challenge lies ahead of me that day, as I'm running up the hill I remind myself that I just need to take it one step at a time, keep moving forward, and that God will give me the direction and strength I need for it, if I just ask.  

Beyond the physical benefits of running up that little hill, I also find peace. 

 

 

 

Besides my morning walks with Belle, here are a few other sweet!s from the past week...

 

 

A bluebonnet still blooming! 

Tom making it to his mom's safely

Referrals from friends and past clients

A watercolor of my grandson in his rain boots painted by my daughter-in-law's mom

Fireflies lighting up the woods

 

 

Two closings, including this cute condo

Finding someone to install my large sign on a commercial listing

A virtual happy hour with friends

No lines getting into the grocery store

FaceTime with my grandson

 

 

Listing a charming bungalow built in 1923

An in-person-with-social-distancing gathering with other friends

Limoncello

Watching a lightning storm at night from our covered back deck

 

 

The roadside exploding in wildflowers

 

Heart rocks in my path

 

 

I hope you've found sweet!s throughout your week and I pray you don't let fear keep you from stepping forward to climb the hills in your path.

I pray you find peace.

 

And even in the madness, there is peace
Drowning out the voices all around me
Through all of this chaos
You are writing a symphony...

- "Symphony" by Switch

(If you haven't heard the song "Symphony", I encourage you to take a listen HERE. It's one of my favorites.)

I couldn't help myself!

Being a mother means that your heart is no longer yours; it wanders wherever your children do.

~Author unknown

 

In the old days, before masks, hand sanitizer, and social distancing became customary, I would get an achy feeling in my heart if it had been more than two weeks since I saw my grandson in person. I had a physical need to snuggle him and kiss his chubby cheek. To just listen to him chatter and watch him play. 

(I also enjoyed getting to visit with my son and daughter-in-law, of course.) 

Then came the uncertainty of COVID-19. I resisted visiting them because I was still showing property to clients and making trips to the grocery store, and even though it was less often than normal, and I was following safety procedures, I didn't want to take any chances passing anything off to him, his mom, or his dad. I didn't think I would be able to resist picking him up and snuggling him. 

That lasted about 6 weeks. Almost daily FaceTimes with him and my son helped to ease that ache a LOT. But as Mother's Day drew near, the thought of going any longer without seeing ALL of my babies in person made that achy feeling grow. 

I decided (with their permission, of course) to stop by for a quick visit on Mother's Day Eve, resolving to resist any hugging, kissing, or snuggling. 

It turned out to be easier than I thought it would be. Almost-two- year- olds are bundles of energy. They don't stop long enough for hugs, kisses, and snuggles. We played bubbles... he had me push him in his car... he showed me how he mows the grass. We played basketball and he played his guitar for me. 

My mask didn't faze him. He recognized me right away. Oh, how my heart sang! 

The next morning before attending Mass in person for the first time in weeks (another sweet!), my middle son made me an amazing omelette for breakfast, and later that day my daughter and her husband came over, bearing tubs of fresh Mexican food from Chuy's, which I had been craving since before my birthday. We ate and visited, then took a long walk down our country road and to our pond. 

I saw all of my babies - the perfect Mother's Day gift. 

 

 

Here are some other sweet!s from the past couple of weeks...

Tom saved a painted turtle I met on a morning walk. The turtle was in the middle of the road, quite a distance from the closest pond. Tom carried him down the road, through the woods to the pond, wearing flip-flops. He's a hero, to both me and the turtle!

 

 

A full moon greeting me when stepping outside for Belle's pre-bedtime potty break. I've missed a lot of the full moons and was grateful this one was waiting on me. 

Thursday was the Keller Williams Realty's RED Day. It stands for Renew, Energize, and Donate, and on that day, once a year since 2009, each market center chooses a nonprofit in their community to help in some way, usually through multiple physical projects. This year we were planning to help the Austin State Supported Living Center by building a food truck area they requested that would help with fundraising.

Since we weren't able to do that, we took activity packets there for the residents (magazines, nail polish, DVD's), sent cards to a local nursing home we focused on one year (the one my mom lived in), and also held a virtual fundraising for the Central Texas Food Bank, which will continue through May. 

(If you would like to contribute, click HERE.)

In Austin, hair salons re-opened just in time for my next pre-scheduled appointment for re-blonding, with lots of safety precautions in place, of course. 

 

 

I've spotted a few beautiful red-bellied birds with a yellow tails. I still don't know what type it is. It's a cross between a painted bunting and a vermillion flycatcher. 

The Thunderbirds flew over Austin last week on their tour of honoring nurses and other caregivers on the front lines. 

We've enjoyed several virtual performances by our grandson via FaceTime...

 

 

There are no more lines at our local grocery store, and shelves are fully stocked.

I taught a class on making/receiving offers and negotiations via Zoom. I was really nervous about it, but colleagues helped me figure out how to share my screen. 

I'm grateful I was able to virtually attend Mass through live videos the past few weeks, but what a glorious feeling to be able to attend in person and receive Communion again. Capacity was limited, we wore masks, and kept our distance. Every other row was blocked off. It was precautious and different, but still joyful. 

 

Chuck-Wills-Widows are back, providing beautiful music to greet each dawn and sunset.

Tom has been making pancakes on the mornings he works from home. 

Business has continued to be good. I've had closings (although I can't attend them) and helped both buyers and sellers go under contract. I'm grateful I can still help my clients!

 

 

I spotted this heart at the house above...

 

 

And I spotted this little heart this morning...

 

 

I have a new ride! 

My little Elantra has lasted 11 years and 223K+ miles, with only minor issues that are to be expected when driving in new construction sites, on highways, and down our bumpy, dirt road. I've gone through a couple of windshields, had to reattach the rearview mirror, and replace dozens of tires. I've had a mouse try to take up residence in it, using the glovebox as its bedroom and the whole car as its bathroom (I couldn't believe it was only one mouse!) 

It has been a tough little car. But it was time. And the deals were too good to pass up. 

 

 

These two caught my eye while driving back from Bastrop last week after a pre-closing walk through on a property. Unfortunately, I think the Buccee Beaver and I were the only non-employees who were wearing masks. 

 

 

My sweetheart Tom celebrated a birthday this week. Per his instructions, we celebrated with a meat-heavy pizza from Domino's.

I almost forgot the candle!

 

Scattered throughout the week were texts and phone calls and emails with friends and family. Despite the forced separations, I'm grateful for the technology that allows us to cross the miles and be there for each other. 

A good friend is a connection to life — a tie to the past, a road to the future, the key to sanity in a totally insane world.

~Lois Wyse

 

I had some sad news today. A friend lost his daughter to COVID-19 yesterday morning and another friend's daughter tested positive for it. Please keep them in your prayers.

Also, while checking on a couple of past clients' condos near the University of Texas yesterday, I drove past a fraternity house where dozens of college students gathered in the front yard. No social distancing and I didn't see any masks.

I know when you're young you feel invincible and enjoy taking risks, but please pray for these young people that they don't risk their futures or those of their friends or families by not being careful right now. 

It's possible to live in the moment, but be careful and considerate of others at the same time. 

May you all stay healthy and well, and may your eyes be open for the sweet!s in your life!

 

Gratitude turns what we have into enough.

~Author Unknown

Sweets in the Time of COVID-19

 

 

Hi, how are you?  I hope you are doing well and staying healthy. 

What a strange time we're living in, right?

But to be honest.... my life hasn't changed much over the past couple of months, despite the shelter-in-place orders, toilet paper shortages, and face masks.

Realtors are considered "essential workers" because people are still moving to Austin and needing homes, other people are still needing to sell, and I've been as busy as ever helping clients. 

 

 

 

For that, I am grateful, because I know many are dealing with job loss, illness, and general confusion and anxiety over what the future holds. 

 

 

Since my last post in February, a lot has happened besides adjusting my work and life due to a pandemic.

There have continued to be plenty of sweets, if I look for them, and I decided today was a good day to take a break from work and remember them.

I'll start with Easter.

Even though I wasn't able to gather with all of my kids or attend church, we still had Easter, because Easter is more than that.

But I'm grateful that some of our parishioners volunteer to live stream Mass every day.

Also, I'm not alone. One son lives with us and my kids, other family, and friends are just a phone call or text away.

Also, my older son regularly FaceTimes us, so we can talk to our grandson.

Speaking of grandchildren... we are expecting #2 in a few months! 

 

 

I turned 61 last month.

I completed my 61 by 61 list with an Austin mural tour, taking advantage of empty roads and parking lots to visit several of the iconic murals around Austin. which you see scattered throughout this post, plus a few here..

 

 

I topped it off with a small celebration at home with my son,  husband, and Belle. 

 

 

I still enjoy daily morning walks and prayers with Belle.

Wildflowers are blooming, including bluebonnets I planted from seeds a client gave me, and heart rocks dot our caliche road.

I'm grateful this is where I get to be quarantined.

 

 

In a pandemic-free world, I would have been flying to Paris with friends on May 30.

Of course, that trip, which we had been planning since our Italy trip in 2017, was canceled.

We have enjoyed gathering via Zoom, though.

 

 

My friend/teammate Amanda was supposed to get married at the end of March.

They decided COVID-19 wouldn't stop them, and shared their vows in a beautiful lake front wedding which we all still witnessed, thanks to a  live-stream on You Tube.  

 

 

Before COVID-19 stopped us from gathering, I helped a friend celebrate her retirement, and several friends celebrate birthdays, including one who celebrated in style by having Shake Russell, Michael Hearne, and Mike Roberts play in their home.

 

 

The Keller Williams Family Reunion was in Dallas this year.

It was my first real taste of Dallas, even though I've driven through it numerous times on my way to somewhere else.

While most of our time was spent at the convention center attending sessions and meeting agents from all over the world, I was able to visit a few restaurants, enjoy the city all lit up, and, before leaving on the last day, walked to the site of President John F. Kennedy's assassination. 

 

(These people almost got hit trying to get their photos of the spot. Crazy!)

 

Oh, I also witnessed a marriage proposal! That has to go on a sweet list.

(It also went on my 61 by 61 list!)

 

 

We couldn't drive home from Dallas without stopping in Waco at the Silos and enjoying lunch at the Magnolia Table. 

 

 

I also took a road trip to Abilene with my daughter to attend an awards dinner for my son-in-law. It was so much fun having that time with her in the car, just talking and listening to music.

He ended up with three of the top awards. I took lots of photos, but if you've been reading my blog for long, you know that TG is very private, so you'll never see them here. 

I can share this photo from the trip, though.  My cousin lives near Abilene and, despite very little notice from me, stopped by for a too-quick visit at my hotel.

I was so happy to see her and grateful she made time to see me!

 

 

Back to awards, though... I was truly surprised that my team, the Shallue Property Group  ended up the #3 Team in our market center in our first year!

I can share these photos, too.

 

 

There were also challenging times over the past couple of months.

I am really, really missing seeing and hugging my daughter and son and their families.

The Paris trip had shown like a beacon over the past year of long hours and seven-day-work-weeks. It was hard to accept that we had to cancel it. 

But keeping track of these sweet moments in my life reminds me that they outnumber the disappointments by far. They help me remember to be joyful and hopeful as we move forward into this new world of face masks, social distancing, and hand sanitizer.  As always, I recommend that you keep track, too, if you aren't already.

Blessings to each and every one of you.  May you and your families be healthy and well.

 

 

"Do not abandon yourself to despair. We are Easter people and Alleluia is our song." — St. John Paul ll

On Peace, and a decade of surprises

 

"There will be peace in the valley..."

 

Almost every morning I run up a small hill near our home to take in this view of the Texas Hill Country. The last couple of days of 2019, I was greeted with this image of golden light, crisp blue skies, and mist forming over Lake Travis. In my mind I could hear Elvis singing "There will be peace in the valley..." 

That's not surprising, since over the past few weeks the word Peace has been catching my attention more and more. I'm not sure if it's because of our country's current political rhetoric or because the last few months - no, the whole past year - has just been more hectic and demanding than I could ever have imagined, but it's clear Peace is going to be my word for 2020.

I will aim for the inner peace that comes with knowing I am doing my absolute best each day, even if I don't accomplish everything I hoped to accomplish or if others don't appreciate or understand all that I'm doing.

I will strive to be a peacemaker, to help others... friends, clients, colleagues... find resolution, perspective, and common ground in conflict. I won't run away from conflict (how could I be at peace with myself if I did that?) but will look for constructive ways to handle it.  

I will pray for peace in our world, for more wisdom and education and tolerance and LOVE, and less pride, ego, selfishness, and greed. 

I hope you will join me. 

 

We look forward to the time when the Power of Love will replace the Love of Power. Then will our world know the blessings of peace.

~William Ewart Gladstone

 

Speaking of 2020, doesn't that number just seem surreal? How did it get here so fast? I realized on this past Christmas Day that I had no memory of last Christmas Day, except for the Facebook memory that popped up. That's another reason I feel Peace is a good focus word for me this year, to help me be still, process, and (hopefully) remember more of these precious moments.  

That being said, last year was an awesome year for my business. I helped more families than ever with their real estate needs, even doubling the number of listings I sold. We paid off our credit card debt (I won't tell you how much, but if you knew, your jaw would drop and you'd be impressed), plus we have money saved for expenses we know are coming. For example, both my computer and my car recently celebrated their 10th birthdays. I have emotional ties with each which I really need to sever and move on from. Wish me luck!

In 2010, my focus was on being a writer. We had two kids in college and one recently graduated. We were empty-nesters, enjoying the freedom that brings. Every weekend we were celebrating someone's 50th birthday, going dancing, listening to music. 

It was a lot of fun, but it actually makes me tired thinking about it. 

We lost my father-in-law in 2012. Shortly afterward, my own parent's health began declining rapidly. I was constantly driving back and forth from Austin to Houston for my parents' doctor's appointments.

2013 was truly a year of highest highs and lowest lows.  My oldest got married in April of that year. Shortly after that, I realized that neither writing or photography would provide the extra income we needed at the time, so I finally took my sister-in-law's advice and started completely over at the age of 54 with a career in real estate. 

Just as I began my classes, my parents' lives changed: Daddy had a stroke, Mama fell, and they both ended up in the hospital, then a nursing home, where Daddy died a couple of months later.

Just before we said goodbye to 2013, I moved my mom to a nursing home near me. Weekly trips to Houston to check on her were replaced with daily visits. Just part of my normal routine until she passed in 2016.

In a way it was a time of mourning, watching her steadily decline no matter how hard I fussed and fought, but I am so grateful for that time I had with her. 

When both of your parents are gone, it is such a lost, scary feeling. You realize you are an orphan, no matter how old you are. You aren't someone's child, you're just a grown up, the matriarch or patriarch of a family. Your own mortality stares you in the face and, if you're lucky, you come to terms with it and decide to make the best of the time you have left, which brings me to the highlights of the past 10 years. These are just skimming the surface... 

As I've mentioned, my oldest got married. (see The Most Beautiful Wedding Ever) 

 

 

My real estate business skyrocketed after Mama passed. I know she had something to do with it. Thanks, Mama. 

My two youngest graduated from college and both got jobs right away...in Austin. Still close to me!

I spent a week in Italy with dear friends I've known since high school. And we're planning a trip together to Paris this year. 

 

I became a grandmother... or BiBi, as I now prefer to be called. 

 

 

My daughter met and married the love of her life.

 

 

In 2010 I never imagined how challenging my life would get within a few short years, calling on every ounce of faith in my heart. I wouldn't have believed you if you told me I would be running my own real estate business in 2020, and I honestly don't think I would be as successful as I am now if I hadn't been faced with those earlier challenges.

It's never too late to learn and grow, to start over and change, when necessary.

"Never give up, never surrender."

~ Galaxy Quest

As we move forward into 2020... into the inevitable highs and lows... the peaks and the valleys... I wish all of you joy and gratitude in the peaks, and peace and faith in the valleys. Happy New Year!

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."

~ John 14:27

 

 

 

 

On Joy ... plus a smattering of sweet!s

 

 

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds” (James 1:2).

 

A few months ago, in a process I can't really describe, Joy stepped up to be my word for 2019. 

When pulling out my Christmas decorations, seeing it written on so many ornaments, I realized it had been trying to get my attention for a long time,  waiting for me to truly understand it.

Now, I'm not talking about joy that is used interchangeably with happiness.  The joy I speak of isn't dependent on circumstances or events. It's certainly there in happy times, but also in sorrowful ones, too.  

This joy is happiness, all grown up. Wiser. More resilient. It's the friend or spouse who knows all of your quirks and bad points, but loves you anyway. You know they will always be there when you need them, lending their wisdom and strength. 

I've heard that JOY is an acronym for "Jesus, Others, You", and that makes sense to me. To feel joy, I think it's necessary to cultivate your spiritual side, to reach out and help others, but also to take care of yourself. 

Joy helps us overcome fear and anxiety with the knowledge that everything will be okay. It is a gift that hold hands with faith, and brings peace along with it. Circumstances change... today's happiness will inevitably fade, perhaps even end in tears. But possessing joy is knowing today's blue skies and sunshine may disappear behind storm clouds, but the sunshine is still there, bright as ever, and will return. Stormy days just help us appreciate the sunny ones, and remind us we're not going to melt in the rain.

But joy finds beauty even in gray skies.  It's where we find those silver linings.  

Today was a gray day. But finishing up my prayers on our back deck after this morning's walk with Belle, I spotted a robin perched on a bare limb about 20 feet away. He remained there quite a while, perfectly still, staring straight ahead, as if lost in thought. Maybe he was finishing up his prayers, too. Then he chirped an 'amen' and flew off. 

That was just one sweet! for the morning. Another was the sound of the rushing creek below us. Our ponds are full and overflowing, thanks to all of the rain we've had this year. I'm grateful recent rains have been spread out, not falling all at once and causing floods. 

Here are a few others from the first couple of weeks of 2019...

My sister had surgery on a herniated disc this morning and she can already tell a difference in her hands. 

Belle's 8th birthday!

 

 

Long visits with older clients who don't 'e-sign' documents

A visit with Little C, Josie, and their mama and daddy after two longs weeks since the last visit

 

 

Dinner and viewing houses with a friend who is ready to buy her own home again after several years of personal challenges

The Eiffel Tower in our little town, all lit up (I hate to stop and get a photo)

 

Rain washing much of the cedar pollen away

An inspiring and fun retreat with our priest and members of our church finance and pastoral councils

 

 

Beautiful weather for a one-day trip to Houston with colleagues, and perfect timing to witness the day's glorious sunrise and sunset

Remaining semi-calm when my phone completely died overnight and hours of charging didn't seem to revive it

Trying one last time... and seeing a spark of life in my phone!

A great clinic with other Agent Leadership Councils from all over southeast Texas and finally eating at Peters BBQ in Ellinger (the ribs! yum!) on the return home

A season of gorgeous sunsets and sunrises

 

 

The bright red of a cardinal on a gray day

Enjoying a fun lunch sponsored by builder DR Horton with my accountability group

 

 

Three listings under contract within one week

Toasting the birth of the Shallue Property Group with my teammate, Amanda

 

The sight of ducks flying through the hollow

Celebrating a friend's 60th birthday at one of my favorite restaurants...Ajo in Round Rock

 

 

Pots of Hoppin' John and chili for welcoming 2019 with our nephew, his family, most of our kids

Little C's first visit to our house and our Christmas present from him

 

 

May you be able to focus on Joy and cling to it throughout this new year!

I think Joy sleeps in strange places. We're always looking for her in shiny, happy, fun times, assuming that Joy prefers her twin brother, Pleasure, when she often hangs out with her somewhat stoic big sister, Strength. Joy is not always easy to recognize, dirt-smudged and sweating, brambles in her hair. I want to believe she sometimes wears a ski mask.

~Edmond Manning, King Perry

 

 

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and a bunch of sweet!s

 

 

The sky put on a grand finale sunset outside my window as I started reflecting on this past year.  However, it doesn't take a lot of reflection to know that 2018 will go down in history as one of my favorite years.

It's the year I became a grandmother! 

 

Watching Little C grow month to month has been an absolute joy.

I gave birth myself in 2018, in a sense. I formed a real estate team!  The Shallue Property Group. It's still in its infancy right now... just me and one other agent, Amanda, who is very sharp. Stepping out into this unknown territory was less scary knowing she would be by my side. 

In 2018 I also experienced my first trip to California, met and helped many new clients, and had some great visits and memories made with friends and family. I began my "60 by 60" list and made a lot of progress on it, although I need to become really intentional to hit #60 by my 60th birthday in April.  

Just more to look forward to in this new year!

Before I get too far ahead of myself, there are some sweet!s  since my last post that I want to remember...

 

 My daughter-in-law knows how to celebrate her birthday. She hosts a birthday fiesta every year... 

 

She knows how to throw a great party, while remaining very practical about the realities of parenthood!

 

 We celebrated Thanksgiving in Florida...

 

 

So many sweet! moments in one short week. ... Little C meeting his great-grandma Shallue for the first time ... numerous cribbage battles and games of 3-13 ... Little C 's first trip to the beach and to McGuires (where I had my first taste of shepherd's pie!) ... finding exactly what I needed while exploring  junk and antique shops with my sister-in-law ... and lots of down time, just hanging out and playing with the baby. 

Speaking of babies... my oldest turned 33 in December...

I was already proud of the man he has grown into, but watching him in his role as father just makes my heart soar. 

 

(But seriously ... wasn't this just yesterday?)

 

Babysitting this precious baby boy is a joy I can't explain ... 

 

 

We read good books and have some great conversations!

The real estate business is still hot in the Austin area and I'm grateful for all of my clients. I had several closings since my last post, including the first unit to close in the new 5th & West hi-rise complex.

Closings always land on the sweet! list...

 

Mozart's Christmas Light Show has become an Austin tradition and I finally experienced it. Having my son go with me made it extra sweet! (So did the coffee and the hot chocolate! It was a cold night!)

 

 

My word for 2019 is Joy, so I need to find a headband like my friend Ellie wore to this fun party...

 

 

It finally hit me that my aching back was probably related to my old, worn-out running shoes, so I treated myself to a new pair. I continue to find at least one heart rock almost every day, and I'm so pleased by how many of my friends are spotting hearts everywhere now, too, and sharing them with me ...

 

 

Little C celebrated Christmas in Colorado with his parents and his other grandmother, but we were lucky to have his sister with us. She's around 12, but thanks to special food and medicine, she is so energetic and puppy-like again. She and Belle had a great time running, hunting, and just being good country guard dogs.

Cold mornings like this one where the mist from Lake Travis pools in the hollows of the hills and the light is golden are my favorites. I was grateful she could run up the hill again so we didn't miss it. 

 

 

The passing of one of my favorite high school teachers, who had become a lifelong friend, was bittersweet. I'm grateful I stopped by to visit him last April on a visit to Houston. 

I couldn't go to the service, but a friend who did shared this with me. I think it's worth remembering and sharing...

 

Celebrating a friend's 60th birthday included a chance to catch up with these beautiful friends I've known since high school. I find it odd and wonderful that we are so close now, and seem to grow closer every year, when in high school we barely knew each other. I regret that it took us so long!

 

 

I've made a couple of quick trips to Houston in the past month to spend the night with my sister. It's been fun just watching movies and reminiscing. Her memory is so much better than mine!

Over the Christmas season I watched "Elf" three times!  First while decorating my tree, then on one of the visits with my sister, and again at an Alamo Drafthouse movie party with the rest of our market center's Agent Leadership Council (my first movie party!) 

My accountability group got together one Friday night with glue, scissors, poster board, a stack of magazines, and a couple of bottles of wine to create our 2019 Vision Boards. That's the way to do it! It's the first vision board I've ever completed. Have you ever created one?

I just happened to glance out the window one morning in time to spot a flock of Cedar Waxwings fly in formation into the hollow and settle in our willow trees. Belle and I ventured closer and I snapped photos with my Nikon... but alas, they are still in my camera. But it was the experience that was sweetest... stepping out of my morning routine to stand there in the quiet with Belle, admiring God's handiwork. 

My hours of driving feel much more productive since I discovered Audible. I loved listening to Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich, and its more modern, funny version, You Are a Badass at Making Money, by Jen Sincero.

December brought me one last reminder of my awesome Italy Trip of 2017 with dear high school friends. I'll miss it in 2019! 

 

 

The sun has long set as I finish this. Fireworks boom from the hills around our house, making Belle nervous. I'm sure when Little C gets a little older, Tom will once again put on a fireworks show, but tonight we're happy to stay inside, watching television, reminiscing over the past year, and waiting for the ball to drop so we can call it a night... and a year.

I wish for all of you a blessed 2019, full of love, laughter, and joy. Happy New Year!

 

Lord, as the New Year dawns today,
      Help me to put my faults away.
      Let me be big in little things;
      Grant me the joy which friendship brings;
      Keep me from selfishness and spite,
      Let me be wise to what is right.
A Happy New Year! grant that I
      May cause no tear to any eye.
      When this new year in time shall end,
      Let it be said: "I've played the friend,
      Have lived and loved and labored here
      And made of it a happy year."

~Edgar Guest (1881–1959), "Prayer for the New Year"

Before we go any farther into November...

 

... let's take a step back to October. I need to finish a post I started weeks ago, because October is one of my favorite months, for lots of reasons... 

Although we met in September, it was in October that we knew we were in love. 

 

 

Aren't we cute? Sigh.

That's probably enough reason right there to love October, but there's more!

For one thing, it's usually the month when the first hint of autumn arrives in Texas, bringing cooler temperatures and dryer air, but staying warm enough to give summer a proper farewell, with no hard feelings over so many unmerciful scorching-hot days.  

Colors faded by summer's harsh sun come back to life  - azure skies, yellow and orange dotted treetops, roadsides splashed with purple and yellow. Texas wildflowers love October!

You're also likely to catch at least one totally amazing sunset...

 

 

I won't go into all of the sweet!s I collected in my notebook for October, but here are a few highlights I don't want to forget...

October is the month my Daddy was born. He would have loved seeing his great-grandson baptized on his birthday!

 

 

My middle son was also born in October,and this year he celebrated one of those milestones.

 

 

I might call that a bittersweet, instead of a sweet!, considering this other birthday of his seems like yesterday...

 

 

 I made it back to Houston for the first time in months for a visit with my friend Rae, a reunion dinner with my DuPont co-workers, and a long lunch with my siblings and their families...

 

 

I'm so blessed to have them. 

On my way back to Austin, I discovered I had a flat tire. I had already planned to stop by my son's house (where, coincidentally my grandson lives) so I aired it up and headed  his way. Then, while I played with little C, my son replaced the flat tire with the donut, and I was able to maintain my perfect record of never changing a flat tire. Sweet and sweet!

When I decided to become a Realtor, I decided to go with Keller Williams Realty because they have the best training of any real estate company. I really had no idea what a genius Gary Keller was until just the past couple of years.

Suffice it to say, he is ahead of the curve in this crazy business and doing all he can to take care of us as we enter a new industrial revolution. I was lucky enough to be a part of one of the many labs he's holding to introduce us to the new technology he has had developed for us to make sure we are cutting edge.

And then I was lucky enough that an agent friend of mine snapped a photo of Gary during the lab which included my head. Proof that I was there!

 

 

The next best thing to being in Italy, surrounded by some of your dearest friends, is to be constantly reminded by photos on Facebook of your trip a year ago. 

 

 

Every October Keller Williams teams up with the Central Texas Food Bank for a big food drive. I missed it last year because of my high school reunion and trip to Italy, but I was able to help out this year. I love it because it forces me to get out in my widespread neighborhood, knocking on doors, asking for help, and meeting new people while making a big contribution. 

 

 

Last year my reunion and trip to Italy also made me miss our church Oktoberfest (our huge fundraiser) so I was happy to attend it this year. We have a new priest who is a great sport: He agreed to wear Lederhosen if enough money was raised. It was!

Meet Father Raj...

 

 

My business is growing... more buyers and sellers and contracts and closings! Yay!... 

 

(new listing in Horseshoe Bay, Texas... tell your friends!)

 

I'm still finding hearts all around me. I hope you are, too!

 

 

From the moment we moved to this small town, Mary Kay has been there for us. It's like a super-power with her... it's not just my family she takes care of! How does she do it?

So I'm grateful I was able to help her celebrate her birthday in October...

 

 

Last minute, I dove into the many dress-up boxes I filled over the years for my kids for a costume to wear to a friend's Halloween party. And I'm so glad I decided to go!! I was amazed at some of the creative things other people wore! I always forget Halloween can be fun for grown ups, too. 

 

 

But of course, it's mostly for kids, including little C ... the cutest owl EVER!  

 

 

Thank you so much for traveling back in time with me. Here's hoping your November is full of sweet!s already, but never forget to...

 

 

October is a hallelujah! reverberating in my body year-round....

~John Nichols (b.1940), The Last Beautiful Days of Autumn

"Is, then, September come so soon?"

 

 

Is, then, September come so soon?
Full time doth summer ne'er abide?
While yet it seems but summer's noon,
We're floating down the autumn tide.

~Eunice E. Comstock, The Atlantic Monthly, October 1873

 

Is it just me, or did Summer just set a new record for "Fastest Season Ever"? 

Temperatures are still climbing to 100 degrees Fahrenheit or more every day here in Austin - very much "summer's noon" -  but past experience tells me it won't be long before I trade my daily uniform of a sleeveless dress and sandals for jeans and boots. 

Business exploded this summer - the real estate market in Austin is still going strong, and I'm grateful! So even though I've kept up with my 'sweet' journal, posting them here has been a time-luxury I just couldn't afford. 

However, in honor of Labor Day, I'm taking a few hours off this evening to indulge myself by sharing a few highlights from my summer "sweet!"s  and provide a "Sixty by Sixty" update.

It will take me 2 or 3 hours to compose this, believe it or not, but it's a chance to look back over photos, re-read pages of my "sweet" journal, choose quotes, and just generally slow down  and ponder life and all that I have to be grateful for... which I'm always reminded is a LOT. 

So, here I go...

I made a considerable dent in my "Sixty by Sixty " list this summer - I'm up to 37 "first time..."s. Over halfway there, and I still have 7 months to go!

I was able to cross off some of the major items, too: I took a yoga class... finally experienced a Harlem Globetrotters game ... and rode the Metro train downtown to attend the Keller Williams Mega Camp convention. 

 

 

I ate at several good Austin restaurants for the first time, heard John Maxwell speak in person (he's funny!), and perhaps most memorable of all, experienced little C smiling at me - at ME - for the first time. He's a charmer, as you can see from this photo of him with his daddy (who happens to be my baby, all grown up)...

 

 

We've been blessed with being owned by many awesome dogs over the years, and also with a sweet, aging grandpuppy who came to visit us twice in August!

 

 

Our niece was in town for her cousin's baby shower. We met her and her precious two girls for dinner one night.

We hadn't seen them since the oldest was a baby!

 

 

Tom and I celebrated our 36th wedding anniversary in August.

We were married on a Friday the 13th. The next year, right after our 1st anniversary, we experienced Hurricane Alicia passing over our house in League City, Texas.

Never a dull moment for us!

Since then we've chased dreams, been broke, built our own home, and supported each other financially and emotionally. It's been thirty-six years of laughter, tears, heartaches, and joy... of butting heads and seeing eye-to-eye...of raising our children, watching them grow into actual adults, and now watching our new grandson growing way, way too fast.

Another tiny thread that sews us together. 

 Chains do not hold a marriage together. It is threads, hundreds of tiny threads which sew people together through the years.

~Simone Signoret

 

 

Here are a few more sweet!s since my last update...

Being able to attend the services and support friends as they  mourn the loss of parents

Multiple referrals from friends and past clients

My husband and son's help putting up For Sale signs, and my son helping me with open houses 

Finally watching the movie "Buckaroo Bonzai" (how did I miss this one?)

My cousin having my grandmothers' slides digitally scanned and put on discs

Commission checks

Listening to Napoleon Hill's book "Think and Grow Rich" twice (I wish someone had told me about this one a long time ago!)

Audible, so I can "read" while driving 

Rain

A sky full of stars in a pre-dawn morning

An old friend of Tom's finding us through this blog!

Playing my drums

Helping 5 friends/family members connect with great real estate agents near them

Having to buy more signs and lockboxes because of all my new listings

Two separate 60th birthday parties for friends

Reading the journals I kept for my kids during their childhoods

My daughter making sure I came out to see the full moon just before it sank behind the treetops on the horizon

Knowing my sister has friends close by when she needs extra help

Friends coming to visit via helicopter for a gathering of our Italy group

Being dive-bombed by a hummingbird

The macaroons at Elizabeth Street Cafe

And last but not least...  lots of heart rocks. 

 

 

There shall be eternal summer in the grateful heart.

~Celia Thaxter

 

I'm wishing for you an eternal summer! (Maybe not one quite this hot, though.)

Call me BiBi (Have I mentioned I'm a grandmother?)

 

 

Yes, yes. I know I've already mentioned it, but hey, I'm a grandmother now, so you'll probably hear about it a lot! 

It's hard for me to believe, but my grandson will soon celebrate his 1 month birthday. He is still mostly just eating and sleeping and growing, but it's so amazing to hold him and watch him while he sleeps. I can see him dreaming...  his eyes twitch, his mouth moves, he smiles...

What are you dreaming about, little C?

 

 

To become a grandparent is to enjoy one of the few pleasures in life for which the consequences have already been paid.

~Robert Brault

I don't live close enough to see him everyday, but I'm close enough to be there pretty fast if ever I'm needed. I'm not sure if that will ever happen. My son and daughter-in-law have things under control, but they know we are here if they need us.

Thanks to my job as a Realtor, though, I travel all over the city, so I've been able to swing by at least once a week after showing property, whether they need me or not. 

As I imagined, becoming a grandmother brought me a lot of "firsts" to add to my 60 by 60 list: the first time I heard little C cry... the first time I watched my son change little C's diaper...the first time I held little C... fed little C a bottle... changed little C's diaper myself... 

Yes, a lot of firsts and "sweet!"s come with the birth of a grandbaby.

(Isn't he beautiful?)

 

If your baby is "beautiful and perfect, never cries or fusses, sleeps on schedule and burps on demand, an angel all the time," you’re the grandma.

~Teresa Bloomingdale

 

Life continues apart from grandmothering, though, so here are a few "sweet!"s from the past couple of months (just a handful for the sake of time!) ... 

 

I continue to find heart rocks, and friends continue sending me images of hearts they are finding from clouds and leaves to onions and radishes!

My front porch when it's all swept of leaves, dirt, and dog hair

 

 Hard hat tours of downtown Austin hi-rise condos, like 70 Rainey and 5th & West

 

Amazing views of Lady Bird Lake from 70 Rainey 

 

Hard hats shaped like cowboy hats!

 

Inspiration and chocolate, courtesy of Dove

Driving to Belton to meet an interesting, elderly, "off the cloud" client in person to sign a listing agreement

 

Stopping for lunch afterward at a restaurant on Lake Belton where I ate with my grandmother decades ago

 

A visit from my nephew and his precious kids

Finding valuable podcasts and books on Audible to listen to when driving

Playing my drums 

Spotting a deer, a cotton-tail, and a fox all on one morning walk

 

Helping a friend's son and his wife buy their first home, and having their offer selected over others

Referrals from friends and past clients

Getting a $70K reduction in our county property taxes because of my protest

Stepping out of my comfort zone

 

Friends from high school letting me know when they are in town

Rain, rain, and more rain

Listening to the birds chattering in the trees, excited about the rain

A friend living in Paris sharing photos of a sunset over the Seine River

 

Purple flowers, and other things we tend to take for granted. 

(This is an old photo of prairie verbena, a tough and beautiful flower that continues to bloom despite drought or flood, freezing winters or scorching summers.  It's blooming at the curve of our road right now, but I realized yesterday morning that I hadn't even noticed it until then, even though it's one of my favorites. I just wasn't paying attention. What favorites are you taking for granted right now?)

I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it.... People think pleasing God is all God care about. But any fool living in the world can see it always trying to please us back.

~Alice Walker, The Color Purple, 1982

 

 

 

 

Bluebonnets, Easter Dresses, Essays... and other Texas springtime sweets

 

Spotting my first bluebonnet of the year is always exciting. I know that the drab winter days are giving way to longer, warmer days of spring, wearing wildflowers of every color. 

 

Full disclosure: these photos are from years past. While I've enjoyed the sight of bluebonnets decorating the roadsides this year, I haven't had a chance to stop somewhere safe and snap any photos. 

 

 

But the photo above is new, and so was my dress. When I was growing up, I always looked forward to buying a new outfit for Easter. I haven't outgrown that, apparently. I found that dress over a month ago, but resisted wearing it until Easter Sunday. 

Another Easter sweet... having all of my kids (even Josie, my grandpuppy) at our house for Easter dinner yesterday. It was lusciously chaotic with everyone gathered in, or close to, the kitchen, chopping, mixing, cooking, chatting... 

Sigh. 

But now for a few more sweet!s since I last posted...

 

 

Discovering Lily Trotters. I'm in a midlife writers Facebook group with Lois Alter Mark, who shared a link to an article she had published in Forbes magazine. Boom! Just what I needed! I love it when that happens. 

It happened again just the other night. I turned on the television for a few minutes before getting in bed, just in time to catch poet Rudy Francisco reciting his poem "Complainers". Reciting is really too tame a word for such a powerful poem.

If, like me, you've managed to go the past few years without hearing of him, please click HERE. (But then come back!)

 

 

 A weekend that started with two closings and a new contract, before moving on to a baby shower for my beautiful daughter-in-law and grandbaby; a dear friend driving in from Houston to be there and another dear friend hosting a gathering afterward in her honor; and then finishing with a combination birthday party/belated St. Patrick's Day party for a client - friend's son. (Too pooped for photos by then!)

The Austin bombings finally came to an end. My heart aches for the bomber's family, along with the victims, and wonders how someone can go down that road and hurting others like that. But what a relief and blessing that the authorities were able to track him down. God bless all of them who worked tirelessly to solve the case!

 

Last year a sweet friend gave me some hyacinth bulbs for my birthday. When they stopped blooming, I planted them. To my surprise... despite the odds and my ignorance... two of them bloomed this spring! 

 

Springtime is the season of extremes. The drama and conflict of cold vs. hot equates into some amazing sunsets! My office window faces southwest and I'm so grateful when I look up in time to savor skies like the one above from our back porch. 

 

Shake Russell has been one of my favorite singer/songwriters for about 40 years. It just seems surreal that we've become friends and that he's friends with my friends. The world really isn't that big.

Last month Shake, Michael Hearne, and Mike Roberts were back in Lago Vista for a friend's birthday party. It was a gorgeous day in the Texas Hill Country, with the perfect backdrop of Lake Travis and a horizon of hills. 

 

It's such a joy to live in a place long enough to watch kids grow up, help them buy houses, and witness their marriage. I'm so happy I was able to do that with Hannah, and have enjoyed getting to know Ezekiel. And how cool that two of my past clients were also at the wedding, as well as two current clients. I love helping the people I know and love. 

 

I'm always amazed at the heart-shaped things friends have found. It makes me happy when they think of me and share them. Just recently a friend showed me photos of a heart-shaped potato chip! But as amazing as it was just for my daughter to spot this large crystal geode on the side of our dirt road, to have it be heart-shaped was just a pure blessing. 

 

 

I can finally say I've been to California. 

I've even dipped my toes into the Pacific Ocean, thanks to another agent who rented a car while at our annual Keller Williams Family Reunion in Anaheim. She agreed to play hooky from one of the morning sessions and drive me to Long Beach so I could feel I had actually visited California, not just another convention center. 

We walked out onto a pier, and then, despite the chilly wind and frigid water, I walked barefoot into the Pacific Ocean. Before heading back for the afternoon sessions, we enjoyed a wonderful lunch overlooking the water. 

 

Another friend of mine recently moved to that area to care for her dad. I was so grateful she could get away to see me. I've never been to any of the Disney parks, so she suggested lunch at Downtown Disney, so I could at least get a little taste of it. Perfect!

 

 

Other highlights of the week.. becoming a redhead (temporarily) for the traditional Red Bash and meeting up with Mary Coutu, a high school classmate and longtime Realtor, who now lives in Rhode Island.

I can't wait for next year, when we get to connect in New Orleans!

 

 

While learning from the best of the best, wearing a red wig, and dipping my toes into the Pacific were all fabulous, one of the true highlights of my California adventure didn't even happen in California, but on the short plane hop between Austin and Houston. 

I was fortunate enough to sit next to Fernando Salmeron, a writer who (I found out by being nosy) was on his way to Peru to promote his book at a book festival there. In the one to two hours between Austin and Houston, we talked nonstop, about writing, time management, and life. His book is loosely based on his life. It's a story about overcoming challenges and staying positive. A theme I really like. 

(I just wish I read Spanish so I could read it! If you can read Spanish, go HERE to order it. And then tell me about it.) 

During the conversation, I mentioned I'd had some essays published. He earnestly encouraged me to keep writing, and asked if I'd read Montaigne. (No.) So he said he'd send me a collection of them, since Montaigne was the father of essays. 

And guess what?  He did. 

He sent the book AND he encouraged me to not give up on my writing. 

You just never know where your next friend is going to turn up. All I know is, it pays to say hi to the person in the seat beside you. 

 

In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.

~Albert Schweitzer

 

P. S. Next week is my 59th birthday. I've decided to created a 60 by 60 list of things to do in the next year. I'll post it next week... or at least what I've come up with so far.  I'm hoping to knock some of them out this weekend!

If you have suggestions, please send them on! Low budget, of course. 

P.S.S. I hope your spring has been filled with sweet! moments, too. If you can't think of any right now, concentrate and think of one (you're alive and breathing and apparently have your eyesight!) and I guarantee you'll think of more and more and more.  Please share them in the comments!

2018: Intent on being Intentional

For the past few years, I've chosen a word to be my mascot for the year. Sort of a theme song and coach, all rolled into one word with a motivational definition that will inspire me all year (fingers crossed!) 

Last year it was "Believe".  The year before it was "Love", and the year before that, "Embrace". This year my word is "Intentional"... but I imagine my title already gave that away, didn't it?

It's a word that I've heard a lot the past few years, but for some reason it has really been calling out to me the last few weeks, which made it an easy choice. In fact, it was already in place on New Year's Day, but I've struggled with this blog post, so haven't published it until now.

Obviously, deciding to be intentional and actually being intentional are two different things, which is why it's a great word for me this year. I need some clarity, focus, and (gentle) shoving in just about all the areas of my life. 

 

 

 

A few weeks ago I attended a day-long retreat with some other agents on our office leadership council. The focus was primarily on creating our business plans for 2018. Part of that included looking back at the previous year's business plan and reflecting on how close we came to our goals, and what we need to change or do differently in the coming year to have a successful business.

I saw a lot of room for improvement. And the word  "Intentional" kept jumping out at me, intent on getting my attention. 

 

“If you’re going to grow, you have to be intentional.”

—Curt Kampmeier

 

To do something intentionally means to do it with purpose. It requires focus, specific goals, and systems to help meet those goals. There needs to be accountability, and time for review and reflection.

It's great to dream big, but what good is a dream if you don't have a path to reach it? How do you know you're making progress toward that dream? How do you know when you've arrived?

 

 

Last year I spelled out my daily, weekly, and monthly tasks... but I didn't prioritize or time block adequately.  Consequently, I didn't meet all of my goals. This year I'm going to simplify those tasks, figuring out which ones will have the biggest impact, and then I'll block time for them on my calendar - and protect those time blocks. I'll review them each week and make adjustments, as needed. 

But I plan to be intentional in more than just my business...

 

Do not be dismayed by the brokenness of the world. All things break. And all things can be mended. Not with time, as they say, but with intention. So go. Love intentionally, extravagantly, unconditionally. The broken world waits in darkness for the light that is you.

~ L.R. Knost

 

"Intentional" first jumped out at me from that quote, which goes way beyond work and career. I want to be more intentional, more extravagant, more unconditional in all areas of my life... my relationships, my health, my spirituality... even my blogging, writing, and photography, because all of those are a part of me, too. I feel God put them into my path for a reason.

But...

 

 

 

The fact is, whether I like it or not, I only have 24 hours in a day. I realize I'm not going to be able to do everything I want to do every day. But by being intentional, and with God's help figuring out my true priorities, figuring out what I should say 'no' to (something that is really tough for me!), I plan to at least do everything I need to do in 24 hours to reach my goals, whether it's in business or love or friendship. 

Do you have a word for the year? If you do, let me know what it is and why you chose it. 

 

December Sweets on a Christmas Eve...

 

 

It's Christmas Eve. I spent most of the afternoon baking cookies and making fudge. It was my first attempt at baking gluten-free, and I have to admit, my Cyclops Cookies turned out as fabulous as ever. God bless who ever developed the 1-to-1 gluten-free flour! 

I finished up just in time to make it to the 5 pm Children's Mass. Even though my own kids are way past the Christmas Pageant age, I enjoy seeing all of the little ones dressed up as shepherds and angels, and hearing their whispered questions to their parents as Santa Claus makes his way up the center aisle carrying a present for the baby Jesus. 

Images of my own kids dressed as shepherds and angels flashed through my mind. I think I have a couple of dark, blurry photos of them in one of my zillion albums. Where did the time go?

But never mind wondering where the years went... tonight I'm wondering where December went! 

Earlier this month, my oldest turned 32. I'm suffering from self-inflicted mom-guilt for not writing a blog post in honor of it, as I did here and here and .... well, essentially every year since I started writing this blog. 

My Sunshine Boy was my first about him, I believe. 

He was traveling on his birthday this year, as has become the custom. In 2015 he and his wife were bungee-jumping in New Zealand. Last year, they were exploring Cuba. This year he turned 32 in London and traveled to Paris the next day.

They hired a photographer to meet them at the Eiffel Tower for a photo shoot one day, with a specific purpose in mind: 

 

 

Yes, that's right! This time next year, my son will be the father of a 6-month-old! In other words.... I'm going to be a grandmother!

They told me the night I landed after my Italy trip, making up some reason why they needed me to come by their house on my way home from the HOUSTON airport. It added an extra 30 minutes to my 3 hour night drive home after not sleeping for more than 24 hours, but hey, I'm a mom and wanted to see them anyway, so of course I went. And I was rewarded!

But I was also sworn to secrecy until they made the announcement themselves. And that's my excuse for not writing his birthday blog post until now. How could I, without blurting out the secret? 

The idea of being a grandmother overwhelms me. I only hope I can live up to the awesome grandmother-role-models that have gone before me, including my own mom. I have no doubt my son and his wife will be amazing parents, so I'll be able to spoil and indulge to my heart's content. But honestly, it's like thinking ahead to being a parent for the first time. I have no idea what's ahead of me, but I'm really looking forward to it anyway! 

There have been quite a few other sweets this month... gorgeous sunrises, heart rocks, new clients, fun parties... and today my friend Byron sent us this image he received from our hostess in Italy of "our" villa all decked out for Christmas. 

 

 

That window on the top left was my room. Sigh. 

Anyway, other December sweets included being chosen for our Keller Williams market center's Agent Leadership Council again, a week of morning walks with our grandpuppy Josie while her mama and daddy were traveling...

 

...and welcoming Remi, our Roomba, into the family. 

The puppies weren't quite sure of her at first...

 

 

We also had real snow this month! TG built this snowman in the dark while I held a flashlight...

 

I made it back to Austin's amazing Trail of Lights...

 

And some clients in Georgetown gave me a jar of honey from their backyard hive. Yum!

 

I can't forget one of the most important sweets of the month - Christmas. Celebrating the birth of Jesus. Of God becoming human in order to save us from our sins. Nothing else compares to that... even becoming a mother or grandmother. 

May all of you have a beautiful day tomorrow, filled with joy and peace and love, whether you're celebrating Christmas or not. I get to be with all of my kids, and will be able to let you know if the gluten-free flour works as well on fried chicken tenders as it does in cookies. I have a special family-favorite recipe I'll be trying out tomorrow. Wish me luck! 

And Merry Christmas!

 

 

May you have the gladness of Christmas which is hope;
The spirit of Christmas which is peace;
The heart of Christmas which is love.

~Ada V. Hendricks

 

I give thanks for you...

 

When I was young, Thanksgiving was my least favorite holiday. There usually weren't any cousins my age to play with and the older ones didn't like me tagging along; I didn't care for most of the food (I didn't even like pie!); and after eating, everyone just sat around watching football, so I couldn't even watch television. 

Now I think back to those gatherings and wish I could have just another few minutes with all of those beloved people who have now passed on... my aunts, uncles, cousins, grandmother, and of course, my mom and dad... and let them know how grateful I am for those memories of love and laughter.  

As I grew older, my fondness for the holiday also grew. I learned to love pie and cornbread dressing, for one thing. But it was more than that. I learned to appreciate the time spent with my parents and siblings, to slow down, share stories. Eventually it was my own children sitting at the "kids" table with their cousins.  

Even after we moved to Austin, we usually traveled to my parents' home for Thanksgiving. I can still picture Mama in the kitchen checking the turkey, Daddy in his recliner in the back room watching football, and the rest of us either sitting near Daddy or drinking coffee at the kitchen table, offering our help to Mama, which she never accepted. 

But of course, with time comes change. With Daddy's passing, routine went by the wayside. Each year I've enjoyed my Thanksgiving dinner in a different place. It's not like it used to be, but that doesn't mean it's bad. My son hosted it one year for his wife's large extended family and included us. Last year Tom and I traveled alone to Florida to spend it with his mom and some of his brothers.

This year he went again, but I couldn't afford the time away. Instead, TG and I joined my son and his wife at her uncle's house. Her grandmother was there - the matriarch - along with aunts and uncles and kids of all ages. I believe there were 28 of us altogether, eating, laughing, sharing stories ... a definite flashback to those first Thanksgivings.

I've realized that no matter where I am on Thanksgiving, all of those I love are with me, because I am so grateful for each of them. Time passes and things change, but some things create such a deep impression on your heart that they are eternal. 

I hope no matter where you were today, or who you were with, you felt the presence of all of those you hold dear... all of those who love or have loved you ... gathered around, giving thanks for you as you gave thanks for them. 

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

 

"I thank my God every time I remember you." 

Philippians 1:3

 

 

Lesson #86 (Still teaching me! Happy birthday, Mama!)

A tiny box in the upper righthand corner of my computer reminds me that today is my mom's 86th birthday. (As if I could forget!)

However, my heart reminds me that she is so much more than those earthly years. She is free from their bonds. I feel her love around me all the time, see her in my face and my actions at times, and still hear her voice... sometimes soothing me or giving me advice ... sometimes teasing me and a tad sarcastic ... but always, always full of love. 

  

On Mama's 77th birthday, I listed the things she had taught me, and then added to it every year. After her death, I expected Lesson #84 to be the last one. It turns out she is still teaching me, so the list continues. 

When my friend Byron first mentioned a bunch of us traveling to Italy to spend a week with him and his wife after our high school reunion, I balked. First, there was the issue of time away from my business. It's not just a matter of not being around for my clients, but a good portion of my day is spent trying to find new clients to help keep my business alive ...because of issue #2: finances. We still have some debt to pay off and a house to finish!

There were just so many other things calling out for the money I would spend on a trip to Italy. 

 But... my mama's lessons came to mind, particularly #41, #58, #70, and #84.

I decided to #30 and just go for it.

 

 

The thing is (Mama's favorite phrase), she and Daddy traveled a lot after we were grown up. They drove the west coast from California to Washington, went on a cruise around the Hawaiian Islands, and visited Canada. They went to Disneyworld, Las Vegas, New York City and a bunch of other cities I don't even remember.

 

 

But Mama always dreamed of going to Switzerland and she never made it there. I'm not sure what kept them from going - probably finances or health concerns - but by NOT going, she gave me Lesson #86: Don't wait for things to be perfect to travel. Just GO!

Thank you, Mama! You were right, once again! It was a fabulous, once-in-a-lifetime trip that I will treasure forever. 

 

 

Thank you for all the lessons you gave me, whether intentional or not. You taught more by example than words... just another clue to what a wise woman I was blessed to have as my mother. 

 

 

Without further ado, here's the complete list with links to her previous birthday posts....

Things Mama has taught me...

1. it's never too late to learn something new
2. if you have a choice between laughter and tears, choose laughter.
3. don't let anyone mess with your babies!
4. only give advice when asked for it (I'm still working on that one)
5. pray every day
6. pray some more
7. reading a good book might not solve your problems, but it's a nice escape from them
8. bend but never break
9. some people are just takers
10. be nice whenever possible, but sometimes nice doesn't cut it
11. take care of family
12. we're all individuals - let your kids blossom into themselves, not "mini-me's"
13. be there
14. Johnny Weismuller is the best movie Tarzan
15. don't be in a rush to be older than you are - you're only going to be this age once in your life
16. if you like something, and you'll use it, and you can afford it, then buy it, or you'll regret it later
17. quality over quantity
18. never think "can't"
19. people will stand in line for a dead skunk if it's free
20. roll with the punches
21. have fun
22. laugh often
23. believe in yourself
24. don't let others change who you are
25. be honest
26. don't steal
27. forgive yourself
28. God loves me
29. don't judge
30. just do it!
31. inside matters more than outside
32. don't use God's name in vain
33. you can learn anything if you put your mind to it
34. you're never too old to dance
35. it's okay to ask for help
36. show appreciation and express gratitude
37. use my manners
38. consider the source
39. an office or position of authority should be respected, but the individual in that position has to earn your respect
40. sleep is good
41. take advantage of opportunities
42. keep your eyes open and your wits about you
43. people aren't always nice
44. things can't make you happy
45. use your imagination
46. just get started and the rest will be easy
47. don't be intimidated by anyone - we're all the same, all human, we all have strengths and weaknesses
48. you can love someone even if you don't like them
49. forgive but don't forget
50. learn from others' mistakes
51. there are times for being patient, and time for putting your foot down
52. speak up
53. stand up for what you believe in
54. admit your mistakes and expect others to do the same
55. persistance pays off
56. let your kids be kids
57. love unconditionally
58. take lots of pictures
59. kids grow up fast
60. your kids need a mother, not another friend
61. pets are family
62. help others
63. a sense of humor is essential for sanity and survival
64. if you look close enough, you can find something to love about everyone
65. coffee is good anytime
66. messes can be cleaned up
67. prayer works
68. God is strong all the time - let him carry you
69. if you say you're going to do something, do it
70. be nice to yourself in case no one else is
71. you have to show respect to get respect
72. girls are tough
73. don't put up with temper tantrums - yours or someone else's
74. listen to your body - doctors don't know everything
75. don't say everything you're thinking
76. asking questions is the best way to learn something
77. your babies are always your babies (and their babies are your babies, too!)
78. God is. 
79. Just listen. 
80. people are more important than things
    
81. there is a time to help others, and a time to let others help you
82. God has his reasons, and He will give you whatever strength you need for the road ahead...and never leave you to walk it alone.
83. smile and show appreciation to those who are willing to help you - they may have it tougher than you in many ways
84. Appreciate every second you're given, because life is beautiful.
85. Treasure the people in your life; take advantage of every chance you have to be with them, or to help them, even on days you don't like them.
86. Don't wait for things to be perfect to travel. Just GO!

   

"All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother." ~Abraham Lincoln

Love you, Mama. Happy birthday, and God bless you!  

35 years!... and other sweet!s

 

 

"I love being married. It's so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life."

~Rita Rudner

 

If you haven't guessed, it's been 35 years since that Friday the 13th when Tom and I said "I do" to a lifetime together. It's actually tomorrow, but what's a day when you're talking about 35 years, right? 

As I said in last year's anniversary post, they "have passed in a blur of laughter, tears, frustration, relief, adventure, illness, challenge, excitement, celebration, perseverance, love, forgiveness, and blessings too numerous to count." 

Chains do not hold a marriage together. It is threads, hundreds of tiny threads which sew people together through the years.

~Simone Signoret

 

Nothing really compares to that, but I have collected other sweet!s over the past few weeks...

 

Remembering and celebrating the anniversaries of my clients' closings, and that there are more and more to celebrate!

Meeting a neighbor at the local grocery store because she wants to buy some of my church raffle tickets, and having her sell two more to a friend of mine who walked in, because the St. Vincent de Paul Society once helped her during a time of need. She knows the proceeds really are going to a great cause. 

Making it to the grand opening of another friend's business.  She retired from the tech industry and started a sign business!

 

Facebook, where I can wish my sister a happy birthday and post a bunch of photos of us together over the years when I can't be with her in person.

Also cell phones and free long distance, so I can also call her. (Remember the days when you had to pay for every minute you talked on the phone or just send a card? I did that, too, of course. I found the perfect one months ago and actually remembered to mail it in time for her birthday!)

Stopping on my way home one day to visit with a friend's dad who is also a past client... a New Jersey transplant-turned- proud-Texan. 

 

Continuing to find hearts in nature, like this rock on my caliche road...

 

...and this heart carved into a larger rock I noticed on one of my morning walks.

 

A friend thinking of me when she spotted this book, and then sending it to me, along with a large donation to pass on to the Prayer Shawl ministry at my church, in appreciation of the prayer shawl they sent her when her mom passed away. 

My kids making it home safe and sound from their trip to Florida to visit their grandma. 

Their grandma calling me to say how awesome they are and how much she enjoyed their visit, even though Tommy skunked her at cribbage. 

 

Lizards, especially when they stay still long enough to take their picture. 

Soft morning light on the trees lining the creek after several days of rain. 

Tom's cousin in Miami thinking of buying a house near Austin!

 

Helping a friend's daughter, who you've watched grow up, become a homeowner. It is an amazing feeling being a part of the journey and I'm so grateful to be able to do this for a living!

Spending a day helping a friend find a place for her son to live when he is discharged from the hospital after a diagnosis of Stage 4 colon cancer. Please say a prayer for them. 

Lunch with my oldest before they headed off to Florida, and being able to discuss different marketing and motivational ideas with him. 

Being able to drive to Houston to be there for a friend as she says goodbye to her dad. 

Seeing another friend there who recently suffered a heart attack and almost didn't make it to the hospital in time. 

Having dinner with my sister and brother-in-law before heading back home. 

 

Watching Belle in a stand-off with a deer. So fierce!

Finally remembering to get the oil changed in my car.

Making a last-minute decision to go see Don Felder (Eagles), Styx, and REO Speedwagon in concert with a friend on a Monday night!

A dear, talented friend and her husband spending their Sunday afternoon helping you re-cover your dining room chairs. 

 

Glorious sunrises over the hills.

Rescuing a Daddy-Long-Legs from my bathtub. 

Candles, when we experienced a power outage in our neighborhood. The power company getting it fixed before the house got too hot. How the smell of candles burning can transport me back to my 7th grade bedroom. (I had a LOT of candles back then.)

Sitting on my front porch, after I've swept it. 

 

Belle getting better about letting me take her photo!

Playing my drums for the first time in ages. I'm worse than ever, but it's still as much fun!

Teaming up with another agent to support each other as we pursue our broker's licenses. 

Having so many classes available, on everything from pricing properties to hiring an assistant. 

 

And last, but not least... these gorgeous purple/pink flowers I noticed growing in a curve of our dirt road.

I almost didn't see them because I didn't expect to see them.  There usually aren't any flowers blooming by this time of the summer, except for the small yellow and white ones, and occasional rain lilies, and I've never I've never seen any like these before, anyway. I haven't spotted them blooming anywhere else. 

I'm so glad I remembered to open my eyes.

"Flowers don't worry about how they're going to bloom. They just open up and turn toward the light and that makes them beautiful."

~Jim Carrey

I hope you have a great collection of sweet!s from the past few weeks, too, and that it continues to grow!

 

Believe

Here we are, more than halfway through January already, and I still haven't taken down my Christmas tree, much less shared with you my word for 2017.

Tonight, I decided sharing my word was more important than taking down the tree. That can wait until tomorrow. Or heck, next week.

(I'd leave it up all year, but then I would have to dust it.) 

Anyway, back to my word for 2017. Here it is...

 

 

It's one that has been growing in me over the past few challenging years.

When we're faced with disappointment and heartache, we have a choice. We can either stay positive and believe everything will eventually work out for the best, or we can crumble under the pressure, cowering in a dark hole of fear and dread, believing everything will turn out for the worst.  

That's no way to live. At least no way I want to live. 

More and more I believe what Oprah Winfrey said...  

"What you focus on expands, and when you focus on the goodness in your life, you create more of it. Opportunities, relationships, even money flowed my way when I learned to be grateful no matter what happened in my life."

It's not just about surviving with a smile. It's about allowing ourselves to dream big, to be deaf to self-doubt and limiting thoughts others feel obligated to share with us. 

I'm getting better at weeding out those negative thoughts before they have a chance to root and expand, and to seek out the blessings in each day even when they aren't obvious.

But I give God credit for helping me.. .

"Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."~ Mark 11:24

I do believe in God. I haven't always, and I know all the arguments that prove God doesn't exist. But inside, I still believe.

“Faith is the substance [assurance] of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” ~Hebrews 11:1

When I started a new career at 54 (not just a new career, but my own business), it was daunting. I was also dealing with the illness and subsequent death of my father, and the care of my mother, along with the other issues that often arise in families. 

But it was up to me whether I succeeded or failed. It was up to me if I got a paycheck. I could have failed and blamed my circumstances, but honestly, that wasn't an option. We desperately needed the money. I had to succeed.

Therefore, I had to believe in myself, and my ability to succeed, no matter what else was happening in my life. My family and my clients depended on me. 

It helped that I believed it was the path God wanted me to take. 

“If we start without confidence, we have already lost half the battle and we bury our talents.” ~ Pope Francis

Of course, it hasn't been easy. It didn't happen overnight. But I kept believing, and this past year, as I learned to let go and just trust that God was in control, I could see how things fit into place. Prayers were answered in ways I couldn't have imagined three years ago. I see that dreams I once thought were out of reach are becoming part of my reality.

"I believe that there is an explanation for everything, so, yes, I believe in miracles." ~Robert Brault 

I hope when you're faced with the obstacles that are sure to come in this life, you choose to stay positive, to believe everything happens for a reason, even if you don't see it right away. 

 "Some things have to be believed to be seen." ~Ralph Hodgson

And in case you didn't get enough pithy quotes in this post already, here are a few more...

"There is no chance, no destiny, no fate that can circumvent, hinder, or control the firm resolve of a determined soul." ~Ella Wheeler Wilcox

"In the end you regret less the things you believed that weren't true than the things that never came true because you didn't believe." ~Robert Brault

And perhaps my favorite...

"If the sun and moon should doubt,
They'd immediately go out."
~William Blake

So. Just. Believe. Good.

 

 

 

I had no idea...

I had no idea, when I decided to lug the recycling up to the bin tonight, that a full moon was waiting for me at the top of our winding path. It peeked at me from between the trees, but then BOO! there it was, resting just above the silhouetted hill in front of our house, shining bold and bright and casting shadows of trees across the dirt road. 

What a sweet surprise. I had no need for a flashlight -the moon cast a soft glow across my path. An echo of daylight.

I paused and embraced that moment...

...The moon, and its frame of wispy clouds.  The sprinkling of stars. The slight chill of a Texas autumn. Far off, I heard a car making its way through the hills. A dog barked.

Mostly, it was quiet and peaceful, and I let it just wash over me. 

I gave thanks. 

This can be a crazy time of year. And it can be a sad time of year, even while it's joyous.

It's like a rainbow. Or maybe a braid. 

Peace is often the weakest color. The weakest strand. 

We demand a lot of ourselves and our families. For instance, I was not going to let this Christmas go by without putting up my tree and decorations. But between me and that goal sat my mom's chest of drawers and my grandmother's cedar chest in the middle of my living room (not where furniture belongs), plus a bunch of boxes full of my mom's photo albums and of my own books still longing for a place on a shelf. 

I had one Saturday to find a place for the furniture , and then weed through all of my books, deciding who stays and who goes. so I had a spot for the tree.

And I did it. I admit I still have 3 or 4 boxes full of children's books stashed away until I have grandkids, but I filled several more boxes of books that will go to other homes. 

It was another week before I had time to actually decorate my house and tree. So I gave the task four hours (or, three favorite Christmas movies, however you want to put it), then had the kids put away all of the boxes, even though only about 2/3 of the decorations made it out.

But it was done. 

 

 

I'm trying to keep sight of what the season is all about than just be busy with the signs of the season.

For me, it's the season of Advent, which I've already written about HERE, and preparing for the coming of Christ.

Like other religions, that also means spending more time with family and friends, and showing your appreciation to them. It also means spending more time in reflection and prayer. 

But life, and work, continue, making the same demands as always.

Something's got to give.

We no longer do mandatory gift-giving, but I do still plan to send out cards, even though I send way more than I receive.

I just love the tradition. It makes me sit and think of each person on my list, to reminisce and give thanks they are still in my life. Even if it's just to send a Christmas card once a year. I've been sending my own since I was in 9th grade.

Actually, I had planned to work on cards this evening.... until I saw the moon.

Which made me say thanks, and made me think of other blessings in my life lately.

So, without further ado, here are some recent sweets...

 

Having all my kids together, and finally properly celebrating my 31st anniversary of becoming a mother. And, of course, my son's birthday. 

(Weird, wonderful coincidence: Two girls who graduated with my son gave birth to their firstborns on my son's birthday - so we share the anniversary! Isn't that amazing?)

 

An afternoon of food, friendship, and wine! We had been trying to schedule a day to meet at Flat Creek Estate Winery for about a year to take advantage of a raffle-prize group wine tasting, and finally managed it this past Sunday.

Of course, it was perfect timing, right in the middle of the holiday stress, to just sit and relax with friends you've known for ages, who know your ups and downs and are always cheering for you. 

...especially when you've just become a grandma like the beautiful un-grandmotherly-looking woman on the right, whose beautiful granddaughter was born on my son's birthday. 

 

The beauty of autumn leaves.

Each morning I run/walk with Belle down our dirt road, reciting the Rosary. I never quite finish, so I take a couple of laps around my house.

One day I noticed these leaves lying on our porch swing. I mean, I finally saw them lying there, and realized how beautiful they were. 

Sometimes we get too caught up in our habits - even good ones - to really pay attention, don't we?

 

Another morning I was jogging down the road and noticed a splash of red in the cedar trees.

Out of pure curiosity, I continued running past our house to see what it was. 

And I was glad I did. (Thank you, God!)

Yes, the beauty of autumn leaves. 

 

Being accepted as a member of the next Agent Leadership Council of our market center was a huge honor. You have to be in the top 20% of production - which I didn't even realize I had reached - plus go through an interview process.

And I made it!

Keller Williams is different in that agents help make big decisions in the operation of the office. We won't get paid for our time. It's just a way of giving back and trying to help make us even better.

We started with an all-day retreat last week... which started with breakfast tacos from Taco Donut Palace. (Remember, we're in Austin!)

 

One morning, after way, way too many gray, drizzly days, the clouds disappeared and we were given the most beautiful, crisp, clear sunrise.

That moment when the sun kisses my hollow is always so amazing, like a painter bringing his work to life, and especially after you've been starved for color. This photo doesn't do it justice, but I hope it gives you a hint. 

Definitely another "thank you" moment. 

 

 

Belle has a new friend. 

Our neighbor's cat, Willow, has started hanging around our place quite a bit. 

It made me nervous at first because Belle has a gung-ho hunting spirit, and I was afraid she would hurt (kill) Willow, without meaning to. 

But Willow is pretty savvy. She has not only survived, but seems to have the upper hand in the friendship most of the time.

Honestly, I know she's just here because of the mice and the bird feeder - and the slim hope of making it indoors. 

But seeing them together, especially during this political season that seems to never end, brings me hope that we can all focus on our common goals and interests. I know we have them. 

We don't have to give up our individual beliefs, but we can show respect for each other's. Fear is taking on way too much power in this country these days.

And that's what will be our downfall. Not our differences, but Fear.  

Don't let Fear guide you. Focus on hope, love, and peace. They are just as powerful.

I wish you all a wonderful holiday season, full of love, hope, and peace. If you're missing loved ones, as I am, focus on the people you still have in your lives, on giving and sharing. I do believe it helps keep sadness from clouding the sweets all around us.

 

May you have the gladness of Christmas which is hope;
The spirit of Christmas which is peace;
The heart of Christmas which is love.
~Ada V. Hendricks

 

Where Do I Begin?

My dear, dear blog,

I have had so many good intentions of writing to you over the past few weeks, but alas, they got lost in the dust stirred up by time racing by. And now here it is, the first of December, and all I've written you since August are two little birthday posts. 

Enough is enough. It's time to catch you up on all that's been happening around here....so many things worthy of their own blog post - in my opinion, at least - but a condensed version will have to suffice.

First of all, you may remember that last year at this time my eldest was in New Zealand, celebrating his 30th birthday.

Well, guess where he is tonight? Cuba! He'll be celebrating his 31st birthday there in a couple of days, traveling to some of the smaller towns, meeting the locals, and soaking it all up. 

For him and his adventurous wife, it was a pretty spur-of-the-moment trip, although they've gotten really good at researching and planning their vacations.

For example, they explored Iceland in August via a camper van. I hadn't even gotten around to telling you about that! 

That is just not like me. 

I'm so grateful for their photos, Facebook, and their adventurous spirits. 

 

*************

Tom and I took a road trip to Florida to celebrate Thanksgiving with his mom. Although I call her a couple of times a month, somehow a year and a half had passed without me seeing her in person. Tom traveled there for her birthday in May, but I just couldn't get away. (My business exploded after my mom passed away. I think she stirred things up. Thank you, Mama!)

My mother-in-law is an amazing lady, so sharp and energetic, with such a positive outlook on life. I'm determined to help her celebrate her next birthday in May. 

On this trip there was a lot of card-playing, television-watching, and sleeping. In other words, it was a true vacation! Plus, my sweet sister- and brother-in-law took me to my favorite antique/thrift store where you can still find bargains. 

And then they hosted Thanksgiving, with another brother- and sister-in-law driving up from central Florida who I hadn't seen since Pop's funeral in 2012. 

Overall it was an awesome trip. No beach...nothing exciting or fancy....but absolutely wonderful. 

The week flew by for me - and then I had to fly home. By May I plan to have systems in place that allow me to stay the whole time. 

 

**********************

On our way to Florida, we stopped in Houston to help one of our oldest friends celebrate his 60th birthday. Bob was in the Coast Guard with Tom, and except for Tom's roommate David (who was also at the party), Bob and his wife Lisa were the first of Tom's friends I met.

They always hosted the best New Year's Eve parties, which included silly interactive games which ensured everyone got to know each other fast... sometimes pretty intimately. 

(No, not that intimately. Totally innocent. Just sort of embarrassing, in a junior high kind of way.)

Anyway, we played them again at Bob's birthday party. It's a great way to peel away 30+ years!

No photos of the games, though, just us and our dear friends...

 

There are no friends like old friends, right? I'm very grateful for these!

 

**********************

My daughter-in-law turned 29 a few weeks ago. For her 30th birthday next year, they are already planning a trip to Italy, so she has been taking Italian lessons, and to celebrate her birthday, we joined her at an awesome Italian restaurant in Austin, Vespaio. 

Afterwards, we went to Cedar Street Courtyard and enjoyed a Spazmatics concert. It had nothing to do with Italy, but it was a lot of fun and worth staying up late on a Wednesday night!

 

*********************

 

This is a terrible photo of a photo from my 16th birthday. That's my grandmother on my right, my sister on my left, and my brother-in-law Boyce behind me. 

I was 10 when my sister went on a blind date with Boyce. Five years later they were married, and they stayed that way for a very long time. He was absolutely the funniest person I've every met, very loyal, smart, helpful... but a very complicated person. 

He loved to embarrass me, but was one of my most ardent cheerleaders, too, keeping me humble and building me up at the same time. He was one of my best friends. 

Boyce and my sister were second parents to me when my parents divorced, giving me valuable guidance, financial advice, and stability. 

But he was also bi-polar (we later realized) and it got worse as he got older. They eventually divorced, but remained friends, and he always remained my big brother, a dear friend, and one of the funniest people I've ever known. My parents adored him. 

So it broke my heart when he passed away several weeks ago after almost a year of severe illness. 

May you rest in peace, Boyce. I love you, and thank you for being such an awesome big brother. 

 

************************

If you're a fan of the HGTV show Fixer-Upper, then you are familiar with Magnolia Market.

I finally got to visit it in person!

******************

 

I always love helping my clients, whether buyers or sellers, realize their real estate goal or dream. But I recently had the joy of helping my son's best friend and his wife (who is also one of my son's long time friends I've watched grow up) move back to Austin from Washington D.C. and buy their first home - a really cool modern home in east Austin. 

They were so much fun to work with - they had thought it out thoroughly and knew their priorities. There was one house they kept coming back to... and they got it. I'm so grateful they let me help them in their adventure. And I'm so happy they are back in Austin!

 

I had a little adventure of my own on the way to their closing... a flat on a major highway!

I made the mistake of pulling off on the left shoulder, but fortunately an awesome Austin policeman came to my rescue. With his car, he blocked traffic on the highway so I could get across to the exit, then blocked traffic on the feeder so I could pull into an Academy parking lot. Then he proceeded to change my tire until the highway assistance truck arrived and took over. 

His name is Office Wally and he's my hero. 

 

I still made it to the closing, though, because my awesome son met me at the tire store, gave me his car, and waited there while mine was repaired. Later, he met us for brunch to celebrate the closing and we traded back.

What might have been a horrible day turned out to be wonderful, thanks to Officer Wally and Tommy. 

 

******************************

 

 

 

For something like 15 years, I've been retreating to the beach in Port Aransas each fall with friends. I've truly lost count of the number of years.

A few of the faces have remained the same, but every year there are some changes. 

This year was extra special because one of the ladies - who happens to be the daughter of one of the originals, but who has been joining us since she turned 21 ten years ago when we picked her up at the Corpus Christi airport and now she essentially keeps the whole thing organized... um, where was I?

Oh, yes, Lauren is expecting her first baby, so we gave her a surprise baby shower. 

That was definitely a first. 

A lot of us also went out dancing one night and witnessed some fights (and subsequently knew it was time to leave) so it all balanced out and was yet another memorable weekend that will blur together with all of the others into a blissful montage that I remember distinctly but can't keep straight from year to year. 

 

******************

And that's it for now. Those are just the highlights of the past couple of months. In between these big blessings are so many small ones that are easily overlooked, and I feel guilty for not sharing those.

But I do hope you have been keeping an eye open for them. To me, they are the most powerful... the quiet reminders of hope and God's love. 

Until next time... whenever that may be. 

Love,

Barbara

 

"Let a joy keep you. Reach out your hands and take it when it runs by"

~Carl Sandburg

 

Lesson #85 (Happy Birthday in Heaven, Mama!)

 


When I asked my mom what she wanted for her birthday last year, she thought for a minute, then said "More time." 

I had a feeling it would be the last birthday we celebrated with her on earth; I think she knew it would be. And who knows... maybe she got her birthday wish. Maybe we were blessed with more time with her, and she with us, than was originally scheduled.

Even so, it doesn't feel like enough.

 

 

This morning, when I was wishing I could celebrate her birthday with her again, with Tom and the kids and my siblings and cousin Pat, it hit me that she now had more family gathered around to sing "Happy Birthday" to her in heaven than she does here on earth. 

She has Daddy, her mom and dad, all of her siblings, all of her in-laws, most of her cousins, many of her best friends, nieces, and nephews, and my father-in-law. She also has my older brother, Buster, my sister-in-law Haila, and my ex-brother-in-law, Boyce, who just passed away a few weeks ago.

(Boyce always sent the best birthday cards, anyway - I'm saving all of them I come across. I bet he has her giggling today.)

It was a wonderful image in my mind, of all of them gathered around her, and despite the ache in my heart from missing her, I smiled. 

 

 

After going through Mama and Daddy's things over the past few months, especially letters and cards from friends and family, I've learned something that goes beyond Lesson #84 ("Appreciate every second you're given, because life is beautiful.") 

We need to take advantage of every chance to spend time with family and friends, and be sure they know they can count on us if they need us. 

Because, like most of us, Mama was often irritated with one person or another. She could give Daddy the silent treatment for days if he stepped out of line... a talent I truly envy. I just can't stay mad long enough to get a point across.  

Yet, you never had to doubt her devotion or love, and I really doubt if anyone except Daddy (or her children) ever knew she was irritated at them. If you needed anything, she was there in a heartbeat.  

In fact, reading through all of the cards, flipping back through memories, you could say she was the heartbeat of the family. Everyone depended on her, and she was always there for them. 

 

 

It's a lesson that she's been teaching me my entire lifetime, but it has truly been driven home for me in the last four years, after losing so many people who are precious to me in such a short time... my father-in-law, my dad, my mom, a childhood friend, and my ex-brother-in-law (who was essentially another brother.)

Life is just too short, period. Spend time with your friends and family when you get the chance, even if you're tired and don't really feel like it. Give them a call and let them know you care. Let them know you're there if they need you.

That's really all we're here for, anyway. 

"...and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: "Love your neighbor as yourself". No other commandment is greater than these. "

Mama, thank you for all the lessons you gave me, whether intentional or not. You taught more by example than words... just another clue to what a wise woman I was blessed to have as my mother. 

 

 

On her 77th birthday, I listed the things she had taught me, and I've added to it every year. So without further ado, here's the list...

Things Mama has taught me...

1. it's never too late to learn something new
2. if you have a choice between laughter and tears, choose laughter.
3. don't let anyone mess with your babies!
4. only give advice when asked for it (I'm still working on that one)
5. pray every day
6. pray some more
7. reading a good book might not solve your problems, but it's a nice escape from them
8. bend but never break
9. some people are just takers
10. be nice whenever possible, but sometimes nice doesn't cut it
11. take care of family
12. we're all individuals - let your kids blossom into themselves, not "mini-me's"
13. be there
14. Johnny Weismuller is the best movie Tarzan
15. don't be in a rush to be older than you are - you're only going to be this age once in your life
16. if you like something, and you'll use it, and you can afford it, then buy it, or you'll regret it later
17. quality over quantity
18. never think "can't"
19. people will stand in line for a dead skunk if it's free
20. roll with the punches
21. have fun
22. laugh often
23. believe in yourself
24. don't let others change who you are
25. be honest
26. don't steal
27. forgive yourself
28. God loves me
29. don't judge
30. just do it!
31. inside matters more than outside
32. don't use God's name in vain
33. you can learn anything if you put your mind to it
34. you're never too old to dance
35. it's okay to ask for help
36. show appreciation and express gratitude
37. use my manners
38. consider the source
39. an office or position of authority should be respected, but the individual in that position has to earn your respect
40. sleep is good
41. take advantage of opportunities
42. keep your eyes open and your wits about you
43. people aren't always nice
44. things can't make you happy
45. use your imagination
46. just get started and the rest will be easy
47. don't be intimidated by anyone - we're all the same, all human, we all have strengths and weaknesses
48. you can love someone even if you don't like them
49. forgive but don't forget
50. learn from others' mistakes
51. there are times for being patient, and time for putting your foot down
52. speak up
53. stand up for what you believe in
54. admit your mistakes and expect others to do the same
55. persistance pays off
56. let your kids be kids
57. love unconditionally
58. take lots of pictures
59. kids grow up fast
60. your kids need a mother, not another friend
61. pets are family
62. help others
63. a sense of humor is essential for sanity and survival
64. if you look close enough, you can find something to love about everyone
65. coffee is good anytime
66. messes can be cleaned up
67. prayer works
68. God is strong all the time - let him carry you
69. if you say you're going to do something, do it
70. be nice to yourself in case no one else is
71. you have to show respect to get respect
72. girls are tough
73. don't put up with temper tantrums - yours or someone else's
74. listen to your body - doctors don't know everything
75. don't say everything you're thinking
76. asking questions is the best way to learn something
77. your babies are always your babies (and their babies are your babies, too!)
78. God is. 
79. Just listen. 
80. people are more important than things
    
81. there is a time to help others, and a time to let others help you
82. God has his reasons, and He will give you whatever strength you need for the road ahead...and never leave you to walk it alone.
83. smile and show appreciation to those who are willing to help you - they may have it tougher than you in many ways
84. Appreciate every second you're given, because life is beautiful.
85. Treasure the people in your life; take advantage of every chance you have to be with them, or to help them, even on days you don't like them.

    "At the end of the day, a loving family should find everything forgivable."

~Mark V. Olsen and Will Sheffer, Big Love, "Easter"

 

"All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother." ~Abraham Lincoln

Love you, Mama. Happy birthday, and God bless you!  

Memories, and other sweet!s

 

"...remember someone said that God gave us memory so that we might have roses in December...."

~J.M. Barrie, "Courage" (The Rectorial Address Delivered at St. Andrews University, 1922 May 3rd)

 

There are some days when the not-so-sweet! seems to overshadow the sweet! Yesterday was one of those days.

First, I heard of the passing of a high school classmate from a form of brain cancer. I didn't know her well in high school, but at our last reunion I had the chance to visit with her. She was an opera singer and graciously agreed to sing for a few of us at an after-reunion gathering.

Her voice was simply amazing; I can't help but think God called her home to sing with his angels. 

I don't count her death as a sweet!, of course, but the chance to finally connect with her decades beyond high school, her impromptu performance, and the magic of her voice, will remain sweet memories.

Rest in peace, Melinda, and let your voice join those of the angels...

 

 

Later in the day, I got word that one of my favorite human-beings had also passed away unexpectedly. Bill was my cousin's husband, but Sheryl is one of the oldest cousins and I am the youngest, so he had been a part of my life for as long as I could remember. His daughters are just a few years younger than I am. 

He was a hardworking, gentle giant, devoted to family and friends, especially his wife, daughters, and their families, who are truly heartbroken now, especially since Sheryl's father recently passed away, as well. 

From all accounts Bill was a reluctant Texan, always hoping to return to his beloved Colorado, but providing for his family was top priority.

I'm glad he stayed put in Texas, so that he was a frequent part of my life, but I like to think God made sure Bill's heaven looks a lot like the Rocky Mountains, like in this old photo I found in my grandmother's slides of him, Sheryl, and their firstborn. 

May you rest in peace, Bill...

 

 

An easy thing, O power divine, to thank Thee for these gifts of Thine,

For summer's sunshine, winter's snow, for hearts that kindle, thoughts that glow;

But when shall I attain to this - to thank Thee for the things I miss?

~ Thomas Wentworth Higginson

 

In every day there are going to be dark clouds that distract you from the sweet!s left in your path as a gift. Don't forget to keep your eyes open for them... and remember to say thank you!

Here are some I jotted in my journal or captured in a photo since my last post...

Hummingbirds buzzing close and hovering; feeling rested even though you woke up at 3 a.m. and couldn't go back to sleep; reconnecting with old friends on Facebook

Gorgeous, cooler summer days, after weeks of rain and/or double digit temperatures; news that someone dear to you is improved enough to move from ICU into a regular room, and that there's still hope his cancer can be beaten; Facebook reminding you of sweet mornings spent on your back deck with three of your favorite guys, who you truly miss ...

 

 

A "catch-up" email from a friend; a call from a potential buyer for one of your listings; torrential rain holding off until after your morning walk with your puppy.

A long visit with a friend after church; yummy breakfast burritos sold by the Knights of Columbus to raise money for the victims of the floods in Louisiana; a referral from a friend; rain holding off while you get to and from the grocery store; finally getting to play and snuggle with your foster-grandpuppies before they are adopted; babies who will soon be baptized being introduced to the parish

 

 

Making progress on sorting through the boxes from your parents' home that are piled in the middle of your living room, without getting emotionally overwhelmed; a referral for an out-of-town buyer from an agent/friend; dinner with friends at Stubbs Barbecue; enjoying Finite Fidelity's performance at Stubbs afterward, featuring your friend's son on the drums

 

 

 

Following through on promises; a good check-up at the dentist; memories of experiencing Hurricane Alicia in League City with your husband shortly after celebrating your first anniversary, and being grateful you suffered very little damage; a blossom finally appearing on one of your crape myrtles, thanks to all of the rain

 

 

Your friends home safe from their adventure to Rio de Janeiro to watch the Olympics; finally being able to walk your puppy after three solid days of rain; great customer service at ATT when your iPhone decides to shatter on its millionth drop; getting a listing lead from another customer while you're there

 

 

Making plans for your annual girls' weekend at the coast; your church holding a clothing drive for the Louisiana flood victims; viewing several gorgeous homes with a buyer-client, including one that made you feel you had somehow stepped through the door into Italy

 

 

Whataburger, for the first time in months; watching "Community" with your son from the beginning; finding a card your best friend sent to your parents when your grandmother passed away twenty years ago; stepping out of a meeting just in time to see this sunset...

 

 

And last but not least, the things your grandmother kept in her purse...

 

 

I hope you are always able to spot the sweet!s in your path, and that your good memories never fade...

Parades, Freedom, and other sweet!s...

 

 

"I been one poor correspondent, and I been too, too hard to find, but it doesn't mean you ain't been on my mind."

~ America, "Sister Golden Hair"

Despite good intentions, I don't blog as much as I'd like anymore, or have time to visit those of my favorite bloggers. But I'm hanging on to those intentions and plan to just drop in as frequently as I can for now, grateful that my business is keeping me so... well, busy.  That's a pretty major sweet!

I do make time to collect my sweet!s in an old black journal every day before they drift right out of my head. Obviously they are much lighter than worries, wrongs, and perceived bad luck, because those tend to stick around in my memory on their own and weigh me down unless I switch my perspective by focusing on the blessings and sweet surprises of the day. 

Since this is the 4th of July weekend, my thoughts are turned toward my wonderful country, the United States of America, because it's her birthday! There are plenty of things to worry about regarding her, but in all honesty, there has never been a truly 'easy' time for everyone here. It's a continual give-and-take when you're trying to protect everyone's freedom. One person's freedom usually steps on someone else's. 

But we're still going strong. I believe so, anyway. We've survived a lot. I'm grateful we celebrate with parades and festivals that bring us together... all the different sizes, shapes, and flavors of us ... and with fireworks that remind us that the birth of this country wasn't an easy one. 

 

 

My small town started the 4th of July celebration early: our parade was yesterday morning, followed by a festival and fireworks over the lake last night. I skipped the festival, but did enjoy the parade from the sidelines and the fireworks from a friend's backyard that has an amazing view of Lake Travis. 

I wish I had a photo for you, but imagine sparkling, shimmering fireworks against a backdrop of low-lying hills and distant eruptions from other firework displays from surrounding communities. 

The lake itself glittered gem-like from all of the boats anchored there to watch the show. From the park below, strains of "The Star-Spangled Banner" drifted up to us, and after the grand finale, cheers and applause echoed from the darkness around us. 

Yes, I'm still proud to be an American. I know I'm not the only one.

 

 

And now for some other sweet!s from the... WHAT?? It's been three months since my last real "sweet!" post?

Holy cow. Where does the time go?

Well, I won't bore you by listing all of them, but here are a few highlights - quite a few - working backward through June, May, and April ...

 

Your grown kids hanging out and having fun together.

Working as a team with other agents, lenders, and the title company to make it to closing on a challenging transaction. 

Following through on promises you make to yourself.

A little hummingbird buzzing up close to you while you say your prayers on your back deck. 

Being able to help blog friends with their real estate needs.

Morning walks with your puppy.

Remembering that your joy and happiness come from God, and are independent of other people, circumstances, or events.

Phone calls with your mother-in-law... sister-in-law... sister ... dear friends...

Your kids helping you with little projects around the house that have been bugging you. 

Your clients' offers being accepted in multiple-offer situations. 

Seeing and hearing James Taylor in person for the first time.

A full Lake Travis.

Spending a day with a longtime friend, helping him find a home in Austin.

Finally getting to see your brother's new home and have a long visit with him and his family. Your brother's smile.

 A gender-reveal party, where everyone found out at the same time that a friend's daughter will be having a daughter of her own.

 Helping organize a successful parish picnic.

Finally experiencing Blanco's Lavender Festival... and Lavender beer!

Playing your drums when you realize you have the house all to yourself

A longtime friend sending you two jars of homemade fig preserves

A cookout with friends at a park on the lake, like you used to do all the time when your kids were little

Spotting a fawn nursing in the yard of a house you're showing to a buyer

A visit from your brother-in-law and his family

Watching your nieces and nephews play Bubble Soccer at a festival near the lake

Dinner with friends you haven't seen in months

Hanging on to voice mails from your mom so you can still listen to her voice when she's gone

Your husband's successful gall bladder surgery

Having an article published in TexasHillCountry.com

Your Keller Williams Market Center choosing your mom's nursing home as their RED Day focus, and planting a pink rosebush beside a bench at the entrance in your mom's honor

 

All of your kids with you on Mother's Day

A friend singing "Lily of the Valley" after Mass on Mother's Day, in honor of your mom

Tulips from your sister on Mother's Day

Overwhelming love and support from friends and family when you lose your mom

Memories of many Sunday church services shared with your mom at her nursing home; the volunteers who provide them

Friends helping you celebrate your birthday at "Painting with a Twist"

Being able to tell your mom "thank you" on your birthday - and remembering to do so.

Watching the sunset over Lake Travis on your birthday 

 

I hope the past three months held plenty of sweet! moments for you, too, and the next three bring even more. Share some in the comments!

"Hem your blessings with thankfulness so they don't unravel."  

~Author Unknown

 

 

Promises Kept... a sweet catch-up

A few days ago, I traded my phone for an umbrella when I took Belle for our morning run/walk down our dirt road. And that's why I don't have a photo of  the most beautiful rainbow ... a perfect arch above the horizon, and below it, a summer-blue sky that winked at me from behind stormy gray clouds, and then finally, a river of cream-colored clouds that flowed just above the treetops.

I had to just stop and soak it all up for a few minutes, that perfect reminder of promises kept. Belle understood. She's very patient with me. 

The storms that brought much-needed rain finally moved on and that blue sky has ruled every since. As grateful as I was for the rain, I was relieved when it ended. I get tired of umbrellas, wet shoes, and windshield wipers. 

But still, the rain is definitely on my sweet! list for the past (gulp) month and a half, and by scrolling back through time on Facebook, I remembered a few others...

My new camera strap arrived, and Tom attached it to my old camera. It was my Christmas gift from my son and his wife, but was backordered. So it was like celebrating Christmas twice!

(Yes, that's tape on the card slot. Hey, it works!)

 

The Pedernales River is full! This is the view from one of my lot listings. Know anyone who wouldn't mind looking at this every day?

 

Bluebonnets!

 

The woods are splashed with redbud blossoms, and my crape myrtles are budding. Maybe this year they will actually flower! 

 

I took advantage of a few minutes alone in the house and played my drums for the first time in ages. 

 

Reese's peanut butter eggs have hit the shelves. A curse and a blessing!

 

Before going to Sunday Mass, I've been attending Baptist services with Mama and TG .

It was TG's idea, which is doubly sweet! because neither of them are morning people, but they are doing it for each other. And what a blessing that members of the nearby Baptist church come in to provide the services for the residents. We literally wheel my mom into the room next to hers!

I'm actually enjoying spending my entire morning in church. I confess I didn't think I would!

 

On a completely different note, I also enjoyed getting to view the Bongo house for a client, and picturing in my mind that infamous episode in Austin's history...

 

When my friend Rachel told me Stoney LaRue was playing in Cedar Park, just down the road, I made an exception to my rule about staying up late during the week to go hear him with her.  It was worth it!

 

I took a road trip with my daughter to San Antonio one weekend, via Highway 281, which meanders through small towns and the hill country with very little traffic, so it was truly a sweet! in itself.

But I went for TG's boyfriend's graduation from his TACP school, which is such a huge accomplishment, such a physical and mental challenge, and I'm glad I could congratulate and thank him personally. 

 

Plus, being in San Antonio that weekend meant I could help a dear friend celebrate her 50th birthday party in 70's & 80's style. We danced until almost 2 am. Whew! (An extra sweet! - finding just the right dress to wear in TG's closet at the last minute!)

 

The next day TG's boyfriend introduced me to the King William district of San Antonio, full of great architecture and eclectic restaurants. I kept my camera clicking. 

That's macaroni and cheese and cole slaw you see peeking out of the BBQ sandwich below. It was awesome! 

 

Would you  believe we lucked upon a puppy birthday party? A massive pitbull sporting a birthday hat is a definite SWEET!

 

My cousin posted parts of old family videos on Facebook. Seeing myself in action at 6 years old... seeing my young mom hugging my oldest brother, and so many other family members who have passed was truly a sweet!, even though it brought me to tears. 

 

I spent a gorgeous afternoon with friends in Spicewood on Lake Travis, exploring their neighborhood in a golf cart, taking photos of  it and their  golf course lot I have listed for sale.  Just spending time with them was sweet!

 

I won a bottle of Dom Perignon at a new home REALTOR event at Travisso. That was sweet! but the occasion that warrants popping the cork will have to be really sweet!

 

I battled two mornings of the worst Austin traffic to get to the all-day classes, but I earned my CNE designation - Certified Negotiation Expert. 

Watch out world!

 

Friends graciously open their home every year for a Super Bowl party. I don't pay much attention to the game, but do enjoy getting a chance to catch up them and other friends. 

This year, it was extra sweet! because of this sunset on a full Lake Travis. That cove where docks are now floating again had been dry for at least 4 years.

 

And last but not least, by pure luck I happened to catch this group of bicyclists coming down our dirt road hill.  It's probably the last time I'll see it, too, although they fared better than I thought they would!

 

I'm grateful for my phone camera that helps me capture so many sweet!s of each day, which means a higher likelihood of remembering them, but there are some simpler ones that do slip away...

... like an unseen cardinal whistling at you, or the glimpse of a strange wild bird running on the dirt road in front of you, as I witnessed yesterday afternoon. 

So I started keeping a Sweet! Journal this week, with the intent to list them all day long. They may not all make it here to Long Hollow, but at least I'll have them recorded somewhere to remind me on those days I forget how blessed I am.  I hope you have a way to remember your blessings, as well.

 

We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.

~Thornton Wilder

 

Sunset and a smattering of sweets

 

 

This evening I did something I haven't done in a long, long time.... I sat in my rocking chair on my back deck and watched the sun set. 

It wasn't a dramatic sunset, like the one in this photo.  Just a deepening blue sky with a few wispy pink clouds dancing above the treetops. But my phone camera couldn't do it justice, so you get this one again.

The creek sang to me from the bottom of the hollow, and as dusk fell, frogs joined the chorus from the direction of the big pond. 

Belle lay beside me, a little confused. When it grew dark, and cooler, she moved behind me, between my chair and the house, probably attracted to the stone, still warm from the afternoon sun. 

It may still be February, but it has been a perfect spring day ... sunset ... evening. I felt the least I could do when given such a gift was to halt my busy-ness for a time and just be still in it. 

 

(Another sunset that wasn't from today)

I've had good intentions of publishing a post. However, the more time that goes by, the tougher it gets... like unplugging a clogged drain. There's just so much I want to write about, but challenged by time, the list grows so long that I end up writing nothing.

So I'm not going to play catch-up from the past month or so in this post.  I just wanted to share my sunset with you, and this smattering of sweet!s from the end of January that have been waiting patiently since I left them here two weeks ago...

 

Your Christmas decorations finally put away before the end of January

 

Surprising your cousin with a gift like she gave your mom

 

Ducks taking up residence on the pond next door

 

Discovering a heron on your pond

 

Bicyclists on your dirt road

 

Your mom's smile

 

"I thank you God for this most amazing day, for the leaping greenly spirits of trees, and for the blue dream of sky and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes."

~e.e. cummings

2016... all you need is Love!

 

Each year I have a guiding word. A mascot. Last year it was "Embrace".

It's hard to describe how a guiding word comes to be. It's a connection... sort of a message of what I need to focus on in the coming year. This year I tried on a few that might seem a little cliche:  "Peace" was a huge contender, especially with all of the terrorist acts lately, as well as "Believe" and "Joy".

 

 

But "Love" kept nudging in, popping up in the form of hearts in odd places ... reminding me that without love, the others don't matter. Love is the greatest medicine, the only cure for what truly kills us, and the energy that triggers the rest of those good words. 

Love

1If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.3And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.…

1 Corinthians 13:2

 

So Love it is. I hope no matter what I do in 2016, I do it with love and am guided by love.

 

 

It's only fitting that soon after I made my decision, past clients-turned-friends stopped by with a gift... a cross handcrafted from reclaimed wood from an old house, adorned with a quote about God's Love.

I love my job.

 

 

I wish all of you a blessed 2016, filled with love and guided by love.

Happy New Year!

 

Love... it surrounds every being and extends slowly to embrace all that shall be.

~ Khalil Gibran

All I wanted for Christmas...

 

The last few days have been a wonderful blur of unfamiliar activity for me... hours away from my computer and phone, spent mostly in my kitchen, measuring flour and sugar, warming up ovens, with timers beeping, beeping, beeping, and dishes piling up in the sink.

I spent one day making cookies and fudge, another day getting casseroles and a huge turkey ready for the oven, and then finally yesterday, cooking and serving it all in celebration of Christ's birthday. 

I'm exhausted, but in a good way. All I wanted for Christmas was to spend time with all three of my kids at once, and I got my wish, along with the bonus of my sweet daughter-in-law, her dad and stepmom, and TG's BF. Having Tom here was even a bonus because he thought he was going to have to work. 

We sat at the table eating and talking for hours. Then the kids and I paid my mom a visit. A few gifts were exchanged, but they weren't the focus. What will live on in my heart and memory are the smiles, the laughs, and the stories, with love being the connecting thread running through it all. The best kind of Christmas gift. 

 

May you have the gladness of Christmas which is hope;
The spirit of Christmas which is peace;
The heart of Christmas which is love.
~Ada V. Hendricks

 

Peace Begins with a Smile

 

 

 

I think it's time, don't you?

Somewhere I read that everything we do, every simple action or word, sends an energy into the world, either positive or negative, ultimately contributing to either war or peace.

We can point fingers and lay blame, but to some degree each one of us carries that responsibility and power.

I believe Thomas Merton wrote it in "The Seven Storey Mountain ", although I haven't been able to find it again. But no matter who wrote it, it stuck with me...the image of our complaints, our smiles, our angry outbursts, our words of thanks or apology drifting away from us and taking sides in a cosmic dance of good and evil. 

When my kids were little, I advised them to use a simple test for their words and actions - is it "nice" or "necessary"? If neither, don't say it or do it.

 

In light of the recent violent events in Paris and California and, well, almost everywhere in the world ... especially in the increasing intensity and frequency of those events ... I'm going to take my own advice and refocus my efforts to contribute to the 'good' side more than the bad, especially when I'm driving in traffic, which I think is my biggest challenge!

I hope you join me!

 

"Let us not use bombs and guns to overcome the world. Let us use love and compassion. Peace begins with a smile. Smile five times a day at someone you don't really want to smile at at all. Do it for peace. Let us radiate the peace of God and so light His light and extinguish in the world and in the hearts of all men all hatred and love for power. Smile at one another. It is not always easy. Sometimes I find it hard to smile at my Sister, but then I pray.

God loves the world through you and me. Are we that love and that compassion?"

~Mother Theresa, "In the Heart of the World: Thoughts, Stories, and Prayers "

 

Forgiveness in an Unforgiving World

 

It’s the hardest thing to give away
And the last thing on your mind today
It always goes to those that don’t deserve

It’s the opposite of how you feel
When the pain they caused is just too real
It takes everything you have just to say the word…

Forgiveness
Forgiveness

~from "Forgiveness" by Matthew West

 

Can you imagine getting the news that your college-student son had been shot to death? For me, I believe it would be an all-consuming fire of heartbreak at the loss and anger at the action. 

In 1995 Azim Khamisa, an international investment banker in San Diego at the time, did receive that news: his only son was killed by an aspiring teenage gang member.

Azim surely felt heartache and anger, but he reacted in a way that shocked everyone - he forgave the killer, reached out to the killer's family, and even befriended the killer's grandfather. Despite his pain, he recognized the killer's family must be feeling pain and loss, as well.

After all, can you imagine getting the news that your teenage grandson had shot and killed someone?

Together Azim and the grandfather worked to bring something positive from their joint tragedy, launching an organization that teaches nonviolence in middle schools.  

When writer Megan Feldman Bettencourt heard about Azim from a friend who attended one of his speaking engagements, she wanted to learn more. Why did he forgive? How did he forgive? 

Like many, she tended to equate forgiveness with weakness. With a little research, she discovered that multiple studies have shown forgiveness can not only improve physical and emotional well-being, but may even be a survival skill developed through evolution.

And that was the seed for a journey that ultimately became a book: Triumph of the Heart: Forgiveness in an Unforgiving World. 

In the book Megan shares her own struggles with forgiveness which most of us can identify with, such as the hurt caused by bad relationships or the verbal abuse of a bully. That kind of pain doesn't compare to what Azim felt, but it can often seem impossible to forgive even the simplest affronts like these, can't it? There were times in the book when I felt too much space was given to her past relationship, but the reason for it became clear by the end. 

Megan traveled throughout the United States and even to Rwanda to try to get answers to some questions she had about forgiveness. For example, was forgiveness self-sacrificial and altruistic? Was it possible after extreme offenses, such as genocide? Was it natural? Did it provide health benefits? How important are apologies and redemption? Is it a one-time thing or a habit? Can communities and nations practice forgiveness?

She shares the stories of the people she meets along the way, from Azim to recovered addicts to couples trying to heal their marriages. But the most amazing stories to me are those from Rwanda, especially the one of Father Ubald, a priest whose entire family was killed and who barely escaped Rwanda alive himself following the conflict between the Hutus and the Tutsis. 

Father Ubald is actually helping to raise the children of the man who killed his mother, even paying for one daughter to attend medical school, while the killer is in prison.  His story is on page 206. You really need to read it. 

His is just one of many amazing stories in that country, though. He runs a program that helps other victims forgive, including the son of a victim who ultimately made his father's killer the godfather of one of his children. If they can forgive the atrocities committed against them to this extent, what excuse do I have to hold on to bitterness and anger?

While spirituality plays a part in forgiveness for many people, this isn't a spiritual book. It's an exploration about the benefits of forgiveness, both physical and social, and about the process. It's rarely, if ever, a one-time thing, but something that needs to be practiced, as Megan says, "like being optimistic or mindful or patient." It can ebb and flow, from day to day. 

Megan investigated and describes to us many of the forgiveness programs in place around the United States and in Rwanda to help the process. 

It's a shame I hadn't heard of any of them until I read this book, and I hope that changes. I believe forgiveness is not only the key to personal peace, health, and happiness, but also the key to peace everywhere. And that's why I feel this book is full of hope.

 

As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom,

I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind,

I'd still be in prison.

~ Nelson Mandela

 

 

Disclosure: I was given a copy of this book to review, but the opinions are my own. The link up above is to Amazon and, as an Amazon Associate, I do receive a few pennies if you order the book there. But no matter where you order it, I encourage you to get this book, read it, and share it. I believe its message is important and potentially life-saving.  Thank you, Megan!

And here are the rest of the lyrics to the Matthew West song "Forgiveness", just because they fit so well...

 

It’s the hardest thing to give away
And the last thing on your mind today
It always goes to those that don’t deserve

It’s the opposite of how you feel
When the pain they caused is just too real
It takes everything you have just to say the word…

Forgiveness
Forgiveness

It flies in the face of all your pride
It moves away the mad inside
It’s always anger’s own worst enemy
Even when the jury and the judge
Say you gotta right to hold a grudge
It’s the whisper in your ear saying ‘Set It Free’

Forgiveness, Forgiveness
Forgiveness, Forgiveness

Show me how to love the unlovable
Show me how to reach the unreachable
Help me now to do the impossible

Forgiveness, Forgiveness

Help me now to do the impossible
Forgiveness

It’ll clear the bitterness away
It can even set a prisoner free
There is no end to what it’s power can do
So, let it go and be amazed
By what you see through eyes of grace
The prisoner that it really frees is you

Forgiveness, Forgiveness
Forgiveness, Forgiveness

Show me how to love the unlovable
Show me how to reach the unreachable
Help me now to do the impossible
Forgiveness

I want to finally set it free
So show me how to see what Your mercy sees
Help me now to give what You gave to me
Forgiveness, Forgiveness

Happy Thanksgiving, by George...

 

 

Let us come to him with thanksgiving. Let us sing psalms of praise to him. - Psalm 95:2 (NLT)

I sit here at my computer tonight, listening to the rain falling outside my window. I'm still full from roasted turkey and lots of carbs:  cornbread dressing (my mom's recipe); green bean casserole (doesn't really count as a vegetable, but my kids love it); jellied cranberry (an homage to my dad); and, of course, small slices of pumpkin and pecan pie.

It was just four of us ... me, Tom, and two of the kids, since the oldest and his wife are exploring New Zealand. A white tablecloth covered my table, with a silver and gold runner. No fancy or creative centerpiece, but I set the table with silver chargers and my wedding china (Noritake Shenandoah, which I still absolutely adore) and sipped wine from my wedding crystal, which most of the time sits gathering dust in my china cabinet.

It was the first time the four of us had sat down to eat at the same time in a very long while. We are all too busy these days, home at odd hours and living mostly on frozen pizza.

After dinner, we called Tom's mom , then piled into the car to visit Mama and watch a few episodes of "The Facts of Life" with her. Knowing she would be full from her own Thanksgiving dinner (they have great food at her nursing home!) I only brought her a little bit of the cornbread dressing, hoping for her stamp of approval... which she gave before gobbling it up. Whew!

That's already enough to be grateful for , but there's so much more. Lately, when I find myself veering off into a 'poor me' whine, I've tried to redirect it into some kind of "thank you". It usually isn't too hard!

However, even though I give thanks often, I think a national holiday specifically dedicated to giving thanks for our blessings, motivating us to pull the special china out of the closet and spend hours in the kitchen trying to re-create our mother's cornbread dressing and sitting down with our family for the first time in months... or to gather with others to fill plates with turkey and dressing for those who don't have a home, much less a china cabinet, as friends of mine did today.

I was reminded this morning at Mass that I have George Washington to thank for giving us this national holiday of Thanksgiving. Thank you, George!

For his homily, our priest read us the original proclamation, which I don't think I had ever heard before. In case you haven't either, or if it's been awhile since you have, I decided to find it online and share it here...

 

Thanksgiving Proclamation

Issued by President George Washington, at the request of Congress, on October 3, 1789

By the President of the United States of America, a Proclamation.

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and—Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me “to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:”

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favor, able interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquillity, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted; for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations, and beseech Him to pardon our national and other trangressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally, to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand at the City of New York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.

Go. Washington

 

From our home to yours... Happy Thanksgiving!

Dear Lord; we beg but one boon more:
Peace in the hearts of all men living,
peace in the whole world this Thanksgiving.
~Joseph Auslander

Beaches, Beer, and other sweet!s

 

 

Last weekend I spent a gorgeous weekend in Port Aransas, Texas, with dear friends, old and new. It was something like our 16th annual get-away, but I confess I've lost count.

 

 

There are only about 5 of us who have consistently escaped every year, no matter what was going on in our lives. But every year we have at least 13 women join us, filling three condos that hug the beach. Some are friends of mine from high school. Some are sisters or daughters... or friends of friends. 

 

Once you're in, you're in...until you drop out. And some have actually dropped out! I just don't understand it.

 

 

I'll never drop out. Not voluntarily, anyway.

(We recruited a man to take our photo, then another man started taking our photo from a floor above. The owner/residents were so awesome and friendly this year!)

 

I need this annual retreat to the shore, to recharge and re-energize. (Thanks for this photo, Rae!)

He that will learn to pray, let him go to sea.

~George Herbert

***********************************************************

 

I have yet to even look at all the photos I took last weekend, and now another fun weekend is past. Our annual St. Mary's Oktoberfest featured great weather and a miracle win by the Texas Longhorns. (I think Father Joe put in a good word for us!)

 

Just one of many beauties in the classic car "show and shine". I dream of having an old truck one day...but mine will need a/c and electric windows. 

 

A pet dragon!

 

That's the middle school principal you see swimming in the dunking booth. He had a line waiting to dunk him, as you can imagine!

***********************************************************

 

I have lots of sweet!s recorded over the past few weeks ...

... a cute couple secretly getting married ... your husband and brother-in-law making it home safe from a long canoeing trip in Arkansas ... tiny shells on the beach... sharing a room with your sister again  ... a morning run on a beach with a cool breeze ... a friend texting you to be sure you saw the orange crescent moon rising over the water ... sunrise after sunrise after sunrise over the water ... slow walks with friends on a beach ... dancing ... lots of new clients asking for your help...

But what better way to end this sweet! post than with a photo of your oldest son drinking a beer after running the Chicago marathon? (I wasn't there - he posted it and I stole it to share here!)

But I'm so proud of him for conquering this challenge! (The marathon, not the beer!)

Way to go, Tommy!

 

I hope you all have a huge collection of sweet!s from the past few weeks, as well! If you don't, you aren't paying attention!

The unthankful heart... discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings!

~Henry Ward Beecher

 

Coach Christine and the Cosmos - the story continues...

Once upon a time, I was a soccer mom, sweating or freezing on the sidelines, gripping the arms of my collapsible chair, or pacing up and down, trying my best to bite my tongue, when I couldn't sit still.

And then TG joined the Cosmos, and Coach Christine took all of my angst onto her own shoulders. I no longer had to pace or coach from the sidelines. She paced up and down, shouted when and what I longed to shout, got angry when I was angry...

I was finally able to sit on the sidelines and enjoy the game. What a relief!

It was after TG had graduated from high school and said her goodbyes to the Cosmos that we learned of Christine's cancer, and then later, of her passing. It inspired me to write about her in "Coach Christine, Queen of the Cosmos."

But Christine's passion and joy extended beyond the soccer field. As a registrar for the Leander School District, she touched many lives, and that's why the district decided to name a new school after her this year.

And if that isn't awesome enough, that a district would name a school after a mom/registrar, the mascot for the school is the Cosmos. 

TG and I attended the dedication of the elementary school yesterday afternoon. Coach David and Christine's brother, who they adopted at age 11 when their mom passed away of cancer, spoke about Christine's bravery, passion, and high standards. Her daughter and two sons sat on the stage, smiling at the recognition given to their mom. She would be proud of them. 

Christine juggled two jobs, coached a couple of soccer teams, shuttled three kids to practices, managed a household, and took on the responsibility of raising her brother, all with a huge smile. She showed no favoritism. All were loved and criticized equally.

That's what I already knew - and loved - about her.

What I didn't know was she also helped some of the girls on the Cosmos with their college applications and paid their application fees when they balked about going.  She grew up in Harlem, New York City, valedictorian of her high school, and won scholarships to a prep school in New England and went on to Lehigh University.

She believed in education and accepted no excuses. 

So kudos to Leander School District for recognizing that Christine Camacho absolutely deserved to have this new school named after her. It was probably my imagination, but I could sense Christine there... so much energy and joy and excitement. 

Coach David asked the Cosmos girls to stand up. There were six or seven of them there, out of about 20 who wore the Cosmos jerseys. Pretty impressive, considering they are all in their early 20's now, and many no longer live in the area.

At the end of the dedication , they joined the staff in the Cosmos chant... 

"C! o-s-o-s M! o-s-o-s C! o-s-o-s M! o-s-o-s COSMOS!"

That chant, and the Cosmos, will live on forever... in Leander, Texas. That makes me very happy.

 

I hope you rest in peace, Christine, knowing that the seeds you planted are blooming and thriving. 

 

Some people say soccer's a matter of life or death, but it isn't.  It's much more important than that. 

~Variation of a famous saying

Silent Love and Friendship

 

I was headed to Houston last Saturday ... dreading the drive, the task ahead of me, and a whole day away from my business which I really can't afford at this time ... when I spotted a Panda Express.  I decided to cheer myself up with an early lunch. 

It was delicious, of course, but the best part was this message tucked into my fortune cookie...

 

 

Have you ever received a big hug from a friend just when you needed it? That's how I felt when I read that tiny little piece of paper.

Those words lifted me above the sadness of the task and helped me see it instead as a chance to revisit a lifetime of happy memories. The long drive, the physical labor, the sweat and tears all became acts of love,  a way to give back to my parents and grandmother and siblings and children... all of us who knew the abundance of love and laughter in that house. 

Words can be so powerful, can't they? 

These words will ride with me again tomorrow, and the next Saturday, and the next... however many it takes to sort through sixty years ... trying to decide what to keep, what to give, what to sell, and what to toss. 

I'm grateful for my sister who will be beside me in the process, adding more precious memories to tuck away in my heart as we prepare to say goodbye and thank you to the humble home that sheltered our childhood. 

 

Looking back from an Easter Sunday

 

Howdy! Have you missed me?

It's hard to believe it's been over two weeks since my last post. A lot has happened! But don't worry ... I'll just give you the sweet! highlights, not all the boring details.

First of all, it's Easter Sunday - Resurrection Sunday - for me, the source of all hope, a reminder of renewal and rebirth and begin-agains. 

 

 

My heart also felt light from the moment I opened my eyes because I knew all of my kids were here under the same roof as me and Tom.

Of course, it wasn't the same as Easter mornings years ago. I knew the Easter bunny hadn't paid our house a visit during the night. The colorful baskets were still tucked away in the storage room, covered with dust, not crowding the dining room table filled with candy and toys, and we had no colored egg hunt scheduled for after church. 

I did, however, make some mini-quiches for breakfast before heading off to Mass, and they were almost as big a hit as those baskets of the past.

Almost. 

After church, we enjoyed smoked turkey a la Tom. He woke up at 5 a.m. to start it cooking so it would be ready on time, bless his heart. And I still got him to smile for the camera!

 

 

Here are a few other sweet!s, in no particular order...

The bluebonnets have popped! Every year it's like they count to three and spring up all at once, blanketing roadsides and pastures. The yellows and purples and even some reds have joined them. It's a wildflower fiesta! 

 

 

Yesterday I met a cousin for lunch for a long-overdue catch-up session, then we both visited Mama. My cousin always brings her gifts... this time a beautiful bouquet of spring flowers and a box of gourmet chocolates. 

Last week ... or maybe it was the week before ...  I had dinner overlooking Lake Marble Falls with a friend, celebrating her birthday a little late and mine a little early...

...then we celebrated again a few nights later in an awesome Italian restaurant with two other friends. I love dragging my birthday celebration out over days, weeks, months... 

An agent friend brought me some beautiful handmade pillow covers back from India to thank me for helping her with a property while she was away helping her father. Aren't they gorgeous?

 

My brother-in-law paid us a surprise visit on his way home to Arizona from Arkansas, where he bought a three-wheeled motorcycle off of Craig's List. No photos, but it was wonderful to see him!

There have been a ton of new home events lately. At one I met Vince Young...

...and at another I test-drove a Tesla!

 

Last Saturday evening I was able to help friends celebrate their 20th anniversary by listening to the music of Shake Russell, Mike Roberts, and Michael Hearne, as the sun set on Lake Travis.

 

 

Earlier this week I finally reconnected with a high school friend who only lives a few miles away. She introduced me to a great Cajun restaurant right in our little town that I've passed every day for years. Two sweet!s in one!

Then there were the usual sweets, that are so easily taken for granted or overlooked ... morning walks with Belle when the sun first peeks into the hollow, the sight of a llama in a pasture along a highway, hawks singing and soaring over the hollow, the brilliant green of new leaves against a blue sky, the purple splashes of redbuds and mountain laurel and wisteria, and sunlight highlighting a spider web before you walk right into it...

 

 

On Easter Day the veil between time and eternity thins to gossamer. 

~Douglas Horton

I hope all of you have been paying attention to the sweet! moments in your life, the big and the small. Happy Easter, Happy Passover, Happy Sunday!

 

 

Treasure Boxes and other sweet!s...

 

I drove Tom's truck to Houston on Saturday. The kids and I made a one-day trip there to continue sorting through things at my parents' house, my childhood home, where every square inch and every random object holds a special memory. 

What to keep and what to sell from a lifetime of memories, when you're already weeding and tossing at your own home because you have no room? I wasn't looking forward to it.

But my kids provided the perfect balance of reminiscing, mourning, laughing, and staying on task to get the job done and be back on the road before the sun set.

My main goal for this trip, and the ulterior motive in having the kids there, was to retrieve the big items I wasn't ready to sell. But I also wanted to give the kids a chance to say goodbye to a house where they had spent much of their childhood, just as I did.

I was fortunate that my parents watched Tommy and Daniel after they were born when I had to return to work. When TG was born, I quit work, and just a few years later we moved to Austin, but each Christmas vacation, spring break, and a week every summer found us at my parents' home. 

My own memories are in layers; you have to peel away quite a few to understand why I brought back the items I did.

 

 

 

My mother's cedar chest. It's dry and cracking in places, but still aromatic and beautiful. I often pleaded with my mother to open it and let me look (again!) at the items she kept inside. 

 

 

The cabinet sewing machine. It's an old Domestic that swings up when you open the cabinet. My mother and grandmother worked magic with this machine, that I could never duplicate. Clown and ballerina costumes, school clothes, my sister's wedding dress and my homecoming queen dress, along with so much more. 

(However, I did sew on it. It's the only machine I've ever felt comfortable with, sewing many a Barbie doll and Liddle Kiddle outfit, plus patching up and/or decorating my jeans because the needle had no problem going through denim.)

 

 

The console stereo that stood front and center in our living room for decades even after the stereo quit working. From it I first heard Bill Cosby telling his jokes, sang along with the Beach Boys, and listened to the Mary Poppins soundtrack for hours when I could do nothing else because of my asthma. 

How could I leave it behind? It now sits in a special place in my office, and I can't wait to listen to those albums again. There's a portable stereo sitting where the original used to be. If I can only figure out how to hook it up to the speakers...

 

 

My brother Buster's footlocker. Truthfully, it holds no memories for me, but it's priceless, nonetheless. In it you'll find his Vietnam-era medals and other things which were important to him, and therefore to me and my mom. It had to come along as well. 

I had no idea where I would put these treasure boxes in my home, which I've already mentioned feels overcrowded with my own stuff.

But I decided not to worry about that. I had the boys load them all up, along with an old suitcase we found filled with some of my Daddy's papers, an old bridle, my grandmother's sewing basket, a portrait of my parents' dog Little Bull painted by my Aunt Bertha Lee ...

Anyway, despite my worrying, I've already found places for them in spots that now seem were made for them. It alway seems to work out, when you follow your heart, doesn't it?

Here are a few other sweet!s from the past week...

 

 

 

Monday: pink skies; taking a little extra time on your morning walk to snap photos; being a help to your mom

Tuesday: no traffic on your way downtown; catching up with friends at an office meeting; an afternoon at home to work; baby daddy-long-legs

 

Wednesday: a quick lunch with your daughter;  jewelry parties and new leads; your husband finding new tires for your car, cheap, on Craig's List

Thursday: a cardinal singing to you on your morning walk; the way your mom's eyes light up at the sight of you; networking with your son and some of his friends at the Buzz Mill on a gorgeous night; vodka fused with mango and Blue Ox barbecue 

 

 

Friday: connecting with a creative friend focused on helping your business; making your mom laugh; colorful old houses

 

 

Saturday: frogs singing to you on your morning walk; photography challenges; discovering a bird's nest hidden beside a path you walk every morning

 

 

Sunday: "watching" the Super Bowl with lots of fun people; Franklin's barbecue, without having to stand in line

 

 

Monday: a motivational reminder appearing in your mailbox, just when you need it; fellow agents brainstorming options for a friend who is about to be evicted

 

 

Tuesday: showing properties; a splash of color on a rainy day; being asked to help a friend's parents move to Austin; your son calling you outside so you don't miss the full moon surrounded by clouds

Wednesday: an early morning phone chat with your cousin; foggy mornings; meeting your mom's new roommate's daughter and granddaughter

 

 

Thursday: winning a Starbucks gift card and collecting free pens and koozies and a Realtor event; finding those special Red Velvet Oreos; helping to thank a valued coach and wishing him well on his new adventure

Friday: coffee and catching up with a past client; long overdue phone visits with your mother-in-law and sister-in-law

 

 

Saturday: your kids lessening your load with laughter and support as you begin to clear out your childhood home; your son volunteering to check out the attic for you; a visit and hugs from your sister and a dear friend; a sunset from Hruska's parking lot

 

 

Sunday: chatting with a friend over chocolate pancakes at the Garden of Eatin' after church; Sunday inspiration; cherished relics of your childhood home settled in your grown-up home; your husband taking care of the awful noise your car was making

Monday: your mom being close enough to stop by and reassure her when she's having a bad day; meeting another Realtor in the grocery store and stopping to talk shop for half an hour

 

I'm way overdue with posting my sweet!s, but I'm managing to look for them each day, and that's really what matters, isn't it? I hope you are, too. 

"Gratitude is the memory of the heart."

~Jean Baptiste Massieu, translated from French

Embrace

 

em·brace

əmˈbrās/

verb

 

 

1.hold (someone) closely in one's arms, especially as a sign of affection.

 

2. accept or support (a belief, theory, or change) willingly and enthusiastically

 

 

Let me embrace thee, sour adversity, for wise men say it is the wisest course. 

~William Shakespeare

 

"Embrace" is more than my word for the year. It's my call-to-action, a one word reminder to welcome each day as a new opportunity to correct mistakes, to challenge myself, to keep an eye open for blessings ... to be a blessing to someone else ... no matter what the day brings.

 

"Persevere" was in the lead for 2015, until "Embrace" popped out at me from a song or somewhere,  and I pictured the card below that a friend gave me. It has echoed in my head ever since. 

 

"Persevere" seems negative. Gray. It trudges alone through the problems of the day, sweating and straining just to get to the end.

 

But "Embrace" is golden, full of light and warmth. It reaches out to accept not only blue skies, but stormy ones as well, knowing there is a type of beauty and purpose in each, and that when it's all over, everything will be okay.

 

 

 

 

So each morning, when I first start grumbling about having to get up so early or feel overwhelmed and stretched thin when I remember all of my urgent to-do's, I'm learning to turn those thoughts into gratitude for the new day by dropping to my knees beside my bed and asking God to guide me, give me strength, and help me embrace whatever the day has in store ... the pains, the joys, the successes, the failures. 

 

Life is too short to do otherwise.

 

Love... it surrounds every being and extends slowly to embrace all that shall be.

~ Khalil Gibran

 

 

Austin Winters and other sweet!s

I just heard on the news that the first 15 days of January here in Austin set a record: so far it's officially the 10th coldest winter since 1897. 

People who live up north, who have to live with snow from November through March, will probably laugh at that. I'm sure they think what we experience here in Austin could hardly be called "wintry weather".

But it does get cold here - icy, even. In fact, we heat our entire house with our woodburning stove, and we've almost used up all of our wood already!

The good news is our "wintry weather" comes and goes. The first 15 days might have set a "cold" record, but tomorrow it will warm from the low 30's to 70 by afternoon, with plenty of sunshine. As much as I whine about not getting any snow, I'd rather have the warm January afternoons. 

Yes, Texas winters are mighty sweet!

 

 

Here are a few other sweet!s from the past week plus some...

  

Wednesday: spicy chili on a chilly evening; the warmth of a wood-burning stove

Thursday: the crunch, crunch, crunch when you walk on frozen caliche; a tree full of birds breakfasting on juniper berries; a call from your sister after her surgery; haircuts and head massages; clients leaving great reviews for you on your business pages

Friday: an early morning call from your mom; a buyer's long-awaited closing on her new home; sharing a peanut butter cookie with your mom; finally starting the last season of "Breaking Bad"

Saturday: getting to visit your mom when you thought you'd be iced-in all day; your Christmas decorations all boxed up; the smell of a roast in the oven; the sound of rain outside, when you and all of your loved ones are safe and warm inside

 

 

Sunday: Garden of Eatin' inspiration; experiencing new restaurants; helping a friend celebrate her birthday; sharing a creme brulee with friends; watching the end of "Annie Hall" with your mom

 

 

Monday: a walk on a foggy morning; meeting with a CPA in anticipation of making money in 2015

 

 

Tuesday: dinner and the movie "Jersey Boys" with friends, in preparation for seeing Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons in February

Wednesday: making progress in organizing your office; watching your first hockey game with colleagues and 3/4 of your kids

 

 

Thursday: the return of sunshine after too many cold, wet, gray days; finally getting all of the Christmas boxes out of your living room

 

 

Friday: working out five days in a row for the first time in weeks; having enough money to pay your bills; your sister getting a good report from her doctor following her surgery; gorgeous sunsets; finally posting your sweet!s

 

 

 

When scattered clouds are resting on the bosoms of hills, it seems as if one might climb into the heavenly region, earth being so intermixed with sky, and gradually transformed into it.

~Nathaniel Hawthorne

 

(What were some sweet! moments of your past week? Share them in the comments and make them twice as sweet!)

Merry Christmas, when the kids are grown...

  

The pitter-patter of tiny feet woke me early on Christmas morning, but it wasn't the sound of excited little children as on Christmas mornings long ago. It was Belle, letting me know she was ready to go outside. 

I granted her request, then crawled back into bed. That's one good thing about Christmas mornings when the kids are grown - you get to sleep in if you want to.

Another is that they are old enough to fix you bacon and eggs for breakfast, like Daniel did for us. 

But our celebration began on Christmas Eve with the Children's Mass. There's nothing like seeing little ones all dressed up in their fancy holiday outfits and a group of them acting out the Christmas pageant to fill you with Christmas spirit. So cute!

I spent the rest of that evening baking cookies while watching "It's a Wonderful Life". I think it's my favorite Christmas movie of all, because of its message of hope and faith and friendship, and the beauty of the simple things in life, period.  

Christmas day itself was slow and relaxing. Sleeping late ... a walk with Belle ... that huge breakfast, courtesy of Daniel ... phone calls and texts from loved ones and friends ... last minute gift wrapping ... catching bits and pieces of a Shirley Temple movie marathon.. 

Late in the afternoon my oldest and his wife met us at Mama's nursing home, where we all squeezed into her little room to share cookies, visit, and open a few gifts.

Back home a couple of hours later, we shared a not-so-traditional fajita dinner, opened more gifts, and then ended the day stretched out around the television watching "A Christmas Story" - the "you'll shoot your eye out" one. 

I wish so much that Mama could have joined us for dinner at our house. However, mid-week a chest X-ray confirmed she had pneumonia. They caught it early and started antibiotics, but she's still weak and has a bad cough. Please continue to pray for her - and thank you in advance.

Today I followed through on a promise by watching "Elf" with her. She and her roommate loved it.

I hope no matter what else is going on in your life, you've experienced some joy and laughter during the holidays, too. 

 

May you have the gladness of Christmas which is hope;
The spirit of Christmas which is peace;
The heart of Christmas which is love.
~Ada V. Hendricks 

 

There is a Bridge: Love, Music, and Earthly Angels

 

A friend shared this on Facebook yesterday. 

It was so moving, so glorious, and such a beautiful illustration of Love, that I knew right away I wanted to share it with all of you, as well. 

Searching for it on You Tube just now, I discovered it's actually 5 years old, so perhaps you've already seen it. 

But if you haven't, please watch it through to the very end... which is only 5 minutes. 

You won't be sorry. 

 Naomi Feil, founder of Validation therapy, shares a breakthrough moment of communication with Gladys Wilson, a woman who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2000 and was virtually non-verbal.

 More info: www.memorybridge.org

 

 

Love is so powerful and each of us can do so much if we allow it to work through us.

Merry Christmas!

Don't Stop Believing!

I didn't become Catholic because they consider it okay to dance and drink, but I have to admit, those are great fringe benefits!

Every year I look forward to our parish "adult" Christmas party, where there's always great food, great dance music, a huge dance floor, and a mostly older crowd who make me feel young and old at the same time. There are some 80+-year-olds who can out-dance me!

Tonight I expected to go, eat, and leave, because I had so much work to do. I didn't even bring my big-girl camera. But I met new people at my table, saw some old friends, and this great band was playing...

The next thing I knew, I was one of the last ones there, as always.

There were four of us women still on the dance floor when the band said good night. We convinced them to play an encore. They acquiesced, choosing "Don't Stop Believing", the perfect lead-in for the post I'd already written for today...

It's been almost a year since my mom made the move from Houston to Austin. Things haven't gone quite as well as I hoped ... she's had two trips to the emergency room and is much weaker now than when we made that 4 hour road trip last year. 

But she is still my mom. I can talk to her about everything that's going on in my life, just as I always could. I am blessed that way. She's still a great support and sounding board. And I think it helps her to know I still need her that way.

But in the same breath, she'll refer to my dad as if he's alive. We're on a totally different playing field, and it's taken some getting used to. She knows he's passed on, but there are times she just refuses to accept it. 

In her previous life, my mom was a CPS - a Certified Professional Secretary. It was a big deal. You had to pass a test. She worked all while I was growing up, and then beginning in 1975, she also took care of my quadriplegic brother in the evening when she got home from work. 

Her nature has always been that of a nightowl who loved staying up late and sleeping half the day, unless she had to get up for work or some other good reason.

It's unfortunate that nursing homes don't operate on that time schedule. Physical therapy comes by in the morning. She refuses them. By the time she's awake enough to participate, they're gone for the day. 

Consequently, she's gotten weaker and weaker. This week, they categorized her as a hoyer-lift patient because they say it took four people to weigh her. A hoyer-lift patient is pretty much a jellyfish, not having to use any muscles to get in and out of bed, or even to the bathroom.

However, when they said they had to move her to another hall because she was now a hoyer patient, I reminded them that she did fine with two people assisting her until one aide ignored the "Two Person" assistance notice and tried to move her on her own. Consequently, Mama landed on her knees. The very next day, it took four people to weigh her.

So, they gave me a week. If she shows improvement and cooperates, she won't have to move.

I am now officially her coach. 

Yesterday morning I arrived at 11:30 and she was still in bed. I pushed the button to call the aides to get her out of bed and when they asked her if she would eat lunch in the dining room, I answered for her: Yes. 

She eats really, really slow. We were the last ones in the dining room. Her nurse had her nebulizer treatment already set up, so I got her started on that, then went to find a portable oxygen tank. When she finished her treatment, I hooked her up to the portable tank so she could take a "stroll" down the hall, using her hands and feet to propel herself, rather than someone pushing her.

I want her to build her strength. I don't want her to be a jellyfish on the other hall, and she doesn't want to be, either. I told her she had to want that in an active way, not just a theoretical way.

That's true for all of us, isn't it? If we want something, we have to take the action that will get us there, not just wish for it to magically happen.

I was there four hours yesterday, and two today,  but most days I can only be with her an hour. So please, please, please keep my mom in your prayers, as well as her aides and nurses. They have a tough job. I'm depending on them to keep her moving and gaining strength.

Don't stop believing... (and please keep her in your prayers!)

Being there for my mom and dancing tonight are definitely both sweet!s of this week.

Here are a few more...

 

 

Tuesday: property tours that include lots of lake views; singing Christmas carols with your mom; investor clients; online classes you can attend at your convenience

Wednesday: your son's 29th birthday; remembering the day you became a mom; spending time with your own mom

 

Thursday: the silence of a foggy morning; showing properties; bathroom inspiration; discovering new restaurants with your daughter; remembering your sister's wedding 10 years ago; hanging out with twenty-somethings 

Friday: showing more properties; seeing results from nagging your mom; reaching the halfway mark in your new class; watching a full moon climb up through the tree branches

Saturday: the company of house-dogs; working out six days in a row; getting to spend four hours with your mom; sunsets in the hill country; quick catch-ups with friends; new clients

 

Sunday: walking through a carpet of autumn leaves; enjoying beautiful Christmas and gospel music with your mom; an evening spent visiting with friends, making new ones, and dancing

 

I hope you had a week full of sweet! moments, and the next is overflowing. Share them here!

And remember, don't stop believing!

 

When the world says, "Give up,"
Hope whispers, "Try it one more time."

~Author Unknown

 

Thanksgiving, Advent, and other sweet!s of the week...

 

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I did. I feel especially blessed that in my 55 years I've only been responsible for the whole dinner a handful of times, thanks to my mom and, more recently, my son and daughter-in-law.

 

 

For the second year in a row, my son did an amazing job on the turkey, a huge 21-pounder! There was a ton of other delicious stuff... gorgeous appetizers, casseroles, desserts. 

 

I brought the cornbread dressing, my mother's recipe. It wouldn't be Thanksgiving for me without it. 

(I also brought a green salad, but it was mostly for show. It takes up way too much room on a plate!) 

Even though my mom wasn't strong enough yet to join us at my son's, she was too stuffed with turkey and dressing to eat any of the goodies we brought her on our way home that evening. I'm grateful for that, and for the staff of her nursing home who made sure the residents celebrated. 

 

 

The next day we celebrated Thanksgiving again with friends. No skipping work-outs for me for the next few weeks, that's for sure!

 

 

Thanksgiving was just the first in this season of celebration. Yesterday was the first official day of Advent, a time when we (as in Christians) reflect on what we need to do to prepare for the second coming of Christ while commemorating his first coming - Christmas. A season for reflection of the past and the future. 

 

 

A few years ago I googled "Advent" for another post and found a description on Spirit Home that I thought was perfect. I've chopped out bits to save space, but here it is...

Advent is a season of preparation. So's Lent, but it is a different kind of preparation. Lent is very adult and serious, because it leads to a death; originally, Lent readied new Christian adults for baptism. In Advent, we thank God for Christ's first coming, prepare for his final coming at the end of time, and celebrate Christ's presence among us today through the Spirit. God loved us and wanted to share that love. But this existence isn't well-suited for a god; it's too broken, evil, painful, unjust. So, to rescue the created world from this evil, God chose to come here and walk the earth, to grow up, to live the truth, and to die. The only way to start such a thing is as a baby, and the only way to be a baby is to be born. Hence Christmas. Because Christmas is centered in the new hope brought by a baby, it's a very child-oriented holiday. Because Advent leads us up to that baby, Advent is also child-oriented.

There's a time to get ready by focusing on your own sinfulness and wrongdoing, a time for personal transformation and following Christ to the cross. That's Lent. There's a time to get ready by rejoicing that our God is not far away and unfamiliar with the struggles of human life, that Christ is here right now among His followers, that God has already begun to bring in the Kingdom, and that Christ will come again to make it clear who really runs the place. That's Advent. "Lo, I am with you, even unto the end of the age", says Jesus.

  

"There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle.

The other is as if everything is."

~ Albert Einstein 

 

I love that quote. And I do believe each day is full of miracles.

Keeping track of my sweet!s has helped me recognize them. Here are a few from the past week...

Monday: being able to start a new week and every new day with a morning walk; your mom agreeing to do her physical therapy

Tuesday: starting a new real estate class; a happy hour at sunset with friends

Wednesday: a blogger/writer friend's op-ed published in the LA Times; open parking spaces and short check-out lines when you procrastinate grocery shopping until the day before Thanksgiving; a pre-Thanksgiving phone call with your mother-in-law

 

 

Thursday: only being responsible for the cornbread dressing and green salad for Thanksgiving dinner; truly liking your daughter-in-law's family; creative appetizers; no traffic when you hit the road for Thanksgiving; another Wes Anderson movie with your son

Friday: the smell of fresh-baked brownies; sons who love to visit their grandmother; Thanksgiving Part 2 with friends

 

 

Saturday: three days in a row with no alarm clock; a "hello" from a raven on your morning walk; learning the difference between a crow and a raven; a silly movie with your son; finishing the edits on a special photography job

 

Sunday: referrals from friends; a spring-like day in winter; a glimpse of a Great Blue Heron disappearing over the treetops; two walks in one day with your puppy; your son calling to see if you need anything from the grocery store on his way home 

Monday: the sound of the wind dancing in the treetops; your puppy running and running and running with joy and exuberance; spending a morning with a client viewing properties; a shadow-puppy/guard dog who follows you from room to room; your son getting a fire going when winter returns to your hollow

 

 

Beginning this Advent, I'm also going to work on being more aware and more supportive of my friends and family who are currently facing huge challenges. Time to pay it forward. 

Whether you think about Advent or not, I hope your next few weeks are full of reflection, hope and joy.  

I took a walk...

 

After a long day of driving and showing houses to clients all over Austin, then a never-long-enough visit with my mom, I arrived back home yesterday evening just as the sun started its goodbyes. The light was golden, the sky a crisp and an ever-deepening blue. 

I set aside the list of things I still needed to do and headed down my caliche road with Belle, feeling lighter with every step.

"Solvitur ambulando, St. Jerome was fond of saying. To solve a problem, walk around."

~Gregory McNamee

 

 

"The night walked down the sky with the moon in her hand."

~Frederick L. Knowles

 

Along the way, our new neighbors overtook us on their 4-wheel drive ATV, their golden retriever running alongside them. Belle and I heard them coming, stepped off the road, and waited. 

When the golden spotted us, he veered over to investigate. I'm ashamed to tell you that Belle wasn't very friendly to him. However, she responded to my commands and stayed beside me.

The golden couldn't help himself. He kept coming around to investigate. They finally all turned and headed back to their house, and we continued on our walk, once again enjoying the last rays of the sun and the peace of the Hollow, despite the interruption. 

 

 

 

Then, as usual, Belle and I headed out again this morning for a walk before church.

Near the curve of the road, we encountered neighbors who live up the hill. They like to walk their three dogs on our road.

This time Belle minded her manners and stayed friendly. Unfortunately, two of theirs weren't so friendly. One - the largest one - even lunged at Belle. No actual contact was made, thank goodness.

The owner scolded it, grabbed it by its collar, and they headed on down the road in one direction while we continued on our walk in the other. 

Sigh. Our road is getting much too crowded. And perhaps I'm becoming a snob. Or a hermit.

 

 

 

Belle is a fast walker. To keep up with her - and to get in a little work-out, not to mention save time, on busy mornings - I've started jogging. 

I stopped jogging on our road a few years ago because it's made of caliche... essentially gravel and loose rocks on top of uneven solid rock. It's tough on the feet and there's a high risk of tripping or twisting your ankle. 

But (did I mention this already?) Belle walks really, really fast. She needs the exercise, and I need the exercise, and this past week has been so crazy busy that there was no other time to work-out otherwise.

I never saw that rock. The one that reached up and grabbed my toe, sending me flying and slipping an anticipatory curse word into my Rosary.

I mostly landed on my forearms, sliding a few centimeters along the gravel. I'm now sporting huge bandaids on my elbows and one knee, and bruises are still popping up on my arms and left leg.

But...nothing was broken, except skin. Not even my phone.

That's pretty amazing and sweet! when you get to be my age!

Here are a few other sweet!s from the past week...

 

Tuesday: a new client and a referral from a colleague; dinner and reminiscing with your sister, her friend, and your cousin; a sweet card in the mail from your work family

 

 

Wednesday: taking classes so you can stay informed about your business; your puppy barking in her sleep behind you as you work; new clients

 

 

Thursday: not breaking anything except skin when you trip and fall while running on your caliche road with your puppy; closings and happy clients; finally meeting a client in person for the first time after helping her relocate from Illinois to Texas; networking with friends/colleagues and meeting new ones; bumping into a high school friend of your son's; trying new restaurants with your daughter

 

 

 

Friday: watching the sunrise color a gray world; corn chowder a la the Avenue B Grocery, eaten outside on a gorgeous autumn day; a text containing a photo of your sweet great-niece dressed up for Halloween

 

Saturday: helping the daughter of a high school friend find a home in Austin; exploring homes all around the University of Texas with college girls; finding out your phone isn't completely dead; a walk on a country road at dusk with your puppy after a long day

 

 

Sunday: discovering your husband and son made it home safe in the middle of the night from their Arkansas canoeing adventure; a glimpse of their adventure through their photographs; your son relocating a turtle to a pond with water in it; commemorating All Soul's Day with a candlelight ceremony outside of your church

"Is death the last sleep? No, it is the last and final awakening. "

~ Sir Walter Scott

 

 As always, please share your sweet moments from the past week in the comments!

House dogs, Hangar Parties, October(fests), and other sweet!s

 

Belle is snoring behind me, curled up on a purple and pink fringed blanket TG gave to her. The past couple of nights she's slept beside my bed on a small rug. She's getting better about sleeping through the night without waking me for attention. Just like a baby. 

I've never had a house dog before now. For one thing, I'm allergic to dogs, and it amazes me that I'm not a sniffling, wheezing mess right now. I haven't even taken an allergy pill.

Way back in the '70's, when I first brought my Siamese kitten home, I sneezed constantly for a week.  Then, like magic, I was fine. Maybe I built up a tolerance for Belle during those weeks she and Max lounged in the laundry room, out of the summer heat.

As much as I loved my cat (and miss having one) I have to admit that house dogs - especially country ones, used to being outside - are so much easier. No litter boxes to clean, for one thing. And when we leave, Belle just goes outside and guards the house from her bed on the porch until we return.

She follows me from room to room, and I'm really enjoying her company. It's eased that place in my heart that still misses my Max.

I dreamed of him two nights ago. He was lying beside me and I ran my hand through his long fur. It was a sweet dream, and having Belle near has been a calming, sweet comfort in a crazy-busy week which culminated in a crazy-busy, but fun, fun weekend.

Friday night I helped celebrate the anniversary of Waddle Auctioneers by dancing with friends to the music of  Groove Knight, an awesome band, in my friend Rachel's airplane hangar. It was bittersweet, though, since it was probably the very last party in that hangar. It's currently on the market.

(Know anyone who wants to buy an airplane hangar with a 5 bedroom home attached? You can catch some beautiful sunrises and sunsets!)

 

Saturday I spent the day pouring beer for customers and taking photos at my church's annual Oktoberfest. A friend's son works at a local brewery - Live Oak - and they donated a keg to our cause. (Thank you, Live Oak Brewing Company!)

The weather was perfect, I saw tons of familiar faces, and we ended up raising a lot of money that will be given back to our community.  

Sunday turned out all different than originally planned, but I'm learning to be flexible and it turned into a wonderful day, as well.

I had registered to run 5K in the Run for the Water downtown. However, by this weekend the rest of the family made plans to be out of town, and I realized there wouldn't be anyone home to feed or walk Belle!

So instead of driving downtown to run 5K at 7 am, I slept until 7 am and then ran a mile with Belle at dawn.  I figured the Gazelle Foundation benefited from my entry fee and it didn't really matter where I ran.

All in all, it was a good week. My mom made it through surgery just fine, and even though she isn't getting the quality of care I expect at the moment, I'm grateful she's close enough that I can step in and raise a little, um, heck until it gets on track. 

(Don't mess with my mama!)

Here are some other sweet!s from the past week...

 

 

Monday: pink clouds in the morning; a message from a potential new client waiting in your inbox when you wake up; your husband home safe and sound from his roadtrip; watching a family of cardinals have a bedtime snack at your feeder

Tuesday: catching up with friends and learning about personal safety at your office meeting; moving forward on a contract; a text from one of your mom's nurses, checking on her after a fall and ambulance ride to the hospital; being able to be by your mom's side when she's in great pain from a broken femur and facing surgery

Wednesday: good wishes, thoughts, and prayers from all over the world (thanks to Facebook!) for your mom as she undergoes surgery; laptops, smart phones, and wi-fi so you can work and stay in touch with loved ones while you wait; calls from potential new clients 

Thursday: cousins who visit your mom in the hospital; watching old movies with your mom; nurses who show special care for your mom

Friday: your mom making such great progress she's released from the hospital earlier than you expected; dancing with friends in a hangar to the awesome band Groove Knight

 

 

Saturday: working with your son in a church festival booth; a visit from your oldest; being close enough to see your mom every day and be sure she's getting the care she needs

 

 

Sunday: cutting yourself some slack by not trying to do everything; running at dawn with your puppy; watching an old, silly movie with your son; new real estate leads

Monday: waking to another new lead; hearing that your son and husband made it to their destination safe and sound; visiting your mom twice in one day; cheese popcorn; a dog snoring beside you as you work

 

I hope you all had a great week and this next is even better!

 

Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.

--Roger Caras

 

 

Sunday afternoons and belated sweets

 

Just before sunset this afternoon, I escaped to the front porch swing with a glass of wine and a long-lost book from my childhood. I'd spent the day taking care of the dogs, going to church, fixing one of my signs that got knocked over by city mowers, visitng my mom, and finally making it to the grocery store.

I was pooped.

It was an overdue appointment with myself, the book, and Belle, who joined me on the porch and dozed on her bed while I read.

This whole past week has been exhausting, although not necessarily in a bad way. One of my listings had multiple offers, and while I hate telling anyone they lost, it's the best scenario you can wish for for your seller.

I've also been busy trying to snag a lease for out-of-state buyers who are moving to Austin next week. They want to get a feel for Austin before buying. I don't blame them, but I think they finally believe what I told them about leasing being tougher than buying in some ways.

And then there are searches for other buyers, promotions for other sellers, and the neverending need to get more clients in your pipeline. 

It felt good to slip away from all of that for half an hour this afternoon...

 

 

I searched for this book for 40 years, before finally coming across it last year in an online bookstore, priced far beyond my budget. My son Daniel - more of a booklover than me, if that's possible - came to the rescue and bought it for me as an early Christmas present.

When it arrived in the mail, it was like seeing an old friend for the first time in so many years... but I was so busy at the time that it sat untouched on my bookshelf until last week, when I decided I'd had enough of just reading real estate books and magazines. I was ready for an escape, the kind only a work of fiction can provide.

And what better escape when you're pressed on all sides with grownup problems, than to dive back into your childhood?

 

 

These small iris-shaped flowers line our dirt road again. They never appeared last autumn, I guess because of the drought, so what a sweet surprise to spot them popping up this year.

 

 

After a brief rally, Max has gotten picky about eating again, changing his preferences from one day to another and turning his nose up at whatever we're offering more than actually eating. 

Consequently, he's gotten weak again, and has skipped the past two morning walks, although he still climbs the hill from his doghouse to lounge in his porch bed, and he seems very happy there, occasionally barking to prove he's got our backs.

So Belle and I have gone on without him. She's in such a hurry to cover a lot of ground but get back to check on him that I've ended up having to run to keep up. It's been good for both of us.

 

 

Thursday evening's forecast included a line of thunderstorms passing through, thanks to a cold front. 

Somehow it passed by us without so much as a drop, but then stalled for a few hours so that we had the most amazing lightshow on our horizon, like a strobe light caught inside of a huge cloud.

Daniel and I stood in the middle of our road watching it for at least half an hour, totally mesmerized. There was no thunder, no rain. It was one of the weirdest, most beautiful things I've ever witnessed.

I took several shots without much hope that I could actually capture it. I'm pleasantly surprised they came out as good as they did, although none of them truly did it justice. 

Earlier that evening I had joined a bunch of other Austin Realtors for a networking party at The Thinkery, a new children's museum. We're members of Broker Underground ... essentially a Facebook group where we can promote our listings, find properties for our buyers, share information about vendors, and keep up to date with what's happening in Austin real estate. 

While it's true in a way that agents are competing against each other, it's also true that we have to work together to help our clients and help continually improve our industry. Events like this, where we come face-to-face in a relaxed environment, help us connect... plus they're just a lot of fun and a great way to relieve stress.

 

 

Last Sunday I was lucky enough to sit on the front row at a house concert and listen to the music of Shake Russell, Michael Hearne, and Mike Roberts.

I can't tell you how many times I've heard some of those songs over the past four decades, but they still go straight to my heart and soul. 

 

I've missed keeping an official record of my weekly sweet! moments. I plan to start it back up and invite you to do the same, because...

The happiness of life is made up of minute fractions - the little, soon-forgotten charities of a kiss or a smile, a kind look, a heartfelt compliment, and the countless infinitesimals of pleasurable and genial feeling.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Can you hear it?

 

 

Our grandfather clock is chiming midnight. Rain pours - no, roars - outside my window, just the kind of rain we need. A blessed sound, for sure. Every once in awhile I catch a flash of lightning in the distance.

I've just finished a few things for work ... or at least all I can do at the moment. Before I can climb into bed, I still need to pay a few bills. And then I need to pack for my annual girls' weekend in Port Aransas. If it takes me all night, that's okay. I'm not driving tomorrow.

I'm looking forward to it more than usual, if that's possible. It's been a long day. 

I drove miles and miles and miles through communities surrounding Austin today with a young man, trying to find just the right house for his family who is moving here from Illinois. After the initial wariness ("Is he a murderer?") it's one of the things I most love about real estate - meeting people. Getting a chance to hear their stories.

The good news is we found a house for him, his wife, and two young sons. That's always such a great feeling. As a bonus,  I learned a lot about some neighborhoods I was merely acquainted with before today. 

It's been a good week, starting with a closing on Monday followed by a phone call telling me I had won a $500 Academy gift card! 

But it's also been a week of late nights and early mornings. I'm tired. Really, really tired. 

I can't wait to lie on the beach for a couple of days, listening to its music...the waves and the wind and the gulls... and soaking up some sunshine.

But if the forecasted rain falls, I'll be happy to lie in bed, instead, catching up on my sleep, and then sit on the balcony, watching the rain.

Either way, it will be great to have a change of scenery and a change of pace. 

I hope all of you have a great weekend, filled with whatever it is you need!

 

For whatever we lose (like a you or a me),
It’s always our self we find in the sea.
~e.e. cummings

 

 

Surprises...

 

 

“God put us here, on this carnival ride.

We close our eyes never knowing where it'll take us next.” 

~Carrie Underwood

 

There are good surprises, and there are bad surprises.

Years ago I met a woman who impressed me with her beauty and bubbly personality. I didn't know her well, and haven't seen her in years, but back then we shared a lot of laughs at monthly PTA bunco games (not as innocent as they sound!)

Today I attended her memorial service. She was barely in her 40's. Learning of her death earlier this week was a bad surprise.

I spotted many friends at the service who I haven't seen or spoken to in years...not since our kids grew up. We all agreed we need to get together, under better circumstances.

I hope we do.

 

 

 

Yesterday I drove to a small town near San Antonio to help surprise my dear friend Nancy for her 50th birthday. I liked being part of a good surprise.

 

  

Nancy was my first friend in Lago Vista, then later agreed to be my Confirmation sponsor when I finally decided to convert to Catholicism after years of attending Mass with Tom and the kids, and months of discussing it with our priest.

Within a few years she had to move away from Lago, but we've somehow held onto our friendship, despite the distance (and age difference!)

 

 

Happy birthday tomorrow, Nancy!

 

"May your September be spacious like a long, slow bloom..." 

I've been reading Jennifer Richardson's beautiful, evocative, inspirational prose and photographs on her blog Ripplespeak for a few years now, so when she announced she was giving away a copy of her monthly zine, I crossed my fingers and tossed my comment into the bag. 

What a great surprise to hear I'd won! She sent two copies - one for me and one for my mom.

 Her words are like sunshine and fresh air, and I know I'll keep her zine close by to read often. You can get your own at her Etsy shop, Ripplesongs.

 

 

Another one of my favorite writers is Wolf Pascoe, author of the blog, Just Add Father.  We met in person when he came to Austin for a blog conference a few years ago.

Wolf is actually a pseudonym. Besides being a gifted writer, he's an anesthesiologist. He wrote about it in an e-book "Breathing for Two" last year. I immediately bought it, of course, but months turned into a year while it sat unread on my computer. (Who has time to read for pleasure when they're starting a business?)

So I finally broke down and bought the audio book last week. Wolf himself read it to me while I worked out and drove around Austin. (Why didn't I do this before?)

Here's my review on Amazon...

"In "Breathing for Two", Wolf Pascoe does a wonderful job weaving his story through the dry medical stuff, making even the history of anesthesiology come alive for the reader. He compels us to care about his patients and root for him when things go wrong. And he's very honest and upfront about his mistakes. I felt I was standing right beside him in anatomy class, and then later, as he watched over his patients. He relates the lessons he has learned in his decades as an anesthesiologist in such a way that they can be applied to everyone and to all areas of life. This is a book I could read over and over again, because I feel each time I'll get something new from it. I recommend the audio version - Wolf is a wonderful reader."

In short, go buy this book!

I wasn't surprised I loved the book, but I never thought I would like audio books, so that was a great surprise. I have two other e-books written by friends getting dusty on my computer. I'm going to see if there are audio versions for those, as well!

 

A week ago, Tom and I were discussing making that decision about Max. This morning, he made it to the top of the walkway before I did, and while we didn't go on a long walk, he did prance around and play with Belle. 

I believe in miracles. They are the best surprises, aren't they?

 

"I wish you hopeful eyes, fresh wings, and a second wind in the living."

~ Jennifer Richardson

 

They've landed! (...and other sweet!s)

For the past week or so I've been living vicariously through a couple of my kids. Again.

My son and his wife have now experienced the beauty, beer, food, art, sights and sounds of Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Amsterdam. And through the wonders of technology, I've been able to tag along through their photos and words, posted on Instagram and Facebook.

Having your kids visit the places of your dreams is the next best thing to seeing them yourself.

 

They're safe and sound, back in Austin now, although I haven't spoken to them to know that. I learned it while snooping in mom-fashion for updates on their Facebook pages tonight. 

I am so very grateful for Facebook and all of the hours of worrying it has saved me. 

Besides Facebook and kids arriving home, safe and sound, I've had a pretty sweet-filled week. Here are a few more....

 

Monday: adolescent cardinal triplets playing "King of the Mountain" on the birdfeeder; much needed rain on your hollow; staying up late, laughing over old clips of Robin Williams with your son

 

Tuesday: your client closing on her new home; sharing a private dinner at Franklin Barbecue with your son, courtesy of Google; watching the Austin Bomb Squad in action (and surviving!)

 

 

Wednesday: making the final payment on your car; reflecting on, and celebrating, the past 32 years with the love of your life

Thursday: watching your old puppy eat, without having to coax him or feed him by hand; dinner at Eddie V's with dear friends you haven't seen in a while

 

 

Friday: sitting outside on a clear night, listening to live music with friends; a glimpse of the baby fox living in your hollow

Saturday: receiving an offer on one of your listings and writing an offer for one of your buyers; watching "Sons of Katie Elder" with your mom, then later another movie with your son

Sunday: a taste of biscuits and gravy, thanks to a friend who doesn't mind sharing; helping old homes have a chance at new life; inspiration from the Garden of Eatin'

 

 

If you think hard enough, I bet you can think of some sweet! moments from your past week. Be sure to share them in the comments! 

Sisters (and other sweet!s)

 

It would have been intimidating growing up with such a beautiful big sister if she had been the type to criticize or belittle.

But I was blessed with Brenda. 

 

 

Sure, she liked to tease me sometimes, and even lost her temper with me once or twice, but given that I was a brat for at least the first ten years of my life...okay, twenty... the way she treated me could qualify her for sainthood.

 

 

How many teenage girls let their baby sisters tag along on dates? (Did I mention I was a brat?) How many volunteer to go on school field trips? How many take their little sisters and her friends to the beach, or Astroworld, or on crazy fast spins through the neighborhood in their Volkwagon Bugs? (Don't tell anyone about that one!)

How many buy their family a green artificial Christmas tree and new ornaments to hang on it without being asked because their little sister ended up in the emergency room the year before with asthma triggered by a real tree?

When their parents are overwhelmed with worry and care over their recently paralyzed son, how many big sisters go overboard with gifts for their baby sister to make sure she still has a Merry Christmas?

When their nineteen-year-old sister finishes a stupidly scary book (Amityville Horror!), how many big sisters not only allow her to spend the night, but agree to sleep in the same room with her, as well, despite her husband's grumbling?

Yes, growing up with a big sister who is your best friend is one of the sweetest sweet!s ever. And since today is her birthday, I hope the coming year is jam-packed and overflowing with sweetness for her, because she has given everyone around her so much sweetness all of her life.

 

 

And here are a few more sweet!s from the past two weeks (how did I get so far behind?)...

Friday: lunch with a dear long-time friend, and then surprising your mom with a visit from her

Saturday: sleeping in, when you're exhausted; a visit with your mom and son and grandpuppy, all at the same time

Sunday: Garden of Eatin' inspiration

 

Monday: your old puppy waiting for you on the porch, stronger and eager for a morning walk; the miracle of arriving on time when you've left late and hit lots of traffic; finding just the right place for two of your clients after a long search

 

Tuesday: watching your old puppy swim again; a friend reminding you to stay positive; seeing your coach on television during her mission trip to help the children on the border; exploring east Austin with your son, including free food and drinks, courtesy of Google; learning how to be a DJ

 

Wednesday: singing along to the Cowboy and the Princess with your mom; making it to your belly-dancing class after missing two weeks; the neighbor to your lot listing helping you hammer your sign back in when some other useless being has pulled it up and tossed it onto your lot

Thursday: your old puppy's appetite returning, slowly but surely; a friend taking the time to teach your mom how to create newborn knitted caps

Friday: an offer on one of your residential listings and a call on one of your lot listings; issues with Russia calming down as your son and daughter-in-law prepare to leave for a vacation in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Amsterdam

Saturday: negotiations; two more calls on your listings; getting together with long-time friends you've known since high school or beyond

 

Sunday: catching a young fox in your headlights; Facebook, so you can enjoy photos of your son's trip to Russia

Monday: saving a wolf spider; a closing for one of your buyers!; just the inspiration you need waiting for you in your mailbox, thanks to a dear friend

 

Tuesday: hiking around two Texas Hill Country acres with a client; Chinese food with friends and great fortune-cookie fortunes

 

Wednesday: meeting Leon at HEB who give you a free car wash because your car really needs it; finally getting the hang of some of your belly-dancing moves

 

Thursday: joining forces with other parishioners to make your church Oktoberfest a success

 

Friday: learning more about the Circuit of the Americas racetrack at a local Chamber of Commerce meeting; getting a tour of the wedding venue that happens to be your neighbor

 

 

Saturday: getting to drive your own car after two days, thanks to your husband fixing your flat tire (yes, another one!); a gorgeous sunset and then moonrise over your hollow

 

Sunday: being able to wish your sister a happy birthday, and let her know how grateful you are for her

 

 

An older sister is a friend and defender - a listener, conspirator, a counsellor and a sharer of delights.  And sorrows too. 

 ~Pam Brown

 

Daughters (and other sweet!s)

 

 

 

They grow so fast, don't they? One minute they're crawling around on your stylish-at-the-time-rose-colored carpet, exploring and investigating... picking on their older brothers, trying to stir things up...cuddling in your arms because they're still shorter than you and easy to pick up...

...and then suddenly they're wanting to explore far beyond your carpeted floors. And while they may still be picking on their older brothers, and every once in awhile they'll snuggle their head on your shoulder, they're now several inches taller than you and impossible to pick up. 

Yes, one minute you're holding them in your arms, counting tiny toes and fingers and praising God for the miracle that is a baby girl, and then somehow in the next you're wishing them a happy 23rd birthday (but still praising God for the miracle that is a baby girl, all grown up.)

Gosh, they grow so fast. And what a sweet! it is to witness the jouney.

 

A daughter may outgrow your lap, but she will never outgrow your heart. 

 ~Author Unknown

  

Happy birthday to my baby girl, my hero these days, who does such an awesome job of taking up my slack around the house so I can focus on my real estate business. May she always believe in herself and her gifts, and see her own dreams come true.

 

 

 

Here are some other sweet!s from this past week. Despite my intentions of writing less more often, the week got totally crazy...but in a good way.  Be sure to add your sweet!s in the comments!

 

Wednesday: precious five-year-old boys who talk to you at Starbucks and tell you about their birthday parties; roadrunners

 

 

Thursday: moonlight glazing your hollow; authentic Indian food on a beautiful evening with friends and laughter after a long day; your client's offer accepted after ping-pong-ish negotiations; two new listings

Friday: helping your son's friends find a new home; watching a movie with your son when you've hardly seen him all week

 

 

Saturday: meeting the neighbor to one of your new listings and his dog, Otis; the neighbor putting the "For Sale" sign up on the lot while you visit with Otis; watching "Fiddler on the Roof" with your daughter

 

 

Sunday: a slow-paced morning; watching your old dog swim and dragonflies play tag from the bank of your pond before church; inspirational boosts from Joel Osteen and the Garden of Eatin'; Reuben sandwiches; brave friends who will spray wasp nests for you; hanging out with dear friends all afternoon

 

 

 

Monday: joining others on committees to make things better; taking time to work out on a crazy, busy day; completing things that have been weighing on you; sisters, for a million reasons

 

 

Tuesday: discovering a Deepwater/Deer Park girl in Spicewood, Texas (Debbie, DPHS Class of '71!); rain falling through sunshine; visits with your mom; potential offers on your listings

Wednesday: reflecting on all of the ages of your beautiful daughter, and giving thanks that she's yours

 

As you twirl through the coming week, I hope you find tons of sweet! moments to treasure!

 A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery while on a detour.

~Author Unknown