Long Hollow

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

Happy birthday, Belle! (and other sweet!s)

 

 

Eight years ago, while we were mourning the loss of our sweet Charly, a litter of puppies was born in east Texas.  Whether the mom was a pure-bred who had a wild fling with a stray, or she was a mixed breed stray herself, we'll never know. 

We do know that a few weeks later a little black and brown bundle of cuteness wandered up to a home near Tyler, Texas. Unfortunately, the home belonged to a single mom living on a teacher's salary who could barely afford the horses and handful of stray dogs and cats she already owned.

Fortunately, she was determined to find a home for the cute puppy. Otherwise she would have to send it to a shelter... and there were no 'no-kill' shelters in Tyler, Texas. 

Her son posted its photo on a Facebook page for University of Texas students. Our daughter spotted it and sent it to me. It wasn't the first photo she had sent me, but by then, our resolve against getting another dog had been cracked by our German Shepherd/Great Dane Max's obvious despondency over Charly's absence.

He was so lonely! He just dragged his feet on our morning walks, ignoring Frankie the guinea fowl, and spent most of his time sleeping.

Seeing him like that just broke my heart!

We gave in, deciding Max needed a puppy, and after several phone calls with the puppy's foster mother, Tom and I arranged to meet her at a Dairy Queen in a little town outside of Waco. 

She called the puppy 'Thibodeaux'.

Um, no. To me, that just wasn't a fit. So as we drove down the highway, I ran name after name through my mind, trying to find just the right one.

At the Bell County line, it came to me  - "Belle". My Belle of Long Hollow.

Max gave his full approval, to the name and the puppy.

 

 

We'll be celebrating Belle's birthday on Sunday, probably with an extra walk and maybe some popcorn. She loves popcorn.

Somehow eight years have passed, as well as Max and Frankie. Once again, we've decided we won't get another dog.

I think Belle's okay with that; she's an inside dog now and very content. Besides, I don't think our allergies or our iRobot could handle a second dog in the house!

But "never say never", right? I know each one of our critters has been a gift from God, delivered just when we needed it.  Who knows who we'll meet up the road?

 

 

"Dogs' lives are too short. Their only fault, really."

~Agnes Sligh Turnbull

 

And now for a few more sweet!s I've collected since Christmas...

A motivating all-day leadership mastermind in Houston for all of the Keller Williams Realty Agent Leadership Councils in our region

Spotting a "sun-heart" in my sunlight photo taken on the trip home from Houston afterward (this is cropped quite a bit so you can see it) 

 

(Yes, I know it also looks a bit like a lima bean)

 

All of the "Friend-versary" videos popping up on Facebook 

Allergy medicines that keep my cedar fever under control

Belle snuggling in her puppy beds all over the house

 

 

Walks with Belle on gorgeous, frosty, golden mornings, and the view of mist rising from Lake Travis 

Getting a contract on one of my listings in 9 days

 

Seeing the latest Star Wars movie, "The Last Jedi", with my son... flashing back to seeing the very first one 40+ years ago ... feeling I had come full circle.

Spending a day helping a friend celebrate her birthday in one of her favorite places... Magnolia Market in Waco ... and seeing another longtime friend for the first time in years. 

 

A friend's new home almost complete on the lot I helped her buy a year ago

Audible, so I can "read" books in my car when I have no time at home

My oldest decorating his Christmas tree with his childhood ornaments that used to hang on mine

 

My photo book of my Italy trip delivered to my doorstep

Friends recommending me, bringing me new buyer and seller clients

Warm temperatures returning after three days below freezing

A warm bowl of Hoppin' John on a cold New Year's Day

 

Spotting a huge owl on my morning walk and hearing it whistle

A successful surgery for someone I love (but please keep them in your prayers as they recover) 

And of course, plenty of heart rocks... 

 

(Can you think of any sweet!s in your own life? Share them in the comments!)

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

~Thornton Wilder

 

Ch-ch-ch-changes... and other sweet!s

 

Did you notice my blog looks a little different? 

Apparently, my blogs weren't 'mobile-friendly', so to keep up with the times (and to keep BlogHer happy) I had to make some changes. 

Updating my Confessions blog (hosted by Blogger) was easy. Just one click, and it was done, somehow retaining my same old design, including the banner my friend Jill created for me years ago.

But this one? My original blog hosted by Typepad? Not so easy. I had to pick a whole new template. 

In the long run, it's a good thing, though. I've been wanting to change it up for quite a while, but I have a tendency to overthink everything and have a tough time making decisions. The key ingredients in procrastination. So I was actually grateful for the kick in the rear. 

It still took me a week to make the change. The past couple of weeks since my last post have been really busy. Fortunately, they were dotted with many sweet!s...

Last night I spent some time with the full moon, just standing on the path in front of our house, gazing at it and listening to the frogs singing down by the pond. That's the best kind of re-charging. 

My sister got my mom an iPhone. She can push a button and tell Siri to call someone. Plus, it's much easier for me to navigate than her old flip phone. Those things are so complicated!

 

 

My client-turned-friend Tammy's closing. She has become such an inspiration to me. Breast-cancer survivor, recent widow, always positive even through some bumps on the way to finding her new home. She showed me what faith looks like. 

 

The weeds in our front yard have turned into Indian Blankets and Mexican Hats, thank goodness!

 

Cedar Waxwings graced Long Hollow with their presence one day last week. I'm so glad I noticed them and had time to snap a few hundred photos of them while they were here. 

 

I spent an afternoon learning all about the history and brewing of beer, courtesy of my son Daniel, who invited me to tag along on the the tour he coordinated for his State Library co-workers, and Ryan, who I've known practically all his life. He is now a cellarman at Live Oak Brewing Company, the oldest microbrewery in Austin. (I'll write a whole post about it later.)

 

Someone gave me this little rose bush for my 50th or 51st birthday. I wish I could remember who it was. It's the toughest little thing I know, blooming every year after freezes and droughts, with no help whatsoever from me.

 

Our church's Garden of Eatin' once again offered encouragement, via the sign above, and culinary delight, via the homemade cannoli below. 

Once upon a time, I was active on FlickR, and that's how I met Debbie, another photography addict. We met in person in Houston several years ago and have stayed close via Facebook.

This weekend she came to Austin with friends for a winery tour, so on Saturday we met out at Flat Creek Estate. Not only did I get to spend a little time with her, but I satisfied my craving for a Flat Creek Margherita Pizza. Yum!

(P.S. People who say 'virtual friends aren't real friends' don't know what they're talking about.) 

 

My latest listing is situated on Slick Rock Golf Course in Horseshoe Bay. I snapped this photo while tagging along after Brent, a real estate photographer from  QuickPics Photography. Isn't this a gorgeous view? For photos of the actual house, check out the slideshow.

(No, I don't take my own real estate photographs. Timewise, it's cheaper to hire someone, freeing me to find buyers for my listings! And then more listings!)

 

I already knew I had passed all of the required classes, but it was still an awesome feeling getting this official certificate in the mail!

 

I hope you've been keeping track of your sweet moments, too. Share them in the comments! My phone has become a handy log for mine.

 

A good snapshot stops a moment from running away.

~Eudora Welty