The Cruise - Carnival Ecstasy

It’s the last full day of the cruise at about 1:20. I decided to take a break in my room and have a glass of wine. I’ve had a chance to reflect over my vacation so far and have been craving my blog. Since, I’m in the mood, I’m writing my thoughts now and will upload them later.

In an attempt to keep the flow of my story interesting, I’ve decided to break it up into a few segments. One will be about the cruise, one will be about my travel companion and the other, about The Cowboy.

There are many different types of cruises out there to select from. We selected the Carnival Cruise. My criterion for going with this particular line was that it sails out of Galveston. I was adamant about not having to take a plane to catch a cruise. I wanted to drive to the boat, drop our bags and begin playing.

We had a 4 night, 5 night and 7 night cruise to select from during our preferred date range. We both felt that 4 nights was too short and were afraid that 7 might feel too long.

The itenerary of our boat, The Ecstasy, was as follows: We sailed out of Galveston at 4 pm Monday, 6/23. The following day we spent a full day at sea. The next morning we docked in Progresso Yucatan for about 7 hours, then headed towards Cozumel. We docked at Cozumel at 8 in the morning, and stayed for 7 hours. Then we began our journey back to Galveston, which is where we are now. We should be docking by about 8 a.m.

We picked the cheapest cabin which was to be in the inerior of the boat, no windows and about the size of a closet. The first thing we discover when we arrive is that they upgraded us to an exterior room with a port hole. Our room is about the size of a small hotel room and we are ECSTATIC about how much space we have. We never planned on spending much time in our room but knowing that if we needed a reprieve we could do so without feeling cramped.

Every night, we had a new "towel" animal on our bed. We're not sure exactly what this is but it looks like he's expecting some action. :). Other animals included an elephant, seal and monkey.

I took a cruise about 20 years with my parents with Carnival on The Mardi Gras. At some point that boat was retired and turned into a casino boat in Galveston. I don’t know if she is still in operation or not. Anyway, Carnival has improved its cruises by tenfold.

Our ship had a lot going on. Game shows, a casino, several bars and dance clubs, a fabulous spa and gym. The swimming pool was nice and of course there several outside decks with a ton of deck chairs. Our first concern was with the number of kids on the boat, over 800. Neither of us wanted to be bothered with them. Thankfully, we found adult only decks. As well the cruise had what’s called Camp Carnival, designed to free the parents up and sort of herd the children as far away from adults as possible. I think that they did a really good job.

Nightly, they had really cool vegas style shows for the passengers to view before dinner. They also had a comedian on board that was pretty good. The dinner menu was really good. We got our lobster fix the second night. I didn’t have any steak on the ship. It wasn’t quality meat.

During our first day at sea, I laid out on one of the decks and began enjoying the fancy drinks with umbrellas in them. I absolutely loved lying out, drinking the fancy drinks and listening to familiar tunes played calypso style. Lunch on deck was the same every day: hamburgers, hot dogs, coleslaw and potato salad. I think they served something different in the dining room but I never ventured. I really liked having hamburgers. When we got to Progresso, I stayed on the boat. A lot of people did. It was really nice having so few people to share the deck with but I missed the calypso music.

The day after Progresso we arrived in Cozumel. I was up early enough to sit out on the deck and watch our boat arrive to the deck. This was a day I was really looking forward to. I had booked an excursion on a speed boat that was supposed to take us to a private Island where we could eat, drink, snorkel, and lay out in the sun all day.

We got there at 8 am. And then, at 10, dark storm clouds rolled in and stayed. We were still able to take the speed boat to our destination but for some odd reason the temperature dropped tremendously and it rained most of the time. The food was served under cover but I was so cold, wet from the ride over and just miserable. All I could think of was a warm shower and dry clothing.

So, here we are today, the last full day at sea and it’s still overcast. I’m ok with that because I’m really tired and want to nap a little. I’d feel guilty if it were sunny and bright outside.

When we docked this morning both Row and I felt very sad. We both had a really good time and sort of found our groove on the ship. We weren't ready for it to end. The boat rocked quite a bit while we were on it and I still feel like I'm rocking even though I know I'm on land. I feel like Captain Jack of Pirates.

Both of us are beginning to look up potential cruises to take in the near future. We'll see.

Bon Voyage

I'll post when I return.

I'm melting, I'm melting - and other fun stuff

Ok, as I mentioned, I've been picking up the pace this week to get off as much fat as I can. I can feel it by the way my clothes fit.

This week, I'm low carb and I do mean low carb. I think I've been really good about it and have had no more than 50 grams over the last 4 days. And I've been exercising to increase the burn rate. I've been eating like a pig because I have to say I'm hungry all the time. I want sugar so badly I can hardly stand it.

I am bringing my laptop which I didn't want to do. I have a listing that could potentially move quickly and the agent that is handling it is green. If a conract gets written up, I'll have to review it. Thankfully, phone calls are very expensive to make and recieve on the boat via cell phone. So, I won't be using the phone but I can use the texting and e-mailing on my blackberry. Though it will be limited to prevent the possibility of an unwanted call coming in whilst checking for other things.

I'm very agitated. I don't know if its because I'm hungry. Or maybe because of all the stuff I'm worried about happening while I'm away. I'm also frustrated by how long it's taking for my website to be complete. I've asked for a July 3 deadline. I don't know if I'll get it or not.

I really do want to go on this trip and not think about crap at all. I hope I succeed in getting as far away from it as possible.

And for your entertainment, here is a little something from one of my favorie entertainers, Dame Edna. I lover her!!!!

Picking up the pace

Throughout most of last week and the week before I've managed to do about 30 minutes of workout a day. And I've been watching my food intake. I don't like scales, so I don't use them. I know that certain exercises build muscle and that it weighs more than fat which in turns affects the reading one gets from a scale. Scales just discourage me so I don't keep them in my home.

I just go by the way I feel and how my clothes fit me. That tells me if I'm making progress. Which, I believe I am indeed doing. It's amazing what core exercises do for you.

So, today, I walked the loop at Memorial Park. That's an hour workout. If I can bump my workout to an hour for the remainder of this week, I think I'll be in the shape I want to be for this trip. I won't have a bikini body but I'll be satisfied with what I do have.

It's tough being petite because every pound shows.

I've been pretty consistent about the water intake. I consume a lot; on average close to 64 oz. a day give or take. This week, I'm going to nibble or graze as my sister calls it. I want to get into that habit anyway but it's not so easy to do. I struggle finding good grazing food.

I'm really looking forward to the trip and I hope to continue with the exercising beyond it. I think I will. If I continue to set goals for myself I'll keep telling myself I want to look great each time I reach a goal. So, that will motivate me to continue to work out and eat healthy between milestones.

Pinstripes pitching to THE Pinstripes

This weekend the Yankees are playing the Astros in our Minute Maid Park for the first time since the stadium opened in 2001. It was a celebrated occasion.

Interestingly, the Yankees did not wear their famous pinstripes but instead wore their grey uniforms and the Astros wore their pinstripes. I thought that was rather interesting.

It seems that our stadium had as many Yankee fans as it did Astros fans so there was simultaneous cheering and booing throughout the game. Whenever a chant for the Astros would begin, the Yankee fans would try to out-chant us. It reminded me of the scene in Casa Blanca when the German and French were singing their relative anthems, each trying to rise above the other.

We lost but we didn't just give it to them. They won by one point; Jeter got lucky. :)

All in all it was a very good game and I enjoyed the edge that the Yankee fans brought. We are generally a very polite audience and rarely boo. Up to this point, we only booed Pujols (one of my favorite players) but we actually booed both Jeter and Rodriguez. And the Yankees booed us a lot.

I enjoyed the spice. And I really enjoyed how enthusiastic we were at welcoming the Yankees and their fans to our stadium.

Giant Pool of Money

I don't know if you have ever heard of This American Life but they recently did an episode titled "Giant Pool of Money". This episode, an hour long, does a dynamic job at helping the average consumer to understand how Bear Stearns found themselves in the position of having to liquidate themselves.

Pour yourself a glass of wine, kick back, and listen.

Unbelievable.

Update on stuff, again

Ok, so here's a quick update on the goings on of my life.

Timmy asked how the deal ended. The deal ended successfully. The documents that were provided on Saturday sealed the deal. The guy that got the condo got a really sweet deal. You don't come across properties that are about to go into foreclosure that are in move-in condition.

Things are coming along nicely on the marketing front. My website is slowly coming along; I'll be so happy when it is complete.

I'm hosting a celebration of "friends, clients and associates" at Dharma Cafe next month for my business. Since I already had a launch party under my old image, I didn't want to call this a launch party. I thought of calling it a re-launch event except that wouldn't make sense to my agents' invitees.

I hope to have at least 50 people in attendance. We'll see. Invitations go out in a week or so. I have to start setting up new goals for myself. I'm back sliding.

Here's another video from the mime I like so much. His name is David Armand but his stage name if Johann Lipowitz. I really like the song on this one, too.

The best money ever spent!

I have maids cleaning my home today.

It's the best feeling in the world to have someone come into your home and clean it for you!

Ahhh.

Now for your daily entertainment

Many of you have probably already seen a shorter version of the video below, sent to me by my brother. The artist is David Armand and he is doing a mime performance to the song "Torn" by Natalie Imbruglia. I really like this performance. Enjoy.

What now?

A lot of people forget many of the events during Bill Clinton's presidency. Something significant for me is that during his second term I really began to like him and accept him. Then, Kenneth Starr, lacking anything to stick on the President settled for a "sex" scandal. Most of you remember that.

But what many of you may not remember are some of the subtle details that surfaced. At first, like many Americans, I thought it was none of my business. But, Clinton stepped up to the plate and made his defense; valiantly he declared he didn't have sex with that woman. And then he had the trial where he asked the famous question, "what is 'is'".

Then America was angry because he lied to us.

But when this happened, as angry as we were, it wasn't up to us really to forgive him. It wasn't really our place to forgive. We waited for Hillary to let us know if it was ok to forgive her husband and move on.

N.O.W. had recanted all of their support for the President and the fallout from the rest of the U.S. was pretty strong. In hindsight, I don't think America was that aghast he had an affair, I think they were aghast at how irreverent he was towards his Presidency based on the testimony of Monica Lewinsky. I know for myself, he pretty much rendered himself ineffective because this affair gave too many of his enemies power over him. It was so much easier to manipulate him while the affair was not made public.

I'm wandering off point.

After the scandal was revealed and everyone was distancing themselves from him, America waited to see what Hillary would do. I can imagine the phone calls she received. I'm sure one of them was from the head of the DNC. I would guess that the conversation went something like this:

Hillary: I have been publicly humiliated and you want me to publicly stand beside him and give America permission to forgive him? Why should I?

DNC: stuttering...making weak pleading statements about the good of the party and of everything else.

Hillary: You want me to fix this? Then you owe me; I want to run for President and I want your support. In exchange, I'll get N.O.W. to reinstate their support and I'll give America permission to forgive him.

And so, that, in my opinion, is the deal, in very simplet terms, that Hillary made with the DNC back in 1999 to help them recover from Clinton's philandering.

Ok, so fast forward to today. DNC owes her. No doubt about it. And she is one smart woman and a power house in the Party. I do not believe that she should bow out of this race without some sort of plan. That "why should I?" conversation is probably taking place again. I'm really very interested in the outcome.

She stepped up and delivered to the DNC what they requested back in 1999, now they have something they need to deliver to her in return. What's it going to be?

Cave toy

I love my little home and I love spending time in it. My friends call it "the cave" because I lock myself in when I need a reprieve from everyone. Ro will be out with friends and they'll inquire as to my whereabouts and she'll say, "she's locked in her cave watching movies" or something like that.

So anyway, she and I are going on a cruise this month and I'm very excited about it. One of the things I want to do is be in shape. I don't have to be a skinny bitch, it wouldn't hurt, but I want to feel good about my health. And lately, I haven't been feeling so good about it. I try to address the weight gain by addressing onlly the food intake but I really need to be exercising, too.

I'm reluctant to join a gym because I'm concerned I'll spend all that money and not use it.

Today, I purchased a new toy. It is a device for my bike so that it will remain stationary while I ride it. I've seen them before and I've been wanting one. So now, my cave offers a place for me to work out.
As some of you may remember, I broke the cable piece off of my t.v. and I don't have a DVR or any other device hooked up through the other electronic orifices available on my t.v. So, I need entertainment while I ride my bike and I've already seen all of my DVDs.

I set up a little place on one of my bench tables for my laptop so that I can run CNN videos while I work out. I click on one video and they continue to run in sequence so I can catch up on the day's events while I exercise on my bike. I have PC speakers set up there and everything. I can even play my i-pod through the speakers if I were so inclined.

I'm hoping I can get into the routine of riding this bike and exercising. I can do it any time if I'm so inclined.

I really think I should get my t.v. going again, though, so that I can cycle and watch Judge Judy. It's been a while since I've watched her show.

I cut all my hair off.

This is my new look. It's summertime.....and I was getting frustrated with my hair.

But wait, there's more!

I get an e-mail this morning from the seller's lender. They still do not have the document they need.

Now, I'm in panic mode. The Title Company is closed. So, I look up the owner of the title company in the tax records. I drive over to her and show her the e-mail. We drive back to the title office together and fax over the requested document.

They get it and they still think it's wrong. It turns out that they didn't identify the buyer's signature as really being his signature....it's just sort of a scribble. So we had to fax over a passport and some other document to verify the signature was indeed correct.

It's over. Dracula is finally dead.

The Rest of the Story

Ok, for those of you who don't know the beginning of the story, read HERE.

We get the second buyer to replace the first one. Now we need the title company to generate a HUD statement to submit to the seller's lender to approve the short sale. As we begin researching unpaid taxes and unpaid HOA fees, we discover that the HOA had started to foreclose on the property. We were totally blindsided by it. Thankfully, it was a very simple thing to correct but it ate up a week of our time. I wasn't able to get a HUD statement to the lender until the following week and even then they wanted us to send them support for our numbers.

The law office that was hired by the HOA would bill us every time we called them and asked for written back up, so the number they gave us kept changing. That would then affect the HUD statement and we couldn't keep doing this. It seemed that the law office didn't want to work with us. In hindsight, they just didn't believe we were going to be able to pull this off, so they didn't care. They really had no interest in sabotaging the close of this sale. They had nothing to gain by acquiring this condo.

After some revisions and corrections, we were able to get the documents to the seller to sign in Pennsylvania Thursday afternoon. A notary had to be arranged to meet him and he then fedexed the documents at 6:00 to arrive Friday for close. We had to close on Friday the 30th, there was no more time after that. The title company was swamped with closings; they wanted to push us to the very end of the day.

We finally close at 3:30 and at 4:15 I deposit my commission check in the bank and begin planning my evening celebration. At 5:00 I get a call from the seller's lender that they didn't receive a necessary document and the deal isn't final. Now, I'm back into panic mode. I can't get anyone at the title company to answer the phone. I e-mail, leave voice messages, etc. Finally, at 5:45, I get a call that everything is taken care of. It's done.

I swear, this is how it's been for 6 months. I am so glad this deal closed.

And so it begins.

We are having an afternoon shower. I've been waiting for them to begin. They usually start in June, so they come a few days early.

This truly is one of my favorite things. I've always loved them but I love them more in my new place. Something about being in an old home with wood floors, high ceilings and big windows with the rain falling all around. I feel energetic in a sense. Hard to explain.

Unfortunately, I am going to have to get out in this rain and meet someone at a property. Still, I welcome the rain and will enjoy it all month long.

I wonder if my goodies are going to arrive today....? Today would be a great day to get goodies.

Remember the Condo story? Tomorrow is do or die. I'll post the completion when I know how it ends.

Real or not Real?

Ok, this looks very real to me but for obvious reasons, you begin to wonder if it is or not.

You decide...

Morning

As many of my loyal readers and lurkers know about me is that I'm not a morning person. I usually don't rise until about 9 or 9:30. But this morning, for some reason, I wanted to get started with my day around 6:30. I decided to take a morning walk. I have a certain path I take when I walk because it's timed to exactly 30 minutes to and from my house.

I have to admit, I do love morning walks. I just wish that I remembered that as I struggle to rise in the a.m. There is something so special about mornings. For one thing it's quiet. And the animals seem to be having so much fun; it's almost as though they are celebrating the fact they made it through the night without becoming someone's dinner.

There is one particular house I pass that has 3 cats and the owner of the cats, a guy, sits on his patio every morning and feeds them. I don't know if he is a single guy or not but it made me think of the humorous YouTube video with the engineers that my sister had posted on her blog. If you are so inclined to view the video, you may do so by going HERE.

Ok, well that's about all I have to post at the moment.

Peace out.

Goosebumps

This video give me goosebumps. (I found the report on CNN and then found this on YouTube). Enjoy!

Google, you made my morning.

Google people, you are just so cool!

I went to Google's home page page to do my morning search on some meaningless and random search and saw the lovely Doodle by Grace Moon. I can't believe she is only in the 6th grade! I suspect this is going to be one-day thing with their logo, so if you read this post tomorrow, you might miss it.

The question that Google proposed to kids across america was "what if". They were supposed to finish the sentence and make a Google Doodle to fit the question. I sorted through the finalists drawings to what else had been submitted. (The link takes you to a map. Click on any specific icon and it will pull up the drawings). I particularly liked this one, not just the drawing but the humorous quip above it as well:

Strange Dream

Ok, I have to share this dream, it was so bizarre and funny and complete. It's one of those dreams that have a beginning and an end.

I dreamed that I lived in a 1 bedroom loft type apartment that was adjacent to Wortham Center, where the Houston Grand Opera lives. In my dream, the apartment actually shared the same hall which allowed free access to the opera. Though, it was not commonplace for anyone to sneak in and watch the opera.

However, I do believe that since I lived in the building and perhaps because I paid to be living in the building that it gave me some free license to do as I wished.

So, on this particular night an opera was playing. I don't know which one or what it was about and I decided that I just wanted to pop in and see some of it. I could hear it through my walls but I wanted to see what they looked like.

So, I pop in to watch it while wearing my pajamas. Now my pajamas were a button down top and pants and were a orange/pink floral print. Very pajama like. So, I go into the theater and I walk about 1/3 of the way down the isle and stand there and watch for about 5 or 10 minutes and then I leave the theater.

Then after a little while, I come back and do it again. And then the third time I do it, intermission starts. Now, on this third time, I'm not wearing the pajama bottoms, just the top. So, intermission starts and I'm standing with this oversized floral pajama top and my underwear.

As, I turn to leave, this woman sitting in one of the seats flags me over to talk to her. She is wearing a hat with a feather and a jacket with a fur collar. She is agitated and she tells me that her husband, Mr. Haselkof, the composor of this opera is livid at me and is at that moment calling security. In my mind, I'm thinking, oh, she is mistaking me for some homeless person wandering into the opera to sneak a peek. She doesn't understand that I actually live here. But I chat with her for a minute and explain that I'll get everything straightened out; then I proceed to exit back into the hallway where I see a security guard standing there waiting motioning for me to approach him.

I waive at the Security Guard and proceed to explain that I live in the building. Then approaches Mr. Haselkof who is clearly very agitated and wants me arrested for my behavior. He is convinced that I am some degenerate. So, I try to explain that I live in the building and that I appreciate opera but he's not listening.

I also apologize profusely for my bad judgement. And I promise that he will not see me the rest of the evening or ever again. I acknowledged that my behavior was in bad form and that it wouldn't happen again.

So he keeps telling the security guard to arrest me that I do not have the caliber to be in this theater. But the security guard sees it differently and tells him that he thinks I do appreciate the opera and the music. I pipe in that I actually was taking violin lessons just a couple of years ago. I mention that I was just visiting with his wife and had a lovely little chat with her.

Finally, Mr. Haselkof calms down and softens up. He agrees that I do love the opera and I do appreciate music and that I am not some wandering homeless person sneaking into the theater as a break from the streets. Realizing his error in judging my character he gives me a very sweet hug. I say good night and head back to my room.

And on my way back to my room, as I'm walking down the hall, I keep thinking, what if I went back one more time. Which I didn't do.

The rains a comin'

Every year I look forward to the same things. I don't begin my years with January, I begin them with October. October to me represents a new beginning because that was when the school year began. Well, technically it began in August. But the school years always began in Fall and October, to me, is a true fall month. I'm sure in some states September feels like fall but not here.

So when October comes around I begin to look forward to coming events. First, daylight savings time! We get to fall back an hour. I love that.

And then there's Thanksgiving, my absolute favorite day of the whole year. I will never spend Thanksgiving alone. I don't care where I have to be or who it's with, I will spend this day with people. Preferably people I like. I see this as a very low key sort of holiday. There is no pressure to exchange gifts and yet it is about reflecting on our good fortune and sharing with others around us. It's just a really really great holiday. And I even love to hear the football in the background on this day.

After Thanksgiving, comes Christmas. Christmas is not that big to me HOWEVER, flying to spend it with my sister (a.k.a. Sunwolfie) IS A BIG DEAL. This is becoming our thing. I fly up there for a week and we don't do anything but needlework and watch movies. Her husband, H, is so funny because every now and than he'll pop in and ask "Are you guys going to go out and do anything?"....

So when I get back home I begin looking forward to the Super Bowl party and begin hunting one down. I know a couple since 1993 and I have attended almost every single super bowl party they've hosted. I think I missed one or maybe 2. Not sure. They have the best parties. They actually hire people to help with their parties.

So after the Superbowl, that's about it for a few months.

Then as May and June approach I begin to look forward to the thunderstorms! I love them. June is my favorite because we get a storm every day for about an hour. It usually arrives by about 2:00. In my office now, I can't see cloud formation. I just know it's coming. And of course, I become obsessed with Accuweather and their Hurricane section.

Early early this morning, we had a thunderstorm roll in. Lightning everywhere. Little pellets of hell clicking against the window. Me warm and cozy and dry under the covers. I love summer showers.

Then at some point in July the rain sort of tapers down and in August I'm ready for the hot weather to pass and move on to Fall and the new season line up on ABC.

Roby

A couple years back, I took violin lessons. My teacher was Roby Deaton. I feel so blessed to have had him as my teacher. I can't explain what a wonderful soul this person has.

Anyway, he loves hiking in Colorado. One day he began seeking out music that expressed how he felt about the beautiful mountains but couldn't find anything that measured up. So, he wrote several pieces and compiled a CD. Below is my absolute favorite piece, called Pikes Peak. He actually taught me this piece and I can play it on my violin, too, just not was well as he. :)

I have a story to tell

I'll try to keep this interesting so that you can keep up with what's happening but this is probably the craziest transaction I've ever done and it's not over yet.

I have client who has a stunning condo that he is about to go into foreclosure on. He saw the handwriting on the wall last summer and contacted me to help him move it. As time drew on and it looked like it wasn't going to sell, we moved in the "Short Sale" direction.

For those of you who don't know what a short sale is, read HERE.

So, in October, we put the property on the market for sale $150,000 less than he bought it for. For 2 months, we didn't get any bites. So, I just started encouraging everyone and their dog to just put in an offer and not worry if it was too low. I got 3 and we took the cash deal that was right in the middle.

So, on December 20th, the seller accepted the offer, signed off on it and then we submitted it to the seller's lender to see if they would accept the short sale. We were told the person assigned to the account was Misty.

After 2 weeks of hearing nothing, I call Misty for a response. No return call. Three days go by, still no return call. So, then I start calling into the voice mail vortex and start talking to random people to find out what the story is.

The first person tells me they can't talk to me because I don't have authorization from the owner of the property for them to talk to me abou this account. So I go to my client and have him write a letter to the lender so they can talk to me. I fax it and jump back into the vortex until I get some random person on the phone. They can't find the fax. And if I hang up and call back in, I get a different person. And even if they give me their extension, the chances of it being available when I do call back in are slim. One person was kind enough to stay on the line with me while I faxed it directly to her.

She confirmed that she got it. So then when I tried to proceed to talk to her, she told me I had to confirm the account with the owner's social security number, which I did not have. So, I had to hang up the phone and call back with his SS#.

So, I go back into the random vortex.

Now, I have to explain that if one calls and doesn't have an extension to call into, then one gets sent to a menu. None of the menu options worked for me, so I would repeatedly hit the "0" button until I knew I was being transferred to a representative. That's how one gets into the voice mail vortex. And one usually stays in the vortex for 12, 15, 20, 45 minutes until some random person answers the phone.

Finally, with authorization and SS# in hand, someone told me who the account was assigned to. His name was Jim.

After 2 days of calling and playing phone tag, I finally speak to Jim. Jim tells me he is not assigned to the file but that Misty is. I tell him she doesn't return calls. He schedules an appraisal on the property and tells me to keep trying to reach Misty.

I can't get Misty on the phone. I try and try and try. I fax Misty and she doesn't call. So I call randomly and am able to at least get confirmation that the property appraised for less than our offer. In this case, that's a very good thing. It tells the lender that they are getting more money than it's worth.

I did finally get her on the phone once, in January; she actually answered her phone. She needed me to refax everything to her. She couldn't find our documents. I never got her again after that. I began trying to contact her manager or supervisor. But I kept getting blocked.

So then, out of the blue, late February, I received a call from a brand new agent who had been assigned to the file. She needed documents refaxed to her. She said not to worry, we should be closing by March 30.

March 30 comes and goes. She needs documents refaxed. By early April the buyer is starting to show signs that he is impatient. I tell the lender who tells me to tell him to hang in there a few more days. I fax and call this lender almost daily.

May 8, the lender calls and tells us that they accept the offer and we can close at the end of the month. I notify the buyer. The buyer tells us circumstances have changed and that he cannot close on the condo.

Earlier in April, the lender told me that if they accepted the offer and the buyer walks that it is still possible to move forward if we get an identical offer.

So, I throw salt over my shoulder and I put the condo back on the market on Thursday. Today, 48 hours later, I have 2....repeat 2 ..... identical offers as the first one submitted back in December. The only change that has to be made on the lender's part is the name has to be changed. Nothing else is different.

I'll keep you all posted.

Update on Company Image - For Timmy :)

Ok, so where are we now on our logo design and stuff.

The logo has been selected and the colors have been tweaked. I'm happy with the result :) The next step was to select the stationary which I thought was going to be easy 'till I walked in and saw the choices printed out. Then I had to have 2 sets of sample business cards created to pass around for feedback. I knew which one I wanted but I needed reinforcement.

My signs are printed. I love they way they look. I have a magnet for my car but I'm not using it 'till the website is up but I may change my mind and go ahead and start using it.

Ok, so now they are working on the website. There was some confusion regarding text. I thought they understood that I was hiring them to include the text; you know, tell my story. They thought I had the text. So, they are graciously helping me with the text. I am assuming some text but I need them to tell my story.

Yesterday they sent me sample tag lines. I think I had about 12 or so to choose from. The obvious one sort of just jumped out at me. I love it. So, I've selected the tag line.

Next week, my agents are going to meet and discuss marketing strategies for them and for the company. I'm very excited about this. I want to see my agents grow and succeed.

I am very pleased with the design for my business cards. I am excited now about doing some very simple things like sending cards to people that I meet. For example I went to a network meeting today and met a woman before taking my seat. After we all took our seats, she was presented an award for being an outstanding member of the group. As soon as I got back to my office, I sent her a really nice card telling her it was nice meeting her and congratulating her for her award; and I included my business card, in case she forgot who I was. Before having my company design, I didn't do that as much. Now, I want to find every excuse possible to give them out.

I'm very proud and excited about my business.

Cleaning House

I fired a client today. I'm still a little shaken by it. I was going to do it by e-mail but friends and associates encouraged me to do it over the phone and then send a nice note in the mail as a follow up. It had to be done. He was becoming very abusive towards me. I'm so glad it's over.

On other news; not going to Italy. Things became too complicated..... I'm really disappointed.

Sorry I haven't been around lately, I've been rather distracted with work and all.

Will post later.

Brewing vacation

I will post when I have more solid details but I think I'm going to be able to go to Italy with my friend, Ro. This girl has connections and I might not even have to pay for my flight over. I don't want to post any more about it because I could jinx it. But I'll know in 24-hours.

I can tell you this much. It will be exactly what I've been wanting to do since late last year.

Stay tuned for more details......

no title

So my friend, Ro, calls me about 2 days ago and excitedly tells me of an opportunity to go to Italy. Its all laid out. All we have to do is get our tickets and show up. $1600 for a round trip ticket to Naples. We can fly into Rome and maybe make it cheaper. I don't think I can swing it. We'll see.

So anyway, Ro is a soccor fan and she has skipped work and has sked me to join her at a local sports bar to watch the game and strategize a trip to Italy or some place else.

I am typing this post from my blackberry (my brother calls it a blueberry) and was inspired to do so from watching the game.

Honestly, I don't get it. How can countries, entire countries, get exited by this game. Two teams kick a ball up and down a field hoping to make at one goal more than the opposing team. A lot of the final scores are something like 2 to 1. So much work so little return.

I don't get the strategy of. The game. I'm not a big American football fan but I think its more interestng than soccor. Each play has a strategy derived from both sides. Hockey and basketball are more intresting than soccor.

I'm not debating that soccor entails skill to play. I just think there are more interstning sports.

That's my post live from Big John's Sports bar.

No Cafferty, I don't agree

And I'm not going to go to your blog to post this either.

So, you think that Clinton is responsible for the negativity in the Democratic campaign. What negativity? As Hillary has stated, this has been been an extremely clean campaign. Both candidates have done a great job keeping their gloves on.

She is making an extremely important point in her campaign and it has been consistently stated over and over. It's this: Which candidate has the best ability to beat McCain in the upcoming election and can deal with the tough issues? One of the things the delegates and super delegates have to take into consideration is the big picture. And Hillary painted the big picture in her controversial ad. She never said anything negative about anything in that ad. Her message was clear, she can take on the role of the white house and she's not afraid to go toe-to-toe with McCain.

That is the consistent message she has been sending.

I've been listening to Obama. I like him but he doesn't really say much. What he says he says eloquently and nicely and I enjoy watching him. But he doesn't have as much substance.

I think that she should continue to hang in there until the delegates decide who their nominee is. I think this is clearly demonstrating her stamina and dedication to what she beleives. She asks a valid question, why hasn't Obama closed the deal?

Hillary has done a really good job at addressing the issues head on. She speaks clearly regarding her position on different issues. I feel like when Obama speaks, his focus is on how he sounds and presents his position and not on what he is saying.

You Go Girl!

So, Ms. Clinton won Pennsylvania. I'm really very proud of her. I like to go to CNN.com and let the videos play while I'm working on papers and stuff so I've been listening to a lot of her interviews and stuff. She's really growing on me.

The idea that we can have a woman as President of the U.S. just really really rocks.

Go Hillary, Go Hillary! Shake that booty! :)

Ba Loheme

Ever since I can remember, La Boheme has been a part of my life. My earliest memories begin when I was about 8 or 7 and my mother and sisters would sit on the sofa in our living room listening to it play from the Hi Fi. This was one of those reel to reel stereos before cassette players and CD players.

I didn't know the words but I knew the story. And the end always made me cry. Then when I was close to 14 or 15, my sister was listening to the vinyl version of the opera and so I joined her and read through the libretto for the first time. I confiscated the record and kept it in my room and played it over and over and over again. I used to play the 4th act repeatedly because I wanted it to stop hurting so much.

So, about 10 years ago I saw La Boheme for the first time. I was very very nervous about seeing it because there was so much anticipation. What if it didn't deliver the way I always imagined it would be like? Thankfully, it didn't disappoint and I've seen it few more times since.

This evening, my friend John took me and his oldest daughter, Sara, to see La Boheme at Wortham Center. For some reason, it was just off. I'm really very disappointed.

Initially we thought it started at 8. Thankfully we arrived at Will Call at about 7:20 to pick up our tickets; and were immediately greeted by the chimes hastening us to our seats. So, already we were off-kilter.

Then, there were the people in front of us who decided to talk during the performance. I hate it when people do that.

Musetta wasn't right. I think that her entrance and her performance, though lesser than Mimi's, is important and should be done correctly. Her melodies are beautiful. Here they went over the top with her flamboyancy and "loud" behavior. She seemed really shrill and not attractive. Her personna didn't match the delivery of her lines.

Then of course, there was the woman a few seats down and in front of me that felt the need to unwrap candy. There is no excuse for this. If you bring candy to the opera because you think you might want to eat some, unwrap it BEFORE the performance begins. It's not that difficult, really. The people around you do not want hear you unwrap the candy and then listen to you try to decide what you want to do with the little plastic wrapper when you're done. During the 4th act, this woman proceeded to eat a pear. WTF? No, I didn't hear her eating it, I saw it.

About 2 weeks ago, John and I went with friends to see Tosca at Opera in the Heights. There was a woman there who had an entire bag of wrapped candies in her lap and during the first act proceeded to unwrap several. It was horrible. It was so bad it was comical and both myself and my friend were desparately trying to stifle our laughter.

The ecoustics were off. When performing at the opera, there are no microphones so the audience relies on the performers ability to project their voices in order for us to be able to hear them. But for some reason, I had trouble hearing Rudolfo, especially at the end when he discovers Mimi is dead. I couldn't hear Schaunard (or was it Colline) tell him to be brave.

A cell phone went off during the first act in the middle Mimi describing her life to Rudolfo. Then during either the 3rd or 4th act some beeping alarm went off and it took at least 30 seconds or so for it's owner to silence it.

During the final lines of the opera, the sur titles projected the words "power off" so there was rumbling in the crowd while Rudolfo was crying Mimi's name. I wasn't paying attention to the sur titles at this point but noticed the audience rumble a little and become restless. It was like a wave. It was after the opera that John told me what he sur titles indicated.

After the performance was over, dozens of people headed for the door during curtain call. I never noticed this before and maybe it's because whenever John and I go to the opera we are usually in the first 7 rows. This time we were 18 back. I could not believe the number of people who rushed to the doors.

I sincerely hope this is not my last memory of La Boheme; I'm afraid it is not a pleasant one.

Me and My Guy

I thought I would post a few photos of me and my little guy, Seamus. He's the love of my life. Everyone should have a guy like him in their life. I feel so blessed.

This is us watching Lord of The Rings last night. He likes to watch T.V. with me.... well, I guess he's not watching t.v. here. Maybe it was a scary monster scene or something and he's hiding his face. :)

Persians like to do that.

They like to bury their faces against your hand or your neck.

Here he is helping me. He really likes being with me while I work.....like right now. He's on his back, letting it all hang out, snoozing away.

I want his life.

Why does it have to be so hard.

Ok, so I met with the design firm today to wrap up discussions about stationary, yard signs and such. I had my mind made up before going in. Then they had print outs of my stationary options. I couldn't decide between two of them. So they printed out 30 business cards from both designs for me to pass out and get opinions on.

My poor agents. I have been bugging them to death all along the way. I think they are ready for me to just make a decision and move on. It's not as easy as it would seem, you know? But I can tell you, I'm ready to give birth to this damn "baby".

I've mailed out samples to everyone I can think of.

The good news is that this is NOT holding up my web page. I think by end next week, we'll be able to launch.

Sisterly Visits

My Sister, Sunwolfie came to see me this week. We spent our time watching movies and doing needlework. This is a lot of fun for us, even though it probably sounds boring to most of you. We did, however, manage to go out and have dinner with friends during the evening.

I took her to Dharma cafe where we had dinner with my friend/her sister-in-law. We managed to finish 2 bottles of wine between the three of us and then proceeded back to my place where I concocted a drink with Tequila and Cranberry Juice, adding triple sec to the mix. It was actually pretty tasty. I had to add sugar to the mix. I'm going to try to experiment a little with this and see if I can get it just right.

Thursday night we had steak at my friend John's.

A couple of times we stopped at the Starbucks at Gray and Shepherd hoping to have a Timmy sighting. No such luck.

Unfortunately for me, I was fighting a head cold the whole time using Nyquil and Dayquil as my only source of ammo. I was so loopy the whole time she was here. In spite of it, we had a really nice time.

Oh, and what movies did we watch? Becoming Jane, The Jane Austin Book Club, Feast of Love, Death at a Funeral, Michael Clayton, Beowolf, Enchanted and The Squid and the Whale. Thumbs down on the last one.

I was at the bookstore Friday hoping to be able to replace a book I borrowed and destroyed; and I came across a book titled Mr. Darcy's diary. Anyone know if it is a good read or not?

Bad News - Good News

Remember the negotiation from Hell? The house was inspected and we discovered a problem that required us to need a specialist to come out and assess damage and repairs. This required my client to have to renogiate a term of the contract. It was like we were back at square one and I thought I was going crazy. The realtor on the other side just would not do her job. Finally my client looked at me and said, "Let's put a bullet in this deal and walk away". I was so relieved. (That's the bad news)

So, today a property came on the market and my client loved it. We put in the offer at 6 p.m. and at 10:00 wrapped up negotiations; we have a solid deal. This is a much easier realtor to work with. Oh, and for the extra little cherry on top, this contract is $80k more than the first one. (That's the good news)

Fun fun fun

I made a new friend last month and I can't tell you her first name because it is SOOOO unique. So, I'll tell you it begins with the letter "R". That's all I can say.

She invited me to a charity event this evening at Ra Sushi. PEOPLE. I had so much fun this evening. I don't know how long its been since guys have tried to "pick me up" but they were trying. "R" and I were each other's wing man. (I even tried to hit on someone; "R" had to break the ice) I don't know any other way to say it but I had so much friggin' fun!

Racial Controversy and Barack Obama

I've been reading about the racial controversy that seems to be surfacing around Barack Obama lately. I would like to point out that though my support is for Hillary, I think very highly of Barack. I see past his race. I have even had my clients who are African American tell me that I'm color blind.

But lately, because of the issues that are surfacing, his race is being thrown in my face. And interestingly enough, it isn't being thrown in my face by white people.

What most people don't realize is that African Americans make up roughly 13% of this nation's popularity. So it is quite evident that Barack's support goes well beyond that of his own race.

His campaign will be ruined if the racial card is played. I'll be damned if I'm accused of being racist just because I don't support him. And that's where I see this heading. If Obama doesn't win the primaries, will there be rioting in the streets? Will this mean that we have to hear Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton go on and on about how unfair this country is to the black man?

And if he does win, will African Americans suddenly believe that they are entitled to something more?

I heard Michelle Obama's speech where she stated that America was ignorant. I had a roommate in college that was African American. She and I had absolutely nothing in common with one another. I tried on numerous occasions to get to know her but that effort was not reciprocated. She would have her friends come over and I would be completely isolated; most of the time I could not understand what they were saying to one another. Segregation in this case was not forced; it was just natural. She hung out with her friends, I hung out with mine.

I have often discovered, even in my field, that there is oftentimes a racial connection between the real estate agent and his/her client. Is this forced or is it natural?

It is very unfortunate that the Democrats are stuck in this stagnant situation but I don't think that either of them should have to "blink first". Why? Hillary has donated 5 million of her own money in her campaign. What should be her reason to surrender first? And why should Obama surrender first?

I think this stagnation in their running is why this is surfacing in the first place. Had Obama won the primaries outright he would be moving onto the next thing.

I think that that which occurs whenever anything becomes stagnant will occur here. Slime and ick and all that stuff begins to surface and grow. So the question becomes, who's going to become the ickiest first?

Update on stuff

Well, I have received several e-mails from Lifelock telling me that they have indeed placed fraud alerts on my accounts with the credit bureaus and they also alerted me that I have been removed from the mailouts for credit card solicitation. Today, I received a note from Experian and another bureau that indeed fraud alerts have been placed on my behalf. I should be receiving my free credit reports any day. It is such a huge relief to have this taken care of.

I have made a new friend this last month and she came over today. I made us some pizza and salad and we watched War of the Worlds. You know, I don't care how many times I watch that movie, it disturbs me. I wish I could just watch it and remove myself from it but I can't. I can't believe that when it came out initially, I went to see it by myself.

I miss tv. But, I'm a trooper and I haven't watched it for a week a now. I went on to YouTube and watched all the performances from this week. Dave Cook's rocked. Kristy Lee Cook did superbly as well. She made the right song choice. Dave has to be careful. I remember how much I loved Bo Bice and then when it was down to him and Carrie, she sang "Angels Brought Me Here" and it made me feel emotional. It wiped out Bo. KLC was very very smart to sing "God Bless the USA". But Dave's version of "Billie Jean" was absolutely brilliant. I'm sort of disappointed to see how Jason Castro is turning out. I would like to see more out of him but I'm not sure he has it in him. Brook is really talented too, I liked her version of "Every Breath You Take".

I have nothing more to report. I'm going to bed.

Peace out.

Logo - Done

I am so excited. I finally have my logo!

(Sis, it's 1c and I asked them to incorporate the little design in 2 into my other stuff to help enforce the branding. They said, "Great idea", so I get the best of both)

I agonized over this step and it took a month to do. The company I'm working with is phenomenal! I love them. They gave me such an array of logos to select from; and they were so different. Each one gave off a different set of emotions and could go just about anywhere.

I must have carried the lot around for 4 days showing them to different people and getting different opinions. I walked away saying there was no commonality but I was wrong. I just didn't want it to be the most commonly selected one. Then I asked myself why and when I solved it, I approached them asked them to fix it. And they did and it's the one.

I'm changing the name of my company. It's not a major change it's a small one but it entails having to get another DBA. Augh! I probably should have done it myself but I'm hiring a company to do it and it takes about 4 weeks to do. It's not as simple as going to courthouse locally and setting up a dba. Since it's my LLC that's the dba, stuff has to be filed with the State of Texas. It's complicated. To me it is.

My website is supposed to up and ready to rock and roll by April 7 but I think I'm going to have to wait until the end of April before I can run as my new company name. This makes me very sad. :(

Rushmore

So, I'm watching my Netflix movie this evening.... just kickin' back and chilling. And the movie is going along and there is this scene where Bill Murray is standing on one side of the street and then accross the street a cab pulls up and drops of the character Max Fischer. The cab pulls away and Max is just standing there and the backdrop of this scene is the 11th Street Cleaners.

I'm thinking, wait, I know them. They're just down the street from me. So, I pause the movie and get on my laptop and google search the film.

Sure 'nough, it was filmed here in Houston. I never knew.

OMG, I found the exact scene on YouTube.

Negotiations

I am trying to negotiate a contract on a house and my buyer has a strong personality. The sellers of the house are very nice people and not as strong but they feel steamrolled. Part of that is me, I have a tendency to be harsh (I got that lovely trait from my Mother), and part of that is my buyer; once he's made his mind up that's it, he doesn't waver.

So, everyone in this negotiation has ruffled feathers. Me, the listing agent, the buyers and the sellers. We are inches away from a signed contract. But there's one more glich that has to be worked out. Hopefully it's workable.

So, at 11:45 this morning, I opened a beer. Warsteiner, a really nice German beer. I never ever do this. "This" being drink this early on a work day. I opened my fridge and there it was. I have to calm my nerves, this is a pretty big chunk of change on the table and I don't want to blow it.

I look at successful people, the entrepreneurs of society. These people are risk takers and when one is a risk taker one has to have the stones to move forward. One also has to have drive and that drive in me is what is scaring me. On the one hand, I'm moving a process along, that's my point of view. But the recipient of this is seeing this process as a steam roller process. Where is the line? How do I back off and move forward at the same time?

What is being a good negotiator? Is it getting the deal done? Is it a happy ending for all parties? Would I want me as my agent? I think so. I'm honest, I'm not going to lead my client down a path that I think is going to end up badly. Could I handle this process better? Absolutely, I just don't know where the disconnect is.

Where can I find a really good meaty class on negotiation skills?
**********************************************************************************

Post Script: My client just called; we have a successfully negotiated contract.

Day 1 - no tv

Ok, so yesterday was my first day without tv. Last night, I napped and then started a book. It's titled "The Tin Roof Blowdown" by James Lee Burke. I stayed up very late reading it and am half-way through. I hope to finish it by tonight.

My friend John, the foodwriter, has books sent to him all the time. I think way back when during his days with API he reviewed books. So publishing companies keep sending them to him. He has this basket in his home filled with books. So, whenever I need a good read, I go to him. He is the one who turned me onto Patricia Cornwell.

I really think I like the idea of breaking myself altogether of tv. I do see how I could benefit from cable, especially with HGTV where I could learn and understand how to re-do houses. Since my market is in the older section of Houston, being able to help my clients see how they can redo a small closet or open up a kitchen might very well be worth it. I think first, I break the habit, then I acquire cable.

I'm so excited about my sister's new dog, Kira. I hope she posts pics soon. It won't be until Christmas that I actually get to meet Kira but I have to say, I'm looking forward to it.

Ok, that' s all I have to report on the home front.

T.V. Dilemma

As many of my lurkers may already know, I have this love/hate relationship with my television. I never really had one until 2001 and I've compromised by not getting cable. I figure the less interesting stuff there is, the less I'll watch.

I got hooked on a couple of shows and now that plan is blown out of the water. Though I do have to admit, I watch less than I did a year or so ago. Just not nearly less enough.

I have made a new friend who has downsized considerably. Lucky me, I bacame the owner of a couple of beautiful wooden rustic pieces of furniture for my living room. One of which is an armoir that I have decided to use as an entertainment center.

Initially, my television fit at the top of my armoir with quite a bit of top room to spare. So, I thought, if I add one of the shelves, I could raise the t.v. higher. The tv is to heavy for me, so I had to wait till my friend could come over and help me.

My friend came by and we proceeded to put the tv in and discovered that even with both of us, raising it up to our heads was still very very difficult and we began to lose control of the tv. In order to regain control, we pressed the tv pretty hard against the shelf and I heard a SNAP sound. I said that I thought we broke something and she was pretty adamant that we hadn't.

Well, yesterday afternoon I began connecting my DVD player and antaennas to the tv and discovered we snapped the cable connector off the back of the tv. Now, I cannot pick up any stations but can use the tv with the DVD player. I have been told I can still get some sort of cable hook up for my tv even without that particular piece.

So, do I upgrade to cable or do I consider this a blessing in disguise and free myself from tv alltogether?

Mimi

You know, my sister's "dog blog" is inspiring me to think about my pets. I've posted about Seamus Heiney MacCool, Little Bear, Metisse and Musetta. But I realized, I haven't posted anything about Mimi. Shame on me! Here is her photo. Yes she has a tail, but it's blurred out, 'cause I didn't use a flash. Mimi should have been named "poopy pants" because that's her attitude. Here you see her with what's called a lion shave. At the end of tail is a little tuft of fur but you can't see it here. I believe she has some artheritis and that is why she is the way she is. So, I don't bother her too much. I give her kisses on the head and she seems to like that, but she'll get mad if I overdo it. She's a kitty only a mommy could love. I believe she'll be 12 this December.

And here is my little boy, Seamus, looking out the window.

Dreams and stuff

I had a dream last night that included my little brother.

I was at a game. I can't remember if it was a baseball or basketball game but I was in the stadium with someone I knew and it was during a break in play. While there, I receive a video on my cell phone and I proceed to play it. My brother sent me a video of him playing basketball and it looked professional. Meaning, it looked like a video feed done by a sports station and my brother was on a team.

He was wearing a white uniform, with blue seams and a red number and the point of view of the camera was from behind the basket as he was dribbling towards it and he did a slam dunk. Then I was in the video giving him a high five and I kept wondering how he got me in the video when I wasn't there. Then I looked up at the screen in the stadium and the same video was playing on the screen. I was embarassed so I stopped the video on my phone and it stopped it on the screen in the stadium.

I called him this morning after I woke up to tell him about the dream. When he answers the phone he says, let me guess, you had a dream about me. We are so in sync with one another, it scares me sometimes. You never want to play against us in pictionary. I'll draw just a few lines that no one can recognize and he'll call it out.

I know I refer to him as my little brother but he is really only 1 1/2 years younger than me. When we were young we were Pete and Repete...wherever you saw one, you saw the other. And most people were convinced we were twins. He's deep deep deep in my heart and we are closing the gap that developed between us over the past years.

He's looking at moving back to Houston, which thrills me. Now, if I can get him to work with me....that would be awesome.

More on Lifelock and Experian

I've been giving a lot of consideration to the lawsuit that has been submitted against Lifelock by Experian. The basis of the suit is that Experian is claiming that Lifelock doesn't have the legal right to place these "fraud alerts" on behalf of their consumers. They claim the individual has to do it themselves. What if I write a letter authorizing Lifelock to do this on my behalf?

But the basis of this lawsuit goes much deeper. It's about the cost to Experian and other credit bureaus that is driving the lawsuit. Once the fraud alerts are in place, they are required to generate free credit reports, I believe credit bureaus have to call the individual to confirm each time credit is applied for, etc.

But there is something that isn't being pointed out that I think should be pointed out. The people who suffer the most from identity theft are the individuals whos identity is being stolen. And the loss in measures of impact is much greater than they are to the creditors. The credit bureaus never had to feel this loss.

Now, the credit bureaus are feeling it. And they seem to believe their only recourse is to sue Lifelock instead of joining Lifelock's crusade to change the industry to make it more difficult for identity theft to occur. Maybe the credit bureaus need to call the credit card companies and tell them to stop mailing out so much crap. You know, if I need a credit card, I think I can figure out how to apply for one. I'm sick of shredding that stuff. Perhaps the credit bureaus should set up internal policies and procedures that require more inquiries whenever someone tries to set up credit to be sure that the person applying is who they say they are.

The credit bureaus up to this point could hold a neutral ground because they didn't have to feel anything. Well, now they feel it and they don't like it and it's putting them in the middle between the credit companies and the inidividual consumers. And they have decided to sell the consumer down the river by suing Lifelock than voice our concerns to the crediters.

Logos 2

I went to meet my Marketing/Design company yesterday. I brought all the logos with me that they had given me to select from. I narrowed my choices down to three. It wasn't easy. Though the logo boards are mine and I can keep them, I decided to leave them with them for the time being. I need a break from them.

I had been carrying them around with me for days showing them to one friend after another. I thought perhaps the choice would be so simple but each person had a different set of favorites with different reasons. I started to become anxious about my decision. It's important to me that I set the right image. Classy, elegant, yet approachable. I want high-end clientèle but I don't want to alienate some good lower end ones, either. It's a delicate balance.

So, now the next step is that they are going to play with my favorite logos and tweak them. I actually have 2 that I like one needs some "pop" to it and the other needs to be toned down a bit so that the name can be more legible. The third one looks very feminine but I liked where they were going with the design. I need them to tone the femininity down and make it a little bolder.

My next appointment is next week and I'll get to choose the one I like the most.

This is pretty exciting. I just hope I can have my web site up by April. I hope I hope.

Lifelock

Recently, I attended a seminar on Identity Theft. It is amazing how easy it seems to be for people to steal one's identity. Maybe the more appropriate word would be scary.

I decided that until I am ready to purchase a house, I don't really need any more personal credit. Any credit I apply for now, will be for my business. My business was recently approved for a loan so it is on it's way in developing good credit and I probably won't have to continue to use my own personal credit for it to get qualified for loans. I don't anticipate having to apply for more for at least another year. I don't mind having to go through extra, perhaps cumbersome, steps to apply for more personal credit if necessary.

So, I heard about this company called Lifelock. The CEO of the company openly gives out his social security number to demonstrate his confidence in his system. So, I signed on.

I've been doing some google research and it looks like Experian doesn't like them. Apparently Lifelock's method of protecting it's member's credit creates a lot of work for Experian. They feel that unless one has actual reason to believe they are a victim of fraud that the measures Lifelock takes shouldn't be implemented.

After further research, I understand that once one credit bureau is notified, then the other big 2 are notified. Those being Transwestern and Equifax. The process to apply for a fraud alert with the latter two is very cumbersome so my guess is that it is all falling onto Experian to process the alert and then notify the other two bureaus. This might also be why Experian is screaming about Lifelock.

I got a letter from my credit union telling me one of my accounts had been compromised but that they had everything under control. What was compromised, my social security number? I receive mail everyday. One day, I noticed I didn't get any mail. Was it stolen from my box? What constitutes a reason to believe I'm a victim of fraud?

Based on all the Credit Card crap I get in the mail and how easy it seems for anyone to access my information, and how fast identity theft is growing, I am increasingly concerned about my information falling in the wrong hands.

Everything Lifelock does for it's members, members can do for themselves. It's the hassle of doing it, sort of like changing the oil in my car, that deters me. I don't know how to do these things. If you go onto Experian's website, it takes a while to find the information to create a fraud alert. You have to dig for it.

Lifelock will also stop the credit card mail I receive. And they keep doing it. Not just once but every 90 days until I stop being a member.

I read somewhere, I don't know where it was, but I have a tendency to agree with this point: The credit bureaus make a lot of money doing what they do and having access to our information that protecting our credit is not really a priority. It is also my understanding that the measures used by Lifelock make it difficult for our information to be sold. One article went on to state that they really don't care. I believe that.

Logos

I am now over a year in my new business and it's time to begin a major make-over. The first thing to do is the logo design. The company I've hired has produced some outstanding logos for my business and I love them all. I'm very confused, though. It is so important to me to get this right. So, I've set an appointment with them for Wednesday to go over the logos and review my choices.

After I pick the logo, they'll design the signs and stationery. And then the last thing will be the website. My timeline is April, but I have a feeling we won't be done 'till end April. I want to have it ready in time for moving season but I think May will be ok.

I'm so excited to be doing this.

Sleep Deprivation

There was a really great report on 60 Minutes this evening discussing the effects of sleep deprivation. They showed that when people didn't get enough sleep they ate more and they also developed conditions that could lead towards diabetes. And, obviously, I feel better during the day.

I have two cats and at night, they want to play. It usually only lasts a little while but it wakes me up; and, most often when that happens I have been unable to go back to sleep. It isn't uncommon for them to wake me up at 4 and 5 in the morning. When that happens, I'm wide awake for about an hour or two and then I have to go back to bed and then don't get up until after 10.

Lately, I've been chasing them out of my room at night when I go to bed and not letting them back in until I get up. I have noticed a significant change in my sleeping as a result of this. I find I can get up at 9:00 a.m. every day. Sometimes, I wake up at 8:00 and can get up and get on with my day. I still wake up in the middle of the night but not as frequently. And my cats do get impatient and by about 8:30 a.m. are at my door meowing for me to get up and be among them. But for the most part, it's good. I get enough sleep and I feel better.

A tribute to Ziggy

I'm giddy right now. I know it's silly but I am. My sister has set up a blog, finally. Sunwolf Lightfoot

As I posted earlier, she lost her sweet dog, Ziggy. And now my sister is grieving. I learned when my father passed that everyone had their way of dealing with grief and then moving on. My sister is dealing with her grief by blogging about it. When my father passed, I sent out Christmas cards to every single person I knew and noted my father's passing in each one. I needed the universe to know of my loss, so I can understand my sister's need to do the same.

I admit, the circumstances inspiring the blog are not happy ones and I know how painful it is to lose a pet. And the pain and angst, in my opinion, is probably multiplied when the loss is as a result of having to put the animal down. I remember putting Metisse down and I couldn't stop crying for days. She was so cute and playful and suddenly, out of the blue, the vet said she had 24 hours to live. I was so sure the vet was wrong, I sought out a second opinion.

If I know my sister, the blog is to be a celebration of Ziggy's life and his legacy. After all, he was the first. And how ironic is that? My sister acquired him from her in-laws when Ziggy's owner could no longer care for him. Ziggy was named such because her in-laws decided that this would be their last German Shepherd. Get it? Z is the last letter of the alphabet. So, the Omega turned out to be the Alpha and Ziggy is to be the first German Shepherd in my sister's life.

Today she drives to meet Kira, a beautiful German Shepherd at a local rescue. I cannot wait to hear how it goes. I wonder if the original owners named her Kira after the heroine in the book We The Living by Ayn Rand.

Another video from The Other Guys

My nephew's band "The Other Guys" had a competition in London. On their way home back to St. Andrews, on a whim, while waiting for their train at Leucher's Train Station in Scotland, they made the following video. My nephew is the one in the very middle up front, with the scarf. That scarf is a Dr. Who scarf and goes on and on and on. My sister made it for him. The accoustics aren't that great but the moves are cute; the girl you see dancing with them choreographed the moves. Enjoy!

A moment for Ziggy

My sister's beautiful German shepherd had to be put down this morning. She had called me yesterday and told me he was sick and had some sort of aggressive cancer that had attached itself to his spleen. This afternoon she texted me "he's gone".

I thought perhaps he had passed away during the night and was relieved that she didn't have to make the decision to put him down. But when I called her, she told me that she had made the decision herself. Her husband is out of town and her son is in school in Europe so she pretty much had to do this alone. She's really broken up over it, he was a really sweet dog. He would wipe his feet before coming into the house from a walk or play in the back yard.

So, goodbye Zigfried Von Wolfhausen, you were a very good dog and I hope that you find lots of fire hydrants to pee on, cats, cars and postmen to chase, and a good man to be a best friend to up there in doggy heaven.

The Obama Advantage

I have been giving great consideration to why Obama is doing as well as he is in the primaries and why I believe he will have a very strong chance at winning the Presidency if he successfully wins the Democratic nomination.

Let's start with a commonly known statistic. When a Governor goes up against a Senator, the Governor always wins. Recent examples would be Carter, Reagan, Clinton and G.W. who were all Governors. So why do Governors win against the more seasoned and experienced Senators? In my opinion there are two reasons.

First, the Governor is perceived as not being "corrupted" by D.C. politics. They are untouched and represent a pure break from what the rest of us hate about Washington D.C. We naive voters hope this new "innocent" will be able to resist the corrupt D. C. machine.

Secondly, they don't have a record that sticks to them. Once one becomes a Senator, the deals and negotiations begin and votes are traded for favors, etc. The Senator develops a track record of voting which later becomes public record and then is used by the "enemy" to begin defining who the person is. The objective is to put the person on defense.

Ok, so here we have a gaggle of Senators running for the White House. Both Clinton and Obama are minorities and there is no way that either of them would have had a shot at the White House if they were to try to run as Governors. They had to prove to America that they were Presidential material by first proving themselves as Senators.

So, how does one get the Governor advantage? By doing as little as possible while being Senator so that nothing sticks. And that, my friends, is what Obama has been doing. We can argue until we are blue in the face that Obama has no experience but then neither did all the Governors who became President of the U.S. Even though Clinton hasn't been Senator for long, we know her too well and she has some baggage she may not be able to rid herself of. Notice how Obama doesn't defend his lack of experience and instead promotes himself as a "new page".

Obama has cleverly demonstrated his D.C. "innocence" by not accepting specific types of donations for his campaign. This is his way of giving the image that he is "untouched" by Washington politics.

So, Obama's advantage, in my so ever humble opinion, is that he has studied all the reasons a Governor wins these elections and has effectively found a way to wrap himself to be a Governor in Senator's clothing.

Very addictive game

Hey guys. I found this game. Beware, it's addictive. I don't know how to quell the music though. It's nice music but I'd like to be able to turn it off.

Boomshine

The objective of the game is to explode ONE dot that causes a chain reaction that explodes other dots. Each level challenges you to explode more dots. Levels 9, 10 and 11 are where they really have you pulled into the game; and it's really easy to reach those levels.

Have fun.

I'm not kidding, it's addictive. Oh and I found out how to turn off the music (the little speaker icon) but you still get zen sounds when you play.


OK, you've been warned... this game is very very addictive.....

And So it Begins

Augh, moving season is beginning to trickle in. I've been busy. But really most of the things I've been busy with this month has been very exciting. I have hired a marketing design company to do a make over on my company image. They are going to design my logo, stationery and website. I'm so very pumped. January and February are good months to focus on this type of stuff because it's slow.

But this last week I've picked up two customers.

So this means that I might be a bit scarce. During the day I have lots of things I want to blog about but at the end of the day, I'm dead. I become a vegetable. I pick up the remote control and start mindlessly flipping through all three channels. I don't have cable... I'm too frugal. Every dime is going into the building of my business. But next year..... next year, I'll have cable AND maid service. And hopefully blog just a wee bit more.

Bored Dot Com

I was bored so I googled "fun things to do online" and found this cool website. www.bored.com.

Anyway, I went there and created the following Masterpiece. IT'S A MASTERPIECE, I TELL YOU..... A MASTERPIECE.


Click here to create your own painting.

I voted

Well, I did it. I voted in the Primaries. First time ever for me. And I voted for Hillary, a Democrat. My father is rolling in his grave, I just know it.

No! Say it isn't so!

Apparently YouTube's DNS has been hijacked and the whole sight is down..... Augh! I need my comedy fix.... somebody, make it stop.

Von Lee Smith - Another one to watch

Another recently discovered talent, Von Lee Smith, surfaced some time last year and was on "The View". This is his performance. I don't know what's become of him since his performance below. Does anyone know? This video is pretty good and you can see he's very talented and demonstrates a very broad vocal range.

He probably can do just about anything. You can also go HERE to other videos - his version of "Bohemian Rhapsody" is outstanding.

Josiah Leming - A Star is Born

I am absolutely crazy in love with this kid. He auditioned for American Idol, made it to Hollywood and then got cut. He was having trouble working with others and with other material. I think they did a big favor for him by letting him go. I know a lot of people are upset by it but I don't think he would have been able to shine because he was having so much trouble working with the unfamiliar. And that's part of how you grow with AI. If the performer can't go out of his/her comfort zone, then he/she can't grow. He is still somewhat pretentious but so were Elton John & Bernie Taupin when they first started.

I sincerely hope this kid grows and isn't just a flash in the pan. That's up to him, though. Enjoy the video.

More on Joran Van Der Sloot

As you can see, I'm still really caught up in this. I found this video on YouTube. It is an interview the Joran Van Der Sloot had BEFORE the televised confession. He had no idea what was going to be televised, he just knew it was something he had said. Note that when they make reference of the person that helped him dispose of the body, he doesn't deny it. He actually plays down his relationship with the person that helped him.

Additionally, HERE is a very interesting article that puts more of these events into perspective, including how much involvement Van Der Sloot's father had in influencing Joran's answers to the police interrogation from the very beginning of the investigation.

Campaign Science

The "candidate matchmaker" I have posted just prior to this post has really been making me think. For some time now, I've been posting about my thoughts and opinions regarding the Republican Party and how I'm ready to abandon ship and go Democrat. Even going so far as to declaring my desire to vote for Hillary Clinton.

If someone told me 8 years ago that I would be voting for Hillary, I would have laughed in their face. Fast forward to today and that's where I am. I am about to vote for "the enemy".

So, I take the quiz and I discover that based on my answers and Hillary's existing position on the issues she is the least compatible with my views on politics and Huckabee is the strongest. And yet, I still want to vote for Hillary.

That's where the science of campaigning has to be an extremely fascinating phenomenon. I'm curious about the different markets that candidates have to woo. I guess I don't fall into the "I want to see where they stand on the issues before deciding" market. Because, obviously, I'm voting for the one I'm least aligned with. How do candidates decide to market themselves? What do they throw away and what do they keep as benefits for their constituents.

I guess it goes back to the seduction of G.W. I fell for him.....hard. And then I regretted it. So what difference does it make if they line up or not.

James Carville is the only political consultant I know of and I really know so little about him. But for some reason, I feel like I know of him well enough to think he's probably the best. But I'm sure timing is everything. Bill Clinton's campaign was the right time for Carville. Still, I would have to think that listening to his strategies and the reasoning behind them would be absolutely fascinating!

Who is your match?

I took the quiz and shockingly was told I'm closer to Huckabee than to either Clinton or Obama...... Interesting.

It's Decidedly So

I have given it a lot of thought and I feel very comfortable with my decision to vote for Hillary. Both in the primaries and in the big election.

I think this is our only shot at getting a woman in the White House. That isn't the only reason I'm voting for her. I honestly do not think that either McCain or Huckabee have the charisma to win an election for President. I'm tired of the Republican way of doing things.

I think that Hillary has a lot of experience and she has an extremely intelligent man at her side who understands people. I like Obama but I just don't think he has the experience.

So, I'm really excited about voting in the Primaries becuase I've never done it before. I never would have thought that when I did actually get around to doing it that it would be Democratic Primaries. Interesting how times and people change.

Curious Kitty

Seamus is very curious about the workings of my printer. Every time I fax, scan or copy something, Seamus becomes the detective.

Joran Van Der Sloot

I watched the interview on 20/20 last night and I've been reading the fallout from it. Specifically the response by Van Der Sloot's attorney.

This is what I think. I think he lied about calling someone to dispose the body. I believe he disposed of it himself. The events around his friend coming over to dispose the body and Joran's walk home apparently don't line up. The phone call from the phone booth couldn't have happened because it doesn't take local calls. I believe that he was on the beach with her and I believe that while she was with him she died and I believe that he did absolutely nothing to help her and I believe he disposed of the body.

And the fact that he did dispose of the body implies to me that he was somehow involved in her death.

One thing is for sure; his attitude regarding the entire episode has been and continues to be absolutely disgusting.

I wonder if his parents continue to feel compelled to unconditionally stand behind him.

My Top 10 Superbowl Facts

I love the SuperBowl. It's the party and the commercial and tradition around it that I love so much. I don't watch a minute of football during the season and I pay very little attention to the statistics throughout the season but I'm always aware of the upcoming event.

So, I found a site that lists 40 amazing Superbowl facts. Below are my favorite 10. The link to the site is at the bottom of page.

1) Per their contract with FOX Sports, camera operators will get paid a bonus every time they show a celebrity in the stands -- and the bonus doubles if the celebrity is young and female.

2) Super Bowl footballs are made from specially modified pigs commissioned by the league with "NFL" watermarks tattooed into their skin.

3) A recent study was supressed because it revealed the TV average viewer loses 2.6 I.Q. points while watching the Super Bowl.

4) The current Motorola headsets used by sideline coaches feature military-grade voice encryption.

5) The week before the Super Bowl is the peak U.S. sales period for beer, soda and urinal cakes.

6) The NFL commissioner's office gives a pair of tickets for the following year's Super Bowl to the parents of the first baby born after kickoff.

7) Cruise ships are forced to remain in port the day of the Super Bowl because the last three times Boston and New York teams played for a sports championship, the game coincided with the sinking of the Titanic, the Andrea Doria and the Lusitania. This doesn't make sense to me, there were no superbowls when the Titanic sank.

8) The number of chickens used to meet the nationwide demand for hot wings during the game is roughly equivalent to the population of New York City.

9) At one point during their 1980 Super Bowl season, 31 players on the Los Angeles Raiders 40-man roster were convicted felons.

10) New technology proposed by the FCC would determine when an obscenity is spoken by fans attending the game, who would then be required to pay fines as a condition of leaving the stadium.

The source of these Amazing but True Facts is HERE. Enjoy!

Closure

There are some national stories that linger with me for a long time primarily because I need closure in order to move on. Schapelle Corby is one of those stories that I just keep waiting will have a happy ending. I wonder about her now and then. Unfortunately, I'm not optimistic about her fate; I wonder if she were American if it would have turned out better for her

The other story I've needed closure on has been the story of Natalie Holloway. I went on to FoxNews.Com this morning and at the top of the page is a report that the confession that was pulled from Joran van der Sloot by a hidden camera is admissable in court. That arrogant piece of ---- is going to get what's coming to him.