About the summer...

And summer hours.  I'm loving them.  Really.  Now don't get the idea that I'm not working but let's just say that things are a little more relaxed so far in the month of June!  I have harvested the infamous thistle patch in the side yard and reclaimed the land that I've been trying to pass off as part of my neighbor's yard.  I'd hate to have people think those were my weeds.  The dogs are back on their summer morning walk regime.  I was told by the vet that Cleo, aka The Fatness, was a bit plump.  Summer schedule allows for both running in the morning AND a dog walk.  We'll see if she slims down.  If not, we're resolved to the fact that she's a lot cuter when she's fat even if she sometimes makes funny pig-like noises when she breathes.  Can you have sleep apnea when you are awake?

What's the most fun though is having MR and Will home.  Mary Rollins has been at ballet the last two weeks but Will has had two weeks of nothing but playing with friends.  I felt badly about his current lack of activity (as I may have previously mentioned)  but I do believe that children with nothing to do lends to the development of their creativity.  In fact, just this morning Will asked if he and his friends could use the glue gun. 

Ummm....why?

We're making air-soft grenades?  Where's the aluminum foil?

About 20 minutes later, I heard an "Oh Crap!" in the backyard.  I was assured all was well by a boy holding a box of matches and another boy with a handful of bottle rockets. 

And, a minute ago, I saw three 12-year old boys dragging a big plastic wagon across the backyard. One of them has a shovel.  I wonder if I should be worried as I just picked them up from watching the new A-Team movie.  Apparently, it was THE BEST movie any of them had ever seen.  I'm having flashbacks to a little Williamson family incident where my brother pistol-whipped me after watching Wild Wild West. 

Oh...Will says he was just getting the shovel to put it back in the garage. Huh?  (I think I might suggest they play XBox.

Next week, we're going to Holiday World on Monday for Will's birthday party (I'll have to tell you about Holiday World if you've never been) and then Will's going with some cousins to our Tennessee lakehouse.  Mary Rollins was invited to go too, but for some reason, she was really excited about being home alone.  Without any 12 year-old boys. I can't imagine why. 

For Transy friends (and family)

This is really for Transylvanians.  I loved it. 
for Transylvanians

Summer hours...

Mystery Falls en route to Rock Bridge

It's official.  Summer is here and I am now on summer hours.  Last day of school was Thursday and also, I am the parent of a high schooler.  My golden year of two children at the same school is over.  Sigh.  It was so nice while it lasted.  I suppose when Mary Rollins and Will are both in high school it'll be all different as they won't need me/my transportation quite as much anymore.  Sigh.  All good, all good though.  Teenagers and almost-twelve year olds are really fun.

To celebrate summer hours, I'll be taking two boys (Will and Wyatt N.)  to Red River Gorge tomorrow all while working from my iPhone and Mary Rollins goes to Ballet Summer Intensives.  Then it's back to work the rest of the week but I'm pretty excited about tomorrow's summer hours.

Also, I'm open to suggestions for fun things to do with an almost-twelve-year-old boys who do not want to go to baseball camp, take tennis lessons, golf lessons, batting lessons or go to ballet summer intensives.  Any suggestion that does not include the playing of XBox 360 is welcome.

Lexington Herald Leader Reader's Choice Poll now out...

A past client and friend alerted me this morning to the poll for the 2010 Lexington Herald-Leader Reader's Choice poll.  And, of course, one of the items is your favorite Realtor.   I was actually voted #2 the year before last!  Whether you live near or far, you can offer your opinions on many of your Central Kentucky favorites, be that me or not!  To vote, click on the above post title link or click on the link below.

 Lexington Herald-Leader Reader's Choice

Here's to Uncle Marc...

Per reader request (Isabug), here's a special profile for Lexington resident Marc Mathews who is in fact, At Home in the Bluegrass.  And why is this man riding his bike in his home, you ask?  Because it's his birthday!!!  He doesn't look a day over 12 does he?  Marc says this is probably his last bike and he loves it.  At least he loved it for the 25 seconds he sat on it at 7 a.m. this morning.  It's an extra cushy-seated Giant from Pedal Power who kindly delivered it  for free which was awesome because my power-life trunk broke yesterday -- not a happy Realtor/mom was I. .In fact it reminded me of a certain camping trip on the Olympic Peninsula with a baby Mary Rollins and a Suburban whose back end wouldn't open.  Any readers remember that little week of fun Selby/Mathews adventuring? 

Old red bike, which some readers here have ridden in past, has been donated to Kentucky Refugee Ministries.  It will be overhauled by Pedal Power and somebody will have some new wheels!  Marc did not ride the new bike to work.  He claims that he would like to ride it to work but...

So here's to Uncle Marc who loves many of the blog readers as well as the blog writer but does not in fact read the blog.  Thanks for being so wonderful and not being mad about my posting that picture on Facebook this morning or here on the blog now.  You're not mad, are you Marc? Of course, you're not.  You aren't even reading the blog!   Happy Birthday anyway!!

(Ooo...and look DeMarcus Cousins is STILL on the wall in the family room.  I'm leaving him up through the NBA draft to wish him luck.)  

I voted...

but I'm not going to tell you who I voted for.  I will tell you that I ran to my voting precinct at 7:15 am this morning.  I think the poll workers were a little confused about the iPod-wearing, very sweaty woman who came in to vote but did have her driver's license with her.  I felt like such a good civically-minded, heart-healthy, earth-friendly person.  Then I went to the office for our regular Tuesday morning meeting and had a donut.  The Hippo Crate people keep sending us donuts for office meeting.  I think they want to make us hippos...

Open Houses...

I'm holding 841 Burkewood Drive open this Sunday, May 16 from 1-3 p.m.  This is a really great two-story in the Eastwood neighborhood which is a short trip to the new Liberty Elementary and it take about 5 minutes to get to Hamburg and about 10 minutes to get to UK and Downtown from here. Truly a great location and a lot of house for the money too!  Plus it has central vac.  I love central vac

Anyway, I don't do a ton of open houses and it seems like when I do host one, it's almost a guarantee that I'll generate some kind of record-setting rain storm that devastates small surrounding communities.  Really, people ought to pay me not to host open houses...or they should pay me if we are in the midst of a drought. 

Here's my question, and I'm looking for responses...do you ever go to open houses?  If you don't, why not?  When you go to open houses, what do you like about them, what do you hate about them,  do you lie to the person hosting it about why you are looking at the house?   

Calvin Borel

I wish the newspaper would do a life-size photo of him that we could put next to DeMarcus Cousins (who is still up in our family room).  Wouldn't that be hilarious?  It would probably only take two days of newspaper!

First Saturday in May

Happy Derby!  If you didn't make a contract on a home by last night, you are out of luck for the tax credit.  Today is the first day I haven't worked in about two and half months.  And a perfect day it is not to work!  It's Derby Day.  I want to go ahead and say that I am rooting for Noble's Promise!  We've had the TV on all day, what with not having tickets to the Derby and no way will I ever go at this point in my life unless I'm sitting in a box, enjoying the stories and fashions of Derby getting ready for Mary Rollins' birthday party tonight. 

(Isabug!  You should see the three-layer caramel pecan cake I made from my Magnolia Bakery Cookbook...it's amazing if I must say so myself.  I was going to try the famous banana pudding but maybe another event...like my birthday!).

Anyway, now that the tax credit deadline is passed, who knows, maybe I'll have time to blog some more.  Well, once I get all my pending sales closed! 

Go watch the Derby!!!!

I'm not complaining...

At right, that's me.  With Mary Rollins.  At the top of the Empire State Building over Spring Break.  I hadsold a ho use from the security check-in on the ground floor about 10 minutes before and sent this photo to my wonderful clients so they'd know I was hard at work.  Later that day, I negotiated another offer while walking through Central Park on the way to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  That would pretty much sum up how Spring Break went.  Lots of fun while running my real estate business from my iPhone.  It's amazing what you can do with an iPhone.  It also pretty much sums up what my days have been like for the last two and half months which explains the limited blogging. Busy busy busy.

I'm not complaining though, I promise!  Busy is good.  I just want to apologize for not posting more often, for not being able to do lunch, and for ALWAYS being on the phone.  

NCAA Brackets...the update

With broken hearts, Will and I were completely wiped from our first place position in the Sotheby's office bracket.  All we can say now is "Go Butler!". 

Not at home in the Bluegrass

If you've been wondering where this blog went for the last week...it went on Spring Break to South Carolina (of course) but also to New York via Charleston and back to South Carolina!  All came to an end on Sunday morning at 3 a.m. after a long drive home --  nothing like a late night drive to be home in time for Easter (and to work on Sunday...sigh).    

We spent four days last week in New York going shopping, to theater, to more shops, museums, lunch at the Plaza, hanging out with Isabug and David (unanimously voted by the Mathews family as the very best part of New York!!!).  I'll try to get some pictures up here later even though they aren't actually in the Bluegrass.  At right is a nice picture of how Williamson girls like to spend their time at the beach.  Where were the boys?  Surfing.  Apparently, cold water is not a problem for them -- Will didn't even have on a wet suit!  We love Sullivan's Island and we love the Selbies.  Thanks Auntie Lynda!