fruits of our labor

Choose a job you love, and you will 

never have to work a day in your life.

Confucius, Chinese teacher, philosopher, editor, and politician

I have recently started re-reading The Happiness Project  by Gretchen Rubin and the focus of September is to find your passion!  As I sit and ponder what work I do effortlessly with passion, it has always been that of mother and nurturer.  Whether it was orchestrating a big party for friends, putting a band-aid on a wound or whipping up 300 cupcakes for the PTA (yes we did that once!), my roll as mom has always been my second skin.  My kids are my passion and today I celebrate them--the fruits of my labor (literally)--and all that they are becoming!  

It is so fun to see them blossom and grow.  

What is your passion?

live passionately

Summer afternoon...to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.

Henry James, American WriterOne thing I absolutely love about summer is the way the warmer weather pulls you out-of-doors, away from your to-do lists, and frees you to play. You are invited to experience the world around you! We plunge in as water soothingly relieves us of the heat of the day, and we forget calories as we enjoy frozen treats and juicy melon. We find excuses to avoid set schedules and can take the long way home just to see the sunset. Roadsides are filled with freely growing flowers and farm stands with amazing produce. Little kids become entrepreneurs with lemonade stands, and sidewalks are filled with chalk designs of some budding artist. So wherever you are and whatever you have on your agenda today, lose your self for a little while. Make time to experience the pleasures of this most amazing season...summer is here for a moment.

Photo: Me when I was about three.

neat freak

Nothing comes from without.
All things come from within.

Neville Goddard, 1905-1972, Author Confession...even as a small child, I loved to organize...my room, my crayons, my clothes, my toys. Everything was in its place often in rainbow colored order because it just looks and feels better that way. My babysitter calls me the Neat Freak because I am always arranging and tidying. My attachment to order is getting refined by a Universe with a great sense of humor ...sending me three little beings to help me transcend this order thing...pronto!To them order distracts from the creative process...from self-expression...from "being a kid." I wonder about this sometimes...does my need for order curtail my joie de vivre? or is it teaching my children to be responsible to know where their things are? How can our worlds be in harmony when our outer expressions are so different?This weekend I spent hours cleaning out their spaces...finding things like Oreo wrappers, treasures from afternoon excursions, all my missing pairs of scissors, the sunscreen, the Scotch tape, the lost Phillips head screwdriver...they were trying to take down the ladder from their bunk bed...hmm. I had found that black hole in my universe where all things disappeared. In the beginning I was getting really frustrated because they obviously didn't get my gene in this department...but after a while, I had to laugh and try to see it through their eyes. I think it was when I found a pair of underwear tucked inside a small safe...well, you never know when you might need a spare!

When all was sparkling clean, I heard the sounds of excited voices..the kids were back and though they loved their clean rooms, they couldn't wait to play in them. I guess my sense of order sparks their creative process...and that is kind of cool...because home is where you need to feel you have a place and room to create. It is an inner balance of both the harmony of order and freedom to explore the limits. It was time to stop cleaning and join in the fun!

seeing our shadow

"Did you ever have de ja vu, Mrs. Lancaster?"

"I don't think so, but I could check with the kitchen"

Phil Conors (Bill Murray) Groundhog Day.

If you haven't ever seen the movie Groundhog's Day with Bill Murray...run out and get a copy today. In brief, it is the story of Phil Conors, a weatherman, who goes to Punxsutawny, PA to witness if the groundhog sees his shadow. He wakes up to the same day over and again until he learns the lesson of becoming a better man. (That is really a nutshell and hardly does justice to the movie..."Am I right? Or am I right?")
We have been going through our own de ja vu as we have had repeated snow days here in eastern Pennsylvania...each day getting more extreme than the next. We definitely got to see our shadow side as cabin fever set in, and three kids who are dealing with all the pressures of the move let me have it.
Granted, life has changed dramatically for them...we have moved to a new country home that is very much the opposite of our former one, they are taking the school bus, in school with hundreds of kids, routines are different, missing friends...and suddenly we are reliving the same thing every day of "I wanna go home!!"
Moving with kids, much like the story of Phil Conors is about learning something new and becoming better than we were yesterday. At times, it is one step forward and two steps back, but learning to be patient and realizing this is a huge adjustment for everyone helps tremendously. Stop. Breathe. Find a good local restaurant for take-out and eat in the living room...show them that turning the world upside down can be great!
Many of the things we are discovering are fun...like the long icy driveway that is the best for skating and the mom-and-pop stores that wield treasures not found in chains, the hopes of spring and warmer weather...so we can open the pool!

it's not the market, it's your house

...house was perfect, whether you liked food, or sleep, or work, or story-telling, or singing, or just sitting and thinking, best, or a pleasant mixture of them all.

J.R.R. Tolkien, English writer and author of the epic tale Lord of the RingsSorry for my absence! Many of you know that I just recently listed and sold my own house...and it went very quickly. Despite the advice that I was crazy for putting my house on the market just before the holidays, we did it anyway...and you know what? It sold the first day of showings! We were so grateful and were asked by many...how did you do it? After months of looking at other homes on the market, I have a little secret...it isn't the market, people are moving and looking for homes all the time despite what the newspapers report.
There are two main factors that affect a house in "this market"...price and condition. When a home is not priced properly, it becomes out of reach for the appropriate buyer, and today people are willing to "wait it out" if the price is not where it should be. An important step that a Realtor can do is to analyze other homes that are available...how does your house compare to similar houses? You have to sell a house three times: once to the buyer, once to the mortgage lender, and once to the inspector. Pricing is huge!

The next thing to consider is the condition of your home. Most buyers are not interested in the "needs a little TLC," "handyman special" or "shaggy carpet great for losing small children" look of homes. Question: how much spare time do you feel you have? None? Really? Cool, then you are like the rest of us...no one feels that they have extra time. So why would anyone want to come into a home that is going to be a project for them? There are some of us out there, but believe me, we are a small segment of the population. Your house has to be ready for the market...clean, fresh and uncluttered.Here are some of the things we did to get our house ready:

• Empty rooms of extra furniture and decorative elements to streamline and make the rooms feel more spacious. Since your goal is to move, start packing away some of those personal items you don't need every day such as photos, tchotchkes, papers & magazines...you get the picture.
• Take an honest look at your home. What needs to be cleaned or freshened? You would be amazed of the impact of fresh caulk, freshly painted rooms/trim, clean windows, manicured yard...generally making your home shine. I kept in my mind that I had some competition out there, and we wanted to not only be the best home on the market, but to give the "wow" factor. Having a home on the market a long time is exhausting...spend time upfront to get your house in its best form and you will save time on the sale side.
• Stay away from the smelly stuff...everyone has different likes and dislikes when it comes to smell. Nothing is better than clean and fresh.
• Consider doing a pre-listing inspection. Not only will it give you notice of what needs to be repaired, but it also gives your buyers peace of mind...you care about this house and did what you could to maintain it.
• Offer a home warranty to your buyers...this also gives you and your buyers peace of mind for a few hundred dollars. When you consider the things that seem to break on a house via Murphy's Law...this is great coverage to know that things will be taken care of once you are gone.
• Prepare yourself and your family for this adjustment. It was interesting to experience the feeling of having other people in my space critiquing our style and stuff. Something to keep in mind: "You don't have to be liked by every buyer, just one."
• If you have children and pets, make plans for how having your house on the market will affect their schedules. Children need to be included in the process because they can be extremely helpful with cleaning up their rooms and keeping the house tidy. I reminded my kids that if we did a good job keeping everything in good shape, we would sell it quickly and move on...they were awesome! Benji needed to be crated or removed each time we showed the house...a bit of a challenge, but it all worked out.
• Above all, have a positive attitude...I am a big believer that we send out energy all the time, and imagine the impact of walking into a home with good "vibes!" Clear the air with music, chimes, and bells.Now that we have completed all the inspections and negotiations, it is time to pack up this life we have created here and move on to the next stop along the journey. I can't help but bump into memories of bringing home new babies and the great times we had in this space with family and friends. We are truly grateful and have much to celebrate this Thanksgiving!

a thought for your week

I don’t know why they all push to get in line

–we all walk in together.

My 5 year-old son was telling his grandpa about school, and he shared this bit of wisdom.  "Some kids cry because they aren't the line leader and didn't get to be first.  Me? I don't care because we are all going to get there together."  There is a biblical passage about a child shall lead us...and sometimes just when you least expect it...they do.