Midday yesterday, I was out looking at the flowers and ruminating on the market. As the title implies, the garden is good, the market is, while maybe not evil, it could certainly be a bit nicer.

We are all working hard, putting buyers and sellers together, and some things just aren't working out. Either because the sales are falling through due to unrealistic expectations at the home inspection, or the mortgage companies just not being able to perform the magic they promised us.

I love to walk around my garden and I even talk to the flowers most days. Eccentric? You betcha! Usually just a hello you guys, or a touch of a petal. My garden makes me happy and yesterday, I sat by the pool and was mesmerized by the butterflies flitting from one flower to another, the birds landing here and there, my favorite little yellow finches landing right on the sunflowers. Before I realized it, 30 minutes had gone by. It was a lovely way to take a break from the real world of work, worry, Mike's leaving for college, potty training the new baby dog JJ, my 5 pound weight gain, etc.

Almost every single flower, shrub and most of the trees were planted by yours truly. I was born and raised in a row home in South Philadelphia, and my husband still marvels that a city girl could have such a green thumb. Looking at my flowers everyday makes me very happy and I love to take time out to just enjoy them.

Crape myrtles are a favorite of mine. They bloom in East Goshen through most of July and August and they are so pretty.

Black eyed Susans are another favorite. These chirpy little flowers just multiply like crazy and I don't really have to do much to keep them happy. Sort like my new puppy. JJ is very in the moment. Whatever he is doing, he's happy doing it. Sadly, he is very easily distracted. If he takes 10 minutes to find just the right potty spot and is ready to go, my bad luck if a butterfly flits by. He's off and it's another 10 minutes to potty time. I'm not getting very much other stuff done but he is a joy and I am loving it.

If you look very closely at the bottom of this picture you'll see Max's Marigolds. When Max was in Kindergarten, he brought me home one little marigold in a Styrofoam coffee cup. I nursed that little baby through the summer, and in the fall, I took the seeds in for the winter. The next spring, I sprinkled them on the mulch and I had marigolds everywhere. Max is now going into 6th grade. I have continued to take in his marigold seeds and sprinkle them every April and I have them everywhere. Some of my neighbors also have them. A client who moved to Virginia gets seeds in the mail from me and he has them down there. Max's marigolds make me happy with remembrance of him as a small boy and are a constant reminder of what a fine young man he is growing up to be.

If you find yourself in East Goshen, Chester County, give me a call. I can give you a tour of the local housing market as well as a tour of my garden. Everyone is welcome!

Roux 3, One of my favorite places to eat!

Tim Johnson, one of the owners of Roux 3 usually attends my Sunday morning body pump class with his lovely wife Lora. They have 2 beautiful children. Tim is one of the nicest people I have the pleasure of laughing with on Sunday mornings and the food at his restaurant is out of this world! The have a calamari appetizer that is heavenly! Check out what is going on this weekend:

Summer Dinners @ ROUX 3 Restaurant

Edgemont Square Shopping Center, (next to regal cinemas) Newtown Square 610.356.9500

Website www.roux3.com

"Clambake"

Traditional New England Style Clambake Lobster, Crab, Mussels, Clams, Jumbo Shrimp simmered in shellfish broth served with "Pete's Farm" (Pete's Farm is a great local farmers market) Local Silver Queen Corn and Bliss Potatoes $27.95

Includes Complimentary Glass of Red or White Sangria or House Wine Selection

All Weekend Long Starting Friday August 8

Patio Dining Tables Available

Reservations suggested, walk-ins welcome

Roux 3 is located at:

4755 West Chester Pike
Newtown Square, PA 19073
Phone: 610.356.9500
Fax: 610.356.6582



For more information (dress code, parking, map, etc.) or to make reservations at
Roux 3:
http://www.opentable.com/restaurant_profile.asp?ID=2646&restref=2646

On July 15, 2008, on my son Max's birthday, we bought a puppy named Maggie Moo from a breeder. While we were at the breeder's we noticed several dogs that looked like they could use medical attention. We also noticed puppies being held in rabbit hutches. This was a puppy mill. This breeder was recommended to me by a friend so I was very surprised at the condition of the family pets. We adopted Maggie because she was just so cute and we didn't want to leave her there. During the 24 hours we had Maggie, she became very sick. She lost her sight, started having seizures and was stumbling around. My veterinarian didn't think she'd live through the day. Max and I were devastated as we had fallen in love with the little girl. It was a very hard, but we made the decision to give Maggie back to the breeder as the vet didn't think she would ever be completely healthy again.

They believe that Maggie got into some kind of toxic chemical, possibly the medication the breeder used to worm her horses.

My friends, Ed Angelo, Liz Facenda and I all started trying to report the breeder to the authorities. It took us almost 2 weeks to get someone to even call us back.

I was online and found a site that's mission is to stop puppy mills and the cruelty that goes on there. On 7/24 a toll-free number was put into action. Ed Angelo and I both called and reported the breeder. On 7/25 Ed and I both received a call from the department of Dog Law Enforcement. I was asked to make a written statement, which I did immediately and faxed to them.

I just found out today that on 7/28, 17 dogs were surrendered by the owner to the Chester County SPCA, including Maggie Moo. At the last inquiry made by the Enforcement Agency, all of the dogs were doing great and were well on the road to recovery. The owner received citations for violations, vet care was ordered on the dogs that were not surrendered and the enforcement office has gained compliance for those violations as of this date. They will periodically check this property to ensure that this does not happen again in the future.

It is my prayer that Maggie Moo will find a loving home and get adopted right away. I sent a note of thanks to the woman at the agency and got this note in return:

Susan,

The puppy you had was doing just great last update I had. If not for your and Ed's efforts we would not be able to do our jobs. So many people don't want to get involved and make that crucial phone call. 17 dogs lives changed for the better due to your help and we thank you for that.

This story has a happy ending for Max as well. A friend found us another puppy to help heal Max's broken heart. His name is JJ and he is a love! Max still feels very sad about Maggie but is much relieved that she is no longer being kept at the puppy mill.

A lot of you have already seen pictures of JJ, but if you haven't, here he is:

Not a great picture as the little guy won't stay still for more than two seconds at a time!

The agency announced the launch Thursday of a 24-hour new hotline (1-877-DOG-TIP1) for the public to report problems in kennels.

If you live in the PA area, please plan to attend Puppymill Awareness Day.

Time: September 20, 2008 from 11am to 5pm
Location: Lancaster Community Park, Lancaster, PA.
Website or Map: http://www.awarenessday.org
Event Type: Awareness, Event

According to Forbes magazine, as reported by Realtors Magazine, low cost of living, reasonably priced homes, and short commute times helps add to excellent schools making Chester County one of the top 10 communities as best places to raise a family.

To be considered, the communities had to have populations greater than 65,000 and most of the school funding had to come from property taxes. Average SAT and ACT scores must top 1,050 or 22, respectively. These factors reduced the number of counties under consideration to 51.

After that, the magazine considered cost of living, graduation rate, home prices, property tax rates as a percentage of median home prices, percentage of homes occupied by owners, per-capita income, air quality, crime rate and commute times.

To find out more about Chester County, go to: http://dsf.chesco.org/chesco/site/default.asp

July 4th Concert & Fireworks
East Goshen Park

East Goshen residents and their guests are invited to the annual 7/4/ celebration at beautiful East Goshen Township Park.

Jellyroll has performed at the White House and our fireworks
are the best in Chester County.

Join the Fun!

Jellyroll plays at 7:30 PM & Fireworks start at 9:30 PM

Rain date is Sunday, July 6

ACAC, West Chester's premiere health club hosted a fundraising event entitled Exercise for Hope on Tuesday, 6/24/08.

This was a fun and incredibly challenging workout featuring cardio, sculpting, and zumba with some of ACAC's finest instructors. These people are serious about fitness!

Diane Toomey

Liz Salloum

Jeanette Mills

Jim Jackson

Tracy Shields

It was a blast. Diane Toomey started the fun with what she calls a "warmup". This woman is insane. I could barely catch my breath.

The second 30 minutes consisted of stations... various implements of torture. I'm not sure I'll be walking right tomorrow (Jesse... no comments on my shoes please).

The last 30 minutes was Zumba, my personal favorite. Lead by Jeanette Mills and Jimmy Jackson (a.k.a. the Pool Boy... ladies... you can imagine). This was so fun that I almost didn't feel my hip and knee pain... A young woman came up to me and asked me if I was going to be at the 8:30 AM Zumba tomorrow morning... I told her I seriously doubted it as I'm not sure I'll be able to get out of bed! Turns out she wants to interview me for an article she is writing for our local paper!!

Proceeds go towards the $2200 each member of Team SAVING HOOTS must raise to walk 60 miles during the Philadelphia Breast Cancer 3Day in support of breast cancer research, education, screening and treatment through Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the National Philanthropic Trust Breast Cancer Fund.

Give up one evening to do something bold about breast cancer.

Saving Hoots Team Members are: Vennessa Fuhs, Amanda Kent, Melissa Kiebort , Lisa Perry and Tracy Shields

Open to members and non-members - you can bring friends. There will be raffle items and childcare will be available during event time for participants.

Lisa Perry is a friend from my church (she's a real member, I haven't been in a while). Lisa is also a breast cancer survivor. Her personal page is : http://08.the3day.org/site/TR/Walk/PhiladelphiaEvent?px=1519121&pg=personal&fr_id=1186&et=5DEfAMjFa0MlvSVyuNGfYg..&s_tafId=6010

If you'd like to donate to this worthy cause, please click on Lisa's page.

Doc Magrogran's Oyster House, 117East Gay Street, West Chester, PA 19380

www.docmagrogans.com

I took a friend to Doc's tonight for her birthday. We were pleasantly surprised to learn that tonight was all you can eat king crab legs for $19.99. They were wonderful.

The daily specials include:

Sunday: $10 burgers , $5 doc's Bloody Marys and $4 Mimosas

Monday: $1 Raw Oysters, $1 PBR Pounders and $4 Classic Mojitos*

Tuesday: Dozen Littleneck Steamers or P.E.I. Mussels for $6, $2 Millers Lite and Miller High Life

Wednesdays: All you can East Snow Crab Legs for $19.99, $3 Coronas (I wasn't made aware of this... that would have been a nice touch), $3 Sierra Nevadas* & $2 Yeungling

Thursday: Live Bands 10 PM to 2 AM, $5 Fishbowls* 10 PM to 12 AM, $2 Miller Lite Drafts and $3 Three Olives *Drinks all day long

Friday: DJ Dance Party 10PM to 2 AM and $5 Fishbowls* 10 PM to 12 AM, $3 Blue Moons *and $2 SoCo* Drinks all day long.

* I honestly have no idea what this is... I am assuming a type of beer. I'm a wine drinker myself!

When I said the food was much better tonight that previous experiences, the waitress said there was a new chef.

HE DID IT!! Michael Mangigian, my first baby, graduated from high school!

It was a beautiful ceremony, held outside on a spectacular summer evening.

The procession was lead by our armed forces. Next came the school board representatives, one of them a fellow Realtor at RE/MAX preferred, Jim Davision. He calls me Suzie, I call him Uncle Jimmy.

Next came the staff.

Last and certainly not least came the happy, excited graduates.

There were a lot of very nice speeches, most short and sweet. The best speech, by far, was given by the class Valedictorian, Matthew Young. This young man is very impressive and is going places. He talked about his parents and how they came to this country so he could have a better life. He spoke about gratitude and accountability. He spoke about how to be happy... to find what makes you happy and pursue it to the ends of the earth. He told his fellow graduates the the meaning of their lives was for them make. It was wonderful. His parents must have been so proud of him.

The school band played on and the music was lovely. The band is lead by Roger Ruch, a client of mine. Wonderful man, great teacher and a good friend.

Ah, the graduates!! This is part of my son Mike's motley crew. These kids are such nice boys and they are at my home so much, it sure is going to be quiet around here at the end of August, when they all leave to pursue their educations.

After the ceremony, the 4 families, including 4 grandparents went to Hibachi's for dinner. There, the waiter entertained us all by tossing cooked shrimp at us and we tried to catch them. I found out that I am not very good at this game! I also found out that a when a cooked shrimp meets an open eye, it's not the best feeling in the world!

Let's raise our glasses to the class of 2008.

The proud parents. It's almost unreal to me that this boy is grown up already. No, I don't mean the guy on the right with the white hair. At times it's unreal to me that this man has not grown up!! I mean the dark haired handsome boy in the middle. We will be taking him to Kutztown in August. The child doesn't know how to do laundry or clean up after himself. I thought I would cry at the ceremony but it was a very happy occasion and for once in my life, I didn't need the tissue that I didn't have! I am very happy for Michael and I love him more than words can say. But, it's time to let him go and find out for himself where his happiness lies.

I took a turn in the cap and decided that I would like to go to college for 4 years too! Wouldn't it be fun to start all over? How exciting it must be to have your future in front of you. I'm not sure I ever really appreciated the opportunity at the time... I wonder if Mike does.

Being a mom is such an awesome and overwhelming job. It's the hardest job, truly, that I have ever had. It is also the most rewarding.

One down, one to go....

Max... take your time baby. Let's enjoy today and enjoy middle school! Mommy is not quite ready to let you go.