Annie Guthrie

Blowing Bubbles.....you must remember doing that as a kid?.....no one does that any more, right?

Wrong! My friend and ex - Real Estate client, Anne-Marie, is the last of the good time bubble blowers.

Our relationship started when I went to work at Keller Williams. Anne-Marie was the MCA...suffice to say she is the one that wrote the checks which says more than bookkeeper or office manager ...much more... She is a meticulous woman who wants all the i's dotted and heaven forbid you forget to cross those t's...but there is this other side that smacks right in the face of any stereotype you ever, ever had of a professional number cruncher. To say she is religious sounds so stuffy but religious she is. She is one of those cradle Catholics while I am a johnny come lately to the faith,so our perspective can be very different. But now that I've sold her house I am in mourning that she and Al and Steve and I will not be able to meet for our Sunday after mass coffee clutch. But my impending loss is not the point ...the point is that this person who feels the world needs order and that we all should really follow the rules will at the drop of hat pull out a bottle of soap and a magic wand and start blowing bubbles. Downsizing to a fifth wheeler you cannot imagine how many bubble machines she has had to divest herself of..........

( And you didn't even realize there were bubble machines!)

Say it isn't so.......... I am sad to say in a few weeks off into the sunset with a cloud of bubbles following behind, Anne- Marie and Al will depart and the dream begins !.....So long Pals !

In 2007 we turned down a listing I really wanted. It had such great curb appeal. The home was a For Sale By Owner when I first saw it. I made contact with the wife who needed and wanted to sell her home. By the time we were allowed to give a listing presentation it was obvious the Market was slipping badly. As is often the case when you deal with FSBO's they have an inflated idea of the value of their home. Often they are upside down and just cannot face the fact they must come to the closing table with money if they have any hopes of unloading their little piece of paradise. Well it was abundantly clear that paradise in this case had gone south. . They were adamant about the value of their home...Our team did the comps and they were not even close to being in the market at the price they were stuck on.

Part of our listing presentation entails saying we would rather disappoint you now than six months down the road. We are serious about this. Though, admittedly at the time, it gave me serious heart burn. I just hate to walk away from a Listing, especially one I really want. At the same time we take the concept of a Fiduciary relationship seriously. If there is no way you can sell at the price a client is demanding the kindest and most honest thing to do is walk!

It would be down right funny if it were not so sad! Another Realtor took the listing...this so called professional did everything Mr. and Mrs. FSBO wanted. A few days ago on the way to the post office I saw a sign on the home that said Short Sale. Mrs. FSBO had really wanted us to list her home and was incensed that we would not do what she wanted. There is a wee part of me that would love to say" I told you so!" But the real emotion I feel is contempt for that Realtor who took the listing. The home would have sold at the price we gave them. Yes, it would have been painful at the time but oh the heartache and credit hit they must endure now. Probably the best part is if they had taken our advice back in '07 the results would not have been so dear and at this point just a bad memory in their lives. Granted sometimes we all take an over priced listing....or we hang on to a listing we know should be reduced... But any Realtor worth their salt had to know these folks would pay dearly for allowing them to proceed on the path to Short Sale. Shame on her!.

It would be simpler to say what I am not passionate about! Is there really anything I am lukewarm on? Suffice to say very little!

My passions would have to at least include Gardening, Interior Design (Interior Redo!), Cooking, Wine, Art, Real Estate, Faith, Family, My Husband ... And those who know me well understand that was stream of consciousness not order of importance .

There is also another one: Friends? Yes Friends! Probably the most successful I have been in all my endeavors would be the relationships I have managed to preserve. Truly the gems in my life would be those wonderful women I have collected and proudly call friends.

There are many categories these treasures fit into. Some are over 30 years enduring, some are barely a year. Each treasured for when you met, what the circumstances were, and how much you have gone through together. And so important the sum total of all the laughs shared!

Inevitably the old enduring ones have had there ups and downs. The spats and break ups ....The "if I never hear her voice again that will be just fine with me" vow. Then only to have some near tragedy befall them and who is first on the phone to offer love and support. Yes that would be me! Friendships among women have a flavor of schizophrenia mixed into all that binds us together. Friendships are about emotions and yes passions so there are bound to be the extreme highs and lows.Perhaps the most exquisite relationships are the ones on first site you just could not stand and yet characteristically you persevered to get to know them and found them utterly enchanting. There is also the type you meet and immediately you are smitten. You make the mental note give this one a chance she might really enrich your life.

There is also special category of she is old enough to be your mother or your daughter... How wonderful is this? All of your frames of reference are skewed and isn't it terrific. But still there is that mind similarity that tells you that we are different but oh so the same in so many ways!.

Now that Real Estate is the focus of my life it is amazing the interesting relationships that develop. Not so hard to imagine when you understand the emotional process and the incredible intimacy that naturally occurs when you are buying or selling a home. You know you are in trouble when you start to adore their kids, you cannot help but check and see if the new born is ok .....You accept all invitations and add them to your prayer list. You call to check on things that end up just being an excuse to talk.

Before you know it they are in your group of chosen family or as some refer to as Good FRIENDS ! Friendships are work and only worth the energy you put into them. Friends must be nurtured, sometimes weeded, sometimes they even need a little fertilizer to grow....Time consuming? Well yes! But the rewards incredibly wonderful!

ZZ....? Yes the ZZ Plant !

This is the most sensational plant imaginable....

You stage a home beautifully...the look is to die for ......and your homeowners do not have a green thumb......no they don't even have a brown thumb...and you are beginning to believe they do not have a thumb. This conclusion was arrived by the deduction that it is physically impossible for them to operate a watering device !

Or better yet the house is empty and you are so busy ( Probably a Realtor with out a thumb, if the truth were known !) you cannot get back to water the pitiful plants....

FEAR NOT ZZ has arrived. These plants really can be abused beyond belief. Though I do not recommending going past a month to water them I know I have neglected mine for at least three weeks....Having gone on record as being guilty of PLANT ABUSE, this one can take it. With just a modicum of care the results can be stunning !

Light is not a major problem...filtered sunlight is great. Put them out when the weather is mild and rainy and you will be amply rewarded.Similar results with an ordinary fertilizer. But that is not a necessity.

Go to one of the big box stores and buy several plants. I advise stalking the stores in hopes you can pick them up at a steal....Plant them separately or together for a bigger splash quicker.....

Kudos to ZZ !

Father Hines was the closest human manifestation to Santa Clause I ever saw. He had a wonderful white beard, rotund belly and a smile that made you glad to be in his presence. The resemblance was very important to me since when I first started my long spiritual journey our group of seekers were advised if you had no real god concept you could think of your higher power as a tree, or even the group as a whole....I chose my version of the most lovable image I had ever been exposed to ....Santa Clause. So when I went on my first silent retreat at the Cenacle in New Orleans I was dumbfounded when I realized Santa would be in charge.

The retreat consisted of a series of lectures, prayer, and guided visualizations. The exercise that I will never forget was one in which you are asked to imagine yourself a seed in the sack of a Farmer who is planting his field. The farmer cultivates the land, nourishes the soil and then lovingly plants you in the ground. He continues to take care of you weeding as you begin to sprout, making sure there is water enough to allow you to grow to your full potential. Still I do not know what plant I will be.

I begin to embrace the image fully and had the strongest desire imaginable that I would turn out to be a hot house orchid. So lovely, so rare and truly precious to all who see my gorgeous blooms. Totally wrapped up into the vision I feel myself growing .....I know I am about to mature and understand now is the time when I finally know what I am to be.

I am astounded when I peered down and see that I am most definitely not an orchid ..... .

I am not rare at all I am a luscious green stalk of corn. The picture of health, green, vibrant and swaying in the gentle breeze in the field of my mind is a stalk of corn.

Was I never to be the woman I wanted to be?

Was this my heart speaking directly to me or was it God?

I have never really reconciled that to my complete satisfaction but the message was loud and clear. Who I am and who I want to be might not always be the same.

Yes, there will always be a bit of the orchid girl in me...I will never escape wanting that ....but I also know there is that strong, down to earth inner core that will guide me and nourish others.....

and when I think of it know that I am just as down to earth as a stalk of corn......

but oh how I love orchids!