Russell Lewis, Broker,CLHMS,GRI

My friend Paula Swayne tagged me in the newest MeMe, the Christmas MeMe. Here are the rules:

You have to name one gift you would like to have on Christmas. It has to be an object. We all want happiness for Christmas. If you could pick one single gift out for yourself-what would it be? Remember-it has to be something you can touch and hold.... Once you have done this, name five people or more and send this to them for them to name the one special gift they would like to have.

Frankly, I am one of those people who pretty much has everything I could possibly want. I have a wonderful wife and two great kids, a semi-crazed brother who I love, some incredible friends and for the most part, a good level of the intangible things in life like health, happiness, peace of mind, and a good outlook no matter what the day brings! Financial security would be nice but it's never guaranteed is it? My wife and I want to remodel our house (especially the kitchen) and would like to travel a lot more.

People always laugh when I tell them that if I won the lottery, I would do two things; Quit work to play (no, I am not one of those nuts who would go to work the next day) though I enjoy my job but simply have too many things I really enjoy outside of work. And the second thing would be to have someone drive me around in some kind of big safe extremely comfortable car with all the bells and whistles. I would also like my "chauffeur" to go through my magazines and take out all of those pesky "inserts" and advertising cards that fall out as you read, so I can avoid the irritation they cause. I believe this is called "magazine grooming". Like I said...I already have pretty much everything I need and I'm alive!

Okay, I seemed to have veered off track here. Paula also told me that it must be a "material" item so here goes and I have to tell you it's something of a "guilty" pleasure. Because I DO drive quite a bit and don't care for it that much (I blogged about this awhile back: Two Words...that could save your life! ) I like to be as comfortable as possible while behind the wheel. When I work with buyers I drive our Lexus which is nice but lately I have been eyeballing something different. I thoroughly researched this, drove several and finally came to a decision. Granted, the back seat is probably crowded but maybe it would encourage buyer's to make a faster decision. OOPS, did I actually say that? I was planning on making a purchase sometime next year until the downturn and our son starting college and well, you know how it goes...So as long as we are wishing for something from Santa, I want one of these fine rides...I know, I can already hear some of you but I am built for comfort and it's truly a guilty pleasure!

Okay, now to pass this on and please forgive me if your not one who likes doing meme's like me!

Bob Cumiskey and Alan May

and let's see...oh yes, how about these three:

Mike Jones Pippa Betina Foreman

ABoR Press Release

Best of the Best Honored with Industry Awards

The Austin Board of REALTORS® (ABoR) is pleased to announce the winners
of the 2008 industry awards. Members will be recognized in the following categories: REALTOR®of the Year; Affiliate of the Year; Rookie of the Year; Community Service; and Cultural Awareness.

Community Service: Russell Lewis, AvenueOne Properties

Russell Lewis has been an ABoR member for more than 15 years. In that time, he has donated his service to numerous volunteer organizations, including Habitat for Humanity, the Boy Scouts of America, the Blood Center of Central Texas, the Eanes School District and Mobile Loaves and Fishes.

I have to admit that this was a very gratifying surprise when I learned from the press release above that I had been honored and I was humbled by the experience. I am no saint; just ask the person I adore more than anyone in the world, my wife of 22 years or my children or my partners and associates at work. I have my "days" and often I am not the pinnacle of patience or reason and I tend to be rather intense when involved in negotiating (though I have improved immensely over the years.) People ask me, where I get the time and honestly, it does not take much One thing I have done with some regularity over the years is pitch in when asked or when I see a need. I know in advance when am going to participate in many of my endeavors and it's no more than a couple of hours at each project and maybe a couple of times a month. Since this is the Christmas season and a time of giving, I thought I would take the opportunity to show you some of the groups I enjoy helping and some of the people involved.

Habitat for Humanity - I have been actively involved with Habitat since my first project in 1996 and wrote a blog about this wonderful organization here:

The Luxury of Actually Owning a Home - Giving back in Austin Texas and Beyond!

Troop 5-Boy Scouts of America - I have had the great pleasure of helping with my son's Scout Troop, as one of a number of Assistant Scout Masters since he was 11 years old until he achieved the rank of Eagle last year. This is a picture of a small group of us (the kids were 12) along with his second Scoutmaster and family friend, Tom Martinec, at the South Rim of Big Bend National Park. We were so proud that they had backpacked all of their gear on their first strenuous trek (especially at that young age). The young man in the green vest is my son! This troop has offered a lot of fun and learning and has been a great ride through the years taking him to the jungles of Costa Rica, the mountains and rivers of Canada, The Caribbean and to camps all over the USA. I even had the chance to go along on several myself!

Eanes School District Volunteer Since 1994, I have served as a parent volunteer, parent reader, fund raiser, committee member and health education educator with many of the Eanes elementary schools, West Ridge Middle School, and Westlake high School. The picture is part of a costume that I still wear a couple of weeks every year and I will probably write a blog post about it when I can figure out a way to not appear too crazy for doing so...Stay tuned!

Mobile Loaves & Fishes A charity group dedicated to feeding the homeless and bringing dignity to those in such poor circumstances. The group was started here in Austin Texas ten years ago by Alan Graham. Please read more about them on the blog I posted awhile back: No One Goes Hungry-Giving back - An Austin Texas Solution The picture at right is from a newspaper article a couple of years ago. A friends daughter went along to see what it's like to help out!

Central Texas Regional Blood & Tissue Center In 1994, I decided I wanted to try and get over an un-natural fear of needles that I had carried with me from childhood. It had gotten so bad that when my wife would bring home flu shots, I was beginning to frighten the children and wanted to be a better example. I can say that it took a long time for me to stop being squeamish about it all and now I am a regular "Platelet" donor. I just passed the 25 gallon mark in donations last year and I am pretty much over my fear of needles... Learn more about this excellent organization here:

http://www.bloodandtissue.org/

I was hesitant to write about this award because I did not want to "toot my own horn" but was reminded that this award would give me a means to bring these groups to the attention of others and maybe help generate more volunteers and donations.I hope it does because every time I show up to help in some way I get an huge sense of gratitude. Not only from helping out but knowing that whatever problems I may have or any resentments that I might want to harbor, it's all good. No really, trust me on this, we are all better off when we see the world from the vantage point of those in lesser circumstances. I am reminded every day how fortunate I am to be alive and doing well in spite of any self indulgent "wants disguised as needs". It's the season for giving and it's a gift you give to yourself!

This morning I had the pleasure of attending another fun and slightly "weird" Austin event involving local restaurant, Mangia Pizza's attempt to break the Guinness Book of Records, "Longest line of pizzas in the world". Along with my wife, Margaret and daughter Mattie we headed to Zilker Park to hopefully be a part of history. The event was held in conjunction with Meals on Wheels and More to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Mangia Pizza opening for business here in Austin, Texas. If successful, the company would break a world record and after the event, Meals on Wheels would deliver the pizzas to The Salvation Army to feed the homeless!

On Wednesday of this week, I received an email from one of my best pals in the world who is kind of a Big-Shot with the Mangia Pizza Organization, Rell Rice, yes, it'sRell as in well or bell.He tells me that day is "Guinness Book of Records Day" and all over the world different groups and individuals are vying to break any number of Guinness records but Mangia is looking at in in particular. A group in Italy and another in London are planning to break the record of longest uninterrupted line of pizzas.

In typical "Texas Hold-Em Poker" style, Mangia scheduled their event three days later to take place on Saturday and possibly upset the recent winners! Later that day, word is out that Chicago Town Pizzas in Camden Lock, London, UK set the new record of 936 feet 7 inches so Mangia has a big challenge ahead!

Mangia Pizza coordinated this event with Meals on Wheels and More of Austin so that as soon as the contest was concluded, all of the surviving pizza's (those not dropped or blown away by the windy morning) were immediately re-boxed and delivered by the Meals on Wheels volunteers who are also on hand to help with the event and hopefully break the record! Everything went well in spite of all sorts of odd circumstances . Try and imagine setting up a chain of tables in the shape of a large abstract "M" covering them with over a thousand feet of paper, having all of the volunteers wash hands and put on plastic gloves for sanitation and distributing hundreds of boxes of cheese and pepperoni pizzas down the line of tables to prepare for the start?!?

At a signal from Rell Rice and our friend Leslye Denton-Garcia along with owners Mark Negro and Jeff Sayers, the volunteers distributed the pizzas down the row of table, opened and lined them up edge to edge and did their best to keep everything on order despite gusting winds that sent a few of the pies flying. Reserves were brought in to fill holes and the line slowly extended.

Danny Girton Jr., the Official Adjudicator for the Guinness Book of World Records carefully documented the measuring by an independent official using a single wheel device to measure the length of the pizza chain from beginning to end. Mr. Gurtin was the same official who was on hand to document the pizza line efforts in Italy and London earlier in the week, so you understand that although fun, Guinness World Records takes its business very seriously!

As the officials slowly made their way down the tables carefully following the measurement team and confirming that each pizza was actually touching, the man would shout out, 700 feet, 750 feet, 800 feet... volunteers are hustling to fill in the gaps of pizzas blown off the line by gusting winds and steadily adding more to the line at the end. The man shouts, 800 feet, 850 feet...900 feet! A group comes running down the hill with another 30 pizzas to add to the line but will it be enough?? 950 feet, he shouts and a roar goes up from the volunteers as the record is broken but he moves on...1,000 feet and the crowd goes wild and sill he moves on until we finally hear 1,023 FEET! Everyone breaks in to applause and cheering up and down the long line of pizzas again proving that we do things big here in Texas.

The crowd begins breaking down the tables, gathering up and re-boxing the pizzas and meets at the start for a group picture and a ceremony. More hot pizzas are delivered and slices are handed out to the crowd as we join a large group photo taken to commemorate the event! (My daughter tells us to stand near the Mangia Dinosaur so we can find ourselves in the crowd). City Councilman, Lee Leffingwell is on hand to read a proclamation from Mayor Will Wynn of Austin, declaring that, in honor of breaking the world record and to celebrate 20 years of being a truly Austin original, November 15th will now be recognized as "Mangia Pizza Day" in Austin Texas!

By the way, I also want to give a shout out to my very good friend Rell Rice! We have had more fun together over the years than we could ever expect...and live to tell about it! Thanks Rell! And Happy 20th Anniversary Mangia Pizza! Here's to twenty more great years from an Austin Texas Original! I have to tell you that we are all truly living the good life in Austin, Texas!

UPDATE: Mangia Pizza has a great article about the Record breaking event and were kind enough to add a link to my blog on the website: Mangia Pizza Website Announcement

While standing at the corner of 6^th and Lamar by Whole Foods, looking at the peach in my hand and waiting for the light to change, my daydreaming is interrupted by the shout of "GET A JOB!" Startled, I look up and see a man in a car glaring at the homeless person standing near me. The homeless person has a sign that says "Dreaming of Mexican Food". The peach in my hand seems heavy now and I walk over and give it to him. "Thanks man...God bless you" he says quietly. I tell him, "same to you" and mention that he should go to Wooldridge Park by the Downtown Austin Library around 6:00 and he can get a free meal from the Mobile Loaves & Fishes Truck. He says he will check it out and thanks me again.

The light changes and as I walk across I see a young woman in one of those small new "Ultimate Driving Machines" as she leans from the window and shouts, "Hey, why are you helping that bum!"I stifle the urge to say something and put my hand in my pocket to keep from waving at her with one finger. I am amazed at that thinking but not surprised. There are many people who have the idea that they want to be able to succeed without any help from anyone and that is laudable but not realistic because we are not all given the same opportunities. There is nothing wrong with concept that we can all achieve anything through our own efforts. My problem is with those who so arrogantly advocate this in blogs, books, online and in conversation without ever understanding that many people have never had the same opportunities from the very beginning and at the same time, taking for granted what they have!

We have all heard of the "Puritan Work Ethic" and though admirable it is not always realistic or applicable. I was raised in an affluent family (though I was not aware of it as a child because people were not valued by their income or what they owned) and with the same hard work ideology. My father was a strong proponent of self reliability and working for a living but he also believed that people had a responsibility to take care of those less fortunate. This came from his Christian back ground that he practiced as well as preached (which is why I never won the hypocrisy argument with him). He was in the grocery business in West Texas and I remember as a child accompanying him to the Salvation Army at Christmas to help hand out turkeys and bags of groceries to poor families in the community. As a child, I was uncomfortable at first but my Dad would remind me that we were doing something to make the lives of those who did without a little better. Even in the last years of his life he continued to donate money and volunteer with The Salvation Army, Meals on Wheels, The Adult Literacy Project and Habitat for Humanity. I will forever remember his words, "We live in a country that is so rich and so powerful, there is no reason anyone should ever go hungry. We have a moral obligation to share our blessings with the less fortunate".

What many people do not understand is who is actually "homeless". At least half of the people in line are too mentally ill to hold a job but at the same time are not a danger to anyone but themselves. They are out on the street due to the fact that over the last eight years, the previous government administration changed the guidelines of who should be "institutionalized" and turned many of these hapless people out in mindless "cost cutting" efforts. The hope that the "compassionate conservatives" would fill the void never materialized and in fact has caused a severe strain on the general public, law enforcement and social services and exacerbated the a terrible situation.

Another large group of homeless are the working poor who have some type of job but are living hand to mouth, out of their cars or in shelters while they try and get enough money together to move back up. Many of these people have children, and when you see a child in a food line, only the most self absorbed and insensitive could look down on them. Finally, there are the junkies and winos and it's so easy to judge unless you truly know the monster that is the destructive power of addiction. The fact also remains that there are so many people living hand to mouth, only a paycheck or two away from being on the street. The economic collapse will only aggravate this already horrible situation. You get my point; the vast majority of homeless people are not there because they are lazy, shiftless or no-count.

About nine years ago, I joined a group from AvenueOne Properties and began to volunteer with a new community outreach organization that began here in Austin, Texas called Mobile Loaves & Fishes. Mobile Loaves & Fishes , The brainchild of Alan Graham, with the mission to provide food, clothing, and dignity to our brothers and sisters in need. They now accomplish this mission through the use of 12 catering trucks that go out onto the city streets of Austin, San Antonio, New Orleans, Providence, and Nashville every night of the week. Now with almost 10,000 volunteers, it started with the hard work of a few volunteers and a single supply truck.

I have helped on the make ready crew preparing food and as a truck driver since I first joined in 2000 and in the last few years have worked with a small crew of friends to deliver meals once a month.We have a good time together Our favorite stop is Wooldridge Park by the Austin Downtown Library. My company and my fellow truck crew members save up toiletry items, clothing and other things that that are needed. The irony is not lost on us that we all save bath items from our vacations and often hand out soap and shampoo from the Four Seasons - Bora Bora and other Luxury Hotels from across the globe and I even gave out samples from Plaza-Atheneein Paris but soap is soap no matter the source.

There is an online sign up for the volunteers to "reserve" a location and for awhile it got a bit competitive. I was on the phone complaining to one of my fellow volunteers about the fact that someone beat us to the punch on "our stop" and my wife gently teased me by saying, "Well now...you are upset because someone else got YOUR homeless people???" I reluctantly laughed and had to agree that was more than absurd wasn't it? Although we DO still compete and manage to get the library stop as often as possible...

I want to thank everyone who has made our efforts possible; Ruth Dore', volunteer coordinator, who patiently herds all of the volunteers on a daily basis, Tracy Rodenborn and Don Haynesof St. Michaels Academy who along with students have prepared the food for the last 3 years. Tracy just had a beautiful baby girl named Catherine so this is a shout out to her! I also want to thank my fellow friends and truck crew; Stephen & Debbie Machicek, A.J. Lindow and Liz Saieh. (Scroll over the pictures to see who's who)! I always enjoy our time together and look forward to going out with y'all every month!

I am not trying to change anyone's mind but think about it, times are hard for everyone these days and it never hurts to show some compassion, especially when you see the truth from a different perspective! Look around and see where you can help out, you will receive more than you ever give!

Well...the election is finally over and I can say unequivocally that I am very proud to be a citizen of this incredible experiment called Democracy. I am NOT a Red American or a Blue American but an American! Once again, we have proved that we are one of the few countries that can witness the peaceful exchange of power in spite of all the rhetoric, impassioned argument and yes even the mud-slinging. I have not spoken out much and this will be my only political post but I was very impressed by what I saw last night.

Watching John McCain speak, I was impressed by his complete calm and straight forward talk about the campaign and election.His no nonsense quelling of the initial boos during his speech was an indication of his will to take his defeat with dignity and class that has rarely been seen in recent years from ANY politician on either side of political thinking. He spoke about coming together as a nation and made it clear that he wasn't undermining Obama's chances to lead. He was so articulate regarding his praise and concession but most of all his insistence that as Americans, we WORK TOGETHER to overcome the challenges that face us ALL, "Senator Obama and I have had and argued our differences, and he has prevailed. No doubt, many of those differences remain. These are difficult times for our country, and I pledge to him tonight that I will do all in my power to help him lead us through the many challenges we face,"I urge all Americans who supported me to join not only in congratulating him, but offering our next president our good will and honest effort to find the necessary compromises to bridge our differences." John McCain proved to our country and the world that he is a man of honor and self respect and that he values his love of our country and his service to our way of living above all else.

President Elect Obama's speech was more sober than I would have first imagined but as has been the case all along, his words, though eloquent, were grounded in the reality of the enormous hardships and challenges that we as a nation face together. "If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer. To those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices. I need your help. And I will be your president too. "This is our time to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can." I tend to be a skeptic at times but Obama seems to be just as much a patriot acs McCain. His statements are admirable sentiments and in the future we will learn if they can be turned into reality with the involvement of all of us as a nation.

Today is Wednesday, November 5th 2008 and it's great to be an American. I did not get everything I wanted out of this election (no one ever does) but I am proud to be a part of a political system that allows us to disagree (sometimes vehemently) and still move forward TOGETHER. It's now about 7:50am here in Texas and I am headed out for a morning run. After that, I am going to work because we have a lot to do ahead of us and it's time to get cracking. We will have to wait and see where this will take us all but again, I am still amazed at the way our great nation works and have to agree with the words of Tim Russert, "What a country!"