Teresa King, Gulf Shores Beaches to Bayside Daphne

After reaching over to turn on the bath water the phone rang so I went to answer it thinking, "I'll only be a second." That part was true, as the phone call was of the "yes, no, okay" variety. Oh, but there is more and all my online friends will understand. I returned the phone to the cradle beside the computer which displayed my FACEBOOK page, and well, you can probably guess the rest.

"Look! There's Richard, my friend from high school, with his family freezing their butts off along the Blue Ridge Parkway!" I am thinking, "Why the heck would they step out of the warm car to snap photos of each other huddled together obviously from the COLD with ICE all around for goodness sake??? Put your kids back in the car Richard! It's cold as h*ll out there!"

And then, "Ooo, there's Susan. She's posted about her cat weighing in at over 17 pounds. 17 POUNDS? Wow, she's got a real fatty on her hands and we haven't even begun the days of sneaking holiday leftovers to our pets yet."

A little further down my page and there is Amy trying to remove pine tar from her black car. "Hmmm, just where was that remedy I saw on the internet one time?"

There's my musical friend Ava! "Ava has posted another Guess this Song comment. Wonder which song that is?"

James is gathering several comments on his post about the virtues of barbecue from North Carolina... as in eastern vs. western. I am thinking, "Ahhh, they haven't heard of Big Bob Gibsons barbecue in North Alabama!" At this, my mouth actually began to water thinking of a HUGE stuffed shredded pork potato with red vinegar sauce, chives, shredded cheese, and sour cream from Big Bob Gibsons in Decatur. "Oh man, I haven't eaten yet and that sounds so good."

"Wait, there's Leslie! I haven't seen her in over thirty years. She's commented about James' barbecue post and on Richard's family outing to the land of pneumonia. Oh look! She's clicked the 'Like' button on my dinosaur photo I just posted...."

About this time, in runs one of my little Yorkies barking and trying to get my attention away from my walk down Short Memory Lane. Beethoven is my little wanderer, always sniffing around and scoping out mischief, and usually finds it, so his message seemed urgent tonight.

"Holy %*@&! I didn't, did I?" Ahhh, yes. I did, and it did, and Beethovan discovered 'A River Runs Through It'. Water EVERYWHERE! How long has it been running???? Sadly, I couldn't tell you what time I turned it on or how long it ran out over the tub and all over the bathroom floor. What I do know is that is took one large bath rug and seven towels to mop up most of the spill before it made its way toward the bedroom.

Instead of returning to see what other goodies my friends have posted tonight, I'll be doing laundry....

False Starts and Dead End Streets to the Economic Recovery- The $8000 tax credit was intended to help spur the economy with increased incentives for purchasing a home by the one sector free to purchase and not encumbered by a home to sell. In theory, when first time home buyers purchase a home, a trickle effect will occur where the seller will now be free to "Move Up" and purchase a larger home, and the cycle will repeat itself over and over.

The REO Banks Benefit, but Few Sellers Do- The reality has been quite different in my area of coastal Alabama. With most of my sales, my first time home buyers have purchased foreclosed and bank owned homes (REOs). Obviously, this has not set another home owner free to add to the economic recovery and spend their dollars on a larger or more expensive home purchase to repeat the cycle. Each foreclosed purchase has been a one-shot deal, where the bank benefited and my buyer benefited, but did it help the economic recovery?

www.MLSforCellPhones.com NEW to the Alabama Gulf Coast! Access the entire Baldwin and Mobile MLS on your cell phone.

Drive past ANY listed home, regardless of whose name is on the sign, in Baldwin or Mobile Counties, enter the street name, and see up to ten interior photos AND the listing price without having to speak to an agent!

This feature includes all listings and homes for sale by all companies and towns from Mobile to Spanish Fort, Daphne, Fairhope, Foley, Orange Beach, Gulf Shores, and all towns surrounding. Never wonder about a home's price and have to wait for days to get a listing agent to return your phone call!

Another helpful service provided by:

Teresa King, Realtor

RE/MAX By The Bay

251-554-2661

Search local foreclosed homes at www.BaldwinForeclosedHomes.com

Dear Princess Janie Doe,

I found your picture today, and I cried. Strawberry blonde, with angel dusted freckles across your little nose; you looked up at me from the flat, lifeless paper that captured your tender smile. It was your first grade school picture wasn't it? Or perhaps it was from your kindergarten year.

Others had seen you, or at least they should have. Their crisp business cards with perfectly crafted messages and various phone numbers lay nearby, dutifully announcing their presence in your home. With nothing else left, they had to have seen you. I did, and I cried.

Your bedroom was painted the tenderest shade of pink. Not just any pink. This pink was carefully chosen just for the princess who once lived there. Princess Janie's bedroom, or it once was, where fairy tales and first day of school jitters played out.

I found your picture today, and I put it in my pocket, before my customers arrived. It seemed wrong to leave you there, exposed to prying eyes, to bargain hunters, to those looking for a deal. Like birds of prey picking through the remains they come, ready to swoop down and carry away the rewards of their hunt. You were far too precious to be exposed to that.

The husband didn't like your bedroom. He thought the color ghastly. I clutched your picture in my pocket as if to shield you from his words, from his invasion of your room. I wanted him to leave it; he didn't deserve to be in the presence of Disney princess dreams, Barbie playtime, and places where tooth fairies visit during slumber.

I found your picture today, and I hope you heard me tell you that I was sorry. I am sorry that I didn't find you sooner and in a very different way. I am sorry that you were let down, that we all somehow failed you.

If only your mommy and daddy had known how to find me, or someone like me, to ask about what we know that could have possibly kept you in your world of pretty pinks and little girl dreams.

I found your picture today, and I kept it. I hope you don't mind. You remind me to keep searching, to keep trying to get the word out to other little girl's parents who I may be able to help, who I may offer some guidance to, or some words of comfort, and of hope that they haven't heard. Words that may keep them from walking away from princess dreams and the land of fairytales. Or at least, get you back into your land of pink far sooner than just walking away, as your parents felt they could only do.

I found your picture today, and I cried.