Terri Adams-Scott, Realtor, Walnut Creek CA Real Estate

For those iPhone users, this is a great app that will save you time and frustration if you plan to travel on BART. It offers a trip planner, schedule, fares plus much more! It's an essential app for daily commuters and extremely helpful if you're needing transportation while visiting the beautiful Bay Area!

Oh...did I mention it was FREE? Go to your Apple Applications and search for iBART.

Thinking of moving to the Bay Area? Search the MLS for available homes.

Come enjoy our family video tour of this 12th century, Tuscan castle-winery located in Calistoga, CA.  After decades of researching and studying medieval castles throughout Italy and Europe, Dario Sattui began his marathon building project in 1993, spanning 15 years until completion.  The Castello includes 121,000 square feet, 107 rooms (no two alike), 8000 tons of hand-squared stones, 8 levels (4 below ground), 900 feet of caves, a completely frescoed great hall with a 500 year old fireplace, a drawbridge, a dungeon and torture chamber, stables, a medieveal church, a lake, and much more!  There's definitely more to see than this video shows!

This Napa Valley winery produces hand-crafted Italian style wines and have received international acclaim!  Tours and Tastings are conducted daily.  Reservations are recommended.  For more information, go to www.castellodiamorosa.com      Enjoy! 

The Vagabond Players, Inc. is a non-profit theatre troupe that travels to senior centers, retirement homes and communities, assisted living centers and health care facilities, who bring live theater to seniors who may not have the opportunity or capability to get out to see live theater. In addition, they perform for churches, clubs, organizations, and often perform at community theaters as well.

I caught their production while performing at the Tabernacle Church in Concord, CA.  I think it is wonderful that these talented actors and actresses dedicate their time to enhance the lives of our senior community!  If you are interested in knowing more about them or would like to book a performance, go to their website at www.vagabondplayersinc.com

The following video is a highlight of the production, but not quite the same as seeing it live!  Enjoy!

The following video is a market report on Pending home sales in Walnut Creek, CA.  It covers detached, single family homes only.  Shows price ranges, average price per square foot, average days on the market and the percentage of distressed sales.  It's very encouraging to see the number of pending sales in this community.  Walnut Creek is a beautiful place to call home with all the fine dining, upscale shopping, great schools and recreational activities.  The figures were taken from the Contra Costa Assoc. of Realtor's MLS as of March 6, 2009.

As Realtors, we face personal situations that we don't often share or blog about. This is a personal, human interest story that I felt was worth my time in hopes it might make a difference in someone's life.

My husband was diagnosed with spinal stenosis in his 2nd and 3rd lumbar region. This is when the spinal cord is being pinched off and resulting in severe leg pain and numbness...in my husband's case...down the back of his legs. He had a series of 3 epidurals in which he had temporary relief for a few weeks. He finally decided he couldn't live with the pain and the longer he waited, the greater the risk of further injury to his spinal cord. He went to one Orthopedic surgeon and he recommended a couple of spinal fusions. The recovery time would be months! He was desperate and in so much pain, he agreed to the surgery. As days went by and we began to share his upcoming surgery with family and friends, the more horror stories we began to hear about in regards to spinal fusions! The news and their experiences were not encouraging!!

He called the surgeon and told him he wanted to discuss other alternatives and that he did NOT want the fusions. The doctor told him he would not do the surgery unless he had the fusions done! This raised our eyebrows, but in all fairness to the doctor, it's probably what he totally believed was the best remedy for my husband. Needless to say, we opted for a second opinion. This surgeon felt, in his professional opinion, that a fusion would not be necessary. He said he has had great success with a procedure called Lumbar Microsurgery. This procedure is done through and with a scope and the best part...recovery would be a few DAYS at the most...barring no complications. Well, as you can imagine, this was music to our ears and knowing this surgeon's reputation, this was a no-brainer decision for us! We did wonder why this procedure wasn't mentioned as an alternative from the first surgeon, but we later learned that not too many surgeons in this area are skilled or trained on this procedure. We also learned that some don't believe in it. At least we had more information and could now make an informed decision.

I'm happy to report that my husband has had this Lumbar Microsurgery operation and is doing great! He went in for this 4 hour surgery at 11:00 am and I brought him home at 8:30 pm that SAME day! Other than the slight soreness of his 6 inch incision, he is pain-free! The surgery was a success and I will be forever grateful to this surgeon for giving me my happy-go-lucky husband back!

This story is not intended to talk negative about the first surgeon or the fusion procedure itself. Doctors are only human and they make decisions based on their professional knowledge of a situation. It's merely a reminder that it never hurts to get a second...third...or fourth opinion when you hear a doctor say 'you need surgery'!

(The way in which I described Spinal Stenosis and Lumbar Microsurgery may not be the proper, medical descriptions. It's explained how I understood it!)