HOLY Cow Do I have a lot to say!
OK, so this will likely be a LONG post. I haven't blogged in quite awhile and quite a bit has happened since I did, so here goes:The House(s)
My old home is sold, gone, done, the check is in the bank. As much as I was sad to see it go, I was REALLY happy to have the whole process done. Fortunately I had a GREAT Realtor to help me through the process! Now that $$ is burning a hole in my pocket. I am going to follow through with my commitment to buy myself a new road bike to reward myself. (see below) I also want to build a garden shed in the back yard at the new home AND we have some concrete work we want done. So that will all get done AND likely I'll pay off our new hot tub and bedroom set. BUT that money will go in my money market account and sit there and earn interest until next year when I have to pay off those accounts. Making other people's money work for you is a great option! :-) Our neighbors, Teri and I finally finished our fence project this last weekend. Mike and I built the two gates for Teri and I's home and Teri and Jen stained the fence. It turned out really good. Well, we did buy the wrong stain to start with, so one corner of the fence is bright orange. Fortunately it's the corner of the yard the shed will be going in and you'll never see it once that's built. Also, I got the components for my home network closet and whole house audio project. I got the wires from the amp to the closet connected and one set of speakers, my Bose 251's on the back porch, connected. The rest of the speakers will arrive this week and last week, I got the CAT5 cable ends connected and the volume controls installed. So I should have that project done by end of month. I'm hoping to have the concrete work and the shed done by end of month as well.
The bike
OK, so my quest for a bike continues. I ALMOST bought one this weekend. My problem now is that I'm getting conflicting reports and I think the problem is that both bike shops I've been talking to, just want to sell a bike. I've kind of moved beyond the clyclo-cross bikes and am now looking for more of a true road bike. The bike I looked at this weekend is pretty dang sweet, it's the Specialized Roubaix at Bonney Lake bicycles in Sumner. Talking to the tech/sales guy there, he said the all carbon frame and fork would be just fine for my weight. That there would be "no problems whatsoever" with the wheels going out of true often OR with the crank. So I was pretty jazzed about that. Then I went to Old Town bicycles in Tacoma again to compare prices. I talked to Torey there and he again stressed that I don't want carbon frame/fork due to weight issues. He also said a 56cm frame (the size at BLC) was too small for me and I'd need a 58cm. Then he showed me a Cannondale Synapse and said it would work well for me too, but that he'd still want to upgrade the wheels. Guess what? The Cannondale Synapse is an all carbon frame and fork. And it retails for $2,400.00 . . . but he's trying to get rid of the 06 models, so he'd do it for $2,050.
Specialized Roubaix
The Vacation
Teri and I headed down to San Diego to attend Brian Buffini's Master Mind retreat on the 19th of August. We had a GREAT time! MM is basically a personal growth/development seminar. Most of my friends think I'm a freak for attending the conference, reading self improvement books and listening to motivational CD's, but frankly I don't care. I do get a lot of ideas and inspiration from these things and hey, if it works for me, it works. So I'm not worried about it. During MM, we got to hear a couple of speakers that were just great. Jim Lovell, the commander of the Apollo 13 space flight who talked about overcoming adversity. And Jack Canfield, author of Chicken Soup for the Soul who talked about stretching to achieve things you never thought possible. Both were REALLY good. We all got copies of Jack's book, the Power of Focus. I've started it and it's great so far. Coming out of MM, I set a goal to inspire the guys I hang out with to read the book and follow it's action steps to see what kind of positive changes we can make in our and each other's lives. I've got two of them on board so far (thanks Steve and Erick!) so we'll see what happens. I ordered books for them both today. We've agreed to meet monthly and discuss 3 - 4 chapters of the book. So at the VERY least, we'll have some good company for some good food at least once a month for the next 3 months. :-)
After attending MM, Teri and I headed to my parents to spend the next 5 days in the desert relaxing and playing some golf. It was also my birthday during that time, so of course I had to buy myself a cool b-day present. I settled on a couple of Cleveland Halo hybrids for my golf bag. We ended up playing 9 holes on each Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I shot a 59, 60 and 59 respectively. I really need to get out more, or at the very least get to the driving range this winter to work on my swing. I drove the ball good, and hit some good second shots, but when I get within about 50 yards of the pin, or even on the green, my game goes to crap. I'm generally driving the ball 200 - 225 yards and can reach some par 5's in 2. But man, my short game needs some serious work. There was one hole, a par 3 144yd, where I teed up and hit my 7 iron. Plop, right on the green just past the pin! It rolled back and I had a 10 foot put for birdie. Of course my putt went wide and I had a tap in for par. Man, I wanted that birdie. I still haven't had one, so that's a goal. AND I want to shoot under 50 for 9 which will ultimately lead me to under 100 for 18.
Now it's back to work time! Coming back to work last week, I had 4 listing appointments! 2 of them are now on market, one was just a pre-listing appt. and won't be ready to list until October and the 4th cancelled on me last minute and listed with someone else. It was strange, but c'est la vie. Two listings coming on in two days is still cool! The market is cooling a bit, so patience is the mantra I'm telling my clients right now. We're outta the multiple offer sell in 2 days market. You just gotta be patient and wait for the right buyer to come along.
There you have it, all caught up!