First Day of Sixth Grade

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Where did the time go?

It looks like I somehow missed the month of May, hmm, wonder where I put it?  Ah well, I guess I needed a break from my ever so busy life of loafing around reading the internet.  That's not entirely true, I've also been reading a big stack of library books.  And working out at the gym.  And making trips to California to visit friends.  So yeah, pretty busy.  Much too busy to check in with my blog.  So how about that eclipse?  That was something right?  Yeah, couldn't look at it.  I started thinking about the viewing possibilities about two hours ahead of time.  Evidently most people planned better and bought up all the special glasses.  We improvised and did the pinhole thing to project it onto a piece of poster-board.  I tried to take some pics with my pinhole camera but have yet to drop them in chemicals to see if I got anything.  Probably not, I think I left the shutter open for too long. 


Our gardens are going gangbusters.  I'm getting at least a dozen cherry tomatoes every day, usually much more.  The biggest issue with them is that I didn't cage them so I had to leave the chicken wire up around the garden to keep them upright.  Which means I am either reaching over the top or scrounging around underneath with my face pressed into the wire.  It's a look.

Here's a picture of the first real day of cherry tomato harvesting:

The strawberries finally started producing as well and when I can get them ahead of the birds they are quite good.  We've gotten two (tiny) raspberries that Mister C said were "okay".  The lone blackberry wasn't as good.  I have eight sugar babies (mini watermelons) that are about the size of softballs and several smaller ones.  I'm really excited about those, cannot wait for them to be ready!  The cantaloupe vines are taking over more than their half of the garden they're in.  I have to keep untangling their spindly runners from my strawberries to prevent strangulation.  I am finally starting to see little bulb like things that I think are future cantaloupe.  Another one I am really excited about.  The cucumbers have four little (about two inches) babies starting to grow.  And the grapevine is all the way up the trellis and heading for the overhang.  So, gardens are going pretty well and we've learned a ton.  Next year the tomatoes will be caged and the cantaloupe will have their own garden.

On other healthy fronts (see how my segues have improved in my absence?) I've been working out.  I work out no less than five times a week, usually at the gym, but sometimes I do it at home.   Mostly I do it at the gym though.  And I've been logging everything I eat for the last month.  That was sort of eye opening.  Not in a good way either.  Anyway, through the magical pill of diet and exercise I've managed to lose nine pounds since May 5th.  So, about 19% of my total goal and just under 5% lost off my starting weight.  And I'm starting to look a little better in my Jeep, so that's a positive.

So speaking of the Jeep (damn these segues just keep coming!) I still have the doors and hard top off and am driving around with just the bikini top on.  It was 111 degrees today.  Sitting at stop lights is kind of like sitting in a convection oven, the heat comes from all sides.  But you know what?  I don't even mind for the most part.  So long as I'm moving, it's fine.  And, I don't have to deal with it being 150 degrees when I get back to my car and it's been sitting in a parking lot for an hour.  Whatever the temp is outside, it is inside.  I also think it makes me more appreciative of air conditioning when I am in it.  And also, the disbelieving look on people's faces when I pull up next to them is awesome.  So for today, the doors and hard top stay off and I'll put up with the heat.

I'm all out of segues.  And I'm all out of updates.  I'll try really hard to be more on top of this blog in the future.  And I promise I'll get some more pictures in the next post.   

Latest Photography Project

I've been working on the final project for my photo class. It's a self driven, choose your own project type of project. So I've been flailing about for a week or so trying to pin down what I'm doing. I've narrowed it to "people", but that's about it. So far I've taken pictures of various shop owners, bikers, homeless guys and tattoo artists. I think I'm narrowing it down a little, but I'm still not sure on direction. I guess I'll see what shakes out this coming week since the project is due the following week. In the meantime, I did manage to get one decent picture printed out at last Wednesday's class.

The gal below, Leah, is a tattoo artist at the shop Inkenstein in the historic part of Glendale. She was gracious enough to allow me to take her picture on not one, but two separate occasions. I'm sure she wasn't completely comfortable having a stranger in her face taking an entire role of film, but she was game. Anyway, the one picture I printed was from that shoot. Also, since I'm working in black and white you can't see her hair color, which was bright blue and purple. Which was awesome.

Another Update Post

I can't believe I haven't posted anything in a week. What on earth have I been doing with my time? Well, we won't count today where I spent a good portion of my day looking up and watching Tim Hawkins videos and laughing my backside off. But mostly, I've been playing catch-up with life.

For instance, I finally got around to moving some plants into new pots this week. The pots we had all of our plants in had been falling apart for some time. They were those clay pots that apparently get weakened every time you water your plants. This starts by just leaving a little rust colored ring under the pot. It escalates to where little pieces are flaking off the pot. And it eventually ends up where large chunks are breaking off. So several weeks ago Mister C and I hit the home repair store and picked up some nice, environmentally unsound, fiberglass pots in colors not found in nature. We also bought some new soil in large bags that would tear open if I so much as looked at them. That weakness lasted right up to when I wanted to actually open them and get at the dirt, then the plastic would rebind itself and be nearly impossible to tear open. Anyway, two days of work later and I had moved all my previously potted plants to their new homes as well as moving the gladiolas and remaining calla lilies out of the garden that will soon be used for vegetables.

Mister C and I also finally got around to attending class to get our CCW license. This past Saturday we had Mamoo watch Master J while we spent five hours learning the rules and laws and practicing on the range. Which, by the way, was quite interesting. Because a few of the guys were pretty cocky when they got out there, until our instructor singled them out for their transgressions. Not to worry, he got after me as well, but at least I admit I'm no professional. But, there was a gal out there that was not in our class but was on the range with us that made me smile widely. We went up to shoot in groups of five and since there were eighteen of us in the class, there were four different relays. This lady was number six in each relay.

When we first got to the range I noticed this older gal up speaking with the instructor. She looked to be in her late sixties, maybe early seventies and probably eighty pounds soaking wet. Her dyed blond hair was piled on top of her head in a loose bun. She had red lacquered fingernails, full makeup and cat's eye sunglasses on. She was carrying a large, straw bag with her wallet, bottled water and whatever else it was she needed. Which in this case was her not so dainty weapon. Now, I don't know enough about guns to be able to identify what kind it was, I just know it was comparable in size and look to the one Mister C was using, which if I recall correctly is a 9mm glock. And man could this gal shoot. Since she was a part of each relay, she ended up firing sixty rounds. And I'm not joking when I tell you that not one of those rounds went anywhere except within one of the three target areas. Not one. Maybe she's a natural, although I'm sure she practices regularly to get that good. But however she does it, she was awesome to watch. She would be in a perfect stance, snapping her gum, he would blow the whistle, she would aim and fire. And it would be perfect. Man I love old ladies like this one!

The flockers are doing well. They're growing daily and feathering out nicely. They also have learned that when I greet them with "Hi girls, you want a snack?" there will be good stuff involved and so they come right over. While I don't think they'll ever be "pets", I do think good planning on my part will make removing their eggs a lot easier later I have no desire to have to fight my girls so I'd rather socialize them now while they're still babies.

Here's four of them in the snack bowl this morning.



My photography class has been really cool. I love the actual creation of pictures, it is amazing. I forgot my negatives at home the other night so I didn't get the chance to print out any pictures but hopefully I'll be able to do something tonight that I can post next time.

Finally, Mister C and I are taking an organic gardening class, which will be followed by a container gardening class. There's a ton of information to learn for us, and it's being presented pretty fast and furious. Hopefully between the two of us we'll get everything we need to get moving on our gardens.

I think that about wraps it up. Lots of stuff going on as well as lots of learning. So, it's all good.

The Motion Project

Remember how I was struggling to capture motion in photography and needed an assistant? Well, I got an assistant. I'm not really sure how wise of a decision that was. While ultimately I did manage to capture a few halfway decent shots, the process of getting there was rather painful (in a laughing my a$$ off painful way). That's because I had Mamoo be my assistant. Let's just say her performance was "spotty" because her aim was atrocious.

If you remember the original project idea, I was dropping a strawberry into a glass of water. Well, I went out and bought a rectangular glass vase to use instead since I thought it would have less reflection. Which it did. It was also much larger than the glass so I could have more water and more splash. Which it did. So then I thought to myself, what else can I add? Oh I know, Captain Rex! In case you weren't aware, Captain Rex is my blue betta that normally swims around in a little tank on my kitchen counter. So I scooped up Captain Rex and tossed him in my new vase to test the theory.

Now, people might assume that all fish are alike and will all react the same way to the same stimuli, but that would be an incorrect assumption. Some fish are more freaked out than others. I would never put what I knew was an easily freaked fish into the vase. For instance, I would never under any circumstances put Commander Cody in that vase. He scares himself on a daily basis when he catches his own refleciton in the shiny side of the heater. He's terrified of The Antagonizer. But Captain Rex isn't like that.

Captain Rex is a pretty low key guy, not easily startled. For example, when The Antagonizer plants her fat backside next to his tank and tries to catch him, he doesn't really react. He doesn't run away from the "paws of doom" or even flinch. So I thought he would be a good candidate for my experiment.

So there's Captain Rex, checking out his new digs and looking at out at me. Who knows what he's thinking, he is a fish after all. I don't know, maybe he thinks he's on a field trip and he's waiting for what we're going to do next. Anyway, since my camera was already completely set up and ready to go I grabbed my huge strawberry and get ready for Operation Strawberry Betta. With my finger on the button, I drop the strawberry and push the button as soon as the strawberry enters the frame. Captain Rex flings himself against the farthest wall of the tank in horror. I feel kind of bad about that but as soon as the strawberry starts to ascend back up, Captain Rex swims right over to it and checks it out. So I think "Oh he's fine, he just got a little worried but now he knows it's okay."

Apparently fish have no memory. Because I repeated my experiment a half a dozen times and each and every time got the same result:

Captain Rex swims peacefully around.
Drop strawberry.
"INCOMING!!!!!!!!! Holy shit! What was that?!?!?"
Strawberry starts ascending.
Captain Rex swims right up to it.
"Oh cool! Fruit! I like fruit!"
Remove strawberry from water.
Captain Rex swims peacefully around.

After the half dozen attempts, I figured Captain Rex never was going to figure it out and thought I should quit torturing him. I put him back into his real tank, none the worse for wear, and went about trying to find some other motion to capture.

This was as good as it got.

Marine Biology Department at ASU

Mister C and I went on a field trip with Master J today to the marine biology department at ASU. Who knew they even had a marine biology department here in the desert? But they do.

Master J's PI class, along with the PI classes for two other schools, got to go on a field trip there today to learn about plankton and whales. As with all of his PI field trips, it was pretty interesting. We got to hear Associate Professor Susanne Neuer speak about the wonders of ocean biochemistry before being sent over to listen to whale songs with Eric (whose last name escapes me). I'm so glad my child is in a school where they recognize the good parts of him as well as the bad and give him opportunities like this one.

Master J checking out some plankton under the microscope.



The kids were divided into groups, blindfolded and then mixed up. Then they had to find all the members of their pod by using their pod specific call. Master J was part of the cow group. It was pretty amusing listening to the barnyard as the kids tried to find their group.



All in all, a pretty cool day for both the kids and the adults.

Spaghetti Squash

There was a spaghetti squash amongst my fruit and vegetables this morning. I've never tried this particular vegetable, nor had any desire to do so. I dislike squash in general. But, since it showed up in my basket, I thought I should at least give it a try. At first I thought I would try it "later in the week" but I know me too well. I know that I would keep putting it off until the undesired item finally started to go bad and then throw it out. I decided to dive in and serve it tonight with some baked chicken.

I had to read and re-read the directions several times to "get it". They're not difficult, I was just sort of distracted and hungry. Once I figured that part out, the biggest problem I had is that it took a little longer than I expected to cut the squash in half lengthwise. I almost cut my left hand off with the first knife I tried. Eventually, and several knives later, I got it cut in half and the seeds removed so I could toss it into the oven. After rotating it once and letting it cook for an hour, the skin softened and I took it out. Taking the fork to the insides was kind of fun in a "Cool, I'm creating something!" way. I tossed in a little sea salt, pepper and a few tablespoons of Parmesan and tossed it together. I put some on Mister C's plate as is. For myself, I cut my chicken up and threw it into the squash and mixed it up some more.

Now came the test. Mister C looked suspiciously at the squash and announced that it smelled funny. Not exactly the reaction I was hoping for. But he tried it. As did I. And guess what? It's really good. We both really liked it. Even Master J gave it a try and said it was good. He had already eaten earlier so he didn't want any more than a bite but at least he tried it. I'm never going to mistake it for actual pasta of any shape, but it's really tasty. The texture is fairly al dente and the flavor is pretty mild. While it doesn't taste like pasta, more importantly to me is that it doesn't taste like squash. I think I can add this one to the grocery list.

Who Knew?

November is National Pomegranate Month. And I just happen to have a half dozen pomegranates in my refrigerator currently. I picked them up the last two Saturdays with the rest of my fruits and vegetables. The only problem is that I have no idea what to do with them.

From what little I've read, what I've determined is that they:

1. Are very seedy
2. Squirt when you cut into them
3. Stain your clothes

So, yeaaahhh, not really sure whether I want to deal with them or not. If anyone would like to dispute the above and tell me why (and how) I should consume this "fruit of the month", please feel free. I'm open to suggestions because right now they're just sucking up space in my fridge.

Now that's better!

This is today's lasagna...



As you can see, it's a Smart Ones spinach lasagna. It looks tons better, no? It smelled tons better as well. But the taste test is what really matters now isn't it?

The lasagna noodles in the Smart Ones were cooked perfectly. No rubbery grossness here! There was a good (appropriate) amount of ricotta cheese laced with spinach in between each of the layers. There was probably a quarter of a cup of thick sauce with chunks of vegetables slathered over the serving. The cheese did not disappear on cooking. In fact, when I cut into the lasagna, I had strings of gooey cheese that I had to wrap up in my fork. The flavor was very good, with no spice being overly dominant.

Overall, it was 100% better than the Michelina's version of a non-meat lasagna. Price wise, the Smart ones are not that much more expensive. Calorie wise, the Smart Ones has ten more than the Michelina's. Hang on...okay, I just walked around my island a few times. I think I took care of the ten calories and it was totally worth it for the better product.

Well that was fun...

So I took my dog to her Monday night very basic training for the fifth (sixth?) time tonight.

Earlier today, I put her through all that we've learned so far. We were outside at the time, off lead. And she did very, very well. She sat, she stayed, she lay down, she did a down stay, she came when called, she spun in circles and danced on her hind legs. All on command. It was amazing. I could not wait to get to class to show all the progress we made.

Apparently, somewhere in the parking lot of the training facility, her brain fell out. I'm not even kidding. I watched her IQ drop as we neared the entry, and it just plummeted further the longer we were there.

She couldn't stay to save her life. Hell, she couldn't even figure out how to sit anymore. Walking nicely next to me? Not hardly. Evidently she couldn't figure out what that invisible force was that was holding her back and causing her to choke. Forget about getting her to lay down. But it managed to go even further downhill from there.

Today's new lesson was on how to properly "greet" a strange dog. Oh boy.

First, we have to establish if the other dog is friendly or not. We do this by asking the owner "Is you dog friendly?" If they answer affirmatively, we have to explain that we're trying to allow our dog to do a quick greeting as part of their training. I suspect we're not supposed to reply that our dog is decidedly NOT friendly and perhaps they should move their wussy dog out of our way so we can get back to the training room where it's safe. Whatever. We allow our dogs to touch noses and then move on. If either dog shows any sign of aggression, we're supposed to step between them, turn our dog away and walk away until she calms down.

If they answer negatively, we don't allow them to greet at all, we just go look for the next vict.., er dog.

So what happens if the owner is a clueless idiot who doesn't know what qualifies a dog as "friendly" to other dogs? Well, then Cujo comes out to play.

The first dog we asked to greet was an old, overweight pug. His eyes were busy looking in different directions so I was pretty confident that even if he wasn't nice, I wouldn't have a problem pulling my dog back. But he was really sweet and not at all aggressive. The dogs touched noses, the pug peed on a nearby shelf, and we moved on.

The next dog we asked to greet was a young, very exuberant pit bull mix that had no manners at all. We were told that she was "friendly" but I don't think they understood what we were looking for. Because the dog growled at my dog and put her paw on my dog's head. And my girl? Well...if she could speak it would have been:

"Bitch! What the hell was that? Did you just put your foot on my head? Oh no! No, you did NOT just put your damn foot on my head! I will KILL you! Kill you until you are dead!"

Only in all capital letters and with more attitude. And then I had to walk to far corner of the store with my dog yelling threats and throwing gang signs back at the other dog the entire way. I think that went as well as expected.

Learning, always learning

My in-laws are visiting this week. My father in law is a real estate agent in his home state. He is also a fantastic photographer. His listings always have the best photographs, even if the house itself is nothing to write home about. So I've been picking his brain. He's been showing me how to take better pictures and how to fix the ones I've taken. He explained how he sets up shots to make the most of a room, how to use my camera better. He's pointed out things in my own house that I really hadn't noticed. In. my. own. house. I've got a lot to learn. Sigh.

WOOT! WOOT!

State exam passed. I had a scheduled test time of 8:00 this morning. I got there at 7:30 (of course) and signed in. The lady at the front desk was pretty brusque with everyone. Not rude or anything like that, just all business. I'm sure after repeating myself 500 times a day with "everything must go into the locker" I'd be pretty businesslike too. They give you two hours to finish the national part and 1.5 hours to get through the state part. I started testing at 7:38. I finished the national portion at 8:44, well, actually closer to 8:40 since I had to wait for three other people to sign in before I could sign out. I have to tell you that I was pretty nervous at that point, but the nice gentleman in charge of letting us in and out let me know pretty quickly that I had passed. I signed out, put my 1st certificate in my locker, used the restroom and went back in for the state portion. Which I finished in 20 minutes flat. Oh my goodness. I probably don't have to tell you I was sweating that one. I figured I either really knew it, or had failed miserably. But, I was relieved even before he told me I passed because I saw him push the "certificate" paper into the printer. And I knew it was all good. After getting my things out of my locker, I stopped at the desk to see if there was anything I needed to sign in order to leave. The brusque lady running the front desk told me no, and then asked "What took you so long?" and started laughing. Ahh, so she isn't all business all the time!

Master J - poor baby has his mama's eyebrows.

It's Here!

They dedicated and opened our new library today. We walked over to take a tour and get our new cards. That's right people, we walked over. How cool is it to be walking distance to a library? It's one of my favorite places to be and one of Master J's favorite places as well. We walked over. I am so excited!

I got a decent picture of the outside of the building. It's a really neat design, although I'm not really sure what you would call it. Mid-Century Modern? I don't know, it looks like a big wave. The inside is awesome too. Lots of chrome, clean lines, funky lime green chairs. I was in the process of taking a photo of one of the sitting areas with the green chairs and some art work behind it. It was a really cool shot. And just as I was about to press the button, three pre-teen girls walked right into my frame and plopped their butts down on the chairs completely ruining it. Talk about oblivious. I'll go back when it's not a madhouse and try again.

Here's the wave...



Here's a bush outside of it (very exciting, I know!)



On a totally unrelated subject, I've taken Master J off of cow's milk for the next two weeks to help rule out an allergy. It's the weekend and I always make waffles on the weekend. Waffles made with soy milk suck. I may have to tweak that recipe. Tweak it right out of existence that is. Blech!

Results of the debt diet, as far as I took it anyway

I quit keeping track of my spending somewhere around February 19th. There was a lot of stuff that was budgeted for (groceries) or actually required (vaporizer). And there was some extraneous spending on things like a candy bar while I was at school. Nothing too bad. But there was one glaring expenditure that is a recurrent theme here in Mirthville and that is coffee. Between February 1st and February 19th, I spent over $25 on coffee. The total for vending machine coffee and Fourbucks was $29.30, but I know I bought at least one bagel in there. But even at $25, that's $1.25 a day in extra coffee. That's above and beyond what I drink at home, which is anywhere from 1/2 to 1 and 1/2 pots. I may need to take a hard look at this particular addiction.

Got GPS?

Remember a few days ago how Mister C and I shared a wonderful walk through a newly discovered neighborhood? Remember how much we enjoyed it and vowed to go back to enjoy it again? Well, today was the day we decided to do it. It started out the same way, that is with us thoroughly enjoying the peaceful, tree lined streets and friendly people. It didn't quite end the same way though.

After our last walk, I checked on Google Earth to see if there was a way to walk further through the neighborhood while walking less on the main streets that surround it. And there was. I checked the map twice, even using my index finger to follow the road to it's appropriate end (because that's the most scientific method). Anyway, I thought I had it all figured out when we left the house this morning. But I was wrong. Because I made us turn onto the wrong street and go about a mile out of our way. In each direction. Twice. I finally gave up and let Mister C lead us. He went the way he had been saying from the beginning was the right way, the one I had insisted was wrong. And within about ten minutes had us to the street I had been looking for. Which would have been great, except that there were no trees on this street. No golf course or water features either. But by the time we figured this out we were halfway down it and not turning back.

At the end of our walk, we had been walking for over three hours and both had sunburns. Nice. We both decided that next time we'll walk the tree lined boulevard to the end. And then turn around and walk it in reverse to get back home. Shade the whole way, beautiful scenery and an end in sight. I guess there's something to be said for not always trying to discover a new way.

The first lesson in becoming a real estate agent

Be able to find your way around.

I got lost leaving the mall after getting my hair cut tonight. Now to clarify, it's a mall I haven't been to since I was pregnant with Master J almost 8 years ago, in a part of town I'm not usually in and it was dark when I left. Not that that makes it any better. After driving for about 10 miles, I realized that I had somehow missed where I was supposed to go. I was able to figure this out because I knew that the mall is no more than three miles off the highway I was aiming for. In my defense, I did pull over to get out a map and try and figure out where I was. I have a compass in my car, and with a map and knowing the nearest major cross streets, I can always find my way around. The only problem was that the map was for Omaha. And I live over 1,000 miles away. So that wasn't very helpful. I finally gave up and asked some guy at an intersection how to get to the highway. It turns out I wasn't very far from it at all but I did need to continue driving the wrong way long enough to turn around and go back to it. Mister C offered to buy me a GPS with verbal, turn by turn directions so this doesn't happen again. But I really don't like those things barking at me while I'm trying to enjoy my drive. He's got his set up on some English woman's voice that sounds very cultured while she gets after him for missing turns. I think if I did get one, I would want it to fit my personality a little better than that. Do you think they have "Cabbie from Brooklyn - Uncensored" available?

Debt Diet -
1 coffee - .65
dinner @ Johnny Rockets - $7
Hair cut (tip only - yay for gift cards!) - $10
Birthday card - $2.48
Total - $20.13

Did you know...

There are over 107,000 licensed real estate agents in Arizona? The estimated population in 2006 (the latest I could find) was 6,166,318. Which means that for every agent, there are about 57 possible clients/customers. I couldn't tell you how many of those people rent their homes, but just based on the economics of owning a home, I would say at least half. Probably more. So let's just cut that number by slightly more than half to a round number of 28. Now, add to that information the fact that 10% of the agents sell 90% of the houses. So, of those 28 possible clients, approximately 25 of them are going to be sold by each of the top producing agents. Leaving 3 clients for each of the bottom producers. Assuming the median price of a home in Phoenix is currently just under $200,000 (and falling), and that there is a negotiated commission of 6%, that gives us a starting commission of $12,000. Sounds good, no? Now cut that in half. Because they need to pay the other broker's agent. So down to $6,000. Still, not so bad. Except, now they need to hand the money over to their broker. Their broker might be one that takes 50% and doesn't charge them any fees for working there. Or they may charge them less of a percentage, but take a bunch of fees. But let's assume, for easy math, that they do a 50/50 split with no fees. That leaves our agent with $3,000, per house. For the three houses they're going to sell. Which means they just made $9,000. For the year. And by the way, this also assumes that all the potential clients actually want to sell or buy a house, which of course is highly unlikely. But guess what? I'm not getting licensed to make big bucks. I'm getting licensed because I love real estate and I wanted to be a part of a community that has the ability to make a difference in people's lives. I'm not the best salesperson out there, far from it. But I love real estate and I'm pretty good with people so I'm thinking if I put those two things together, I'll be successful in life. And maybe, just maybe, the money will follow.

My first day back in school

I started real estate school today. I had to do the orientation class for 20 minutes before they let us start the real school. It's pretty basic, they just tell you what you need and in what order you need to do it. There was only five of us in the orientation and as a side note, two of them came in late. One by 5 minutes, one by 15. I only mention that because that is one of the things that drives me absolutely insane about agents. Someone once told me that if I did two things right, I would be better than most agents out there. Those two things were simple, return phone calls in a timely manner, and show up on time when we're supposed to be meeting. That's it. I know from talking with all the people in class in Nebraska that most of them had the same issue. They wanted to buy a house. They had the means to make a down payment. They had the financing in place. But they couldn't get an agent to return their calls or show up on time to show them a house. That's pretty pathetic if you ask me. Now, I'm not naive enough to think I'm going to be able to make a business out of returning phone calls and showing up on time. I know that agents, the good ones anyway, offer a vast amount of knowledge that most people don't know. They help people with what is probably one of the biggest decisions they will probably make in their life. One of the most expensive too. At the end of the day, if they do their job correctly, everybody leaves the table satisfied. I just hope that I don't lose business because of something so simple as common courtesy.

Getting back on track

Last year, while we were still in Nebraska, I started going to real estate school. I had hoped to get my license pretty quickly and passed the first required class with no issue. But then we changed our plan and moved down to Sunshineville, so getting a license in Nebraska no longer made a whole lot of sense. Each state requires you to have a set number of classroom hours in that state, which means that I get to start over again. Not that that is a bad thing. Review is always a good thing, right? I've started looking into the local schools around here and it looks like I can take classes all day both Saturday and Sunday and be done in 4 1/2 weeks. I've got the go ahead from Mister C to register for the classes, so now I just need to wait for tomorrow morning when I can talk with a human at the school and get it done. Taking weekend classes means I'm going to miss out on the family hike for the next month, but I'm really looking forward to learning again.