THE PARTY'S OVER

The deposit check has been returned to the buyers along with a lovely note offering my services and some cute "Change of Address Cards". As my kids used to say "Mom, you are such a suck up"!! I like to think that I just go out of my way to help people find a home ( and possibly a Realtor for life). You be the judge :>)

Later,
Janet

FRUSTRATION

I took the offer from the buyer on the phone, faxed it to him for his approval and then went to their apartment to get it signed. I presented it to the selling agent, all the while embarrassed by the low, low number. Today we did a couple of counter offers and we are still not even close. Buyers want to stop; they are not willing to get anywhere near the sellers asking price ( which is not an unreasonable price, BTW) . This is the life in Real Estate and this doesn't just mean no income for me, it means I have to paint the dreaded trim, darn it all!!! Plus I got these buyers from a rogue phone call to the office regarding this one property. They don't want or need an agent to help them, so I will in all likelihood never hear from them again. They may possibly be the only buyers in a fifty mile radius or so it seems from my perspective!!


Enough of the negative self-talk. I came across a really fun blog today. She is giving away a really cute tassel in the Great Blog Giveaway or whatever the event is called. I am too lazy to look it up. The blog is called NestingPlace and she does what my friend Jano used to refer to as the Janet School of Home Dec. Lots of hot glue and upholstery tacks, but any girl that has a red toile sectional is all right by me. Hop on over and check it out. I need to go back and read some of her archives.

Later,
Janet

THEY LIKED IT, THEY REALLY, REALLY LIKED IT

They liked it yesterday, spent an hour there. We went back today with both sets of parents and now we await the verdict. Hopefully the parents give the OK, but sometimes they mean well, but don't understand the market. That's when declare that we will only sell houses to orphans!!


Hopefully I hear from them tomorrow and they want to write an offer and then the negotiations can begin and the painting can be ignored :)!!!

Later,
Janet

DREADED TASK

Not a fun time. It is my job , since I don't seem to have any real estate activity going on, to paint all the trim in the upstairs hallway. It is not a big space, but there are five doors and obviously the baseboard. Mr. Bob seems to think that this is just a couple hour job, but I beg to differ. Today I taped of all the door trim on each side of the door, taped all the baseboards and the new hardwood floor in the hall, did some caulking and started lightly sanding the varnish. Then, fortunately I had to go to work. Tomorrow more sanding, wiping down and maybe start the primer, but....drum roll please...I have to go show property at noon. Wish me luck, I could use some real estate action to help stimulate the economy.

Here is a joke my boss sent me.

Have you ever been guilty of looking at others your own age and thinking, '"surely I can't look that old." Well.. You'll love this one.

My name is Alice Smith and I was sitting in the waiting room for my first appointment with a new dentist. I noticed his DDS diploma, which bore his full name. Suddenly, I remembered a tall, handsome, dark-haired boy with the same name had been in my high school class some 40-odd years ago. Could he be the same guy that I had a secret crush on, way back then?

Upon seeing him, however, I quickly discarded any such thought. This balding, gray-haired man with the deeply lined face was way too old to have been my classmate. After he examined my teeth, I asked him if he had attended Morgan Park High School. "Yes. Yes, I did. I'm a mustang," he gleamed with pride. "When did you graduate?" I asked. He answered , "in 1965. Why do you ask?" "You were in my class!", I exclaimed. He looked at me closely.

Then, that ugly, old, bald, wrinkled,fat ass, gray-haired, decrepit son-of-a-b**** asked, "What did you Teach?"

Enjoy the laugh,
Janet

FASHIONS.. 1977 STYLE

A friend of mine sent me these photos from a 1977 J C Penneys Catalog. There were captions, but I wasn't able to capture them, so I made up my own. But, I think the outfits easily speak for themselves!!!


My Dad, bless his heart, still has a version of this jacket. You just can't kill polyester!


Guy on the left is getting ready to go to the Disco ( with Penny???). Gotta love the combination of the high belt and the chest hair. The guy on the right is going to a St. Patrick's Day wedding. He will get his green carnation boutinierre ( can't seem to spell that word ) at the door of the church. Green beer will be served at the reception.


Anyone up for a Hoedown?


First example of his and hers fashions. They are meeting the guy in the blue get-up at the hoedown. HeeeHaw!!

Variation on a theme. Will you look at her waist? Makes Miz Scarlett look chunky!

Matching bathingsuits..the epitome of commitment. She certainly looks appreciative...maybe it is their honeymoon on a tropical island ;)


Do you have any idea where they would wear these perky outfits?? Hopefully none of us had these outfits.

Later,
Janet

SISTERS

Subject: LIVING WILL

MY LIVING WILL

Last night my sister and I were sitting in the den and I said to her, "I never want

to live in a vegetative state, dependent on some machine and fluids from a bottle

to keep me alive. That would be no quality of life at all, If that ever happens, just

pull the plug."

So she got up, unplugged the computer, and threw out my wine.

She's such a bitch.

Guess I should be glad that I don't have any sisters (although I always wanted one).

Later,
Janet

PROJECTS FOR 2007

Several of my favorite bloggers have recently posted their top projects for 2007. I believe Manuela started the ball rolling in her January 10 post and then Linda joined in on January 12, Angela on the 13th, Cindy on 1/15 and the Tracy on the 16th. All these great posts got me to thinking...."hmmm, what did I do last year?" Certainly not the number or scope of their projects, but I must have done something ( before I found blogging). So, I took a couple of pictures of the guest room. When I started this room was blue walls and old carpet. It had been the home to several boys over the years as my boys tended to play Musical Chairs with rooms as one moved out. Needless to say it was a bit of a mess. So walls were painted BenMoore Weston Flax, a light, but creamy yellow and to be fair this was done in November 2006 in a bit of a hurry since I had a friend coming to stay. However, the new hardwood floor went in in January 2007. Then I painted the old brass/brassy bed with metallic bronze paint. Quite a change!

Please note that the wall color is approximately the background color of my blog template, but for some reason it comes out either washed out or too bright. Just use your vivid imaginations, OK?

I also had one of those really ugly, handhewn look dark pine dressers that all bachelors feel the need to own or did in the 80s. I painted it several shades of blue, some leftover from the trial and error of the front door, and finally just decided to leave well enough alone. Then I sanded/distressed and finished with a dark BriWax. I replaced the "antique brass" hardware with some bronze knobs and pulls. I don't love the color, but it is sure an improvement from the pine. I still need to paint the new closet doors and touch up some trim...yeah, yeah I will get to it sometime soon, I promise!


No, the walls are not that yellow and yes, that router thingey is still on the floor near the dresser. I am told it will be able to go somewhere else, but I don't think it will happen 'til I get those doors and trim done! Also, I have an idea for over the bed that involves an empty frame and some blue and white plates.

Okay, that's it for my TWO projects. Can you handle my ambition? We also did this room a/k/a the study, but it is a mess because of an unknown leak in the bathroom. Long, unhappy story!! But we put in hardwood, painted, installed window treatments, bought cheapie bookcases and it looked good for a while. Maybe some day I will be able to take pictures.

Later,
Janet