Dahlia Day

Today Rob and I and the kids went for an outing to Canby to a Dahlia Festival. It was held at the Swan Island Dahlia farm, where they grow several hundred varieties of Dahlias on over 40 acres. They had an indoor area where they had arrangements to look at. We were glad about this because when we arrived it was pouring rain outside and we were not dressed for rainy weather.

Later, when we were done indoors we went out and walked around their farm. There was a neat pond where Katie enjoyed looking at the Koi fish.

Dahlia's are my favorite flower and I hope to grow them someday. I will have a hard time choosing which ones to grow, though when it comes time to plant them. I saw so many that I liked!

Busy Broker

I'm excited to say that I'm in the midst of my first home selling transaction! I listed a house on the 13th and two days later an offer came in for it. I've been in the process of helping my Seller negotiate the terms of the agreement. We're expecting it to close in early September. I am thrilled about how quickly this is going, but it has been a learning experience. So many forms to fill out, so many deadlines. There is a lot to know, that you don't learn when you go to school to get your license. I am grateful to have a very knowledgeable Principal Broker who helps me all the time, as well as a trainer, and many other people at the office who are answering all my questions each day.

I've also been having a great time meeting new people in my business. I've been going to appointments meeting For Sale By Owners (FSBO's). There are some really great families out there, I wish I could find buyers for them. Do you know of anyone who wants to buy a vacation home in Welches, or a vintage home in Gresham? I'd be glad to hook them up. I don't mind working with FSBO's as long as they don't mind working with me.

I heard about an interesting website today while at work it is http://www.walkscore.com Check it out. Enter a location and it will tell you what stores and restaurants are nearby, and it will give you the walking distance. This is great if you are planning a trip or visiting a new city. (or if you like to walk a lot you can find great places to visit that are "walker-friendly".)

I've got a lot of other things going on besides work, but that will have to wait for another post.

So last week was pretty much shot. Thursday and Friday Katie had what we called "runny poop". It was awful! And I couldn't really go to work and leave a babysitter to take care of her (although I did get out of the house Thursday morning thanks to a very brave sitter so that I could get more lysol wipes, chicken noodle soup, applesauce, bananas, more lysol spray, sponges and pedialyte. I'm sure the checker at Winco was sympathetic based on what I had in my cart.)

So this week I have been back to work full speed ahead. I was able to get the paperwork signed so that I now have an official 2nd listing. Last week the guy took the paperwork home to read it, and didn't bring it back until this past Tuesday. I'm excited, and will start listing it on the market next week! On Monday I took some walk in clients around looking for houses in Sandy. I hope that I can help them find what they're looking for.

This weekend we are going to the church campout at Ft. Stevens. The kids are very excited about it. I am looking forward to getting away from my computer for a few days. (I'm taking my phone, though so that I can find out details about Tim and Heidi's baby delivery.) I hope we can leave for the campout tomorrow. Unfortunately Rob got the "bug" that we all had last week and has been home the last few days. Hopefully he'll feel better tomorrow.