When my older son was about 2 we were traveling a lot for my investment business, and I tried to take the family along as often as possible. Jonny was a busy kid who loved to experience life on high volume. Ironically, he's like that as an adult too. We were in a hotel in Williamsburg, VA, on a
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12/29/2012
I was thinking about an old Crosby, Still, Nash and Young song today while doing a little property management maintenance. The song, "Teach your children" kept running through my mind. Why? Two reasons. One, the house under our care has four college students in it. They don't know anything a
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12/27/2012
Life has its own brake system, and whether you apply them or not, they do get applied. I've been crazy busy for the past year. The weeks prior to Thanksgiving through Christmas were insanely busy. I had a lot of early mornings and late nights, but you do what you've got to do, until life puts
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12/26/2012
We have a tradition at the Cooper house that goes way back. Throughout my entire adult life, I have always eaten dessert first. My philosophy? Life is short, eat dessert first. We did eventually pare that down to special events such as birthdays, holidays, graduations and such, but the princi
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12/24/2012
I want to be a weatherman. I can be wrong 50% of the time and still have a good paying job. Our local weathermen predicted we'd have to travel many miles if we were going to have a white Christmas. Well Sparky, define "many." It's going to be a white Christmas in the valley. Merry Christmas
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12/24/2012
This is a public service announcement to all the companies that call me with an automated message to make sure I end up on the front page of Google, that my Google-Yahoo-Bing business page is correct or anything else - stop calling. I will never use your service, period! I don't talk to compute
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12/24/2012
It's that time of year where lights fill neighborhoods; flashing, flickering and glowing everywhere. It's beautiful. Ironically, Christmas lights can reveal electrical problems with your home, or they can create them. So far this season, we've answered two service calls related to Christmas li
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12/23/2012
Mid-Atlantic Rainers, I need your help. A year ago in November, we did a 12 hour indoor cycling fundraiser for the Susan G. Komen Foundation for breast cancer research, and I'm at it again this year. This year's recipient will likely be different, but it will be for a great cause. Also this ye
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12/22/2012
Thirty years ago, my wife and I were in our first month of marriage. I was a young minister in Virginia and she was my staff. For the years leading up to our marriage, I had traveled and taught throughout Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and the D.C. area. Ironically, the week b
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12/21/2012
If you're thinking about buying a foreclosure in Winchester VA, there are certain things you should know. Foreclosures can be great buys, and many of them are listed at bargain prices. But, and there is always a but, foreclosure purchases do have characteristics that aren't always like fair mar
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12/21/2012
