Susan Mangigian, Chester County Realtor

Speechless Sunday, Smokey and the Bandit Learn to Twitter!

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 08:30:16 -0600

Thankful Thursday, 11/19/09 - Real life and stuff!

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:53:39 -0600

This has been one of those very good weeks that you get every now and again. First I'd like to start with the fact that Thursday, 11/19/09 is my friend Robyn Stephanou's 51st Birthday. Robyn single handedly got me through my 50th with a sound mind by bombarding me with notes, cards, comments on my facebook wall, notes to my mailman on the envelope of birthday cards and finally the huge sign she placed at the corner of my street, alerting the world that I am 50. Well, today, I'd like to say that I am thankful for this lovely woman and that I am also thankful that she is one year older than me! Well, almost one year! xxoo to my wonderful and funny friend Robyn who makes me laugh by simply answering her phone. Seriously.

The second great thing that happened this week was that I talked out something with someone who means a lot to me. Something has been bothering me for a while. As outgoing as I am, I can be a major avoider of anything that looks like conflict, so this was huge for me. It put my mind at rest and I am happy we talked.

Next, I've been doing the Brian Buffini end of the year Blitz with a small group at our office and our broker Mike took all of the participants out to breakfast on Monday morning to start the week. I know I've said it before, but I am extremely thankful to be working for a company owned by such great people. Truly above the crowd, as the RE/MAX slogan says!

As a result of doing the End of Year Blitz, I was entitled to a free group coaching call. I participated today and got a free PDF version of the book Think and Grow Rich. I started reading it and it is wonderful. Everywhere I turn God is trying to tell me that by controlling my thoughts, I can direct my life. I highly recommend you go out today and buy this book.

The sun has been shining all week and it's been wonderful! I bagged some leaves and did some fall cleanup, my loving little JJ by my side. I am thankful for the sunshine and so thankful that I put my foot down and treated myself and Max to this dog. He is a joy. Simply the best gift I ever got for myself and my family.

Max, my 13 year old and I are great friends and I can't even begin to tell you how thankful I am that this handsome and well rounded boy likes to sit and talk with me. He is truly a blessing and I will be eternally thankful to have him in my life.

Last but not least is my college boy. This is so funny that I have to share it. Mike called me today just to say hi which is a rare enough occurrence that I am indeed thankful for that. I had posted a picture of him and his cousins on my facebook from when they were very little and I was much younger and pregnant with Max.

Mike is on the bottom left and he was saying how much he wanted to be little again. He said, and I swear it's true, that he was tired of "real life", it was just too much work! Hahahahaha! This is the child who is living in an apartment off campus, all expenses paid with a 15 meal a week meal plan and a car that he only pays the insurance on, and this comes from a savings account that I started when he was little! When he comes home both my husband and I slip him money and we always fill his gas tank. We send him back with a trunk full of food and goodies. He just spent the weekend at Penn State, visiting friends and going to the football game! He's tired of real life! Well, this just tickles my funny bone! I said "sweetie, you aren't living real life, you are in the middle of having the time of your life"! He thinks college is a lot of work and believe me, I'm sure it is. But I didn't have the opportunity and I am extremely thankful that I can provide him the chance to attend. But that is just too funny! Real life! Ha!

Thursdays is my Meals on Wheels delivery day and I am thankful to have the kind of job that allows me the freedom to do this kind of work. It is extremely rewarding.

So today, 11/19/09, I am thankful for so many things, but mainly for life in general. I am thankful for all of the children in the above picture, including Max, who is growing in my belly! The children are Mike, my lovely nephews Charles and Alex, my gorgeous niece Elena and my almost nephew Matthew. And for you if you managed to stick with me till the end!

Carpe Diem!

Can you give me a top of the head idea of how much my property is worth?

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:39:01 -0600

I just got an email from a client that bought an investment property from me a while ago. It's a multi-family property and he is tired of the hassle, the phone calls, the broken appliances. His email was sweet. The subject line was "A Quick Question". He started the email with "perhaps a long answer"! He wanted to know how much I thought his property was worth, how long he could anticipate it taking to sell, how the market was for investment properties, etc.

The punch line was this: Please don't spend much time on this, just top of the head type stuff.

When I responded, it was with humor. I said that I don't do top of the head stuff very often because there isn't anything up there! I was just kidding and he knows me well enough to know that.

Real Estate can be a tricky business and properly pricing properties is an art, not a science. There is no magic crystal ball and there are so many variables that "top of the head stuff", unless it's a cookie cutter neighborhood where all homes are alike and there were 6 recent sales in the last three months, is really just a guessing game.

I don't like to guess when my clients put their trust in me.

But I will do a complete market analysis and sit down with you and discuss all the pros and cons. I will let you know how long things are taking to move and I will do my very best for you if you list your property.

No "top of the head stuff" in this market. Just good old fashioned hard work.

Office Hours... Susan Mangigian, RE/MAX Preferred, West Chester office

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:18:03 -0600

It's a beautifully sunny day in West Chester today and I took a few hours out of the day to bag leaves. There was a time when I wouldn't have considered working in my garden in the middle of a work week for fear that a client or a potential neighbor-turned client would think that I wasn't a busy Realtor!

I now realize that most people understand that real estate agents work when everyone else is home. Sure, I work lots during the work day, processing sales, doing paperwork, attending home inspections, prospecting for new clients, emailing current buyers homes for them to preview, marketing my listings and countless other jobs. But the face to face buyer/seller time is usually done in the evening and on weekends, when most people are enjoying their families or friends.

Yesterday, the first sunny day in I don't remember when, I worked almost all day. I had an open house and then I showed homes to a buyer. I am working again this evening at 7:30 PM, showing a prospective buyer my listing in East Goshen. And I worked this morning after attending a business breakfast. So, if you saw me in my front yard today, bagging leaves, know that I had my cell phone with me. My desk phone forwards to my cell phone so I rarely miss a call. I won't answer a call if I am with a client, or on another line, but if I do miss your call, I will promptly call you back. If you don't get a return phone call from me, something is seriously wrong. It could be that I couldn't hear your telephone number clearly. If you call my desk line, 484-356-2965, it will forward to my cell but the caller ID will say the office number, so I am unable to capture the telephone number. If you call directly to my cell phone, 610-299-6237, I can capture that number and if I can't hear your number clearly, I can still call you back.

Realtors do not keep regular office hours. Good Realtors are available whenever you need us.

Looking for a good Realtor? Call my cell phone!

This is my son Max when he was a little guy and loved to play in the leaves!

Rain, Rain, Rain!!

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 08:58:16 -0600

I don't know if there is a place on the Internet I can go to that will back up my guess that this has been the wettest year I can remember.

I feel like it rained 3 or 4 days a week all year. We had the soggiest spring that I can remember and the wettest, most rained out summer if you exclude a few weeks, which thank goodness, coincided with my FFV (the family vacation). I commented to someone at a local plant store that I only saw one dreaded Japanese Beetle this year. His theory was that with all of the rain we had, the grubs (yucky little garden pests) that transform themselves into Japanese Beetles (horrifying little garden pests), pretty much all drowned in the muck that was the spring and early summer. There you go, the silver lining! My roses are usually decimated in mid July by Japanese Beatles and they thrived this year.

But enough already. It is raining again in West Chester, and it rained yesterday, and it rained the day before yesterday. Enough already! If one more person tells me it's a good thing this isn't snow, I am going to scream. I'd rather have snow that this wet dreary day.

So rain, rain, go away. Come again another day. Max has a soccer game to play!

Thankful Thursday, 11/12/09

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 06:49:01 -0600

The alarm went off, as it usually does at 6:27 this morning. I have only recently started letting my little dog JJ sleep in my bed with me. I roll over to quiet the music and JJ stretches, does a jaw cracking yawn and then licks my face. Not being a morning person used to mean never having to smile that early, but I can't help it. No matter what the day will bring, I know that it won't be all bad if the day started with a doggie kiss.

Dog, woman and cranky cat saunter into the hall and dog and woman stumble down the hall so JJ can hop on Max's bed and give his face a little lick as well. Cat wouldn't lick one of our faces if it was covered in ocean whitefish and tuna! Morning has broken at the Mangigian home! Max awakens very much like I do but while he stumbles into the shower, the Mangigian parade continues down the stairs with me holding the rail as dog and cat vie to see who can reach bottom first. The old saying that they fight like cats and dogs only applies here if the saying means that the cat rules and dog hides behind his owner!

Lest you all think I am a sunny dispositioned Polly-Anna, the week was off to a very bad start on Monday. I found out on Friday that my health insurance is increasing, if I don't make any changes to my current deductibles by $436 PER MONTH!! I knew I had to make some changes to my deductibles but I wanted to stay with my current plan which is Personal Choice. Jack has insurance (that would be my husband) through Keystone at his work, but I am not ready to go to an HMO. On Sunday, Jack asked me if I wanted him to have his insurance guy call me and give me prices on an HMO. I said no, don't have him call me. I don't want an HMO.

8:00 AM the phone rings at my house. Hello, is this Susan? Jack asked me to call you to discuss our HMO's. If this wasn't something that happened all the time around here, maybe I wouldn't have been quite so mad. But when I say no, I mean no. If I wanted to talk to someone about an HMO, I would pick up the phone. I did learn that the reason for the huge increase this year was because I had turned 50! As added insult to injury, the week was off to a rocky start.

But as is my nature, okay I can sometimes be a sunny dispostioned Polly-Anna, I got to work, and after bitching and complaining to anyone who would listen and a few who have heard it all before, I started to feel a little better. I went to lunch with Liz Facenda, who always makes me laugh and life got back to normal. Until yesterday when I went to buy pants and realized that my scale isn't broken, I have put on too much weight. Ugh.

Such is life. I will have to start watching what I eat again, so that I can fit into the clothes I have. And stepping up the cardio workouts, which I have been letting go in favor of weight lifting which hasn't done much for the spare tire I'm starting to grow around my middle.

Yesterday, I went on line, adjusted my deductibles to a point where I'm not really all that comfortable, but got the payment down to only $165 more a month than I was paying last year, making my health insurance for my boys and me only slightly less than my mortgage payment.

I looked out the window yesterday morning and there were 50 balloons on my neighbor's lawn! I laughed and knew right away that her older son had driven over during the night and put them there. I laughed even more when she called me and thanked me for doing it! I am thankful today, for Nora, my next door neighbor, who turned 50 not long after me. She's a great friend and we are going to breakfast today to celebrate her birthday. I'm guessing the diet starts next week because I am also going to lunch later today, after delivering meals on wheels and to dinner tomorrow night with some friends!

I guess my point is this. There will always be things to bitch about. Life can be a bowl of cherries and sometimes you are going to break a molar on the pits. It just is.

So today, I am thankful for Nora. We'll have a ton of laughs at breakfast. I am thankful for all of my friends, who can always tell from my facial expression when I am having a bad day and who never seem to tire of listening to me until I feel better. I am thankful as always for JJ and even more so now, for my morning kisses. I am thankful for my health club because I have friends there who made me feel better last night when I was bitching and complaining over there about my weight gain! You can do it, they said. Yes, I can. I just didn't want to have to! But, I'll be thankful that at a time when some families don't have enough to eat, I managed to eat enough food and drink enough wine to have something to whine about. I am thankful that my college boy bestowed the honor of commenting on my facebook last night. That's always nice. Oh, and I am thankful if you managed to stick with this all the way to the bottom! I thank you!

Go out and find something to be thankful for today.

Carpe Diem!

Women Mean Business Seminar... Register Now!

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 21:14:19 -0600

As a former member of the Chester County Women's Commission, I am happy to promote this worthwhile day of information and empowerment for the women in our area. The Chester County Women's Commission is devoted to empowering the women of Chester County. The members are a great, strong, intelligent group of women and it was a pleasure serving on the board with them.

Click here to register.

CHESTER COUNTY WOMEN'S COMMISSION*

Dedicated to Empowering The Women of Chester County

Have you ever dreamed of starting your own business?

Have you ever considered working for yourself?

Are you envisioning yourself in a new career?

Would you like to network with like-minded people?

Join the Chester County Women's Commission for a program devoted to providing practical advice and guidance for potential entrepreneurs

WOMEN MEAN BUSINESS
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2009
9:30 AM - 3:00 PM
at the
CHESTER COUNTY GOVERNMENT SERVICES CENTER
601 WESTTOWN ROAD
WEST CHESTER, PA

FEATURING: JOYCE EVANS OF FOX CHANNEL 29
KEYNOTE SPEAKER: ANNE BEILER, FOUNDER OF AUNTIE ANNE'S PRETZEL
CLOSING SPEAKER: JOANI REISEN, CO-FOUNDER MOMSPACE MAGAZINE

Get advice and professional information from a panel of local Entrepreneurs

Visit informational Workshops and Exhibits

Learn how to take your business to the next level

Learn how to take your idea from thought to reality

For further details and registration information please go to www.chestercountywomenscommission.org/rsvp
Seating Limited - Pre-Registration Encouraged
Door Prizes

*Chester County Women's Commission was created by the Commissioners of Chester County on December 13, 1993 to identify and advance the diverse needs and interests of the women of Chester County.

New Listing in Brandywine @ Thornbury!

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 07:57:28 -0600

I just listed a terrific townhouse in Brandywine @ Thornbury. It's a great 3 bedroom home with a finished, walk-out basement, a one car attached garage, an enlarged deck overlooking open space and it's move-in condition! Here are the details:

So much to Offer!

137 Stirrup Circle, West Chester, PA 19382 View Map

Charming, comfortable and cozy townhouse in popular Brandywine @ Thornbury. Entry foyer with hardwood flooring, living room with fireplace, dining room, eat-in kitchen with sliders to over-sized deck overlooking woods, finished walk-out basement, attached garage, spacious bedrooms which include the master bedroom suite with private bath and walk-in closet! Sellers are even including the washer, dryer and refrigerator! Great home for a great price!

Details

Asking Price:

329,900

MLS:

5619560

Bedrooms:

Bathrooms:

2 1/2

Subdivision:

Brandywine @ Thornbury

Contact Info

Susan C. Mangigian
Realtor

Main 610-719-1700
Cell 610-299-6237
Dir 484-356-2965
Email | Website

Carl E. Williams
Home Loan Officer-Acct Exec
Chase New
120 Gibraltar Road
Horsham, PA 19044
610-325-1500
Email

All information is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed.

Thankful Thursday, 11/5/09, JJ and Major, The original Mutt and Jeff

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:31:55 -0600

Over the course of the past few weeks, a very large dog has been roaming our neighborhood. He looks like a greyhound and he is huge. He is also not neutered, which is obvious because, as I mentioned, the dog is huge!

I have been bitten by big dogs before, so at first, I was a little leery of this one.

Yesterday, JJ was going crazy. He wanted to go outside and play.

I called the police yesterday, just to report that this lovely animal has been running the neighborhood and eventually, and very sadly, would be hit by a car if his owners didn't start behaving more responsibly. The officer that came by wasn't able to catch the dog but later that day, he was back on my deck, salivating on the sliding glass door (that would be the big dog and not the policeman) and JJ wanted outside .

After making sure that Major would play nicely, I ran and got my camera. Looking at my cute little fluffernutter staring into the eyes of this huge dog almost made me drop the camera! I was able to get close enough to the dog to get his name and telephone number. His owner was at work and apparently he has someone who is supposed to let Major out on a dog lead rather than just let him out. He lives on a busy street near our neighborhood and I suggested to him that it would be a damn shame if this sweet dog was hit by a car because he was let out to roam the area. Hopefully he will be more careful in the future.

Wouldn't it be nice if everyone played nicely, regardless of our differences? Wouldn't it be nice if our skin colors and our size and shapes were not a factor in how we treat each other? There are a lot of things we can learn from animals. This lesson is huge.

Today, 11/5/09, I am thankful as always for JJ. I am thankful that the Phillies made it to the World Series 2 years in a row! I am thankful they didn't lose in the first 4 games and, in my opinion, gave us an exciting season. I am thankful the sun is shining, my children are safe and well and that life is good.

Carpe Diem!

West Chester Borough, Halloween Parade, 10/29/09

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 13:19:11 -0500

West Chester Borough is a college town and a wonderful place to visit. Thursday night was the annual Halloween Parade. Words just can't do this town justice as a place for families and friends to gather to celebrate life. I'll let the pictures do the talking!

The marching bands from all 3 high schools and West Chester University were in attendance!!

Various color guards and cheerleaders...

Adults and children alike were in costume... Santa even made an appearance, although he looked a bit peaked.

State Senator Dinniman along with his dog and Representative (my all time favorite) McIlvaine Smith were also in attendance!

My son Max and his friends enjoyed it immensely!

I always enjoy going to events in West Chester borough. If you have never been there, it's worth the trip!

Thankful Thursday, 10/29/09

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:12:30 -0500

What a great day it was today, if you don't count having to be up, dressed, hair done and make-up on by 7:30 AM. I am not a morning person so this kind of rushing around tends to stress me out. We were car pooling to Philadelphia today to attend the RE/MAX Demand Success, Today and Tomorrow seminar hosted by none other than Dave Liniger! Dave did not disappoint and gave us tips on prospering in today's economy and in the market ahead. Then, as my bosses are prone to do, the agents in the office who attended were treated to a great lunch at Maggiano's Little Italy on 12th Street. Twelve Schstreet as someone from my hometown would probably say! Lunch was great, the company and laughs wonderful. I can't say enough good things about both of my brokers, Mike Santoleri and Mike D'Adamo. Two great men who treat us wonderfully and provide the latest in learning and technology so we can all be our best.

After lunch and the ride back to Chester County, I was treated to a hero's welcome from none other than my beloved JJ.

This little fella throws me a wiggle parade every time I come home. His entire body shakes with the sheer joy of seeing me again! The best part is, he will do the same thing if I am gone for 5 minutes or if I am gone for the day! I almost can't bear to leave him early next year when I go to my first RE/MAX convention! Weighing a week away with my best female friends at a convention in Orlando and missing JJ is a tough choice. I will miss him, but I am going!

Tonight, I am taking my son Max and his best buddy Alex to the West Chester Halloween Parade, where I am sure a good time will be had by all! Our 3 high school marching bands, representatives from the local fire departments, antique cars and lots of kids in costume will float past us as we cheer from the sidelines. Maybe that will be me cheering and Max and his friend pretending they don't know me!

This past weekend, I got a visit from my first born, home from college for the day. He left with a full tank of gas, a full trunk of food, including my homemade gravy (sauce for you non-Italians) and we were left with warm hugs and emptier wallets! It's always great to see him, he's a great young man.

Today, 10/29/09 I am thankful, as always for my sons Mike and Max, my little love JJ, my family, my friends, my bosses, Mike and Mike and for life in general. So many things to make a person smile every day. You just have to look for them sometimes!

Carpe Diem!

919 Nathaniel Drive, East Goshen Township - Reduced. This is no trick, it will be a treat to see this home!

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:23:27 -0500

The sellers and I have just reduced this absolutely gorgeous home in East Goshen! This is no trick! You will want to treat yourself this Halloween to seeing one of the nicest homes on the market at this time!

Want Breathing Space?

919 Nathaniel Drive, Wentworth, East Goshen Township, West Chester, , PA 19380 View Map

Reduced! Don't miss this gorgeous home!

If you've been dreaming about a larger home but don't want to give up location, your dreams are about to come true! This gorgeous home at the end of a cul-de-sac in Wentworth is a must see. New ultra kitchen and master bath, gorgeous flooring, every upgrade, in absolute move-in condition. Don't wait to see it!

Wordless Wednesday, The Eyes Definitely Have it

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 08:42:36 -0500

E + R = O

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 10:30:59 -0500

Hey! This is a great first post written by Eileen Burns. Pop over to her post and add a comment, I'm sure she'd appreciate it! Carpe Diem friends!

Via Eileen Burns (Become a Pro LLC):

You may be thinking E + R = O looks like some kind of algebra problem or something and may even be bringing you some nasty math class flash backs, but not to worry... ;)

E + R = O is ‘formula.'

...A formula to create whatever kind of outcome or result you want from your life. BUT, only useful if you're ready to accept responsibility for every outcome in your life up until this point, both personal and professional.

...Meaning, you're willing to give up all blaming, complaining, justifying and finger pointing. You'll need to surrender now to the "If only __________ , I would be better off" type of talk otherwise you'll keep getting the same outcome over and over and over again and again and again.

Want a different outcome? Feeling stuck in certain areas?

If so, then let's take a trip down the hallways of E + R = O, shall we?

I learned about this formula from Jack Canfield, author of the world famous, best seller: "Chicken Soup For The Soul." It goes like this...

Event + Response = Outcome

You ‘respond' to a particular ‘event' in your life, which then creates your ‘outcome.' The event itself does not cause the outcome; YOUR response to the event causes the outcome. Events are emotionless. They are not people. They are not controlled by anyone, they just happen, and they will continue to "just happen" to you, me, all of us...

Here's an example:

Let's say I give you $1,000, and you ‘respond' by spending it all shopping. Let's say I give that same $1,000 to someone else and they ‘respond' by investing the money for a year. A year later the $1,000 is now worth $1,200, meaning they earned 20% on the money...

The first person ‘responded' by spending the money, the second ‘responded' by investing the money. Same $1000, two different outcomes, right?

Here's a better demonstration of E + R = O that I did in a live seminar I hosted recently here in South Florida...

As a demonstration ONLY, I role-played with a young woman in the audience by saying to her: "What if I told you that you may be one of the stupidest people I've ever met." I asked the audience to raise their hands if they felt this would lift the young woman's self-esteem. No hands went up. I then asked if they felt it would lower her self-esteem. Almost every hand went up...

...which meant they missed the message. They missed E + R + O.

In the demonstration, when I said "You may be one of the stupidest people I've ever met," the young woman could have ‘responded' in two ways:

She may have been thinking: "Oh my goodness, Andrew's only known me a few minutes, how does he know?" That would no doubt lower her self-esteem.

Or...

She may have been thinking: "How could Andrew possibly think I'm stupid? He doesn't even know me. I am well educated, have a successful career, good relationships. I am confident in myself, have a strong self-image, I'm happy, plus, I'm one of the more attractive women in the room, he probably can't keep his eyes off me anyways." That wouldn't damage her self-esteem a bit, now would it?

You see, it's not what Andrew said to the young woman, it's what the young woman said to the young woman after Andrew was done talking that will ultimately create HER outcome...

Same ‘event,' different ‘response' = YOUR desired ‘outcome'

Don't take this formula lightly. It works every time without fail. So if you want a different ‘outcome,' create a different ‘response.' Easier said than done, I know, but try it on and watch what happens. You may surprised by the ‘outcome'...

Sure beats algebra, huh?

Take action.

Eileen Burns

USA Maverick Entrepreneur

Thankful Thursday, 10/22/09, Sing a Song!!

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 09:39:29 -0500

I cannot sing. It is pretty much unanimous among the people who know and love me that I cannot sing. I don't care what those people say, I love to sing. I sing all day, all night and every time I am in the car. Max, my 13 year old has a request. That I do not sing in the car. Pffttt. Too bad, I say. I try to refrain when he has his friends in the car, but sometimes, it just pops out. I can think of a song for almost anything my kids say to me. The latest conversation with Max was whether or not 13 is too young to have a girlfriend. I think so. He disagrees. Next thing I know I am singing "they try to tell us we're too young".

My own mother regularly turns off her hearing aides when I sing. Seriously. I do have a few loyal friends that insist that I sing well, but frankly, I think they are lying! The other problem is that I am hearing impaired. This is a two part problem. The one part is that I can honestly not hear how bad I am and the other part is I rarely get the words right, because I didn't hear them correctly in the first place. Lyrics.com is one of my favorite places!

When I look at my dog, I burst into " who loves you pretty JJ, who's always there to make it right, who loves pretty doggie, who's gonna help you through the night, who loves you....., who's gonna love you love you...".

I also love to sing happy birthday to my friends on their birthday. This is generally greeted with either a groan or laugh but always with the words, "you don't have to sing the entire song". I ignore this. I am making joyful noise!

When I am particularly exasperated with my life, I sing the song from Moulin Rouge... "One Day I'll fly away, leave all this to yesterday".

On the first day of school in September, when "mom held hostage" is over, I can be heard belting out Barbra Streisand's "Free again"!

I love Broadway musicals and have been known to sing all of the parts! Not well, but hey... if the only songs you heard in the forest were from the birds that sang well, it would be a pretty damn quiet forest! There's a quote from someone in there, but for the moment, I can't remember who said it. My favorite musical is They're Playing our Song!

Sing, sing a song. Sing out loud. Sing out strong. Sing of good things, not bad..... Sing of happy, not sad! Sing, sing a song. Make it simple to last your who life long. don't worry that it's not good enough, for anyone else to hear, just sing... sing a song!!!

So, for today, 10/22/09, I am thankful for music. It makes our souls soar, it lightens our load, it brings us together. In my case, it makes people laugh! So sing! Sing a song!

Carpe Diem!

Here's what's going on in my neck of the woods. A Market Report, East Goshen, Chester County

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:53:09 -0500

I live and work in East Goshen, Chester County. It's a lovely township, some liken to the suburbs of Delaware County, as East Goshen is sometimes as far West of the city of Philadelphia as some buyers would like to be. The mission statement of the township, as per their website is as follows:

           Endeavor to be one of the premier communities in Chester County by continually
          improving the quality of life while, at the same time, managing growth and development
           in a manner consistent with the protection of our environment and preservation of our
          natural and historic resources.

I can speak to my experience here as a convenient, clean and welcoming township that boasts two gorgeous parks, with great walking paths, a responsive township, some decent pizza places and a place to get one of the best Italian hoagies and cheese-steaks this side of the river!

East Goshen is part of the West Chester area School District. My college aged son, now at Kutztown, had a very nice education going through the school system and my younger son is having a successful time in middle school.

The following are market statistics form the past year, October 2008 to the present time. All numbers are compliments of TREND MLS. The numbers show that East Goshen is quite a diverse township with homes ranging from modest condominiums to large executive homes.

There are currently 141 active listings in the township with the current average list price of $500,194.

During the past year:

Minimum Prices are $112,000 Original List Price and $110,000 Sold Price.

Maximum Prices are $1,595,000 Original List Price and $1,500,000 Sold Price.

Average Prices are $362,731 Original List Price and $334,241 Sold Price.

Average days on the market for the past year is 89! Not too bad considering what is going on in other parts of our country. Average days on the market so far for October, 2009 is 47 days!

I am the marketing agent for two of the homes currently on the market.

426 Eaton Way is a lovely one bedroom condominium located in the popular over 55 community of Hersheys Mill, listed at $193,900.

919 Nathaniel Drive, a gorgeous colonial that sits at the end of a cul-de-sac street and has a new kitchen and master bath, listed at $698,800.

If you are interested in knowing more about East Goshen, or any part of Chester County, or if you just want to know where to get a decent Italian Hoagie, call me or email me. I'm happy to help.

What does it take for you to be happy? I'd really like to know. A Discussion.

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 15:44:46 -0500

While perusing a diet book called The Full Plate Diet, I came across a quote from Albert Einstein. "A table, a chair, a bowl of fruit and a violin; what else does a man need to be happy?"

This got me thinking. I am a fairly optimistic person prone to occasional fits of deep blue that don't usually last very long. What do I need to be happy? The first that popped into my head was JJ, my dog.

Of course my children make me very happy, but there's nothing quite like the uncomplicated, undemanding and totally no strings attached love that you get from a dog. Having spent my entire life yearning for a dog and finally getting JJ last summer, I honestly can't believe I lived this long without him.

Another thing that makes me happy is quietly reading a book. If I have to picture my happy place in my mind, it would be on the porch of the house we rent every summer at the beach. My feet up, my hair being stirred by a soft ocean breeze, a full glass of my home made ice-tea on the end table and my JJ right next to me. One hand turning the pages, one had stroking my best friend in the world. Yes. That's it.

The smell of a baby's warm head is another of my happy places. I can so remember my babies as babies and the feelings that welled up in me when I held them in my arms to nurse them. Surely there is nothing quite like it.

The warmth of a cat and the contented sound of it's purring. I had a cat from around aged 9 until I was about 22 or 23. Cleo was her name and she slept on my bed, right next to my pillow. Cleo had a loud purr and she would start to purr the minute she walked into my bedroom. She purred as I fell asleep and for a long while after she died, I simply couldn't fall asleep without the sound of her steady rumbling in my ear. Animals have always been a big part of what makes me happy.

Having been away from church for many years, it's been a pleasure to be back in the fold, so to speak. After every service, they now sing a song called Bind us Together. We sing this while facing each other across the aisle. It's a lovely song and I find myself singing it for most of the day afterward, thinking of my sons and how bound we are to each other in love. My mom and I are very close and we talk almost daily. She is another of my happy places and I am so grateful to have been raised by such a warm and strong woman. She's very funny too and says just about whatever pops into her Italian head. I love that little woman!

What else does a woman, or a man need to be happy? The knowledge that your children are safe and well and happy, a warm animal by your side, a good book, a nice glass of wine, laughter with friends, contented fullness from a good meal shared with people you love. There's not a thing here that requires a lot of money. But these are things that this woman needs to be happy, and how lucky and blessed, that these are the things I have.

So, what does it take for you to be happy? I'd really like to know.

Thankful Thursday, 10/15/09, Why Worry?

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 08:41:09 -0500

It's a gray and gloomy day in West Chester today. This kind of reminds me of when I was a kid and my best friend and I decided to try to write a story and of course, it started out with, "It was a dark and stormy night"! If weather reports can be believed, we are heading for some bad weather this weekend. Plans are shifting left and right due to the weather forecast. Mind you, I never listen to the weather. Never. So far, due to the forecast, our neighborhood block party for tomorrow evening has been canceled and an appointment to show houses on Saturday morning has been postponed by the buyer. There is supposed to be a lunch and football game after church on Sunday, one my 13 year old is looking forward to. Our Pastor says we will play in the rain and my son is thrilled by this. I will not be playing football, but if it does rain, it looks like I'll be doing mud stained laundry later in the day! I'm not sure if cooler heads will prevail, but I'm kind of hoping not because it will be fun for all involved.

Why do we spend so much time worrying about things that may not come to be? I can't tell you how many times I've spent a sleepless night worrying over something that didn't happen. I spent most of my childhood trying to quell the fear that I would lose my mom. I could work myself up to actually crying at the thought of it. When I had children, I would do the same thing. Lay in bed, while the world was asleep and worry about all of the things that could befall them. I talked to a friend about it once, assuming that everyone does this. Apparently not. The expression "Let Go and Let God" is a lovely one. I have a hard time letting go of the things I worry about. Somehow, in my mind, I am holding the world together by worrying about it.

But I do learn things from time to time and one of things I've learned is that most of what I've worried about over the years hasn't happened. I just lost precious time and peace of mind worrying over them. I still have the worrying thoughts, but I am getting better at letting them go. I can't stop bad things from happening, so I tell myself to think of something else.

I can across some great quotes about worrying. This is attributed to Nancy Drew, one of my favorite heroines from childhood:

"If worry were an effective weight-loss program, women would be invisible."

This is an unknown author and is so true:

"Worry doesn't help tomorrow's troubles, but it does ruin today's happiness."

This one hits home too:

"We worry about what a child will be tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today."

When I think about all of the worrying I did over my quiet and shy older son. If you saw him now, surrounded by friends in college, tall, handsome, you'd wonder what the heck I was worrying about. He's more than fine and he makes me very proud. I've worried myself sick over my younger son's vision. I can't predict the future so I have to trust that this child, so full of life and potential, will be just fine.

So today, 10/15/09, as I head out to start a busy day, including delivering meals on wheels, I am thankful that so many of the scary things I worried over, did not happen. I am grateful to realize I have a choice about what I think about. I am thankful for my family, my friends, my home, my dog and cat (of course) and the new friendships being made every day.

Carpe Diem!

Columbus Day,

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 07:40:36 -0500

As an Italian American, I always felt very proud that Christoper Columbus discovered America. There's usually a big parade in South Philadelphia, where I grew up, and there's even a park named after the famous explorer. The public school system where I live now does not give the kids a day off and Max has often come home to tell me that they do not teach that Columbus discovered America anymore, I think Leif Ericson is given this honor and rightly so.. Max is half Italian and is affronted by this fact, if only because he doesn't get the day off! According to Wikipedia, Columbus day became an official federal holiday in 1934. although it says the Americans have celebrated this day since the Colonial period.

According to Wikipeida, the influx of Catholics in the mid-nineteen century induced discrimination from activists against immigration such as the Ku Klux Klan. There's a shocker. The KKK was against immigration... I wonder if they stopped to think where their parents had been born? But I digress. To help struggling immigrants, Catholics developed organizations to fight discrimination with groups like the Knights of Columbus, a name chosen in part because it saw Christopher Columbus as a fitting symbol of a Catholic immigrant's right to citizenship.

While doing some reading to write this post, I came across disturbing facts about Christopher Columbus, most shocking to me is that it's claimed that he is the founder of slavery in the Americas.

According to this article, Columbus, in his log, noted:

"They brought us barrels of cotton thread and parrots and other little things which it would be tedious to list, and exchanged everything for whatever we offered them...I kept my eyes open and tried to find out if there was any gold, and I saw that some of them had a little piece hanging from a hole in their nose. I gathered from their signs that if one goes south, or around the south side of the island, there is a king with great jars full of it, enormous amounts. I tried to persuade them to go there, but I saw that the idea was not to their liking...They would make fine servants... With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want."

Well, this is kind of a kick in the head to me and further proof that ignorance is certainly bliss. They certainly didn't teach this part of the life of Christopher Columbus to little Italian school children was I was growing up.

Living and learning is part of growing up, I suppose. As a 50 year old woman, I also suppose it's time I grew up. But rather than be serious, I'd rather tell you something funny. When I was younger, Dean Martin used to host celebrity roasts. I loved them, and loved all of that silly humor. Red Buttons did a skit and I've always remembered it and laughed. He said that Christoper Columbus, while trying to convince Queen Isabella to let him explore said... "the world is round, you're the only one who's flat"!

Rather than enslaving the indigenous people Columbus came across, I would have much rather he'd left them laughing. And free.

Thankful Thursday, 10/8/09

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 08:51:48 -0500

Life has been working lately! I am working hard, and things are working with me, which is a marked change from earlier in the year. I have a home inspection this afternoon and I am feeling confident about it. My family room window was just replaced this morning... Jack hit a golf ball with the lawn mower a while back. It's a double pane window and only one side got broken, so there was no urgency except to get it done before the cold weather hit. One more thing checked off the "to do" list.

My favorite tree on the property, a Bradford Pear lost a huge chunk of itself the other day during a rain storm and we hired a tree guy that a friend of my husband knows to try to save it. When they were finished making a lot of noise yesterday, they left without knocking. When I went outside, this is what I saw!

Here it is from the other side. Does one side look significantly taller than the rest of the tree?

I am not a very picky person, but this tree looks like Larry, Moe and Curly had a hand in the pruning! I was trying to save the tree, not set it up for public ridicule! When Max came home from school the first thing he said was "Mom! We're not going to keep that tree out there, are we??" I called Jack and asked him to kindly call the tree guy. He suggested he call the tree guy and have the tree guy call me back. There is definitely a disconnect somewhere between the way men and women think. If I wanted to talk to the tree guy again, wouldn't I just call him myself?? I had already called him once after he left because I couldn't believe they were really finished, what with all the debris left in the yard. The other reason I called was because when I went out the back door, the other tree I hired him to prune still had a huge tree limb hanging from it. Neatly sawed off, but hanging off the tree! I tried to pull it down, but it was firmly stuck! I didn't go out front yet! I suppose I should have walked out front before that first phone call, but I didn't. After I saw the mess they made out of my poor Pear, I wanted Jack to step in. And by stepping in, I surely didn't mean for him to call the tree guy and ask the tree guy to call me. Is anyone following this logic??

By now, I'm sure my friend Rob is wondering where the thankful part is!!! Every now and again on a Thursday, I come to it slowly! Here it is!

I am thankful to be alive and kicking and actually living in a country where I can have the beauty of nature around me and the freedom to enjoy it. I am thankful to have a little extra money to actually hire the 3 stooges to trim my trees. I am thankful for the health and well being of my children and my family. I am thankful for this little guy, that keeps me smiling, even though he had me up at 3:30 AM this morning, barking at imaginary things in the night.

Life is Grand. Make the most of it!

Carpe Diem!

Wordless Wednesday, There's a Change a Comin...Autumn in East Goshen, Chester County

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 15:53:24 -0500

Who in the world is Jose, and why do I want to be part of his Mafia Family? A Twitter conversation.

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 06:48:39 -0500

I got an email from Twitter this morning, listed as a direct message from a man named Jose. He's a Realtor in Mexico and he sent me this direct message: Hey, I just added you to my Mafia family. You should accept my invitation! :)

I'd like to reply to Jose, the way I reply to all of my facebook friends when they invite me to be in their Mafia. As a full blooded Italian, I don't believe I should play Mafia games. I have an unfair advantage. It just wouldn't be right! But I have this niggling feeling that Jose is making me an offer I can't refuse!

But honestly, I still don't get Twitter. I stop by. I sometimes say hello. But each and every time I stop by, I feel like I walked into a party and everyone looked at me and just shut up. It's like they were all laughing at a joke but I walked in about 2 seconds after the laughter died.

Can anyone explain to me why I would want to be part of Jose's Mafia family on Twitter??

How can Twitter expand my business, if I pop over there now and again to say I'm standing in line at the bank? Or if I say I am listing a home tomorrow? Or if I say I am heading out to the gym? I can understand why people who know me might be amused if I twittered something silly, but why would anyone else care where I am or what I am planning to do, unless they were planning an abduction?

Help!

Thankful Thursday, 10/1/09

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 07:00:10 -0500

During the past year or so, we as Realtors have experienced, first hand, how quickly life can change. You can be sitting on top of the world financially, and then boom, you are flat on your back. Even if a Realtor was one of the lucky ones who's business didn't skip a beat, you'd have to be completely insensitive not to see how the downturn in the market has affected other Realtors and the people who were trying to buy and sell real estate.

We've all at one time or another been hit by some kind of illness, be it a normal cold that lays you low, or something more serious, that takes many months to recover from. You are sailing along and life is good, and then wham! If you are lucky enough to have family and friends nearby to turn to for help, you are lucky indeed. Not everyone has this safety net.

I've been thinking a lot about this during the week. I signed Max, my 13 year old up, to serve at the Salvation Army this week. As part of his earning his confirmation into our church, he needs to do 15 hours of volunteer service at church, or one of the various organizations they support. I was thrilled when I heard about this! I have always felt that we all have an obligation to help where we can. When Max found out I signed him up, he wasn't exactly pleased. Upon learning that this is something I've been wanting to do for a long time, he exclaimed that it wasn't something he's been wanting to do for a long time! The kid has a comeback for everything! I shushed him and told him it would be good for him.

This Tuesday, Max and I, along with several other kids from his Youth Group at church and our Pastor's wife, Mrs. Trish Jurkowski (Mrs. Skee to the kids), cooked and served at our local Salvation Army. There was a big crowd of people to serve that day, and the folks that run the place say they've never seen it so crowded. It was the end of the month, someone noted, and lots of times, folks run out of money toward the end of the month, making the crowd bigger. When we got there, someone greeted us and told us the rules. The children were not allowed to let people help themselves as some of the recipients had "communicable diseases". That made us all take a quick step back, but we quickly recovered. All of the kids had a job and just before they served, I whispered in Max's ear to make sure he looked everyone directly in their eyes and smile. I probably didn't need to remind Max as he is one of the nicest people I have the pleasure of knowing and very much a people person.

When it was over, the Pastor's wife asked the kids what they thought of it. Someone admitted to being afraid of the people at first. Max came over to tell me that he did make eye contact and smile at everyone. Max doesn't realize that I see him. I see how good he is with people, and I see his large caring heart, and I see how innately good he is, even as he is heading very full steam ahead into puberty. I see him and I am so proud of him.

In the van heading back, I asked the kids if we could all take a minute and just thank God we were on our side of the serving table. I reminded them that often, people are just a circumstance or two away from being on the other side of that table and that we should be thankful for all we have.

So today, the very first day of October, I am thankful for this and so much much more.

Carpe Diem!

Smokey and the Bandit, Part 2.... The Rest of the Story

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 12:37:29 -0500

My friend Denise lost her beloved beagle, Buddy this year. As luck would have it, her loving cat Pepper passed away a few days before Denise and Chip, her husband, were taking their only child Matt to college! Talk about an empty nest. I wrote about how good things happen to good people, and that Denise, a very good person, had adopted a lovely little kitty named Bandit. Denise strongly felt that Bandit needed a playmate, and while taking Bandit for an emergency veterinary appointment, she found out that they had a kitten who would shortly be ready for adoption.

Well, Smokey is now living with Denise and Chip, and these two kittens are providing hours of endless entertainment, rolling around wrestling with each other! These two are just what the doctor would have ordered for my friends, who, like all good moms and dads are missing their son as he goes off into the world.

Friends, I give you......... (drum roll)......... Smokey and the Bandit!

Our pets enrich our lives, bring joy and laughter and add warmth to our homes.

Back to Church, The Prodigal Church Family

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 17:19:27 -0500

This is a long one. No worries if you don't want to take the time. I warn you, this has nothing to do with real estate.

The prodigal church family. Yes, that's us. To say we have drifted from our church would be a gross understatement. It's been years since we've attended a Sunday service and this morning, upon entering the building, I saw more than one person look at me and then look up at the ceiling, as if to see if the sky was falling! It's not that we didn't like the people at our church, they are wonderfully sincere. We drifted mostly out of sheer laziness, and for me, an overwhelming feeling of doubt about organized religion in general.

The church we attend is a wonderful small Lutheran church, filled with kind and generous souls. We were greeted better than the prodigal son, with hugs and laughter and many welcome backs. It was actually kind of wonderful, and it was so genuine. They seemed so happy to see us.

We started attending this church when I was expecting my second child, Max. I was very pregnant, and my older son who had attended nursery school at the church was attending Vacation Bible School. I had gotten somewhat friendly with the pastor but hadn't seen him since Mike left nursery school. The entire church had been praying for this pregnancy as they knew that I had had 3 miscarriages. On family night, I leaned my considerable bulk against Pastor John's office door and coughed. He looked up, then leaped up to hug me, laughing at the size of me! Since we didn't attend church anywhere at this point, and I didn't want to travel 45 minutes one way to go to Jack's church, an Armenian Orthodox Church, and Jack was adamant against attending the local Catholic church (long story), I agreed to talk to Pastor John about baptizing the new baby on the condition that Jack agreed to attend church. I wasn't going to just use the church for a baptism. After the family show, Pastor John was sitting at a table with me and I asked him if we could talk business for a second. I asked him if he would consider baptizing our new baby, and he said he would be honored. We were welcomed into the Christ Memorial Family with open arms, and attended pretty regulary for more than a few years.

Things change. Pastor John became District President and was off to bigger things. There was an interim Pastor, then a new Pastor, and Mike made his confirmation. Summer came, we got to skipping service, and, as these things happen, we drifted away. The new Pastor (who I had become quite fond of) and I had a misunderstanding of sorts that I won't get into. He left our church to pastor a church in a different state, and with him, after the misunderstanding, went any inclination that I had to become friendly with another Pastor. My Elder, a wonderful man, never stopped trying. He kept us in his prayers, he sent me emails, invited us to all of the special things the church planned. I told him a little bit about the misunderstanding I had and my disappointment and he let me know that while people might disappoint, God never does. He let us know that the church has another new pastor, a wonderful man with young children and a great wife. I wasn't ready.

Fast forward some years. Max is now a 7th grader and it's time to decide if we are going to have him make his confirmation. I received a letter from the new Pastor inviting Max to attend. I put it aside to think on it, it's a huge time commitment - two years. Then my elder emailed me. He really wanted Max to attend. I feel that kids need some kind of religious background. If they then grow up and have their doubts, like me, they can make their own decisions. I felt strongly that Max should have the opportunity to learn about the church and Jesus, and then go out into the world and do with that knowledge what he would.

On the first night at the introduction to the confirmation classes, our new Pastor, informed the group that if we thought this was something we could do by simply dropping our children off and then leaving, then we should probably leave now. Well crap! There I was, sitting in the front row, with an overwhelming desire to cut and run! I even reached for my purse before I realized that it would be too obvious! The pastor looked at me, and said "I saw that"! We laughed. I was honest with him. I really had grown out of the desire to attend church. I wanted to do this for Max. He asked for a compromise. He asked me to try baby steps. He asked me to commit to twice a month services. I agreed to do my best. Ever the Realtor, I negotiated with my pastor. He seems like a sweet, engaging and dedicated servant of the Lord and I really don't want to let him down. I will try.

Today was the first day, and the best part of the day was that our old pastor, Pastor John, was in town visiting and his sermons are some of the best around. After the service, I hugged him in the receiving line and said that his sermon was wonderful, as always, and that I got choked up. He gave me a bear hug and said, "wow, that's a surprise, emotion coming from you"! Of course, he was being sarcastic. I'm a known crier. I cry when I am sad, happy, mad, moved, hurt, you name it

There you have it. Back in the fold. The prodigal family returns.