The Holidays

The Holidays have come and gone. I hope yours were as good as possible. We had our granddaughter and her parents here for a couple of weeks and it was wonderful.

We got Covid tests before the family arrived and they had quarantined for two weeks prior to coming, so we felt very comfortable having them in the house with us. That was such a plus. Our granddaughter, Rose, is now 18 months and growing fast. The last time we saw her she was just starting to walk - now she’s running!

I have decided to close the office over the holidays for the past couple of years. I still work, of course, but I don’t go in and I spend time with my family. When I worked at Taylor Roberts we also closed for the week of Christmas to New Year’s and that was really nice. A lot of our vendors did too, so it made sense. For the most part, it’s fairly quiet on the actual holiday, though this year I took a call on Christmas and on New Year’s Day. The first one was from someone a little confused and who is apparently in a care facility now; I do not even think this person knew it was Christmas day. The latter was just business as usual - and I realize that because of Covid-19 so many days just run together that no day feels overly special.

Our time with Rose was so much fun. We went for daily walks when it wasn’t raining, we read books, ate meals together and extended Christmas by a few days with her not getting all the way through the mountain of presents for three or four days. Her vocabulary is amazing. She knows all the dogs names, including the nicknames - Buster Butt and Chica Boom. She knows what she wants - Read book. The cutest is her calling my mom Grandma Ahs-is (still having trouble with her L’s - but remember, she’s only 18 months old!).

I made a point of riding my bike on New Year’s Eve and on New Year’s Day. It felt good to end and start the year being outside and getting some exercise. The daily and sometimes twice daily walks were also great. We did a lot of mushroom hunting and some debris burning as well. We made the most of the time we had together.

I’m back to work again for real now. The market continues to be hot and I’ve sold all of my listings but one. If you have been thinking of selling, a seller’s market doesn’t get much better than this. And, unlike in the early 2000’s, these sales are either cash or regularly qualified loans - I don’t foresee a bunch of foreclosures because of bad loans this time around.

I hope you are enjoying the new year, despite the rise in Covid infections and the craziness in our political world. We’ve had some rain, we have some sun. Life isn’t all bad news, at least from where I sit.