Monthly Archives for
January 2006

There are things I’ve accomplished or created in my life that I’m so proud of, I almost feel like I can’t take credit for them. It’s more like they were a lucky accident or a muse working through me. For instance, I choreographed two dance pieces in high school (one to Alanis Morrisette’s All I Really Want and the other to Bridge Over Troubled Waters by Simon and Garfunkel) that I still think back on and feel a swelling of pride in my stomach. I know, it’s kind of a silly thing to be so proud of, but I am. I feel similarly about my National Merit Scholar status from high school. It was just one test I did really well on (and I can’t help but wonder if gum actually got stuck to my test and screwed up the grading machine like on that one Simpson’s episode where they think Bart is a genius), but it’s one of those things I save to think about when I need a little ego boost.

I feel so similarly, on a much greater scale, about Ben. Every night right before he goes to bed, we have this conversation:

Me: I love you.
Ben: I love you a zillion.
Me: I love you a zillion plus one.
Ben: I love you a zillion plus a zillion.
Me: I love you a zillion times a zillion.

It’s a silly little bedtime ritual and it always proceeds a bit longer with a few ‘infinity’s thrown in until it’s just really time to go to bed.

Two nights ago he ended it like so:

Ben: I love you… (pausing, with a thoughtful look on his face, and then with a sly smile) beyond.

Sometimes I wonder just how it’s possible that so much sweet brilliance is packed inside that five year old; and then I wonder how it’s possible that he’s mine. Such amazing luck, I have.

And then, of course, there’s Gray. I mean seriously, when you ask him where his nose is, he makes this face:

How much more perfection can you expect?

Beyond, indeed, I love you both beyond.

The Christmas gifts have FINALLY all been received. Yes, I realize it’s January 12th, but the international postal service has some sort of a voodoo curse on us and no one ever receives anything we send out of the country on time, if at all. So the box we sent off to England for Jason’s twin sister and her husband just got there this week. We told them not to eat the cookies, but they did and apparently haven’t died of botulism yet, so I guess we’re in the clear.

Anyway, one of my other favorite Christmas crafts went to Jen:

It’s a little satchel type bag meant to fit a book or notebook and a thin wallet or whatever. It’s just a really basic ‘rectangle sewed to rectangle with a lining’ design with an interesting button I had used as a closing at the top. It’s made of 3″ by 3″ squares I knitted mixed with corduroy squares. On some of the corduroy I did stitching or beads just to jazz it up. Jen’s a total hippie girl, so I was going for that earthy patchwork look. I was really happy with it when it was finished and I hope she likes it too.

And two last quick Christmas crafts before I move on:

One-shoulder backpack purse for Amanda (a Butterick pattern, with my own design of turquoise):

And a zig-zaggy scarf for Julene (an altered version of the Wavy Gravy scarf in the Stitch ‘N Bitch Nation book, out of Kureyon yarn):

I made her a hat like the one I made for Kelli out of the Kureyon yarn for her birthday (yesterday!), but I forgot to take a picture.

So now that all of that is over and done with, I’ve moved on to one of my New Year’s resolutions; I’ve started knitting a sweater for myself:

I’ll keep you updated on the progress. It just may take me all year.

If you can even believe it, my Montage condo clients actually signed the papers for their condo closing yesterday. What a wild ride it’s been. We heard Thursday night that the paperwork on their loan had been completed and that if they could manage to sign the documents by Friday, they would be eligible for another special incentive of 1% of purchase price toward closing costs paid for by Montecito Properties. Basically, to facilitate this closing I spent most of Friday on the phone chasing a paper trail of emailed loan docs and begging for an appointment for my clients. It finally worked out, though, and they went in to sign at 2:15pm. I think it was a case of a squeaky wheel. Once the title company realized that it was either, find time to fit them in today, or, send an escrow agent and a courier to Tucson Saturday morning, they magically found a previously undiscovered time slot. Plus I think they just wanted me to stop calling every 10 minutes.

Anyway, I had the opportunity to put into practice some knowledge I’d recently garnered on a ‘lesson learned’ basis. While they were signing, I couldn’t actually be at the appointment due to a previous commitment, but I had reviewed the Settlement Statement to make sure everything the title company had put together looked correct. So before my clients went in to sign, I told them to make sure they understood everything they were signing, and that everything matched what they had been previously told. If they didn’t understand something or something didn’t match, I told them NOT TO SIGN, but to call me. About half an hour later I got a call about the mortgage paperwork. The monthly payment amount was significantly higher than what they were told it would be. I advised them to again, NOT SIGN ANYTHING, until they had a reasonable and clear explanation of why this was from their Loan Officer. It turned out to be an error in paperwork that took a few hours to correct and resubmit, but it was very much worth it to them.

This lesson took me a bit to get, but I’ve got it now. If anything is wrong or even seems wrong in the paperwork, it is much easier to correct before the papers have been sign and the deed has recorded. If you assume people have done their job correctly or that you can fix it later, you may be in store for several weeks of work, extra fees and fingers of blame pointed, instead of a few hours of waiting in the title office.

Yesterday was my fourth anniversary. I really cannot believe it has been that long since we were married. Jason and I talked in the car on the way to dinner last night about how it has been as long, since we got married, as it took us to go through college. When you compare the two, it just doesn’t seem to make sense. College took eons. I feel like I was a completely different person when I graduated, from when I started. I dated lots of boys, lived in three different places and had a million different friends. It just feels like it took such a long time.

And then, when I think about the last four years with Jason, it seems like it went so fast. Sure, I suppose a lot has happened, we bought and have remodeled a house, had another child, both changed careers, etc, but I definitely feel like the same person I was four years ago. Why is it that life speeds up when you get older?

Anyway, we had an awesome dinner last night at our favorite restaurant, Blue Wasabi, up on Market Street in DC Ranch. Not only is the food fabulous, but the people watching is unparalleled. We sat in the restaurant near a girl who had obviously come directly from the gym (she was wearing a sports bra and sweats) and then window shopped next door at a store selling shoes for $500 a pair. It was a fun night.

Happy Anniversary, J.
Love, E

I keep meaning to post pictures of the gifts I made for Christmas this year. Here are two of my favorites:

Flower Hat for Kelli

Yep, that’s me modeling it, and yes I have a giant nose. I used this basic pattern for the hat (without the stripes, of course) and then added this flower. I used Laines du Nord’s Korall Fancy yarn in 558. It’s a 100% fine Merino wool. I was very happy with how it turned out.

Hippie Skirt for Sarah

This skirt was for my sister. I used this basic tutorial to make it, although I wanted it lined so the back of the fabric didn’t show, so I used a piece of fabric the same size as the first and stitched them together along the bottom seam with their fronts facing each other. Then I flipped them so the right sides were facing out, before cutting the hole for the waist and stitching on the waistband. The main fabric is from IKEA (did you know they have awesome fabric? Ask, it’s near the bedding department). I loved the way the finished product hangs and moves. I’m planning one for myself right now, with a few adjustments and sequins thrown in.

I love the start of a new year. It’s like a big new box of crayons when you’re a kid; all of those colors, perfectly lined up and sharp, full of the possibilities of what you will create with them. I was never much of an artist, but I still loved the potential contained in a brand new, unmarred box of crayons. And so it is with 2006.

I’m a planner; a goal-oriented person. I’m constantly revising and editing a mental list of short and long-term goals. For instance, for as long as I can remember, one of my long term goals has been to write a novel. When I was six I decided I wanted to be a writer, and though I have done some different things, career-wise, it remains my life’s ambition. I regularly revisit how to accomplish it. Other shorter term goals currently on my mental list include: do two loads of laundry today, put together preliminary paperwork to list the Cowans’ house, and GET HEALTHY.

So anyway, it stands to reason that I have had a New Year’s Resolution ‘task’ in my Microsoft Outlook for a couple of months already. It’s obviously not a comprehensive list of things I intend to accomplish this year, but I think they are all SMART goals: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timed. We have been discussing goal setting in my Century 21 Arizona Foothills office lately and I think I’m going commit my short and longer term goals to paper for awhile. Real estate is a very self-motivated career, and while I tend to be pretty self-motivated, it might help to have someone keeping me in check as well.

Without further ado, here are my major resolutions for 2006:

Sell at least 15 houses
Have our kitchen completely remodeled
Participate in National Novel Writing Month
Knit a sweater for myself that I actually would wear
Cook dinner at home at least 4 nights a week

It’s a short list, but they are things I plan to accomplish. I believe I can realistically sell 15 houses this year. We already have the budget in our savings account to remodel the kitchen, I just have to find the right people to do it. National Write a Novel month has been something I’ve been interested in for the last few years, but I’ve never been in a position, career or family-wise, where I even felt like I could reasonably attempt it. This year, I think I can (which is not to say that I will complete it… I’m saving that resolution for 2007). I am a new knitter, but a fast learner and not afraid to fail. I’m ready to take on a sweater pattern and I think in a year I can bang a reasonable one out. Cooking dinner in is something we do pretty regularly, I just need to make it more of a constant priority.

In a more general, non-measurable, non-timed, non-specific sense, I also plan to:

Be more organized
Clean the house regularly
Think about buying a new car
Take the kids to the park or on walks more often
Eat healthy
Make pretty things

So I’m excited about the empty page of the new year. I don’t remember what my exact goals for 2005 were, but I know they included obtaining my real estate license and quitting my job to move into real estate full time, while still staying afloat financially. I feel pretty successful about 2005. 2006, here I come!