Happy Friday

Happy Friday Everyone!!

After a bath

After a bath...

Double dipping

This evening Spouse & I double dipped.

Double dipping is when we accept 2 invitations for the same evening/night so we don't have to pick just 1.  Most of the time when we do this its because the 2 events overlap a bit, rather than starting at the same time.

So we started out at 5:30 at Greer's birthday happy hour at On The Rocks.  They have an outdoor bar and snack bar area overlooking the harbor.  

We both ordered diet sodas and chit-chatted with Deb & Greer and some of our mutual friends.  It was nice but the weather wasn't very cooperative.  For some reason there just didn't seem to be any breeze, despite being right on the water.  So it was kind of nice that we couldn't stay too long because it was rather warm and humid.

At 6:30 we had dinner w/Steven & Thad and their friends Pam & Scott and Matt & Stacy at Saketumi.  Thad went to school with Pam and Stacy and the 3 of them have remained friends over the years.  When both couples have visited Steven & Thad they arranged for us to meet them and now we all get along great.  As usual, we had a great dinner and it was lots of fun.

Silence

Sometimes silence is NOT golden...

Work, work, work

Wow, work has been so busy lately!

Of course when you are paid only by commission like I am, you're happy to be busy.  Despite the bleak national real estate news, our local real estate market is hopping.

I've even heard from people who are choosing to invest in real estate rather than the stock market since mortgage rates are historically low and buying now while prices are low will likely result in a profit in years to come when the real estate market fully rebounds.

There are also people who have been dreaming of owning a home or condo at the beach all their lives, and with prices and interest rates both low, they now feel like this dream can become a reality for them.

I've been working like crazy.  I've had scheduled days off, but it seems like lately I've wound up needing to show property, write offers, respond to counters, or do something work-related on these days off.  So being this busy seems to be both a blessing and a curse.

Its Friday!

Its Friday so here's something to jump start your weekend!

True dat

Let's have a Kiki

If a kiki is a party for calming all your nerves, then honey LET'S HAVE A KIKI!!!

This video is my new obsession.  I wish I could dance like the guy in the yellow shoes.

Just because

Another side

Unlike last year when I kept it a secret from my colleagues, this year I 'came clean' and told them I was performing in the LEGENDS show, so a few of them decided to come to the show this past Sat.

Here is my colleague Trish (center) and her sister and her sister-in-law:

Her brother-in-law came too but was not in any of the photos they sent me.

Here I am (in my finale costume) with Erin:

And here is Erin and Chris:

The show was really fun and I threw some extra kicks in to get everyone excited.  After the show we roam through the audience for 10-15 minutes so people can have their photo taken with us or talk to us.  I was happy to be photographed by 3 different people and receive numerous compliments on my performance.

Once back in my street clothes I joined my colleagues and we hung out, talking, drinking, laughing, and dancing.  They got to see another side of me that night!

LEGENDS

I'm not on the schedule to perform in the LEGENDS show this Sat but I got a call asking if I was available.  Of course I said yes since I love doing the show so much.  I'll be doing Elton John.

It turns out that one of the performers on the schedule this Sat has a conflict (a pesky family reunion or something) so I am gladly filling in.  In addition to the fun of doing the show, this also means I will get paid again for it.  All my singing money from this season's LEGENDS shows is going into our vacation fund so Spouse & I can go some place warm in Jan or Feb.

Before you kill yourself trying to find me in this promotional poster I'll just go ahead and tell you that I'm not in it.  My Elton John costume did not arrive until after the deadline for the poster so I'm not in this one.

Work

Work has been super-busy which is a good thing when you are a realtor.  Realtors don't make money unless they are busy selling and closing on homes.  I expect this hectic pace will continue throughout the rest of the month which is good for my business but bad for my personal life and blog. 

Kimberley Locke

Tonight I went to the Blue Moon to see Kimberley Locke perform!

Since the Blue Moon's performance space is limited, its a wonderfully intimate venue for live performances like Kimberley.  There aren't any bad seats, and all of them are close enough to see her facial expressions.

Ever since her appearance on American Idol Season 2 I have enjoyed Kimberley's voice.  

She has just enough soul and just enough pop to be able to glide from genre to genre and not get "typecast" in a particular type of music.

As soon as she began to speak to the audience tonight I could tell by the nasal sound of her voice that she was sick.  She apologized to everyone for her 'weird-sounding' raspy speaking voice but assured us that her singing voice was still there.  

She told stories in between songs and really connected with everyone.  She took us through her journey from American Idol to the present and made everyone laugh too.  For a minute it felt like we were sitting in her kitchen chit-chatting the way good friends do.

Her singing voice sounded amazing and the show was really enjoyable. 

Just because

Professional

Friday

Hope you have a terrific weekend too!

Just because

Need any other reason?

I thought not.

Dixie Longate

Dixie Longate... say it 3 times quickly.

Dixie Longate, Dixie Longate, Dicks Elongate.

Tonight I had the honor (?) of seeing the lengendary Queen of the Tupperwear Party, Dixie Longate.

Dixie is a drag queen whose character is a southern, straight-but-not-narrow mother who sells Tupperwear at Tupperwear parties.  And Dixie really does sell Tupperwear to many of the attendees of her shows.

Dixie performed at the Blue Moon and when I entered the room I saw Tupperwear brochures on all the seats!  Dixie's routine has little to do with Tupperwear until the end.  Mostly she talks about current events from the eyes of a partially-informed southern white lady with a no-nonsense point of view.  She did manage to get 2 couples from the audience to participate in a competition to see who could rim (seal) a stack of bowls the quickest.  It was entertaining and I would recommend going to see Dixie if she comes to your neck of the woods.  

Also there for the show and seated 2 seats away from me was none other than QVC personality David Venable.  It was rather dark when I sat down so I didn't know it was him at first, until I heard his voice.  With all of Spouse's hours of watching the various home shopping channels it only took 1.2 seconds for me to know who it was.  In a very non-stalker kind of way I told him that I recognized his voice and that my partner enjoyed watching and shopping.  He asked that I thank Spouse for him.

Just because

Dallas

Anyone else old enough to remember the fabulous nighttime soap opera called "Dallas"?

My family used to love that show!  JR Ewing was the 2-timing dirty scoundrel you loved to hate.  Bobby Ewing was the brother who always managed to 'do the right thing'.  Sue Ellen Ewing was JR's beauty queen wife who enjoyed a cocktail or 2... or 20.  It was a great show with lots of plot twists and turns.

Imagine my delight to find that the TNT network was airing a new, modern "Dallas"!!!

While JR, Bobby, and Sue Ellen are in the new show, it really focuses on JR and Bobby's sons, John Ross III and Christopher who are all grown up now.  As you might expect, JR's son John Ross III has his father's tendency to cheat and manipulate people, while Bobby's son Christopher has his father's good personality.

Although I was 1/2 way expecting a flop, I was pleasantly surprised by a really good show.  The writing is good, the acting is good, the story lines are plausible, the show is fun to watch.

Of course, the cast is another reason for enjoying the show.

Christopher Ewing is played by the delicious-looking Jesse Metcalfe:

John Ross III is played by the dark-n-sexy Josh Henderson:

The show includes cameo appearances by Lucy Ewing, Ray Krebbs, and Cliff Barnes too!  Bobby's 1st wife (and Christopher's mother) Pamela Ewing is the only living cast member that has not shown up and I think that is by design.  When the characters talk about her they simply refer to her "disappearing", so I believe she will appear in the show next season.

Friday fragments

Welcome to Friday fragments, my weekly recap of topics too big to forget, yet too small to be their own post.

The family left today.  Unlike their usual visits, this one was just 4 days, but they still had a good time.

Its only the beginning of Aug and I'm already sick of the political campaigning.  How will we survive the next 3 months???

Have a terrific weekend!!

Open

I know that's right!!!

Family invasion

The family arrived yesterday.

If you've been reading for a while, you'll remember that each summer Spouse's sister and her husband bring their 3 kids and Spouse's mom to stay with us for a while and go to the beach.  Sometimes its a week, one time it was 10 days.  How does that saying go about visitors and fish going bad after 3 days?

Originally they were going to come Mon morning, but 1 of the boys was sick and had to go to the doctor's Mon afternoon, so they came yesterday instead.  I really don't mind that they come, although I sometimes act like I do to Spouse.  Now that the kids are almost 15, almost 17, and 20 they are much more like adults than kids.

Spouse's sister's husband couldn't come with them this time due to work, and they can only stay a couple days this time because the kids all have things to do back at home.  One has an amusement park trip planned with friends.  Another has football practice starting.  You get the picture.

But regardless of the fact that their visit will be abbreviated from past years' visits, I know for sure that the following will definitely still occur:

• they will go to the beach and stay in the water as much as possible
• they will want to eat every 20 minutes
• they will want to play games at the boardwalk arcade until they win the largest stuffed animal, regardless of the fact that they will spend more money doing so than they would have spent buying the stuffed animal in the store, which they really don't want to begin with
• they will fall in love with Marvin
• we will have lots and lots of laughs

Now that I think about it, its kind of cool to be "the uncles that live at the beach".