Showed a beautiful house in Walpole today to a very nice family. New construction on about 2 acres of land for a pretty good price. They seemed to really like the house and the area though they said they wanted something even better. Hate to say it but for the price they want, they aren't going to find it.

Had dinner with K.A. and C.B. at the Backyard in Newton. Haven't seen C.B. in a while and it was nice to have cocktails and dinner on their patio.

Had to work the desk today but had absolutely no motivation. Makes for a long day.

Really nice caravan today. Some absolutely beautiful homes. The first one, in Walpole, is owned by the admin at the Needham office. It's just typical that she didn't use anyone from her office. She had responded to a postcard that one of our brokers sent out so we get the listing, not the admin's office.

Accompanied a co-broke to show a house in Westwood this evening. This is the same house I keep showing--it's beautiful but just doesn't sell. I don't know why.

Made my own floor cleaner and I have to say it works better than anything I've bought in the stores.

Mix 2 cups water, 1 tablespoon ammonia (clear, non-sudsing), and 1 tablespoon liquid laundry detergent. Put into a spray bottle and spritz an area on the floor and mop it up. That's it! It's actually an all purpose cleaner to be used on floors, walls, etc.

Showed a cute little house in Norwood today. The guy just loved it--it sounded like exactly what they were looking for and was actually in their price range. Because it was so cheap (everything is relative though), he wanted his wife to come out to see it later in the day. He finally called me in the evening and said that his wife said it would be too small for them so they didn't want to consider it. They aren't going to find anything bigger in their price range, at least not for a while. I guess nobody has the vision to build onto the house anymore.

Met with the seller of the house I had listed and we withdrew the listing. He was the one who had the condition that he would only sell to one of 2 people, otherwise he would keep the house himself. The other 2 people decided not to take it so, that deal is done and signed off. Looks like I'm back to square one.

Met up with the ex-AspenTechhies for lunch to welcome Dale into our "family." He was one of the people just laid off. We went to Rudy's in Somerville, which is a place we used to go to years ago for lunch on occasion. It was great to see everyone again and fun to hear about the goings-on at the company.

Then went to dinner with some friends at Topsy's. Met up with Steph, Khris, and Kath and again, had a great time. The food at that place is fantastic but I was still full from lunch so I took most of it home with me.

Cocktails on my deck was a great way to spend a late afternoon with friends. Some were uninvited guests, though. Apparently I have bees living within the walls of my house and a bunch of them were trying to get inside the walls. I had blocked off the opening with a rug but a few still found their way inside. I don't know if it would be smarter to block them in or to let them get out and then block the entrance.

Met up with former AT co-workers for dinner at Rangzen in Cambridge. It's a Tibetan restaurant and was fantastic. It was great to see everyone again--it's been much too long. J.K-Y looks fantastic--she's been dieting and working out and wears it well.

I had arrived in Cambridge a bit earlier than our designated time so I wandered around Central Square for a while. Went strolling through Tello's. I haven't been in a Tello's in years--very "Sex in the City" style clothing, but I guess that's they way it always was though we used to call it "Palace" clothing since that is what people wore when they went to the Saugus nightclub called The Palace. Actually found a metered spot on Mass Ave. and only had to pump in one quarter--quite a coup if I must say so myself. Especially at that time of day.

Had to work the desk this morning and got a call from someone who said their limit was two million dollars. When I tried to get her name so I could call her back later with some info, she hung up. Oh well. I have a feeling she was making that number up anyway.

Today I had 12 requests for Comparative Market Analsysis (CMAs). Spent all day and evening putting them together and emailing them out. One was honest enough to say he was only curious and wasn't really thinking of selling his house right now. Some are only considering it, while 2 said they want to sell right away. We'll see what comes out of this.

Hey! I have an appointment for Monday to possibly list someone's condo for sale. We'll see how the meeting goes. The condo is in Allston so it should sell quickly.

A little prayer sent to me that I thought I would share:

The Shopping Diva's Prayer:

Armani
Which Art in Neiman's
Hallowed be thy shoes
Thy Prada come,
Thy shopping done
On Rodeo
As it is in Paris
Give us this day, our Visa Gold
And forgive us our balance
As we forgive those who charge us interest
Lead us not into Penney's
And deliver us from Sears
For thine is the Chanel, the Gaultier and the
Versace
For Dolce and Gabbanna.

Amen

Got another lead today. Also realized that this particular house was listed through my office for the past 6 months but the listing expired on June 12th. Hmmm. Is it ethical to try to get the listing? Should I approach the agent that had the listing? Obviously it never sold while she had it but...

Had a listing appointment today to list a condo. Very nice couple. Small condo but in a great area--it should sell quickly. They haven't made a final decision though as to whether I'll be the person they list with. They said they would let me know tomorrow. Sigh. I hate waiting.

Sent the condo owners a thank you email today and to find out if they made a decision on who they would list with. They replied back that the husband was sick and they didn't want to make a decision until he's better.

Still haven't heard anything from the condo owners. I'll assume this means that I didn't get the listing. Damn! I really need a success under my belt, you know? At this point, it's not even the money.

Still waiting.....

and waiting..... I don't want to pester them but I don't want to let the opportunity to slip by either.

The desk time was slow today. Actually it's been slow for a few weeks now. But, just as my shift was ending, I got a phone call to show a couple of houses tomorrow in Walpole. They are beautiful homes so I can't wait to show them.

Showed 3 houses in Walpole, each one is fantastic. This couple seemed to like them all but didn't put an offer in on any of them. They couldn't decide which one they liked the best. Actually, I think they did have a favorite but it is also the most expensive--$899K. I never would have guessed that Walpole was so nice but this section really is. Lot's of new homes with lots of land, all near horseback riding trails--very country out there but still relatively close to the city.

Today is my nephew's 6th birthday--Happy Birthday Reid!

Ran an Open House today in Walpole. Only 2 groups came through. One couple came up to the door but wouldn't come in--they said they wanted something that was more in a "neighborhood" for their kids. This house is to die for. It's still under construction but is fantastic. It was fun to be in such a beautiful house but because it's not finished there was no place to sit during down time. One of the builders was there during the Open House so at least there was someone to talk to for a while.

Showed the condo to a propsective buyer this afternoon. His broker immediately wrote up an offer and presented it to me. Good offer but when I presented it to the seller's they wanted to see if he could hold off until the Open House so they could have something to compare it to. He wasn't willing to do that so we rejected the offer. (It wasn't until later that I realized that the first offer is usually the best...)

On my way to a BBQ, it started raining so bad it was difficult to drive. Every once in a while I'd get ahead of the rain but then get stuck at a traffic light and the rain would reach me again. By the time I got to the BBQ, it seemed to have stopped. C.B. was outside when I pulled up and she laughed and asked me why my car was all wet. Apparently it had never rained there at all.

Pretty soon everyone showed up and we had a great time talking about former places of employment since we all had worked together at some point.

Went to a graduation party today for the daughter of someone I work with. My other co-workers had already left by the time I got there so I didn't know anybody. Found a table where the people looked fun and had a pretty good time.

Finally added some more AspenTech pictures to this site. Go to: AspenTech.

The Open House was today. Wasn't as busy as I was hoping it would be. Forgot that this was the beginning of a holiday week and that most people would be out of town. It had to have been about 98 degrees with high humidity. Of course, this condo is a 3rd floor walkup and you can't just buzz somebody in, you have to run downstairs to let them in. I did luck out that someone was painting the hallways and had the door propped open but still had to run up and down the stairs a fair amount. Had someone who wanted to put an offer in but they decided to wait a bit.