Weekend update

It is nice just having the one job this week and Saturday was a great office day. We had a walk in client that most Realtors only dream of... which reinforces my belief that this is the prime location for the office. We are getting a few walk-ins every few days so everyone here should make money, and that's the reason I'm not in the garage anymore. 2 of us were out showing properties this weekend and we had other Realtors showing our listings so it was a good weekend. And I put the rockers out on the front porch at the office for the weekend (cabled & bolted down) and they were here when I pulled in this AM!

So yesterday I stayed at home and did the gardener thang. Used up the Roundup cause the weeds are winning at the moment...
And I took the racks I bought from Lowe's and got most of the garden shed organized which was something that needed to get done before garden season really kicks in.
I did not get the newest fruit trees planted, but there are 4 waiting. Mr. Grumpy got the water system turned on also so we can water the gardens now... it was 80 yesterday... And it was the first official day of not using the dryer for the next 6+ months!

And Mr. Grumpy is always very happy if this little thing dose not spin too fast!

I tried not to get too stressed out over the fact that the neighbors are pigs and just let trash blow around on their property...
And the best thing was at least there are still wild bees out and they were all over the pear blossoms...
So it was a productive Sunday, hope yours was good too! See ya soon...Happy Trails!

It's Friday!

This has been a whirlwind of a week. Monday the board voted yes to my request to expand the office space so we now have the entire lower floor of the building, next we take over upstairs! Tuesday I once again pointed out to my one Lowe's manager that they had me scheduled to work days I can no longer work... so I am off from there for 11 days!!! Which means I can be at the office everyday (which I love) and it all seems to be going fast, 3 weeks ago I was in the garage and now I have 6 agents... Blessings!!! Today the sheriff's moved out of their part of the building so we could take it over, and they got to see my new name badge which is modeled on a sheriff badge to tie in with the office name and the ranch theme.

Now for the best news... I get to work in the garden for the weekend!!! I am off to town now to get some of the fruit trees we still need to get planted. So for now it is happy trails and it is a ride 'em cowboy kinda afternoon.... so enjoy! My heros have always been cowboys....

Enough

Not sure if I will post this tonight or tomorrow but for the record it is 9:30PM, Friday night. From the previous post you will note that I was in a great mood to be spending a night with Mr. Grumpy and the doggies (kids) and not working at a ball busting job. For those of you at Lowe's that read this blog please understand that I like almost all folks I work with, but hate the company and what it represents of corporate America... every box says "made in china". 'Nough said...

Tonight instead of the great steak & shrimp dinner that was planned, I spent the evening holding a sobbing Randy (that is Mr. Grumpy to you dear reader). You see today he once again had to serve another family with a 10 day notice (3 this week) that they have lost their home. FUCK YOU BUSH ADMINISTRATION. I am sure that will trigger some sort of undercover audit... But I am wondering in this age where 22,000 AMERICANs lose their homes each week how we can have such a limp dick government that is FOR THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE and yet lets this happen. TIME TO REBEL AGAIN COUNTRYMEN... it is not the British this time it is corporations.

Our country has been sold out by an administration that has nothing to do with the people and is all about corporate profits... I am very pissed... Mr. Grumpy does not sob, he is one tough cookie. But tonight he broke, and I am fuckin' pissed. He sobbed in my arms while he told me of the tears and sobs he endures when he serves these final papers and people become homeless. And today I heard of the woman who stood there and sobbed while signing his register on what was once a dream as she and her 3 kids (and a husband) became another AMERICAN statistic. FUCK YOU BUSH ADMINISTRATION. Enough...

I am not sure what I as one man can do, I promised him I would do something. What I thought of was offering free real estate services to anyone in trouble that I could possibly help. It is not enough, but it got him to sleep in a world that has gone wrong... See he has always believed in this country, I was the skeptic... it is why I insisted we be married in Canada 5 years ago, we both felt AMERICA and it's promises had failed us.

I could really use some advice here folks. What do you tell someone that is doing their job for the government as a postal worker (that denies them benefits as a gay man) and has broken under the strain of helping evict people out of their homes.
It was the AMERICAN DREAM... it is now a fuckin' nightmare... I am pissed...
No hot guys pics, no life is wonderful... because right now our fellow citizens are being evicted and are out on the streets, what can I do... help me...

It's Friday!

YAHOO!
And it was a day at the office, my office, my almost perfect office. And I do not have to work at the other job tonight!!!
And our newest agent became licensed today!!! That means that we have (drum roll) 5 of us and 2 more about to start. Our rapid growth has caused me to email the board for their Monday meeting to increase our office space area. Was it just 3 weeks ago we were working out of a garage?

So I am heading out to actually see Mr. Grumpy during daylight hours (since Sunday) and to have supper together!!! And to add to a great day travel agent called and we are firming up some holiday plans. In the meantime my thoughts can turn to the nice warm beaches we will soon be at... and the sights one sees at the beach... Snow predicted here again this weekend...
So on a warmer note...
And besides laying on a warm beach we will be having a bartender pouring us some great ummm... shots... So it is happy trails for now!

It's Thursday

Time is a flyin' by and we are at the point of trying to man the office full time now. I have gone part time at Lowe's and had told them only Monday thru Thursday and just evenings. So the new schedule comes out and they have me working just Saturday and Sunday AM shifts... which of course I can no longer do... hmmmm...

We had last Sunday off together which was really (really!) nice just to sit down and have a days worth of time and meals together. Too much of our lives have suffered with me taking a second job and even though it was a blessing this past winter, and I like all the folks I work with, it is taking too much of a toll. I get home after 15 to 16 hour days and have no energy to play with the doggies, do any housework, (remember housekeeper was laid off last October) and even talk with Mr. Grumpy... like he is awake at 12 when I drag in! OK enough! Mr. Grumpy says the blog should be more upbeat like last summer (when I was not always exhausted) so here goes! :-)

We walked down and checked out the gardens and what did we see... why the first shoots of asparagus!
And some nectarine blossoms which have probably frozen...
And the almond is bursting out... on the list is find it a pollinator this spring for next years nuts.
And while I was running around snapping pics and getting excited about fruits... Mr Grumpy fixed the yard hydrant so we can get some water going down to the back 40!
AND... while I was relaxing from the hard work of snapping pics Mr. Grumpy went on to pulling out last seasons sunflowers (which I was going to use for early pea supports) to show he was a good little helper!
Oh yeah, and the horseradish is still the best thing going... and the Simpson lettuce that never showed up last summer is now appearing...
Last but not least the forsythia is the best flower show in the gardens!
I also found my missing fruit trees list this morning on what I need to finish off the orchard, so I will start hunting tonight at the other job. Now I just need to find that special garden helper.... maybe someone that likes to run thru the sprinklers?

Survivor

That is my general feeling these days, I am getting by with being a survivor. And I keep counting down the days until we leave for a week off to Mexico... just 5 weeks away at this point.

I've not been down to the gardens for 2 weeks now which creates a sadness that perhaps this is how the spring and summer might turn out. Life can be about sacrifice and perhaps the thing that brings me the most peace in life will have to disappear until... Well until (and if) our life that we have known these many years returns. In the meantime I will hold down the 2 full time jobs and survive. Mr. Grumpy is doing a great job at home as most of everything has fallen on him to get done. The doggies miss seeing me, and I miss being here at the house... a lot...

So enough of that, here is how things are running for now!
5:00 AM Alarm goes off & Mr. Grumpy is awake (I mumble something?)
6:30 AM Mr. Grumpy leaves for work and wakes me up...
7:00 AM I am into my 2nd cuppa joe and thinking about the shower
8:00 AM +/- I am at the new office getting things finished
9:00 AM talk with Mr. Grumpy on how he (& I) are doing
12:30 PM back to the house for lunch & fix my evening Lowe's meal
1:20 PM leave for Lowe's and talk with Mr. Grumpy on the way
2:00 PM clock in at Lowe's and go to work
7:00 PM take my dinner break and talk with Mr. Grumpy again to say goodnight & make sure he is having a decent dinner
11:00 PM get off work at Lowe's and drive home avoiding drunks & deer
12:00 AM finish winding down kiss the sleeping family goodnight & hit the sack.

I am adapting (surviving) and enjoy most of the folks at Lowe's. It is strange taking orders from people that don't seem to have a clue on management style. But maybe I am getting old & crotchety? I am very happy with the new office and we are at the point of just waiting on the new windows and the computer geeks to come out to wi-fi us and then we will be open! So here are some new pics of ALL STAR REAL ESTATE!!!
Our first dollar earned!

The conference table...

The office...


The rockers on the porch

And our sign!

So it is all coming together and once the computers are up and running we can be open regular hours... and in the meantime Mr. Grumpy, myself, and the doggies will all survive it somehow!

Spring?

So I survived the ordeal of the 2-11 shift last night and it was with one of my fav managers so that was cool. It is the shift I asked to be put on so I could do real estate in the AM's and be at the new office! But so far no change on the schedule.And this morning was real estate after the wake up ritual which actually starts at night before sleepkins...
So the Kevbear awakened at 7:30 and grabbed the java, can't remember if Mr. Grumpy said goodbye (but I'm sure he did!) and let the monsters out. One of them threw up on my pillow during the night so once that was discovered I hit the shower fast! God only knows what they had eaten.

Got back to the house after meeting with some clients and went down to the garden in hopes of asparagus... nope... but the horseradish is making a strong appearance. Too bad it is such a looser looking plant... And then I hit the orchard to check out the buds. Nectarines are gettin' ready!
And the peaches are trying to get there too...
The pears are lagging behind... Which is a good thing! Cherries are even further behind and the apples haven't even started thinking about budding. So what it looks like is nectarines & peaches will get hit by a late frost (usual) and we will get none. Cherries, apples and pears we will have for this season... Now I need to find my list from last fall of which varieties of fruit trees I decided to add this spring so I can get out and buy them!
It is supposed to hit 60 today so we will be busy in the garden center... still glad I have the paying job as things are just going downhill in the country under that idiot faster then even I thought. Happy trails kids... and you know which kind I mean (wink, wink) that is definitely what I consider a happy trail! And he would make a great little helper in the garden!
Time for the Kevbear to be comin' outta hibernation for sure! And we even have the first official blossom on a forsythia out in the garden!
Maybe he would like to be a gardener... it will be time to start interviews for a garden helper soon... should we consider... Someone who will not have to worry about a sunburn? Ahhhh spring...