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?

The Garden Bear is out of his cave

You all know how I detest going to a 9 to 5 job... or should I say a 6 to 3 or a 1 to 10 job... but in this economic climate it is a very wise thing to have a second (read paying) job and I will stay there longer then first thought... a lot longer it looks like. And I like the folks I work with too!

Mr. Grumpy is enjoying this enormously and is now making comments like "let's see how you juggle real estate, Lowe's, and a big garden this year!" And I am wondering that myself... But it is better to have him saying that then the popular comment of January which was "now you know how real people live in the real world"... hmmph, palease... All of you that know and love the Kevbear know that the real world and the Kevbear world only line up in the correct phase once every 10 lunar cycles... or something like that.

So today is Lowe's off day and we ran into town to pickup the pickup which died 4 times when we went to the dump last week. Apparently we need to drive it more then once every 2 months... Mr. Grumpy was happy that 2 of the mechanics there wanted to buy it, saying it was the nicest truck in the most perfect condition they had ever seen. If it is Mr. Grumpy's it is always in perfect condition... except me... I am in mint condition...

Last night I shared with Mr. Grumpy a few things I had been stashing away (read still putting away Christmas stuff) like the seeds for this years garden!
And all the seed starting stuff I have been gathering...


And I finished fertilizing all the trees & shrubs... which I normally do in January but what with 2 jobs.... hmmmm is this a taste of things to come in the garden???

And we (Mr. Grumpy) got the stove pipe cleaned out so there will be no spring chimney fires this year! And I got a spring calf on hold so we are going into raising our own beef (with Brenda & Chas!). Today I got the dormant spray (1st coat) on the fruit trees and the last of the manure on the asparagus.


Now back to the manure piles! Or maybe back to laying on the couch and reading thru my new books... and if I do that then let's talk about peak oil soon, OK? And in the mean time look around the Google (as that idiot calls it) and look up peak oil yourselves...

OK Already... catching up

I know it has been awhile, but really, I have been working like a dog at Lowe's and have just been exhausted each night. Days have been busy with real estate when I have some time off from the pay the bills job. But I promise to be back to being my old self soon.

So to recap; all the garden seeds are ordered except for the Territorial Seed Company and I am getting ansey for the snow to go away (as we all are!) so I can play in the garden again. Some seeds have arrived and more are coming, I ordered from 4 different companies this year... Now if the snow would just go away!

I really love the snow but the gardening is my stress relief valve and I could use the relief these days! Retail nowadays is nothing like 25 - 30 years ago when I was last at it. The main thing that has me totally out of sorts is the fact that almost every single box that comes into the store says "made in China" on it. Not a good thing for our economy in the long run... Mr. Grumpy still is OK with his statement that I can walk away from Lowe's anytime I want and we will get by OK. And that rebate stimulus check "in the mail" is that a joke or what. I can just see my Buyers saying they now have a down payment!!!
On a brighter note I will shortly have 3 agents at the company and our location should be available to us sometime in Feb. so that has me jazzed. And the website is almost ready to re-appear after the parting with RE/MAX! And on a garden note we awoke the other morning to a present from Max...
Yuppers a big steaming pile of shit in the yard, gotta love that guy (from a gardener's point of view). Max has more if anyone needs a load to start with the spring garden, and his price is reasonable too!

Enough for now, I will be showing houses today, and again next week! Funny thang... I need to sell just 3 houses and I will make what it takes me to make at Lowe's in an entire year. OK time to hit the shower and get back to laundry & KP detail...

Happy New Year!

Here it is the new year and you are all snuggly, hung over and sleepkins. I on the other hand am getting ready to go to work at the new job... Here is how it goes..
Day One... Kevbear is not a morning person...

Kevbear and 100 other drones worked like slaves for 11 hours... Kevbear knew he would hate this... BUT, I like the people there (go figure). At lunch break I was on the phone being a Realtor... Kevbear came home on NEW YEARS EVE, Mr. Grumpy said nice things like "Now you know how real people live" and "Welcome to reality"... lucky for Mr. Grumpy he still is alive this morning... We ate dinner, Mr. Grumpy had champagne (Kevbear did not care), Kevbear was in bed before 9:00 on NEW YEARS EVE! What's up with that... At midnight Kevbears sadistic Mom called yelling HAPPY NEW YEAR into a sleepy Kevbear's ear... Kevbear hates the world this morning... but I think I might live...

I do morning sooo well...
Sue & Dean, sorry we missed your party, I hope you understand...

OY VEY!

Today Kevbear got to do something he rarely does. Kevbear has only done this thing a few times, you can count the times on a paw and a half paw... (under 10 times if you are paw challenged). Most times people have called Kevbear and said skip all the BS, we want YOU! But to keep our happy home happy Kevbear went out into the big world for a job interview. It was pointed out to the Kevbear that we are dinks (double income, no kids) and right at this moment we were being sinks (single income, no kids). What with real estate in America being what it is... So Kevbear (being of unsound mind & hot body) put out what are called internet job apps, Kevbear thought that would be the end of it... the next day the phone rang... Shit thought Kevbear, hurray thought Mr. Grumpy...

So this morning Kevbear had to remember what real people do with real jobs... this was not easy as Kevbear has not worked at a real job in (19 years?) a little while... So first Kevbear woke up...

And then Kevbear groomed himself... (picture deleted for viewer sanity). While Kevbear was busy with nose hair trimmers and some secret lotions, Kevbear thought of what people want in an employee... Kevbear thought some more... Kevbear thought about what is important to him...hmmmm... Christmas tree?

No... too big to take along... hmmmm... maybe something bright & shiny to distract potential bosses that Kevbear had bags under his eyes??? Quickly Kevbear sprang to action and took unshiny object and put it in shiny object fluid!

Shiny diamonds would keep their attention from the fact that Kevbear needed a hairycut! Then Kevbear hopped in the shower and took a long hot shower (picture deleted for viewer sanity again). The Kevbear decided that if clothes make the man they might help Kevbears too! So Kevbear looked for some clothes...

too Kevbear?

too country?

too Caribbean?

too early?

too preppy?

too fleecy?

Kevbear could not decide... Kevbear went for shoes to cover size 13 paws...

Kevbear went for black loafers. Then Kevbear went to pick out a jacket... Kevbear finally decided what to wear... it was what most Kevbears think of a "country club casual". Kevbear learned this term while cruising!

Then Kevbear went to get in the car... Kevbear forgot that when it is 15 at night the car might need some primping time too...

While the Honda primped, Kevbear had a muffin... then Kevbear got back in the car... "holly shit Batman" (thought Kevbear) I am going to be late!

Kevbear had just 25 minutes to make the 30 minute drive... Kevbear wanted to be a "dink" really bad! And Kevbears are never late!!! So Kevbear started to hurry... That did not last long... a mile from home Kevbear got behind the slowest RV driver ever! There was nowhere to pass... This guy was holding up at least 72 cars (by Kevbears estimate), so Kevbear did something he never does... he passed over a double yellow line... there was something in the way...

Kevbear eventually made it around the slowest RV driver in recorded history and got to go over the speed limit... then Kevbear got behind a truck or two... the first truck driver was busy looking around at stuff, he was sipping coffee, he was picking at something in his ear, he was scratching his left nut... He was doing everything but looking at his speedometer...

Kevbear passed this driver who managed to speed up just as we hit 2 lanes each way... funny how that happens... Then Kevbear passed a sign that said... " construction ahead, all trucks use right lane only", Kevbear was now following a blind person driving a semi-truck!!!
Kevbear continued to bob & weave through the slowest traffic ever to be seen... Kevbear was 5 minutes late for the interview...

Morning Commute

You just know it will be "one of those days" when you start off the morning commute and nothing seems to be going right. I cannot attribute it to "getting up on the wrong side of the bed" because I got up on the same side as always. My side is by the window (in case of gas?) and closer to the TV so when someone else is sound asleep I can click on a late movie and keep it low. Works about 25% of the time to get me to sleep and trust me the last thing you want to do at 2:00AM is wake someone who is (endearingly) called Mr. Grumpy!

So back to the commute thang... the drive thru was incredibly slow again this morning, they really need to get some quality illegals or something to get their shit together...

There were some people in front of me that just took their sweet-ass time placing their orders or somethang, it was just what I needed, to be late to the office again this week... Traffic was snarled to almost a standstill and at the rate things were moving I thought the boss was sure to have my ass for being late every morning this week... I snapped a pic of the snails pace of the traffic (since it was safe to take both hands off the wheel)...

I mean the walking dead in a zombie movie move faster then this mornings commute time! When I finally got to the office my desk was buried in work the co-workers had dumped on me, probably pissed them off cause I was late again. But hey I can take it on as long as I get a coffee break to replenish the java that runs thru my veins...

So I was getting down to it and it seemed like it could turn out to be a good day after all when the co-workers started yelling and snarling about something. I mean really, we have a 8-5 job here and these guys act like they have not a care in the world! There are deadlines folks... So being senior management I had to go get the crew settled back into a decent workplace attitude... And one old timer was just not going to get back to it until he got his tummy scratched! If the boss ever finds out what goes on here...

So I get the crew back to work and check out my daily planner to see where I have to be and what the secretary has (secretly) added to an already overbooked schedule... Sure enough the morning is booked solid but it looks like there might be a break about mid-day so I can go get a workout at the gym and grab a quick bite at this great bistro...
It is just up the block from the gym. I have really been trying to get a full regiment going at the gym and have told the secretary to leave me a good hour+ for it on my planner... There are soo many muscle groups that each need individual attention to keep your bod in the buff shape I maintain... So it is looking like I might be able to sqeeze in those crunches and lifts and get to my fav corner bistro when sure as shit it happens... Yuppers, get the morning back on track, get the co-workers back to the grind and I get hit with... yes, that's right... the end of year reports... And as the boss tosses 'em on top of my already overloaded day... He tells me he wants me to take some time over the weekend and have some ideas and projections on his desk (after I spend my sacred free time reviewing the reports) first thing Monday morning... For crying out loud! It's my birthday this weekend and I was planning (on getting hammered) on a quiet time with the bestest guy in the world! If I had half the brains God gave the neighbors turkeys (which survived Thanksgiving?) I would tell the boss to shove it, quit this job, start my own company and work at home!

It's UP!

Yes, I knew you would all be excited to know that I am now safely back on my very own (work) puter setup here in the dining room! Mr. G took one look at it in the daylight and spent an hour cleaning it up and lecturing me on the dangers of dust on and in a computer... it is now strangly clean and runs better, weird... After just 3 hours talking with a guy who's name I cannot pronounce (let alone spell) in what sounded like India I am now online anywhere's in the house. I tried myself to do it alone (the directions (yes, I did read them) sounded easy) which was a bad time for both myself & Mr. G... Thank goodness for India guy, it could not have gotten done without him! And now we have pics back!!! It is 9+PM now and Mr. G and the kids are all nestled in our bed with visions of hot naked hairy guysdancing in their heads...Yesterday was a great success with the mentors! I was sorry I had ever left their company and (of course) I had them pose for a blog pic...
Mike & Miriam... 2 folks who helped make Kevbear the Realtor he is today (is that a hint?). And after leaving them I met Mr. G in town at Deacon & Hilary's (the remote stealer) for a great curry dinner and too much wine (but lot's of good talk!).

After the grueling wi-fi thingy was done I headed out to plant the last of the daylillies and water so there was a brief outdoor advent where I did snap a pic of a Bambi wandering by looking longingly over the fence at my safely protected plants!

There is now a nice fire burning to keep us all snugly warm tonight in the woodstove, no the damn woodpile is still not split & stacked...

And now the long awaited hairy cuts pics (drum roll going), Mr. G says I am going way too far with the camera, but if a pic is worth a 1000 words just thinks of the time I'm saving! So without further ado (yes Barber comes to the house for our hairy cuts) here are the pics!!!

"Who wants to watch Wheel of Fortunes when the daddies are getting clipped!"
"Now can you see the nose hair I am talking about?"
Clippers, a drink & a stoggy, this guy is a multi-tasker!
The hero being humble after all the hairy cuts are done!