A Great Week of Great Events

The week began with a continuing education class of the type I normally teach. It was a small class, but they made up for their size with their enthusiasm.

Wednesday was wonderful. I would have never believed it before it started. Only one person had actually signed up for the class. Lola Audu conducted a class on blogging in the morning. I followed it up with my first presentation of Code of Ethics in the afternoon. As is is a mandated curriculum, I had to follow it exactly. I have never worked with a power point presentation, before, but it worked fine. There were eight students in class and they were all happy to be there. They were totally engaged. I had a great time.

Today, I decided that I belong to the greatest Associations of Realtors in the world. As a fund-raiser and simultaneous fun-raiser, they held a chili cook off for the members. What a great networking opportunity. The theme was Mexican and The Executive Officer, Kim Pontius made a new friend. I understand there are some associations around the state where the members don't "play well with others". This certainly cannot be said about The Traverse Area Association of Realtors. Once again, I must say, I love my city. Traverse City, Michigan is a wonderful place to live, work and play.

Monday will be back to work again, if you can call it that. I will be teaching Realtor Code of Ethics to TAAR members. Both the morning and the afternoon classes are sold out.

Five Kinds of Lilacs

Get ready for another "I Love My City" rant. Seven years ago this month, I fell in love with my little spot on the planet. I was teaching in Traverse and staying at the Sleep Inn. I got my bike out of the back of my van and headed for the TART trail. I went through the woods and got to the top of the hill. I looked to the west and the moon was just saying goodbye to the starry night. The dawn was just begining to cast its glow on the East Arm of Grand Traverse Bay. It was spectacular. I paused for a moment to take it in and was overcome by the headiest perfume imaginable. Wow, five kinds of lilacs, flowering quince, autumn olive and redbud tree were all celebrating the morning. I was transported. I glanced down and what to my wondering eyes did appear but a "For Sale" sign. Oh my, could it be? I glanced at the wee house through the brush and it was pretty ugly. But, five kinds of lilacs. So much for the bicycle ride. I went back to the hotel and got on my computer. I could not find the listing. At 8:00 AM I called the listing office and it was brand new on the market. At 10:00 AM, I had my bank fax me a letter of qualification and I wrote an offer, contingent upon inspection. I made an appointment to view it that evening. As I walked up to the house, I saw it hadn't been painted in about 30 years. It was cement with a flat roof and the yard was a mess. But, five kinds of lilacs. My last husband was my inspector. He found eight pages of defects. To which I responded, "So."

This has become my home. Since I bought it, I discovered it is a Frank Lloyd Wright Usonian. I have been working on bringing it back to where it once was. I just got back from a bike ride on the TART trail which adjoins my back yard. Life is good on my little piece of real estate in Traverse City, Michigan.

Code of Ethics and Blogging in the 21rst Century

I am pretty excited. The Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth has approved the Realtor Code of Ethics for three hours of continuing education, including two hour of core legal update. Many people do not like taking the class online and would appreciate the human interaction. Shortly after this approval I got a call from a friend in Grand Rapids. Lola Audu, a broker, instructor and mentor that I highly admire obtained approval from the state to present a class on blogging. Her class is only four hours and she was requesting permission to tell people that I had a two hour class that would count. The light bulb went on.


Why not present both classes on the same day? We will be doing this for the first time on May 28 at the Grand Rapids Association of Realtors. For more information on Lola's class click here: http://www.lolaaudu.com/ and then click on continuing education. For more information on my class to to www.TheAcmeInstitute.com

And to further sweeten the deal. If you attend both classes, we will buy you lunch.