Surprises

Ann Smith from Chicago Title Escrow surprised me and left Chicago Title, she is moving to another company to handle commercial escrows. I worked with Ann when I was in Mortgage Banking. Ann was with Verdugo Escrow; I will really miss working with her. Her files were transferred to the Valencia branch – what a nightmare! But, the escrow officer over there is great. Will be working with Kristen Hartwick at Glenoaks Escrow in the future.

Another busy week; trying to prepare to escape to Balboa Island for a week with my sister and her two adopted sons, Alexi & Vadim, and my cousin’s children, John and Samantha and of course, George, Kristen and Jinan. Bruce Taylor also rented a house, so Jinan will be happy to have Sarah there as well. Natalie ordered a notebook computer for me, so Natalie will be taking the laptop and I will use the Notebook in Balboa. I just love GoToMyPC.com - I can access my computer from Balboa, print contracts, etc. and Natalie can handle the rest. Of course, licensed agents, Diana Monday, Rita Johnson and Chris Zastrow will help if we need it.

Met, Larry Oliver, a mortgage lender at Starbucks on Monday, I know Larry and his daughter Natasha from Gladiators Cheer. La Canada is a small town and it was great seeing Larry again.

Had a Ticktocker summer social (pool party) here yesterday for Jinan’s class, there are a nice group of girls, and it was good to see them again.

Still working on article submissions. Dino M. Zaffina at www.Dropline.biz is advertising my listings on his online magazine for the entertainment industry.

An old friend - thanks to Real Estate!

I just love real estate! A couple of days ago, I heard from an old friend, I attended Hoover High with – Lynne Duke. She was looking for a Glendale realtor and found me through the search engines; using the keyword Glendale California real estate Remax – I can’t believe she recognized my picture, but Lynne was always very intelligent, so I shouldn’t be too surprised. It was great catching up with her, although, I am saddened to hear that her mom is not doing too well. My maiden name in high school? Serra! I have a sister Christine, and brother Michael.

If you've recently bought a home or just planning on redecorating, this is a great article I read in MSN, it's called: Summer Décor Trends 2005.

Memorial Day Weekend

Another wonderful Memorial Day Parade in La Canada! How fun to see half of the community & their family & a lot of pets turn out. My brother-in-law Moe (Joe Harb) always sets the chairs out in front of Dish Restaurant, his wife Kathy, son Joe (Josie) and daughter Louisa met us there, as well as my other brother-in-law, Michael and his two sons Christopher & Jake. My father-in-law and husband George’s aunt also met us. My daughter, Jinan, spent the night at Sarah Taylors and walked down to sit with us, as Bruce Taylor didn’t open up Taylors this year. I took my beautiful german shepherd, Kanto, and my daughter’s Papillion, Connie who barked at every animal there. We followed up the parade with a barbecue at my father in law, Cido’s house.

Then of course real estate: wrote an offer on El Vago, what a joke that listing is: 16,000 + sq ft lot with 1600 sq foot home for $785,000 – probably sell around $1,000,000.