-
Runnin Down a Dream
“It was a beautiful day, the sun beat down, I had the radio on, I was drivin’.”-Tom Petty Well… we did it. We ran down our dream: the road-trip-summer-vacation that we’ve talked about for decades and had been planning for months. When I pictured us driving “into the great wide open,” I usually visualized a flat stretch of road that faded into the horizon and, while we had plenty of flat stretches, we also had plenty of ups and downs and twists and turns, literally and figuratively.. I guess that’s par for the course in 2020, right? Truth be told, as much as I’d like to blame 2020 for everything,…
-
Breakdown
Forget about real estate for a sec.We’ve been Safer At Home for a while now and the bigger message of this month’s Tom-Petty-Themed Update is: It’s alright. Tom says:“It’s alright if you love me It’s alright if you don’t” I would add:It’s alright if you learned a new language while you worked from home.It’s alright if you watched all of the Tiger King… and everything else on Netflix.It’s alright if you put your kids on a schedule and gave them enriching, hands-on activities.It’s alright if you relied heavily on PBS. It’s alright if you enjoyed the extra hours with people you love. It’s alright if those people annoyed the crap out…
-
A Bunch of Other People
Some of you need to stop. Just because you think it, doesn’t mean you have to say it.This ALWAYS applies, but nor, more than ever.Stop and think and walk away and come back.Step outside yourself and your world view. Try on another man’s shoes. You don’t even have to walk anywhere, just try them on. A bunch of people are missing some pretty important moments. A bunch of other people want them to suck it up, because at least their senior trip wasn’t a one way ticket to Vietnam. Screw that second bunch. These amazing kids and their parents ARE finding a way to look through and beyond this. There IS…
-
It’s Good To Be King
It’s Good To Be King If it applies to you, that title holds a lot of truth but, in keeping with our theme of Tom Petty hits, let’s explore this slightly sarcastic number. “It’s good to be king and have your own way Get a feeling of peace at the end of the day” The reality is, it’s good to be king… right up until it isn’t. “You’re out there with winners, it’s good to be king” Most of us have had our worlds turned sideways, over the last few weeks. Stay at home orders, supply shortages, and job insecurity, have affected different people in different ways. The very real…
-
The Juggle Is Real – Coronavirus
Right now is a lot. It just is. Eventually, it’ll be less, but we gotta get by until then. Every member of the family is impacted and we’re all finding our way through it; some of us, with the grace of a ballerina and some of us with the grace of a baby giraffe in a tutu, but we’re getting there. Tomorrow starts a new week and new opportunities to try, try again. Moms are at the epicenter. We always are. This is nothing new really, it’s all the same things we normally do, we’re used to juggling craziness. It’s just that we have to do all of those things…
-
The Waiting
There’s a lot to unpack this time around. Let’s begin. First of all, there are really no lyrics, from this song, that I could contort into a real estate reference. I mean, I could -“Every day you get one more yard” – but it would be a ridiculous stretch. I’ll let it remain the peppy little love song it is. Instead, I’m going for the obvious: the title, in allll it’s truthy wonder. So much of life is about waiting, though not all waiting is equal. Waiting for a bus when you have free time is no big deal, but becomes much more stressful when you’re running late. Waiting on…
-
Wildflowers
Wildflowers, as a song, isn’t the rockin’ good time we best know Tom Petty for, but that difference is what makes it special. A simple melody that almost reaches a Dylan-esque feel, as it works its way through a very “Peace & Love” vibe. Truly, this song was made for February, a month that is such a dramatic blend of extremes; it’s the dreariest time of year, in desperate need of some warm, cheerful thoughts, and it’s the month of love and romance, thanks to Valentine’s Day. What could be more romantic than a bunch of flowers? Wildflowers, in this particular instance, picked just for you. Imagine, that bright field…
-
Into the Great Wide Open
As if I could kick off this year’s blog series with any other title. Last Fall, trying to pick a theme for this year’s blog, I ended up doing some crowd-sourcing. My friend, Sean Carpenter, suggested Tom Petty songs. As Realtors, who -presumably- write blogs about real estate, this makes perfect sense. Or not. Direct relevance aside, I loved the idea and, coincidentally, I’d already named our upcoming summer vacation, “IGWO 2020.” The line, “Into the great wide open,” seemed the perfect way to describe our plans for a roadtrip out west. It was all coming together… >>> Jumping back to the present, there is a real-estate-related point here and…
-
Kittens and Vegans and Realtors, Oh My!
Do you ever see something posted on social media -maybe a meme with a sad, homeless kitten, that says ‘This Kitty Probably Won’t Even Get One Like.’- and you think to yourself, “Heeyyyy, wait a minute. I saw that same sad kitten trying to guilt me into liking it last week!” Only, now that you think about it, last week, the kitten wanted you to donate to feline whisker research… Same cat, different guilt trip. What are we to believe? Same thing with these amazing food-related holidays. August 27th is National Burger Day but, last month, July 28th was National Hamburger Day. Was last month for purists and this month…
-
10 People You MUST Know When Moving to Knoxville
June 12th International Falafel Day 10 People You MUST Know When Moving to Knoxville 10. It 9. Doesn’t 8. Matter 7. They’re 6. All 5. So 4. Nice 3. Laura Fangman 2. Yassin Terou 1. Dolly Parton Allow me to explain. 10-4: It doesn’t matter, they’re all so nice. Now, I understand that no one is immune and there are always exceptions -I don’t live in a bubble- but there truly are so many great folks around here! It was one of the first things we noticed, when we were considering our move. General friendliness was our introduction; strangers who looked you in the eye and smiled, people driving by…