Keanna brightens up the scene

Dear Family and Friends,
Its hard to explain how a little 35 lb girl of almost 6 years can do so much lifting of spirits but she can. At 2 it was time to collect Keanna from school. She came racing out to meet me and never stopped until her mom picked her up at 5. We ventured over to the golden arches to get a happy meal and it sure was. We also deposited some money which was also a happy moment. Then home to visit Lois and Ray, they were sleeping, peel an apple, find saltine crackers, play a special educational video game. When we first arrived we opened the envelope from Kim which contained the Little Friend, a children's magazine from church. While she colored a picture for her mom she had me read every story. The theme was on patience and it was a great teaching moment. What fun! She let me work only to ask if I could build a fire. So while I started a little fire she commented that she did not know how to build a fire. I thought, well that is probably a good thing, 5 is a little young to learn how to build a fire. I told her her dad would teach her when she grew older. All afternoon the wind has been really buffeting the house and the lake has whitecaps. I had a chance to explain what white caps were to Keanna. I believe in teaching her everything like that I can, expanding her knowledge and vocabulary.
After Nikki came to visit, I swear that lady is a ghost, she just appears in the house, I never hear her open a door or move about! After she left Ray and Lois tempted me with a promise of pizza from a local place and it was great. I've been very good today working long hours without moving and getting quite a bit done in the process. Ray located a cushion for my chair and that has helped a lot, not so hard. He says I have worn out the padding in the chair, could be. I've had the chair for years and been riding it for a long time. Today I have played the classical station from San Francisco through my computer and with the Bose speakers the sound is perfect. Great music is so enriching. Right now its a rebroadcast of the San Francisco Symphony playing Ravel, wonderful, wonderful beautiful music, even nicer than the rap I hear coming from cars when I'm in the hood! I know revealing my age here.
I'm so thankful for mail service, I'm not thankful for the lack of checks over the past two weeks. If it were not for the COD payments I get along the way I would be on the street by now.
So in summary Keanna brought great joy and fun to the day. What a nice break to a tough week.
Hoping your day is going well.

love to all,

Tim

A lot is happening

Dear Family and Friends,
Would you believe I'm just in at 10 pm. Mid afternoon I decided I needed to get out and see some properties. So I drove to Concord and saw an interesting place, a sale, little house with 6 bedrooms. Oh my, that will be interesting to appraise. Then to a dear friend who has ordered appraisals for 20 years and learned that her husband is not doing so well, lots of health issues ganging up on him. We had a pretty straight talk about the reality of the situation. Then I left for Livermore. Interesting side story which really centers around having the world's greatest neighbors. They put up with so much from me. When I got back into the car after the second Concord inspection I reached for the Livermore file, it was not there, yep, it was safe back on my desk at the office. So I dialed up LeAnn who was kind enough to come over and wade through my desk, found the file, called with the address and phone number and so I just set the GPS which guided me to the house and the appraisal appointment was saved. Of course the fact that it was COD didn't bother me much either. When I finished I was cold and very hungry. So the GPS or bossy lady as keanna calls it led me to Applebees where tonight I was good and ordered salad instead of fries. The salad was so good and huge and the grilled cheese with tomato slices was good too. Walked out for less than 10 bucks. Then a quick stop in the cold for diesel, 525 miles on 12 gallons and now I'm home. Starr and Lady were so excited to see me come in, I know they are only dogs but its sure nice to be welcomed home again. Now its bed time and I head there knowing there are clean sheets and that I've done a pile of work today.
So my friend how are you? Are you glad to be back at work or glad to be retired or still working and wish you were retired?

Sending love to all,

Tim

Ready or not, here comes a new week!

Dear Family and Friends,
This has been a strange easter day here at the house. Ken and I walked this morning and being with the tax man motivated me I guess. I came home, made a quick breakfast and then waded into getting some tax affairs in order. Not that they are all perfect but they are a whole lot better than when I started. When I had sort of wrapped up the tax papers then I waded into reconciling the business check book. I've let the entries slide for the past two weeks so I was rudely jolted by the final outcomes, mainly I'd better find some quick money like NOW. Yikes I feel like my budget is much like holding gas in a rusty can or drinking from a cracked cup. There are no easy answers and probably the majority of americans are feeling some sort of pinch right now financially.
After the business account was balanced it was time to begin with appraisal work. No more are they quick appraisals to write up, now everything takes longer, much longer it seems but still when the work is completed there is a good feeling of accomplishment.
This evening Lois let me know she had baked banana bread using my dead bananas so I took a break and had a piece. Wow it was very good. And my loaf of bread I baked to day came out better than the last one. I'm still not sure what is different but the loaves are not coming out as full as before.
This was certainly different than the easters of the past when Nan would have a social plan for the weekend which included some fun, visiting, shopping, probably eating and going somewhere. I miss my social planner, she was really something and I sensed it while she was here and I know it now that she is gone. We all miss her, the whole family, this is not my loss, it is our loss and we are doing the best we can to cope. There are times I just feel like happiness is over and then I get to spend an afternoon with the kidos and see them in action, or a quick call from Jason or Nikki or a chance to sit and talk with Jo or Steve and the world comes back into better focus. For those of you who have a genuine mate sitting next to you, take care of that relationship to the best of your ability. You have a very precious gift in each other.
So lets go hit this upcoming week with our best and see if we can enhance some lives in the process. May God guide us to do significant things in His name and for His glory. Happy Easter!

love

tim

Multifaceted day - outstanding!

Dear Family and Friends,

What a special day! It started with Starr and Lady demanding a walk to the park. Then it was time for a quick breakfast. The next stop was back at the park where 5,000 eggs had been hidden and Keanna and Kallie intended to get their share. At 10 am the tape was opened and the girls began their fight with thousands of other children. Keanna had a huge easter egg bucket and was dressed so cute. Kallie was dressed warmly and was all smiles. They both posed nicely with the easter bunny. Steve appeared riding his nice bike and played with the girls. I decided it was time to drive to church but before I did I sliced up a loaf of bread knowing it was potluck today.

Church was packed and I finally managed to find a seat only open because Bob Miller was up running the sound system. Our new pastor Jessica preached today and I found her sermon to be on target, well prepared and nicely delivered. This lady knows what she is doing. I even stayed awake.

Potluck was enjoyable and Michael and Kevin Ahn were there and it was great to hear what they have been doing. What outstanding guys they have turned out to be. Sylvia was everywhere like usual but finally managed to find time to eat. She does a lot to make the worship hour turn out well.

As I was leaving Nikki called to say Steve had taken Keanna with him to Carnegie which is a state operated off road park to ride dirt bikes and atv. Keanna has her won little 50 cc gas bike with trainer wheels. So I headed out there and so did Nikki. We arrived at roughly the same time and spent a great afternoon in the sunny afternoon watching as Keanna learned a lot about riding her motorbike. She is doing very well and by this evening was going fast enough to stop a pappa heart. We had enjoyed our time there.

Now I'm home and I just surrendered my aging banana's to Ray in hopes of banana bread soon.

I've included a couple photos from this morning in the park. All in all its been a great day, full of love, family, friends, good food and worship.

love to all

Tim

Finally its Friday!

Dear Family and Friends,

At long last this week grinds to a close. I'm just back from dinner at Strings with the girls. Kallie is now holding her own bottle when it suits here and playing peek a boo with her blanket or the table napkin and then laughing big time. Keanna is continues with her art work creating more and more elaborate pictures. I've included one tonight for your enjoyment.

This morning there was no walking, just rolled out of bed and into a shower, quick oatmeal and then into the office chair where I've been cranking out work all day. Now that I've had to do a few of the new forms its beginning to be easier and take less time. I will say this, doing the various steps on the form does make one think more about the market conditions surround the appraisal.

The mail was once again a bust today, no funds. However those wanting money were busy requesting it. While I was making bread today i watched our local angler (per Lois) catch a really big one behind my house but then kindly threw it back. Starr and Lady go nuts when a person is fishing so near to our dock.

Its a nice time of year from the perspective that one does not have to have the furnace on at all. Its cool in the morning and warm by evening which should save some money on the PG&E bill which I had to pay this afternoon.

This week there have been several times when in frustration and even anger I finally just had to place things, people, situations in the Lords hands and every time He has helped work it through. How thankful I am that I'm not alone.

Well I hope you have a great weekend and enjoy some special easter time to reflect on the deeper meaning of this time. Our Lord gave everything so we could have the one things that matters in life, hope and salvation.

love

tim

note the curly green hair, that dude is me with Nikki in the middle and Keanna on the other side. Note I have two dogs!

In the rain

Dear Family and Friends,
Today I've enjoyed meeting a family who have 8 children. Not all live at home any longer but there was a whole lot of happy memories in that place. I got to measure the house in the rain but it wasn't bad, comps were nearby and I was back from Lodi before 1 pm. I settled in for the rest of the afternoon to get some work done and I'm relieved to say, I've finished a couple rather challenging ones. Gradually I'm starting to find ways to create this new form that we all love so much. Learning curves for people who are 60 take a bit longer than when you were young but they are possible.
While I worked inside I could hear various degrees of rain falling outside. The dogs have stayed close and kept me good company. George, the yellow cat, has found the bird nest beside the garden window in the kitchen and lays there by the hour watching the nest while the birds are just on the other side of the window. Its amazing to watch.
This evening Nikki let me know that they were going to tumbling so I took a break, you just don't get to see kids all the time, got to enjoy them. Then we had a quick bite but this time my bean and cheese burrito had rice, lettuce, tomatoes and was a lot more tasty and healthy.
Wishing you all a good night,

love

tim
ps Art and Connie are out on the road in their camper tonight and in spite of the rain are having a great time so far. Oh to be retired! Sounds fun.

cranking out the work

Dear Family and Friends,

9:10 and I'm winding down after a day of staying put in the chair writing reports. This job has its good moments but a ton of stress. When lenders are stressed they just pass it down the line. After carefully completing a report yesterday on a home in Alamo I sent the report to the broker who in turn sent it to the lender. The lender sent conditions back, my comps were no good, they wanted comps that were within a mile and in the past 90 days. Well guess what so did I but I did the best I could. So I sat down and ran the computer searching the area. 1 mile, last 90 days, not one sale. So they were asking for the impossible. Who knows how it will come out. Bad thing is, the home is beautiful, well worth what I appraised it for but since the comps did not fit the description in some rule book someplace it had to be challenged or even refused.

All day I've dealt with issues that seem pretty well impossible to manage and they tend to stack up and up.

Lois left for San Jose where she and Ray will attend a Jewish dinner for passover. I encouraged her to attend even though she did not feel all that well. I know she will enjoy herself a lot.

Late this afternoon I had an appointment to see a ranch where the much beloved husband died in January and for estate purposes they need an appraisal. I enjoyed meeting the widow, seeing the place, meeting the dogs and being outside in the air for a change. Then I raced to a second appointment in oakley totally unprepared for what I was to find there. Just the most perfect little ranchette property I've seen in a very long time. From the circular driveway with its two powered security gates to the huge pool and spa, the huge rear yard or the covered patio, the marble entry, the custom kitchen. This was some place. Its so fun to see a place that is so together and so appealing and even in this bad market places like this would sell if marketed. This one was for a refi purpose.

After I left the Oakley area I drove a short distance over to Antioch where I inspected a little tract house. The prior owners loved tile, a very specific kind of tile for it was over the entire floor surfaces of all the rooms, bathrooms, kitchen, bedrooms, this same ugly tile. Oh well taste is up to the owner, we still have some rights, the right to make horrid decorating choices. I've made some winners in my time.

Finally with the sun setting I shot my last comp, my camera was demanding batteries and I drove home. Now I'm going to bed, I need rest, lots of it and money but of course the mailman does not deliver money here anymore. I think there is a filter somewhere that removes all checks from my box. Oh well.

I've included a couple photos that Jo took when we were at their home a weekend ago.

love to all,

tim