Dick Clark’s Malibu Home – Who Knew??

We all know that Dick Clark thought outside the box.  He lead the way for rock and roll, award shows and of course no one brought in the New Year like Dick Clark.  What we didn’t know is his interesting taste in homes.  As a realtor, I see many homes and honestly there are not too many that shock me.  Well, this home is like no other home I’ve ever seen.

Inspired by the Fred Flinstone film I would definitely say this home is one of a kind!  It can be yours for only 3.5 million dollars.  Not too bad for 20 acres in Malibu.  Here are more pictures of the Flinstone abode.

 

Short Sale Options in Florida

Look at your options for short sales in Florida.

Call Wende Landt: 407-579-4864

 

Orlando Gets SunRail

It has been years in the making.  It’s true – Orlando is finally getting a SunRail.

Here is Florida Transportation Secretary Ananth Prasad’s prepared text, announcing that Gov. Rick Scott had signed off on Central Florida’s $1.2-billion commuter rail project:

Good morning, thank you for joining me today.

 As you all know, SunRail is a project that the Department, previous governors, legislatures, local elected officials, and tens of thousands of Floridians have spent years working on to move forward.

 At the federal level, Florida Congressman John Mica chairman of the U.S. House Committee
on Transportation and Infrastructure, has been the most vocal champion of
SunRail and commuter rail in Central Florida for nearly twenty years.  He
has supported this project by securing funding and he has held numerous
hearings and public meetings throughout Florida and in Washington.

Most recently, on Tuesday I spent the day meeting with citizens across Central
Florida and the five major SunRail funding partners to discuss the framework of
the SunRail project.

I laid out the details of the project and I asked them all if there were any new
facts or information about SunRail – since they last voted on the project –
which they felt should have a bearing on the decision of whether or not to
proceed.

This was important because SunRail is a partnership between local, state and federal
governments – along with private sector entities – and it has been years in the
making.

With longtime advocates in Congress and the Florida Legislature, it has been
championed as a much-needed transportation alternative in Central Florida.

The state’s participation in this contractual partnership has been contingent on
local government commitments, federal appropriations, and promises by private
sector companies.

My recent tour of Central Florida provided an opportunity for any of these groups
to explain if they no longer intended to live up to these promises.

They did not, and I have reported this back to Governor Scott.

The partners told me they still support the commuter rail system, and they clearly
understand that the local governments will participate in covering any cost
overruns.

For more information read Bay News 9′s article here.

 

What happened to Hello?

It's Time To Share A Smile

The other day I was walking out of the grocery store.  No children grabbing on me and I was a happy camper.  As I looked around at those walking in I found it quite humurous what people will do to avoid looking into another person’s eyes and saying hello.  Oh, I can’t find my keys.  Look there’s something on the ground that I have to see.  Maybe someone is trying to call me I better grab my phone and check.  Did I forget something (as they look over there shoulders).

What happened to good old fashioned “hello’s”?  When you are able to, catch someone’s glance, and once they realize they’re caught and can’t look away, say hello.  Spread a little cheer.  Bring a smile to your face.

 

No Phone Zone

Remember when you were younger and studying for your spelling test?  Suddenly words on your test were being used all around you.  This is how I’m feeling with Oprah’s No Phone Zone. 

Two days before Oprah aired the moving No Phone Zone episode I had one of those “Aha Moments.”  There I sat at breakfast with my new client, her son and her nephew.  Her nephew’s story moved me so deeply!  Two years ago he and his fiance were driving to pick up his mom to look at wedding things with them.  A man was texting on his phone while driving a semi-truck and crashed into the car of the engaged couple.  She was killed and he, the nephew, was seriously injured.  Let me tell you, it is one thing to hear the story on the news, but entirely different when you are sitting across the table from the survivor!  A piece of legislature called “Heather’s Law” is in honor of Heather, who never got to see her wedding plans come to pass.

Two days later I turn on the Oprah show.  Texting and talking on the phone is like Drunk Driving!  Wow!  So, do you think God is trying to tell me something?  How would I feel if I was responsible for causing an accident injuring one of my children or another person – all because I had to talk on the phone?

I spent the next day ignoring my phone while I drove.  Let me tell you – it wasn’t easy!!!  I didn’t know what to do with myself.  Kept thinking of people I HAD to call.  I was wasting time, I could be calling people back – what I did do is possibly save a life!!!!

Thanks Oprah for bringing this issue to public awareness.  To sign your pledge to make your car a No Phone Zone here is a link to Oprah’s website.  Click here. 

This post is in memory of Heather.  Support Heather’s Law.

 

Healthy Coffee

My children love that I let them drink coffee.  Why do I?  Because it’s healthy coffee (there is also hot chocolate for those of us who don’t drink coffee).  You still get the rush you need from the coffee, but without the jitters.

For our littlest one, we open up the Ganoderma capusles and put half of it in his chocolate milk.  It is amazing the difference in his temperment!  He is calmer, sweet and loving.  When we forget, he is cranky and gets angry quickly.

Click here to order.

Here is some of the technical side of the why it’s healthy coffee:

Ganoderma Lucidum is generally thought to be the most powerful and versatile of all the so-called “therapeutic mushrooms”. The reasons for both its expense and its unique chemical personality lies in the fact that it only grows in the most ideal circumstances in the wild. Of the most challenging issues surrounding both the cost and quality of Reishi Mushrooms and refinements of Ganoderma Lucidum is the cultivation and clinical refinement of its seemingly miraculous properties.

One of the most profound influences Gano Excel has exerted over the globalization and international marketing of organic Ganoderma lucidum has been its perfection of the planting, growing and harvesting of the delicate Ganoderma lucidum mushroom. Not only is the ecology of the Reishi both fragile and unpredictable, it also comes to us with a very narrow window of opportunity. It usually takes about three months for Ganoderma lucidum to grow to full maturity. To capture its maximum potency, it has to be harvested swiftly and processed into forms that will hold that potency intact.

Of over 200 species of the Ganoderma family, six types were found to be the most beneficial. Subsequently, these six species are used to produce all of Gano Excel’s™ Ganoderma products.

 

Save The Paper And Stop Sending Me Yellow Pages

How many of you use the printed yellow pages books that get delivered to our homes?  I remember having to take a book to drivers training with me so I could see over the wheel of the cars they used.  LOL  Well, that’s a good use for a book.

Now I just pull up my internet connection and type what I’m looking for.  I even have the White Pages App on my iPhone.  So to all the telephone companies out there……..Save The Paper!!

If you would like to be removed from the delivery list just call 1-866-732-5977 and tell them you want to “Opt Out” (ext. 10).

 

God Bless Our Soldiers

We often forget the sacrifices our men and women (and their families) in the military are making.  September 11th came and went, moments of silence were observed around our Country. 

Yesterday I was driving on the expressway in Orlando and saw a site that touched my heart.  It was pouring rain.  There had been a single car tipped over, fire truck and police on the site obviously taking care of everything.  Walking away from the scene was a soldier who had stopped to help.  His car parked quite a distance ahead of the scene.  He proudly walked away, in the pouring rain, knowing that he had helped.

How many others saw what happened and kept driving?  What compels some individuals to be so helping, even to the point of risking their own life to save others? 

 True heros!

 

Arnold Palmer is 80 years old today!

Famous professional golfer Arnold Palmer turns 80 years old today!  To add

We Salute You Arnold

to his joy the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and Women celebrates their 20th Anniversary today as well.

Special thanks go out to Winnie Palmer for her contribution of the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies.

This is a family that has shown all of us what it means to give back to the community.  Kudos to the Palmer Family!

 

History Of Labor Day – Not Just A Day Off Of Work?

Holidays are funny things, we don’t often think about how they started.  It’s just another long weekend.  Here you go, a brief history of the 1st Labor Day.  This excerpt comes directly from Wikipedia.

“Labor Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September (September 7 in 2009).

The holiday originated in Canada out of labor disputes (“Nine-Hour Movement”) first in Hamilton, then in Toronto, Canada in the 1870s, which resulted in a Trade Union Act which legalized and protected union activity in 1872 in Canada. The parades held in support of the Nine-Hour Movement and the printers’ strike led to an annual celebration in Canada. In 1882, American labor leader Peter J. McGuire witnessed one of these labor festivals in Toronto. Inspired from Canadian events in Toronto, he returned to New York and organized the first American “labor day” on September 5 of the same year.

The first Labor Day in the United States was celebrated on September 5, 1882 in New York City.^[1] In the aftermath of the deaths of a number of workers at the hands of the US military and US Marshals during the 1894 Pullman Strike, President Grover Cleveland put reconciliation with Labor as a top political priority. Fearing further conflict, legislation making Labor Day a national holiday was rushed through Congress unanimously and signed into law a mere six days after the end of the strike.^[2] Cleveland was also concerned that aligning a US labor holiday with existing international May Day celebrations would stir up negative emotions linked to the Haymarket Affair.^[3] All 50 U.S. states have made Labor Day a state holiday.

1882

The form for the celebration of Labor Day was outlined in the first proposal of the holiday: A street parade to exhibit to the public “the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations,” followed by a festival for the workers and their families. This became the pattern for Labor Day celebrations. Speeches by prominent men and women were introduced later, as more emphasis was placed upon the economic and civil significance of the holiday. Still later, by a resolution of the American Federation of Labor convention of 1909, the Sunday preceding Labor Day was adopted as Labor Sunday and dedicated to the spiritual and educational aspects of the labor movement.

Traditionally, Labor Day is celebrated by most Americans as the symbolic end of the summer. The holiday is often regarded as a day of rest and parades. Speeches or political demonstrations are more low-key than May 1 Labour Day celebrations in most countries, although events held by labor organizations often feature political themes and appearances by candidates for office, especially in election years. Forms of celebration include picnics, barbecues, fireworks displays, water sports, and public art events. Families with school-age children take it as the last chance to travel before the end of summer recess. Similarly, some teenagers and young adults view it as the last weekend for parties before returning to school. However, start dates for schools vary widely, beginning as early as July 24 in urban districts such as Atlanta, Miami, and Los Angeles. In addition, Labor Day marks the beginning of the NFL and college football seasons. The NCAA usually plays their first games the week before Labor Day, with the NFL traditionally playing their first game the Thursday following Labor Day.”

Thanks Wikipedia.