This week I was so busy with my real estate practice here in Silicon Valley that I'm just glad I got in a daily post on my blog, Live in Los Gatos. Most days were long, with multiple appointments. I had a couple of sales, and it was another week without a full day off. 
I tell myself that it's like being a farmer when the crops are good: count your blessings, don't grumble, reap the harvest while you can.
But today I only worked a half day and the rest was off. With my free time I went to our local park to see baby Great Blue Herons and to take a whole lot of photos - 54 in all! Of course I blogged about that today (see link above.) And later, I even took a nap in the afternoon. Tomorrow is a no-work day - it will be a welcome change of pace.
So in terms of my blog, the main progress was that I kept posting despite a lack of time and sleep. I believe it is better to be consistent than to be perfect.
Once again I fiddled with the formatting. I want to add a blogroll but have too many links already. Today I spent an hour trying to add a blogroll but made an html mess of things. I may have to ask Fran, my mentor, for help! She already knows I want to do that, along with some other things. 
A couple of weeks ago I shared with everyone here on AR that I was subscribing to Real Estate Shows, which is the fabulous product by Jeff Turner (yes, one of the coaches in this competition). Today I made my second "real estate show", this one about our local parks. It'll be in my Sunday blog but you can have a sneak peak here: Mary Pope-Handy's Photo Tour of Vasona Lake County Park and Oak Meadow Park in Los Gatos, CA.
Otherwise, I did a lot of blog reading and jotted Fran notes on the formatting changes I want. (I'm impatient for it to look perfect. She keeps telling me to just keep writing.) I did my level best to stay "active" in Active Rain.
So it's been reading and writing and reading and writing.
I'm learning a ton.
I'm also learning that there's a lot of conflicing information out there. Sometimes the conflict is between "conventional wisdom" and "your own voice".
I haven't entirely sorted that one out just yet....
Have a wonderful week, one and all.
And don't work too hard!
Winding Down Week 3 with Project Blogger
13 comments • Mary Pope-Handy, ABR, CRS, ePRO, SRES • April 29 2007 01:34AMBlog Coaching with my Mentor, Frances Flynn Thorsen
Yesterday, Fran and I had a long talk by phone and we reviewed our game plan a bit, discussed some upcoming options (formatting and other things - I'm behind on the formatting), and I got some homework to do. Fran was ecstatic about the "Good Press" that I received last Sunday on The Los Gatos Observer and one of my homework assignments was to blog about it on my Live in Los Gatos! site.
I think I must have re-written today's entry - Fran's homework - twenty times. That's about ten more than usual. I didn't want to turn it into a total brag piece, but - she's right, of course - it should be there for my readers to see. At least I hope that's what she was wanting me to do!
To make it fly, I turned it into a "news source" article. In my town, Los Gatos, there are several sources of news, some better than others. And I'm hoping that my blog will make it onto the list of good sources for the locals. That's one of my ultimate goals. The one just behind it, of course, is for people to feel like they know and trust me and want to contact me about their real estate needs. It was very uncomfortable for me to do that post on Live In Los Gatos! Rainers, I'd welcome your feedback. If you were written up nicely, and you wanted to share it with your blog audience, how would you go about doing it?
4 comments • Mary Pope-Handy, ABR, CRS, ePRO, SRES • April 27 2007 07:30PMThank You for the Admin Assistant Day Reminder!!
This morning I logged on to Active Rain and a good soul posted a reminder that today is Administrative Assistant Day and we should say a kind word or do something to acknowledge the folks who help us at the office with our real estate practice.I wish I had bookmarked that blog - but didn't think to do it.
Instead, I went to my office and invited the three gals to lunch. They were free and we did just that. The ladies were very touched that I would think of such a nice thing. I didn't, though - someone here did.
So... I tried doing a blog search on Active Rain but am pulling up stuff from weeks ago, not this morning. I wanted to post a thank you on the blog of the gal who gave me the reminder. There are now 51 million blogs posted today alone and I can't find the one I need.
I hope that whoever did the post will see this and I can thank her personally.
Thank you, thank you. You helped me, but you also helped to brighten the day of three hard working women in my office.
And next time, I'll bookmark the blog!
2 comments • Mary Pope-Handy, ABR, CRS, ePRO, SRES • April 25 2007 04:28PMCreative Solutions
Finish the phrase: "Fighting fire with...." The standard answer, "fire", might seem like an "out of the box" solution, since fire and water are opposites.
But how about something even stranger? Fighting fire with wine! In my Live in Los Gatos blog today, I discuss how that's been done in the hills above Los Gatos and Silicon Valley, and what it can teach us about problem solving today. Please stop by for an interesting twist of history: www.LiveInLosGatos.com.
1 comment • Mary Pope-Handy, ABR, CRS, ePRO, SRES • April 25 2007 12:57PMFinding Blog Topics
Yesterday I got a very nice email from a fellow Rainer asking me how I come up with so many blog topics. I sent him a couple of emails on the subject and thought perhaps others would like to know what I do and chime in too. How do you come up with your topics? I keep a nice, tiny notebook for ideas for my blog, www.LiveInLosGatos.com. When something amuses me, makes me wonder, or gets me enthusiastic, I jot it down. I also read up on local news online quite a bit. I check the events calendar. And I try to mix it up in terms of the general topics.
So one entry might be about something involving Los Gatos history. Another is on something fun to do. Then one on food - everyone likes to eat! I enjoy trying to track down the answers to questions. Over the years, Jim and I have often found ourselves a little annoyed at low-flying helicopters. So I decided to blog about it - though obviously I don't want to go into rant mode. For years, I've collected ghost stories and been amazed at the response I get to that subject. So I throw in a ghost story here and there.
Lately I've been working really, really hard. No time to exercize, meals at weird hours - you know how that is. So I will undoubtedly take a page from my own life and do a blog entry on where to get a good salad in town. And since having a massage is on my mind, I will also do a post on where to get pampered.
And of course, the topic of real estate must be interwoven into all of this. So from time to time, I like to discuss the character (and history) of a neighborhood, real estate housing market information and stats, and so on.
I don't have a shortage of topics since this corner of Silicon Valley is so very interesting. Today's blog entry is about an event this weekend at our enormous county park, Vasona. Great Blue Herons are nesting there and can be seen and photographed. (I know what you are thinking, but it is NOT boring. These birds are just incredible to see in person - very, very large - they almost look "fake".) Normally I take Sundays off but the last couple of weeks have been too busy. It like being a farmer and the harvest is in. I need to work. But now I also need a break. Later this week, I plan to have a day off, to get a massage, and to go see the baby blue herons. I write about the stuff that's on my mind, and my connections to my subjects as possible. That's "my voice".And along with the break, I'm going to make sure I sink into our big, old leather chair and put my feet up and finish the Realty Blogging book by Richard Nacht and Paul Chaney. I've got the topics, now I need to work on the format.
6 comments • Mary Pope-Handy, ABR, CRS, ePRO, SRES • April 24 2007 09:59AMSame as in 1900 - Living History!!
The plague of gardeners everywhere is anything that destroys the garden. In the beautiful Santa Clara Valley (the San Jose area), a major pest in orchards, farms, and flower gardens is the gopher.
Once I watched, in horror, as a lovely and delicate flower I had nurtured and loved shook violently in place - like it was having a personal earthquake or a seizure. It trembled, it wiggled, and suddenly, SWOOSH, it was pulled below ground in an instant. I had run into the voracious gopher, and he had found his "all you can eat buffet".
Los Gatos had its share of trouble with gophers too. They threatened the orchards which were the mainstay of the economy 100+ years ago. 
A solution was created in 1900, right in Los Gatos. Amazingly, it's still being manufactured today - with involvement of the creator's descendants - in the creator's own home.
This is very cool "Living History" and I invite you to learn more by visiting my blog on Los Gatos, California real estate, history, events, and lifestyle:
www.LiveInLosGatos.com.
1 comment • Mary Pope-Handy, ABR, CRS, ePRO, SRES • April 23 2007 09:39AMSome Great Press
I've been writing away as part of Project Blogger and have been adding content daily to my blog, http://www.liveinlosgatos.com/ . A local historian who runs an online newspaper in Los Gatos really appreciated my depth of information and did a very favorable article on me today. He did not mention Project Blogger but I was able to say something about it in a response at the end.
Today's entry, by the way, is a guest post by my husband, Jim. He discovered that a street near ours (the eastern boundary of Los Gatos) is a "meridian" and he got very excited tracing where else that same meridian goes in the state.
http://losgatosobserver.com/los-gatos/Article.php
You just never know where blogging will take you!!
9 comments • Mary Pope-Handy, ABR, CRS, ePRO, SRES • April 22 2007 08:09PMWinding Down Week 2 for Project Blogger
Week two is almost over, and I wanted to check in with everyone on what's been going on at my Live in Los Gatos! blog. There's been some progress.
Writing is something I truly enjoy doing, and my biggest challenge is being brief. (Yes, I have been to the Blarney Stone in County Cork, Ireland, but I did not kiss it. I seem to have inherited enough of that genetically, as my mom's people hailed from that very county.) My posts are still too long, I know, but I am working on the concept of writing concisely. So you will find there were a couple of shorter posts in week 2 than week 1. Still room for improvement....
The formatting of the Los Gatos blog still bothers me - frankly, I think it's ugly - but the header remains on the "to do" list while some other stuff on the formatting realm has been done. This week I two widgets to my blog: Meebo and My Blog Log. (Both by myself, no less.) The template I use is all html on Real Town, so I spent quite a bit of time fussing with these to get them positioned correctly. I am enjoying both of them and would encourage other bloggers to use them too.
On the financial front of the contest, my son, Brian Handy, the 17 year old high tech and video game whiz (who's got a published review of a video game - not that I would ever brag), is now on retainer for $10 a week. Yes, that is cheap. As I mentioned in an earlier post on Live in Los Gatos, Brian is building his own computer and he's borrowed some money from Bank of Dad and Mom to buy parts. He asked me if he could be on retainer for the rest of the contest so he knows that by the end, the debt will be cleared. I'm sure I'm getting the better end of the deal, but hey, I'm not going to turn him down. (Btw the orange ski cap he's sporting in the pic is not a fashion statement - it's to keep the computer components clean.)
Google does not seem to know that "Live in Los Gatos" exists and that is definitely something to fix. Pinging doesn't seem to do any good. I am trying to get some traffic and publicity for my site, thinking that might help. One of our local papers, the Los Gatos Observer, will be doing some sort of piece on the blog in the near future. Can't wait!
Frances Flynn Thorsen is my wonderful mentor for Project Blogger, but she and I did not actually connect much this week. Between business, family and other stuff and some technical challenges (emails going to spam filters, poor cell reception, other problems), it was another week of phone tag. Fran had assured me before we began that this is a marathon and not a sprint. I admit to being a nervous apprentice (not being used to quite the scale of attention this is getting me/my blog), though I am slowly coming out of that. This morning we actually had our first phone conversation in a couple of weeks and she's filled me in on some of the neat strategies she has up her sleeve. I am very, very excited about the ability to improve my blog with Fran's help - and that of Real Town!
Meanwhile, the spring market has fully kicked in here in Silicon Valley. So like the rest of you, I'm also going on listing presentations, meeting new buyers, trying to negotiate sales and contingency removals and all the rest of it. Today I have a listing presentation in the morning (time to get ready!) and an open house of a new listing in the afternoon. Tomorrow it's church in the morning, open house in the afternoon. Monday I'm meeting with new buyers and I suspect will be fielding multiple offers on my one active listing. (Yes, only one listing. Last year agents here sold an average of 4-5 homes and 39% sold NO homes. Our numbers are different than most of the U.S. But then, so are our sales prices. But that's another blog post, and I think I'm not being concise again....)
So, between work, family, blogging, and everything else, I'm pretty swamped. Didn't Mark Twain say that he'd be briefer if he had no time?? Me too. And that is no Blarney!!
8 comments • Mary Pope-Handy, ABR, CRS, ePRO, SRES • April 21 2007 11:00AMCoggshall Mansion, the Haunted Restaurant of Los Gatos
Downtown Los Gatos, Califoria, featurtures many historic buildings with architectural importance and charm.
One of them is an 1891 Victorian home, turned mortuary (in 1917), turned restaurant (1976 to the present).
Would you be surprised to hear that in the past, many have asserted that it's haunted?
My town blog, Live In Los Gatos, offers information and tips on current residential real estate, tidbits of history, current events and issues, scenic spots, local businesses, neighborhood & district information and a series on the town's haunted spots.
Please stop by www.LiveInLosGatos.com and learn about the Coggeshall Mansion's newest use, see two photos I took of it recently plus a tourist's U Tube video done in the last few months.
Then check out some of the other ghosty places on the blog too....Ford's Opera House and the old graveyard site - now covered with shops - too!
(Want more on ghosts? Please visit my page, www.HauntedRealEstate.com for boundless resources on all things related to haunted homes, things to consider when selling them, haunted tours, haunted hotels...you get the idea.)
Real estate, especially historic homes, is definitely not dull.
9 comments • Mary Pope-Handy, ABR, CRS, ePRO, SRES • April 21 2007 09:35AMDarling Cambrian Home, Tree-Lined Street, Los Gatos Border, Room to Expand!
New listing this week - Open House Sat/Sun 1:30 - 4:30, please stop by!
4933 Bel Estos Drive, San Jose (off Carlton/Rosswood)
Offered at $749,950
Located in a lovely pocket of the Cambrian Park area of San Jose, a stone's throw to Los Gatos, this home enjoys the best elementary school in the district, Alta Vista Elementary School! 
Nicely updated with two remodeled bathrooms and 3 spacious bedrooms, it's very pleasant and liveable now but offers the potential for great expansion as the yard is huge!
The ranch-style house enjoys beautiful hardwood floors in the living and dining rooms, hallway and bedrooms and high, open beam ceilings throughtout the main areas of the house too. 
The living room and dining rooms have newer double pane windows, and the living room also has a tastefully refaced fireplace and gorgeous media niche. The two rooms are open to each other and look out on the private front courtyard. 
The kitchen is updated with a lovely skylight, gas stove, and beautiful slate tile floor. It is sunny and bright and features an extra deep counter on one side.
The yards - both front and back - are simply gorgeous. Lushly landscaped with a variety of beautiful plants, shrubs, bushes and trees, it creates a feeling of peace - almost like a "Bed and Breakfast" or a stunning retreat. There is a private courtyard in the front and a secluded patio in the rear as 
well as a deck off the master bedroom. Additionally, the back yard has a large lawn area. So much room, and so much beautiful landscaping - it simply must be seen to be appreciated!
Please stop by the open house this weekend, Sat/Sun 1:30 - 4:30 (April 21 & 22). Meanwhile, you may enjoy also viewing the Virtual Tour of this stunning home: http://tours.tourfactory.com/tours/tour.asp?t=338455.
4 comments • Mary Pope-Handy, ABR, CRS, ePRO, SRES • April 19 2007 12:38PMContent © 2009 'Frequent Contributors'. Design © 2009 ActiveRain Corp.
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