01/03/07     

I want you to know that I absolutely love Christmas and the holiday season.  However, this year it was more chaotic than ever and I thought I would share some of my life lessons with you, especially as we all prepare for the New Year.   Just to show you how far behind I was on all the Christmas preparations, here’s some of what I wrote in Christmas letter (written on December 18) to mainly my out-of-state relatives.  …”Let me summarize my life for the year.  Well, that was exciting.  It flew by so fast I can’t remember a thing.  That’s part of the problem.  I can’t remember where I put my Christmas cards (that I bought in November).  I forgot to send out my Christmas presents to my out-of-towners and therefore need to pay big money for shipping.  I forgot to tell my parents that the kids’ Christmas program is tomorrow night.  Sadly, my Christmas tree isn’t up yet AND I can’t think of anything else at the moment to complain about.”    The sad fact is that story while it was funny, was very true.  To top it off, Mike and I decided that we should try and get a picture of the kids to send out as well.  While the kids had lots of fun, Mike and I were very frustrated that they weren’t cooperating like we wanted them too.  We finally got our picture (which turned out great) but it wasn’t one of those quality family moments.    I don’t know about you, but I can say that I learned that I need to slow down and not put so much pressure on myself to get everything done.  That’s not an easy task for me since I’m highly motivated to get my task list done.  In fact, I’ve been gearing up for my 2007 Business Agenda and am excited about this year.  While I won’t be able to roll everything out in January, I have reset my goals for February 1, 2007. 

    Watching the trends of the real estate market in 2006,...