What Does Your Eye See...???

Its 92 degrees hot as the family and I sit on the bench perched on the corner waiting our turn for the next taxi.  There are three people sitting in front of us, but only two of them appear to be together.  The spent timeworn woman that sat beside me held two sacks full of groceries between her legs, and another of what appeared to be books and school supplies on her lap.  As the next taxi pulls up to pick up its next two passengers, my friend decides its too hot to wait without water, and the store behind the bench where we sit should have some.  He returned with four sandwich sized plastic bags filled with water and four straws.  My Spanish is not the greatest so I wasn't able to fully comprehend the writing on the bag. I said a prayer as I stabbed my bag with my straw and took a sip. My sip was interrupted by a new taxi pulling in to pick up the exhausted old woman, but the driver insisted that me must have a full car before he will pull away from the curb.  The family and I get passed over for the couple in love, just behind us. They just appeared, but we are too many and will not fit with old woman and her many packages so we are forced to sit and wait. It’s another twenty minutes before we are saved from the heat.

It’s another thirty minutes through the large city in the valley and up the mountain sides long winding dusty roads before we were let out at the rusted 1980’s version of Chevrolet pick up dumped at the fork in the road. Laughing neighborhood children with well worn clothing run to greet us as they chase their soccer ball into the rusted truck. Not a care in the world for those children, oh so it seems. At this moment they appear happy and healthy. It’s another five hundred yards before we come across what appears to be a vibrant garden oasis contained by iron fencing.  Entering the gate, this oasis is hovering over plywood walls suspended over a corrugated metal roof.  It’s the family home.  


It’s interior was neat and clean, warm but sparely furnished. Having both front and rear doors open made it easy to see through the entire home.  A small yellow sofa had lacey placemats draped over its arms to cover up its holes.   An oversized upholstered chair covered in a light blue damask fabric and a pink and yellow floral pillow sat beside the front door.  A makeshift shelving unit made of pressed board and cement blocks held the families only TV, few books, and lots of family photos proudly displayed.  A 1950’s version of a vintage “diner- style” dining table with four matching shiny cream-colored vinyl chairs , sat on the wall opposite the sofa, below an open window.  The table had to be shoved up against the wall to allow traffic by, the room was too small to accommodate four to share a meal at the table at the same time.


Although we had never met, Grandmother greeted me with a warm hug, then reached down my arms to grab my hands and squeezed:


¡Es tal bendición de tenerle en nuestro hogar! ¡Bienvenida!  
(It is such a blessing to have you in our home! Welcome!)


I certainly felt welcomed.  I apologized in advance for not having the best Spanish skills, but was able to thank her properly.  We spent the next couple of hours talking, laughing and trying to understand each other.  As my pocket-sized Spanish-English dictionary made it’s way around the room, from hand to hand, the hillside breeze made its way through each open window and doorway.  During the quiet phases of page turning to gather our thoughts…the music of birds singing and children playing filled the home. The interactions between Grandmother, Mom, Daughter and Son were filled with love, warmth and respect.  It didn’t matter that we were in a third world country and surrounded with poverty.  It didn’t matter that the village only had running water three days out of the week.  No plumbing for a toilet…just a cement stool with a hole in the center that opened up to a deep hole in the hillside.  No washer and dryer. Not even cable TV.  Yet they live happily. They live off the land, grow their own chickens and store their water during the rainy season. They adapt.


They also have one thing that isn’t present in a lot of homes… even in the US.  LOVE!


Many might visit this tiny little village and look down on the poverty that is so prevalent in this third world country.  Truth be told, It may not have been my choice of residences, or even my chosen lifestyle.  But the one thing I did know…I could do this too, and be very happy.  They had everything they needed…and so did I! It’s all in how you see it.  I guess beauty is in the eye’s of the beholder…huh???


Happy 2012 Everyone!

Is This A Trick...???

Being greeted by a handsome smiling face, in a strange country where very few people speak your native tongue, is a wonderful thing.  To know that this same person is going to be your tour guide for the next few days…is priceless.

I am very familiar with this smile.  It’s the friend who so vividly illustrated striking visions of this country, still fresh in my mind.  Without hesitation, he grabs my suitcase, shoulder bag and hand, while shuffling me into the “Welcome Area” crowd, like a linebacker blocking for his receiver.  He manages to break all tackles, through to an opening near a supporting post in the middle of the exit courtyard.  Standing against the post were two more warm smiles, which I am blessed to learn are his mother and youngest sister.  In my finest bad Spanish, I do my best to introduce myself and thank them for making the trip to meet me.  There’s a terrible echo in this loud two story open courtyard, but I think that the two women are happy to meet me as well, but that is only a guess.  Standing side by side at no more than five feet tall, they look like sisters in their early teens and twenties. It’s not long before I learn that I was right about only the sister, who just turned fifteen a month prior.  This mother of four on the other hand, was a youthful forty-four years of age.  I thought I looked great for my age, but she was damn near ridiculous!  As sweet as she was, it was hard to be a hater.

People are pushing and shoving through the exit, while the taxi drivers block the doorways trying to grab customers to fill their vehicles.  We manage to negotiate a fair rate with a driver, who then escorts us to his 1980’s Toyota Corolla, with no inside door panels in the rear, and no stereo in the dash.  Exiting the airport parking lot, we learn that this vehicle also has no air conditioning as we swelter in the 90 degree temperatures. Rolling down the windows didn’t help much, as the breeze I thought we might catch was interrupted but traffic ahead. Looking out the window through the smog coming out of the tailpipes from the other 1980 modeled cars and trucks in front of us, we drive past familiar American companies like Sherwin Williams, KFC, and Burger King. Heavy beads of sweat are pouring down everyone’s foreheads when we finally reach our sketchy downtown location. People are rushing to and fro as vagrants fill the curbs and benches as though they are scouting out their next victims.  There are no cars in this part of Downtown. Wide pedestrian walkways separate the store-fronts on both sides, but they are filled with wrappers, cans and newspapers.  I just remember thinking that this was far from the image I had in my head just a few short moments ago.  As I am instructed to hold on tight to my purse, my friend grabs my suitcase and leads us towards a well -worn 1970’s version of beat up Holiday Inn after paying our driver.  There is a security guard standing at the door that appears to be shooing off what appears to be neighborhood kids sitting on the stairs in front. The lobby looks more like an office building with a security desk than a hotel, but the rooms all have A/C and my friend was able to negotiate a $35 per night rate. I agree to one night, for fear of being offensive to my city tour guides, but am pleased to remember that my reservation at the Marriott in a nicer part of town is waiting for me in the morning!

The rooms are as well worn as it’s exterior, but appears to be clean.  The scent of purple “Fabuloso” hits us as we walk through the entry. Inside the bathroom, white wrinkled towels and washcloths that were hard as bricks, were as neatly folded on the racks, as wrinkled towels can be. The grout on the shower walls was as black and filled with holes as the bathroom floor, but the scent of bleach lets you know that it was there.  Three of the six light bulbs are out on the bathroom, which does its job to hide the cigarette burns on the faux marble countertops.  The beds, though neatly made, did nothing to hide the sink hole in the center of the mattress.  On this day, I am glad I packed my bed bug spray, and carried a bit of bleach.  This room will get a “DJ” wipe down, when we get back.  As we drop my bags, I change into my comfortable walking shoes, and we head down to the lobby to pick up Mom and Sister.  More adventure awaits…

Learning to Sieze the Day...

It’s the official start of Carpe Diem.

I am on a plane, headed to Tegucigalpa, Honduras.  I’ve never been there. Up until recently, I had not even heard of it, much less put it on my travel list.

That’s what makes this trip so significant.  When a friend so spectacularly illustrated the beauty of his country, I knew I had to see it for myself.  My research convinced me that his des

            “GOD has already gone ahead and prepared the path before me.  He’s holding my hand, gently guiding me all the way. Together we will savor the pleasures he’s put before me.”

With this knowledge, I am confident that this was the flight I was supposed to take.  These are in fact the things that I was intended to do. This is part of my life path, and I am so excited about what’s ahead.

Seize the day Ladies! Seize this day and all those that follow!

cription was not only accurate, but the economics made this trip a no-brainer.  I had never been and I wanted to go. That was all the reason I needed.

Just a few months back, there was no way to have contemplated such a trip.  Fully engulfed in projects at work, there was barely enough time to eat lunch, much less take time to daydream about travel of any kind.  Not many weeks later, I wake up without a job due to no fault of my own.

Funny thing about being a positive person, it doesn’t take long to translate a what most would consider a negative into something optimistic.  I had a little money saved.  With no rent, no mortgage, no car note and all credit card balances paid, what I now possessed were opportunities.  I had always wanted to perfect my non-existent Spanish skills.  Now I had the opportunity learn Spanish abroad, or get certified to teach English as a second language.  I adore dabbling in the kitchen with food, wine and beer pairings.  Why not attend cooking school or sommelier training?  Better yet, why not travel to countries with great food, and learn how to authentically prepare the local specialties? Deciding to take advantage of this chance of a lifetime was the easy part. Deciding what to do first was the hard part. Realizing that there may never have another opportunity like this again I knew that I needed to do it all.

With careful planning and a budget in hand, the first part of my quest was underway.  Tegucigalpa still wasn’t on my radar, but it turned out to be a great starting point for what is to come, and the non-stop, round trip ticket I purchased was on sale. I felt it also necessary to express gratitude to the person who gently maneuvered my newly acquired awareness to this part of Central America.

It makes me nervous to think that every decision I’ve made up to this point, has landed me on this plane. Looking back wondering, what would have happened if I had taken a left instead of a right?  What if I went up instead of down? I may not have been on this plane, I easily could be somewhere else.  But it’s my daily devotional (given to me by the mother of a great friend, specifically for this purpose,) that reminds me:

            “GOD has already gone ahead and prepared the path before me.  He’s holding my hand, gently guiding me all the way. Together we will savor the pleasures he’s put before me.”

With this knowledge, I am confident that this was the flight I was supposed to take.  These are in fact the things that I was intended to do. This is part of my life path, and I am so excited about what’s ahead.

Seize the day PEOPLE! Seize this day and all those that follow!

 

Dream the POSSIBLE Dream!

The process of purging physically and emotionally can take its toll. 

Getting my life to fit ever tightly yet neatly, into a five foot by seven foot storage unit was tougher than I ever it could be.  After countless boxes and an inconceivable amount packing tape, I made it though what I hope to be my last time I'll have to pack up my home again.

But the process was a good one.  

After all the stuff is gone and my apartment was cleaned from top to bottom, I stood in the center of my emptied living room.  Giggles from children playing echo through out.  Its feels weird. I have no home.  I have no job.

It's the first time in my life I have ever been in this position.  I've never not had a job, but as scary as it was, it also felt kind of good.  To willingly accept the freedom that was just dropped in my lap took some adjusting.

It was the process of purging that helped me to understand that period in my life is pivotal. I've been given a gift, and it is crucial that I utilize it to the best of my ability. The days of daydreaming while sitting at my desk were over.  The time to bring my dreams to fruition is at hand.  Anything and everything I've ever wanted to do was now possible. There's more time for writing.  No need to wait for the next vacation to plan my next travel adventure. Working on my Spanish with total immersion was now a possibility. Food, wine and cooking classes could now be within reach.  It's time to make my list, and check it twice.  It's time to make my dreams a reality.

And if ever I needed a sign, I received my confirmation in the form my horoscope for the day:

"The vibrations of the day are really very beautiful! They are announcing a phase of stability and when you will be making your projects concrete. You have everything you need to see your professional and sentimental initiatives come to fruition. Think about it before taking them on because they may change your life and involve some commitments in the future."

Amazingly after a fabulous sushi dinner with a girlfriend, there's yet another confirmation in the form of a fortune cookie:

"Change is at hand! No need to worry, you"ll always have everything you need!"

They may be just a horoscope and a fortune cookie... but the it was all that I needed to move forward!

Letting the Sun Set...

So the closing took a lot longer than any one could ever have predicted.  After long hours of preparation to ensure smooth sailing, "D- Day" finally arrived on June 23, 2011.  It was a sad day.

To say good bye to the people who became family during my three year tenure in San Antonio was much more difficult than anyone anticipated.  It was one thing to know that this day would come, but it was another to actually face it. Not being able to have my morning coffee with my team on June 24th, was our new reality.  Change can sometimes be difficult to get used to.

And in the end, the job wasn't as "thank-less" as it had felt in the past.  Looking back on it now, it's easy to assume that countless hours of dedication appear to go unnoticed while working into the wee hours, or coming going in early.  But when the process goes smoothly, the numbers look better than they ever have, and residents, buyers and sellers alike are all happy... It's all the thanks you need.  You've given it your best, and have performed to the top of your abilities, your thanks arrive in the form of gratitude.  And yes, for this experience, I am grateful.

Waking up on June 24th, and not having a job to go to, felt a little weird.  On one hand, I was excited to start my new found freedom, but on the other the anxiety of not having a job for the first time ever was a bit unsettling.  I've held a job since I was 13 years old. I've always had a plan or a direction.  I've never not worked, and I didn't know what to do with this.

Perhaps this is GOD's way of saying that it is time to do a new thing?  One thing I do know... change is inevitable.  It's time to embrace change, while asking GOD to guide my steps and give that discerning ear to hear HIM.  I may not know what's in store...but whatever it is...it's gonna be good!

  

Due Diligence or Do Diligent?

In the world of property management, the process of due diligence can be equated to "a physical exam." with your doctor.  

Much like the process when your doctor must examine under your hood, kick your tire, and check your fluid levels...This is when the prospective buyer  of your community is allowed to examine the inner workings your property.  In the like,  the prospective buyer has been granted access to kick your tires, check your levels and look under your hood...so to speak, of course.  In layman's terms, it is the equivelent of being granted access to your files, your office, your maintenace shop and every apartment home you manage (whether it is occuppied by a resident or not.)  Every expense is questioned...every repair is scrutinized.  Anything and everything can be made open and accessible to your propsective buyer, because it is expected that every effort to make sure that this sale goes through smoothly, is made.

Much like the dreaded dog and pony show, it is expected that every effort will be made to put you best foot forward in the effort to show like a champion and win best in show.


It's Friday afternoon at 2:45pm and I just received an email that we are due to perform Monday morning at 10:am...Better do diligent for due diligence!!!  I've been given 65 hours to ensure things go well. 

Looks like we are all taking one for the team because its going to be an extremely long weekend.  At least my team will get to earn some overtime... those of us on salary aren't so luck, and are just expected to give up our weekend on a moments notice.  Guess I better make some phone calls... Looks like I've gotta pull a rabbit out of my hat.

Did I say this was a "thankless job?"

The Art of the Dog & Pony Show

Showing dogs is a great sport where the thrill of competition is combined with the joy of seeing beautiful dogs. These events, which draw over three million entries annually, include dog shows and tests of instinct and trainability, such as obedience trials, Canine Good Citizen tests, field trials, agility trials, lure coursing, rally, hunting tests, herding trials, tracking tests, coonhound and earthdog events.


In the same fashion, A Horse & Pony show is a judged exhibition of horses and ponies. Many different horse breeds and equestrian disciplines hold competitions worldwide, from local to the international levels. Most shows consist of a series of different performances, called classes, wherein a group of horses with similar training or characteristics compete against one another for awards and, often, prize money.

Similar shows occur within the world of property management.  Various classes of apartment communities complete against each other for the grand prize of new ownership, more investor or a new management company.  It's a thrilling competition of facts and figures.  The results of your previous years agility and performance tests (occupancy, revenue and expenses) are displayed in a marketing package in an effort to attract the eye of potential investors.   It's once the interest is peaked, the actual show begins.

Whether you are lead by leash or ridden by saddle, your trainer (current owners and brokers) briefs you the finest points of your ability and a develop a plan of action for your performance.  The goal... to show that your community has what it takes to win the title of "Best In Show, " and entice your investor to put their money where their mouth is.  Once prepped and the show begins, either by leash or saddle, you prance your way through the maze and over the hurdles of questions that will be thrown at you while you guide your potential investors through your community.  As you perform your tricks weekly, and often daily, your dexterity improves with grace and precision.

Is it enough to achieve the goal of "Best In Show? In the end, there can only be one clear winner.

Here's to Kickin" Some Ass... and may the "Best Investor Win!"