Travelling

I was thinking today that it had been a few days since my last post and what was going on that others would want to read about here in Emerald Isle, NC. Well, the summer has started here on the island. It takes longer to get anywhere on Emerald Drive. I have learned that it is smart to go everywhere you need to before you get on the island or it will take twice as long to get there. A good sign is that it takes more than one turn of the traffic light to get down the street to the water spewing from the top of the Watter Boggin, a favorite on a hot summer day. The Waterboggin has been on the island for a very long time. My daughter worked there the summer of her 11th grade year. At that time the owner was going to sell the property and get out of the waterboggin business. Thank goodness he didn't as of yet. The visitors and locals alike love to go and its a fun place for both kids and adults alike on a hot summer day.
Anyway.... it has been a busy week with the occasional birthday party added in! Like I said before we have so many this month that we finished them up today. We leave on Tuesday early morning for our vacation to Hawaii. This has been planned since before my husband and I got married. Actually we were going to get married in Hawaii, but the first time I went to California, I said it was too far so we opted to marry locally. This November we celebrate our 5th anniversary so we are bundling this in with our anniversary. I was looking on the US Airways website for details about baggage and such. Well it seems that the bags we have are too big and probably after we get them packed they will be too heavy. How can you go somewhere for over a week and not take more than 40 lbs with you? The bag weighs like 5 by itself and then the contents can't weigh more than 35? This constitutes an additional expense to the traveller to the tune of $15.00 for the first bag and then an additional $25.00 for the next one and so forth. So,I guess if we took stock in UPS we could just ship our stuff there hoping it will arrive within the time we are there, maybe it would be cheaper than asking those folks at the airport to move it from one plane to another. I have started to pack a carry on and a big pocketbook or bag as my personal item. Remember tho that you cannot put any liquid in it that is more than 4oz and that includes a used tube of toothpaste that may have.05 oz in it. Yes, we had to throw away a tube of toothpaste that had a little in it even tho the tube said 7oz.
Great thing is that we applied for US Airways credit cards so we could get some benefits towards our travel and my husband uses his faithfully for all of his purchases, so he can get his points. We looked to see if we could upgrade to first class and they want you to use 30,000 points for one person one way to upgrade. Be real......
So, thus begins the brunt of my frustration. I will faithfully pack my bags within my limits and weigh it on the scale before I leave. Usually I am dead on the money so I hope that those shorts and tank tops will be light. I will promise not to buy too much for souvenirs before the weight limit changes and that I won't rip the head off of the attendant that is checking me in when she tells me how much more I need to pay. I will be sure to give you an update as to how expensive checking bags will be. On the website it now states that it will cost you more to take a bag on a plane if you don't pay for it on line before you leave. Yes, its true, after 7-9-09 you are to pay for your extra bags on line or they charge you $5.00 more at the airport. Just think about the number of people who will never go to the website and will have to pay that fee at the airport. I thought the oil companies were bad!!!How bout Granny who doesn't even know what a computer is and she is going to visit a family member. Cha Ching..... Granny it now costs you more to go visit if you take a suitcase. Wonder if I could just put a bunch of layers on my body and then once thru the check in, buy a bag in the little airport store and carry it on. Hey, there's a way to get around it!
Enough venting for now, hopefully it will be relaxing in Hawaii and everyone enjoy the Independance Day holiday!!!

June Birthdays

June Birthdays! Its one of those things when everyone and anyone in your life all have a birthday in the same month. It has been one of those months for me. It all started out with Krista my oldest having hers on June 4th, so of course that is in the middle of the week and she came home on the weekend and we celebrated. She is getting older now and doesn't care for cake so we just took her out for her birthday and went to the beach. Luckily for us it was a wonderful and warm weekend so we had a great time. Then on June 11th it was time for one of our grandsons Ben to have his 5th birthday. Again it was during the week so Saturday was the day of choice for the party. It was a pool party with 20 little 5 and 6 yr. olds with a cookout for the adults. A wonderful time.
This week was my oldest son Pete's birthday on the 17th again he didn't want a cake and even didn't want a dinner so it was pretty easy on that day. I think one evening we will go out and celebrate. This coming week is Alex (my son's wife )birthday on the 25th and then Anthony another son's on the 27th! So, maybe this week we will get a chance to eat some cake.
I love birthday's as I have always felt it is the one day you celebrate differently from everyone else. Its not Easter or Christmas its the celebration of your birth and of you!!!
So, ending the month will be my birthday on the 30th. My loving husband is taking me to Hawaii. So I will be celebrating for about a week!!! No better way to handle celebrating your birthday then to be on vacation. What do you think???
Now that I think about it there are about 5 more birthdays we have to celebrate in July too, so maybe this whole birthday thing isn't so bad.
I wanted to do a group party and do it all at once, but with schedules, it didn't work out again this year.
My plan for Christmas is for all of my kids and my husbands kids to take a cruise! Now that would be a blast. There are so many affordable cruises now and the way they have accomodations for kids makes it even better!!!
So, for now I think I am off to buy yet another birthday present, but I don't mind because I love shopping!!!
Maybe I can do a blog one of these days about the deals I find!!!
Stay tuned!!

Busy, doing what?

I realized today that it had been a week since I last posted something so I thought I must write something, even if it is quick.
This has been a busy week..... I am working with some people who are trying to get their loan finalized so we can close the deal. Many of you remember me talking about closings the other week. Well, I can honestly say that most of the reasons we can't get anything closed has nothing to do with the people wanting the loan. It is the people behind the scenes that control the lending and the evaluation process for the consumer.
If you watch the news they say "oh the market is good, there is plenty of money out there at good rates". Heck yeah! There are a lot of good mortgage companies out there wanting to lend money, but they want a first time home buyer to "jump through hoops" to get the money. This particular time its not the mortgage company but the appraiser. Of course, I got the draw of an unknown appraiser that was assigned to do the job. Nobody, and I mean nobody that I know in the business is aware of who this person is or where they came from, but that is not for us to decide. Anyway.... they were asked for more info and just said I gave you all I am going to do.
Well, anyway.... we are working again to get this to the closing table.
Be aware, if you are planning on buying a home in the near future, be sure you have cleaned up your credit. Get the bad stuff off right from the start. Most of all be sure that you have a down payment of at least 10% minimum. Mortgage companies have money to loan but they want you to put some substantial money up front to make it a good deal for all. Remember that you can qualify for an $8000.00 tax credit for first time home buyers. Check with your tax preparer or accountant for more information.
For now I will continue to work for my clients to get this moved to the closing table. Maybe the next time we will get some people on the appraisal side that want to help us out and get the right information the first time so we don't waste an additional month trying to get it done.
Until the next time........

Aaaah Monday!

Just another Monday at the lovely island of Emerald Isle. Most days I don't complain too much about my job but today its been a trying one.
I have a house that is supposed to be closing and we seem to be having another crisis with the mortgage company.
With the rise in foreclosed properties, we have found that the mortgage companies have really tightened up. I thought this was something that was happening to people who may be wanting to get a mortgage that may have a less than normal credit score or someone who has had problems with their repayments. No, that doesn't seem to be so true anymore. It seems that the mortgage underwriters have taken it upon themselves to just ask for everything (including your first born) as proof that you plan on paying for this property.
I have been working for almost 2 weeks to get a loan closed for a great client. This is the first home they have ever bought so I was hoping this would be a fun and enjoyable experience for them. Needless to say, it has been far from easy. The mortgage people keep on asking for more. When I say more I mean more than the normal average person should have to produce to get a mortgage.
Now, I do understand that the current economic crisis has created this situation, but should all good standing American citizens who want to buy a home be punished for those that decided to just quit and walk away? I do think NOT!
So, I continue to search for the needle in the haystack which will provide enough information for these very prudent people called "underwriters" to approve this loan.
Keep your fingers crossed that we get the ok and we can move on. As I wrote earlier in one of my blogs, closing days don't come very often so when they do you want to get it taken care of quickly!
So, remember if you have a desire to purchase a piece of property you need to let me know as I will be the expert in gathering information after this deal closes!
Besides that the weekend at Emerald Isle was simply wonderful. Sunny, warm in the 80's and no rain!!!! Finally...... its supposed to be a beautiful week so book your property now for the weekend. www.bluewatergmac.com.

Business on the Beach

It was a busy weekend here at the beach, I believe it was good for all of the businesses. Because we are primarily a vacation destination for most people the majority of the businesses were glad to see the steady stream of traffic heading onto the island. Started Thursday night, loaded cars, SUV's with kids hanging out the windows and plenty of people in the grocery store. I did pass a funny car kind of like a Honda Accord with surfboards, strollers and coolers all strapped to the top of it. They were going to stay for awhile, the way it looked.
I don't think I have seen that much traffic in a long time around here. I left my house which is about a 5 minute walk to the grocery and Lowes Home Improvement store across the street and I had to weave thru a stand still line. I spent about 15 minutes there and came back and the same people were still sitting there. What a mess!

Memorial Day was beautiful so we put the boat in the water, loaded it up with the grill, a cooler and some food and set off to the islands. Being that we live here year round,locals have little islands that we can go to that the tourists don't, so its kind of a meeting place. Its great because there are kids and other adults to visit with. We had a great time getting out and enjoying the warm sun. I forgot to sunscreen parts of my body so I am dealing with sunburn this week!
Based on the amount of people in the stores and those on the streets tells me that it is going to be a good summer season. Remember to look our company up if you want to come to the area at www.bluewatergmac.com, we can help you out.

We love to share our beautiful location on the Crystal coast, we would enjoy having you come and see us at the beach. We appreciate the business.

Welcome Back!

Its kind of an ironic saying, Welcome back! That has several meanings to me this Memorial Day Weekend. For many its a four day weekend, the one that starts the "summer season", cookouts, getting together with friends and family.

Well for me this Memorial Day has special meaning. As many of you know I have two sons that serve us in the military. Ryan is a Captain in the Army and has been serving in Afghanistan with his group since December. I have been keeping up with him on the internet and the creation of web cams,Yahoo and Skype. I have been able to see him and feel like we are talking in person. He and I are talking right this minute... the great part is that he is on his way back home. After lots of prayers, God has helped arrange it so that he can return home this weekend. They needed someone to come back and take over at the place he worked at Ft. Hood and they asked him to return home early..... This is almost unheard of that you get to return early from a years assignment overseas! So, my Memorial Day will be a bit different this year.
For our family it not only will be a Welcome Home but a thank you to heaven above that he has been kept safe. Thank you to Ryan for his commitment to his country. He has been married over 2 years and the large majority of that he has been serving in a war zone. He has a wonderful wife who has learned to deal with his absence, but holds down the home front until he returns. Thank you to her as well for understanding that he has that commitment.

In addition I also have another son Pete, who is a Captain in the Marine Corps. He too is on active duty here in North Carolina. This weekend he is serving at an airshow representing the Marine Corps instead of being at home with his friends and family. He has spent a good amount of time being away from home and his 5 year old son Sawyer. It is so hard to explain to a little boy that his daddy has to be away in a far away place or on a ship for 6 months. That amount of time is a long time for a little boy!

My other reason for talking about welcoming people is that the beach has finally woken up!! We have lots of folks here visiting us and I say Welcome Back to them as well. We love to have you here for a visit. I decided to go over to the beach this morning to the office and had to go early because after about noon you have to wait in traffic. Well, this morning like many other times I got over and did my errands, and when I got ready to go back the traffic started.

As I approached the top of the high rise bridge over Bogue sound, there was a wreck at the top. Unfortunately this is a common occurrence in the summertime, as people are looking down at the beautiful views and then someone stops suddenly in front of them! Crash!!!! This one was three cars, nobody hurt but since it is single lane the traffic stops so the police and rescue squad can come and do their job. I went out about 2 hours later and the traffic was still sitting because there are just so many people wanting to get to that beach!!!

Our company handles rental properties and our group welcomed 450 families today and probably that many tomorrow as well. We truly do love having all of our extended family and visitors here on Emerald Isle. We welcome you back and hope you will have a wonderful visit here in North Carolina

Welcome Back to Ryan, my son and all of the military that are coming home from deployments. My prayers to all that are not here and to the families of those service members. Remember those who have given their lives for you and I in order for us to be able to enjoy our trips to the beach and all the things we take for granted. When you eat your hamburgers and hot dogs this Memorial Day weekend, say a little prayer of thanks to all of our Troops!!
We salute you the members of the Army, Marines, Coast Guard, Navy and National Guard!

Hello Motha, hello Fatha

Many of you may remember an old song called "Hello Motha, Hello Fatha" that was popular in the late 60's maybe? Well, that was one of those songs I remember really liking and it was about a kid who was writing a letter home to his parents from summer camp. It said it was really bad at camp and something like "they say we'll have some fun if it stops raining!" It came to mind today as I was travelling down the beach from Atlantic Beach to Emerald Isle. It has been raining here for about 5 days now. Today it has gotten sunny and warm in the 70's and people are appearing everywhere. The song continues with something like "wait a minute its stopped raining, kids are swimming, kids are sailing" and goes on to say that they should disregard this letter and that everything is fine at Camp Granada.

Like Camp Granada, Emerald Isle is sunny and warm again. Hopefully the weather will hold for the beginning of the rental season and the summer. Predictions say that we will see temperatures in the high 80's this weekend, so if you haven't planned your trip to the beach do it now!!! No time like the present.

Many activities are going on this weekend such as the Swansboro Rotary Fishing Tournament which starts on Friday evening and runs through the entire weekend. Or if you are really showing your redneck tendencies you can go to Charlotte for the Coca Cola 600 (NASCAR) which will run on Sunday evening. For me, its just hanging in the back yard, planting some flowers, maybe swimming in the pool and then taking the boat out after church for a leisurely ride in Bogue Sound.

Beginning tomorrow we will be overwhelmed with traffic, long lines and beach goers. Years ago when my kids were younger, we would go to the beach on Saturday and Sunday . One of my favorite things was to people watch so we would give a little commentary to the group as we watched people coming to the beach. It would go something like this......"check out dad he hasn't been out of his suit since last summer, you can tell by the farmer tan and the black socks he is wearing with his sandals. Aunt Polly is slathering up the kids with 50+ sunscreen, no chance that anyone will know they have been to the beach with her around!! Oh look, they have stopped at the Walmart to stock up..... Check it out they have the price tags still on the umbrella, and they have been fighting with it to keep it in the sand and not flying through the air, whacking some innocent baby playing on the beach."

The next time you are at the beach take a few minutes to watch some of the other folks coming for the first time this season. Don't get me wrong, we love visitors and can't wait for them to return. Its just fun to make up these little conversations while soaking up the rays.

Lets hope the sun will stay shining for the Memorial Day weekend, and say a prayer for our troops.