Peggy's Ponderings from the lake

Hello everyone! I hope all of you are well and handling this shift in normal well. A couple days ago I wrote a post on Facebook to see how everyone was handling things. I asked my Facebook friends to “describe their last 7 days in one word. Words are powerful! Let’s see what you guys come up with.” I received almost 50 responses, and I don’t know if this is a good representation of our country, but I am happy to say that almost all of the responses were positive or neutral. I divided the words into 3 categories. Positive, Neutral or Negative. Less than 10 were negative! I think this proves that my friends are a relatively positive group of people. They are feeling hopeful and blessed (the top two positive words) compared to the less than 10 who said they are finding today to be challenging or frustrating (the top two negative words). A lot of the words also came from faith. Prayerful, Jesus, and Faith for example. Words that I thought were neutral but o...

I have a feel-good story to share!  I try to find the good in everyone and trust that most people are good at heart. I believe that if I am good to them they will naturally be the same in return. I know, “how naive is that?” Especially now that I have experienced my own scary moments as a female Realtor showing property alone. It’s actually stupid more than naïve but it’s how I roll. Good thing I have Captain Steed to protect me most of the time! In case you didn’t know, I am now working at Keller Williams in Grove (lots of moving, another story for another time). The story of Marcie and Bracklen - an inspiration and proof that most people are good! A couple of weeks ago, there were several of us chatting in the entryway at the office and Marcie Hill, an agent at Keller Williams tells us what happened to her the night before. She was finishing up with clients. It was 5:30 pm when she heard someone enter the front door. Her first concern was why was the d...

Happy Presidents Day!   For those of you who were wondering what I've been up to, here’s the story in a nutshell,  I moved from Lake Homes Realty back to Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Anderson Properties (BHHS). Shortly after that office move, McGraw Realtors purchased the Oklahoma and Arkansas divisions of BHHS Anderson Properties. McGraw is a great company and I would have stayed except we already had a new, exciting plan in place and McGraw isn't in Texas. I noticed my “Mimi” visits to Texas kept getting longer and longer. With lots of encouragement from my family, I just completed the required 180 hours of education to get a Texas Real Estate License! We are NOT moving away from Grove or Grand Lake. Captain Steed isn’t leaving Grove Fire Dept., and I am not leaving Grove, but instead I am adding another state (Texas) to my business with great hopes of being able to offer not just real estate knowledge but also the ability to help clients f...

I spent a lot of time in 2019 with my face in books or on the internet. Reflecting back on the year I feel fortunate for all that I learned. I figured out how to be a neater person by focusing on loving what I have. Taking care of what we have makes us more grateful.  Live the life you have now. Be in the present. Love what’s around you. The wants and wishes will fall into place when it’s time. It’s true. I’ve had clients back out of purchasing homes and others that fought hard to get a home. Everyone has a different situation and like the song says, Sometimes you cant get what you want, you get what you need. If it’s meant to be, it will happen. I think it’s because by loving what we have we stop worrying about what we don’t have and appreciate what we do have more. For example, if I clean the slobber off the sliding door, I shake my head at the grossness but still love our dog, Buddy. I then notice the birds in the cypress trees chasing each ot...

Get up and dance! One of the lessons I learned from being stressed and overwhelmed. Recently my chiropractor and fitness crazy cousin both at separate times explained to me the importance of moving around. It is easy for me to get comfortable in my home office with my head in the computer, going through emails, searching for properties, doing paperwork, etc. I can sit for hours working and writing without realizing how much time has passed by. Some doctors and scientists will tell you sitting at your computer all day is worse than smoking. I have come up with a solution that works well for me. Well, it should work well for me if I stick with it.  I try to get up every hour and stretch or dance. Fortunately, I work mostly from home , but if I am at the office I can close the door to my office so no one sees me.  I turn to my iTunes and dance to my favorite songs. I just get up and dance!  I don’t ever actually do this every hour, but I...

Turkey! Oh turrrrnnkeeeeeey…. By Peggy Kiefer-Steed Beware of Turkey Crossing! Grove’s downtown turkey is back to causing a lot of commotion. He is accused of blocking traffic downtown and attacking cars on Leisure. Witnesses say he gets in the middle of the road and won’t move.  Elusive wild downtown turkey. Photo by Peggy Steed Local authorities are worried he will either cause an accident or be killed. He follows them around sometimes and is attracted to the police and fire horns but the elusive turkey only lets them come about 6 feet from him and off he goes into the shelter of the park. He causes people to be late for work and students to be late for school. Rumors are he tried to attack someone at McDonald's, but I can’t confirm that. I think he just wanted some French fries. What’s wrong with having a downtown mascot? A neighborhood on Telegraph Hill in San Francisco has approximately 200 parrots living in a park they have moved to from South...

4 Affordable Fall DIY Updates You Can Try This Long Weekend  By Peggy Kiefer-Steed Because I am a Realtor that wishes she had more decorating skills, I have signed up for many classes and read everything I can about decorating like color and creating the mood for example. One of the recent blog stories that came my way was 4 Affordable Fall DIY Updates that can be done in a weekend.  Fall weather is here (with some winter thrown in to remind us it's coming) and this is a great time to tackle some home projects before the holiday rush starts. Creating a fresh, modern look to your home can be done with a few simple weekend projects. Here are four DIY projects you can try this fall to spruce up the look of your home. Cucumber Sage by Benjamin Moore 1. Create a Grand Entrance – Your front door is the first thing your guests see when they come by. This weekend give your entrance a fresh look. Add a pop of color to your front door or porch with contemporary ...