For you, Cam

We loved watching you this year.

*I always know which one you are, even from 65 rows up.

Shop on, my friends...

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Why, oh why, would I suggest my daughter buy a house in this market?

Claire is quite the consumer. She shops a lot, (and as a part of her job) reads every magazine, pores over the internet, and knows about practically everything new. Her boyfriend keeps her in the loop technologically, and together they're always on the lookout for the next best thing.

The next best thing last week was a fabulous mid-century house in Phoenix that crossed their path. It's much closer to work and all the functions that Claire attends on a regular basis. It's priced affordably, and is headed toward foreclosure if someone doesn't snatch it up before the end of the year. It fits their style (modern and minimalist) and is a nice step up from their current living arrangement, which is a one-bedroom condo that TJ bought 2 years ago.

But buying a house in this market is a scary proposition. What if the economy continues its downward trend and her magazine has no advertisers? TJ works in the lending industry. Scary stuff.

But the cost of this house is only $200 more per month than they're paying now! And it's absolutely gorgeous!

Here's the kicker. First time homebuyers are given an interest free loan in the form of a tax credit on their home purchase through July 1, 2009. It has to be paid back within 15 years, but if I know Claire, and she'll be moving on before then. Not to mention the benefits if she uses the $7500 to pre-pay the mortgage. She'll make a couple of thousand bucks simply for playing the game!

Here's a link to an article on the $7500 Tax Credit.

And here's the house that I know you'll also want to see.

I'm not pushing anybody to buy a house, and they may well decide that it's not in the cards right now. But they, and others like them, might find this incentive enough to make a home purchase before next summer too good to pass up.

Let me know if you have any questions. I have links to IRS rules, Q&A's, etc.

Last Monday

And today?


















See the wet pavement? The rain has begun, and it looks like it's here to stay.

No pools, palm trees or paradise for me until next March.

VOTE! ! As if any of you weren't going to.....

Another good thing about casting your vote: free coffee!

Are you my friend or family?

If so, feel free to go shop at Sephora and save 20%.

Portland Real Estate Down 7.6%

I love (and by love, I mean don't love) the way the media tries to make the Real Estate market look as bad as it possibly can.

He writes, "In fact, Portland and Seattle now rank at or near the bottom of the top tier cities that fall outside the worst of the worst markets primarily found in Arizona, California, Florida, Nevada."

Oh, so if you throw out all the really bad markets, including four entire states, and then exclude all of the small towns, or towns that aren't "top-tier," which I take to read as large cities, then we are at the bottom of what is left?

And even then, "The cities ahead of Portland are: Dallas (-2.7 percent), Charlotte (-2.8 percent), Boston (-4.7 percent), Denver (-5.1 percent), Cleveland (-6.6 percent) and New York (-6.9 percent). But of those cities, which ones would you want to live in? No offense, Charlotte, Cleveland and Dallas.

So really, it's not as bad as this article makes it sound.

-7.6% is looking like a great investment compared to my stock portfolio!

Don't give up on Portland Real Estate! Thanks to our Urban Growth Boundary, there are only so many houses to go around, and Portland is a hugely desirable place to live. I'm currently working with buyers from Texas, Seattle, Hong Kong and Israel. I'm doing my best to help the numbers!

Our Anniversary Weekend

Norris, Whit and I flew to Phoenix and Claire was waiting for us at the airport. She had gotten us a room at the Valley Ho (complimentary, thanks to her wonderful job)and we just loved it! It's a fabulous, renovated 50's hotel, and it was always swinging! The pool scene was fabulous, and we spent a LOT of time in the groovy bar. (It made me want to sell our house and buy a mid-century house, as it's a style that we both adore)



















Sushi for lunch at RA. Whit loves this place, so it was our first stop!

















Cam & Betsy have arrived - they're staying near campus with the Oregon Band, but we got them for the night! Dinner at TeePee - amazingly good, authentic Mexican food.


















Where is Norris' moustache? He shaved it to surprise the kids! Who was the most surprised by this? Probably me! This day was our 27th anniversary and I had never seen his upper lip in 28 years! None of us are used to it. The verdict is out on his growing it back~


















Betsy and TJ



















The U of O/ASU football game on Saturday night, after dinner with the Adams at In 'n Out. It was super fun! And the Ducks looked great. We won!






















We were only 6 rows from the top of the stadium. But the Ducks crowd was amazing and we basically outcheered the ASU fans! Such a good time!






















After breakfast on Sunday, we stopped in a funky gift shop, where TJ discovered how he'd look with a ponytail.

















Norris and Whit had to leave on Sunday night, but I've got one more night to go before I fly to Palm Springs for the Windermere Symposium. So Claire provided yet another aMAZing hotel room for me - this one at the Royal Palms - where we were greeted with a bottle of Moet and Godiva chocolates... We spent the afternoon at the pool.

















Dinner poolside.

















The men have left for the airport, Cam and Betsy are probably already home (they flew with the Oregon Band) and I'm alone in my ($450!!) free room with wine and cheese, my little laptop, and a big comfy bed!

This was one of the best weekends I can remember. We had such fun with kids, TJ & Betsy, and we really relaxed, had great meals, absolutely perfect weather, and a bit of good shopping!

Happy Anniversary to us!

A beautiful fall day

Just taking the dogs out for a little stroll - Bean in his camo gear, and Boomer in his full length fur.

It's really fall - dark before dinner - and dark when I get up in the morning.

Time to order a cord of wood!

Zzzzzzzzzz

Life has been a little bit dull lately.

Work is odd - there's a lot to do, and I'm out and about doing it for many hours per week, yet there's little in the way of results, at the moment.

I'm reading The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian (author of Midwives) and it's just so-so.

Food is also a big bore, since we're avoiding all sugar and white flour for 6 weeks. Boring!

Partying? Nope. Not for a while.

The Ducks? Had a bye.


The weather? Rain.

The puppy? Doesn't want to go outside in the rain. It's going to be a long winter.

(reminds me of a terrible old joke: Did you hear about the guy who had a dog with no legs? Its name was cigarette. Every morning the guy took him out for a drag.) That'll be my winter.

The light at the end of the tunnel of boredom is our trip to Phoenix this weekend. And my subsequent trip to Palm Springs, which should invigorate my professional life, and give me a chance to relax.

Not that I'm not just about dozing off here as it is.