December Madness
Holy cow, haven’t posted in over a month. December is extra nuts at the Williams house. Nathan turned 7 on the 12th. Kate will be 11 on the 20th and I’ll be 48 on the 27th. Then there’s that little thing called Christmas and New Year’s too, and it makes for a blur of activity.
Nate’s birthday goodies were a big hit, and included a set of poker chips. Poker chips? Yes, he and I and sometimes Kate play a lot of Texas Hold ‘em. It is a lot of fun, unpredictable of course and makes the kids think about risk, reward, bluffing and reading people.
He got a dartboard, and is quickly kicking my fanny in Double in, Double Out. After playing with a 3 dollar mini nerf football in WalMart a 100 times, we finally got him one. It’s the small one that looks like an arrow is stuck in it. Much easier for him to throw a spiral with. I had plenty of balsa wood planes as a kid, and got him one with the propeller and rubber band. They still fly great! Available with hundreds of other nicely priced gifts on Main Street in Ephrata at the Fun-Est Toy Store Ever. http://www.thefun-esttoystoreever.com/catalog/index.php
As a surprise we took Nathan, his friend Trent and Kate to go swimming at the New Holland Rec. It’s very nice there, but 5 minutes after getting in the pool they had to get out because the staff discovered someone had pooped in the pool. Doody!!!! They closed the pool for 24 hours. We got a refund and free passes too. Excellent customer service on their part!
Sadly, though predictably, Nathan learned the truth about Santa this year. I think Kate learned in 1st grade too. There’s always some know-it-all brat in school that has to ruin the fantasy. Nathan asked Lori about it one day after school, and she had to tell him the truth. He cried and was pretty upset for a little while. Though by dinner he was over it, and had already figured out the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny were bogus too. Sigh.
For the 2nd year we passed on the Elizabeth Farms Christmas Tree experience. It’s fun, but 80 bucks for a tree is nuts. Norka was short on Fraser fir, so we went to the old standby, Frysville Farms. I think it was 35 bucks for a tree they cut down like 2 months ago…oh well.
Kate is suddenly hooked on Justin Bieber, whoever that is. All she wants for Christmas is a cell phone. We’ll see.
Ephrata Girls U12 Soccer G-Force!
Another season of soccer has come and gone. The “G Force” was 2-5 with a 3rd place finish in the Season ending festival. In a show of team solidarity they all sprayed their hair with purple and gold paint and sparkles, then added some face paint with Gold E’s and their jersey number on their cheeks. Earlier this week we had fun at our last practice by dressing up and being silly.
Ephrata Girls U12 Fall 09Ephrata Girls U12 Funny FaceEphrata U12 Girls Soccer HalloweenEphrata Girls Soccer U12 Wacky Wednesday
Ephrata Girls U12 Halloween Practice
My New Mortgage Home in Ephrata!
I moved across the street…now at 114 E. Main St., Ephrata in the Ray H. Good Business Center with H&R Block.
Where’s Brian Been?
Man oh man, I haven’t posted anything since the Ephrata Fair and that was weeks ago. And it was just Flip clips.
Been oh so busy. Lori too. God bless my Rotary pals. A plea for anyone in need of part-time help turned into a 2nd job for Lori. The hours with Scott Eaby work out great with her hours at Ephrata Hospital and all she does on the homefront.
Nathan succombed to arm-twisting by PawPaw to join Cub Scouts. It meets every Monday night at 7, so long school is in session. A parent is required to be there for each meeting in the first year. Right now I’m racing from Kate’s soccer practice to get there on time.
On the soccer front, Mondays, Wednesdays and Sundays, the “Girl Force” (G-Force) is 2-3. We either get crushed or do the crushing, no nail biters.
Tuesday nights is of course, Rotary. Thank God I’m no longer the President!
But the big picture my friends is the realization a couple months back that it will take longer than expected to carve out a profitable niche in mortgage biz on my own here in Ephrata and Northern Lancaster County. Thus I began seeking additional opportunities. For anyone who has been displaced from their work (or is displeased with their work), you know what a frickin joke it is to find a decent job. Good grief, and Lancaster County’s employment picture is supposed to be better than most in the country!
I must admit, this cock-eyed optimist has sorely needed lasik surgery to correct and balance his vision. Heck, even The Boy Who Cried Wolf and Chicken Little both told me to shut the Fu## up with the ”We’ll be all rights” and “It’ll get betters”. We will be all right and it will get better, but right now the Williams family is like a million others, just trying to get by and survive. We last saved for a rainy day 10 YEARS ago, and you know how much it’s rained in a decade.
This blog is for friends and family and clients and people who stumble upon it. I don’t have “tracking” software to let me know who saw it, so if you did, let me know, and pause to share a thought with a comment. I write this to let the world know I’m challenged, and I’m okay with that. Life is like the disclaimer that comes with investing in a stock or mutual fund, “past performance does not guarantee future success.” Brian
Amish Mass Transit? Bikepooling?
I was out and about going to Open Houses in and around Ephrata on Sunday and I found myself behind this group. It’s like 6 Amish women on some sort of bicycle built for as many. It looks like they could generate a pretty decent amount of speed. Keep in mind, it’s about 2 pm, 90 degrees and super humid, I’m sweatin in shorts and a golf shirt. Maybe the secret to keeping cool is wearing an all cotton apron dress!
Kid Free: Yabba Dabba Doo!!!
I took Kate and Nathan down to Nana & Papa’s in VA Thursday. Taught them how to play darts, and in so doing started to trash the wall the board was hung on…even from 3 feet away they each managed to assault the wall.
Saturday Lori dragged me on a 5 mile walk up and down the streets of Ephrata Saturday morning. I was so tired, I went back to bed after we got home. It was good to rest, as we had a party to go to later. The party was 5 couples and their kids, except ours! As the night wore on we had a battle of the sexes playing charades, using words from Pictionary…For Kids! Hilarity ensued, as several Coors Lights and the thrill of competition will make adults do anything.
Sunday we slept in. Lori went to work as I went to open houses in Ephrata. We skipped our respective diet plans and went to Friendly’s in West Lawn. Then, I’m embarassed to say, we went driving through the twisting turning roads of Wernersville to find the Jon & Kate Gosselin house. We found it! Not a bad little shack. Makes you want to have sextuplets…almost.
Mortgage Re-Cap 8/3 – 8/7
A pretty good week for the nation’s economy as a whole meant bad news for mortgage rates. Existing home sales are up, unemployment is down and Cash For Clunkers jump starting the auto industry are all things pointing to putting the recession in the rear view mirror. I don’t believe it, but it is what it is.
30 year fixed conventional rates are up a quarter from the last week in July. It’ll take a full 3 points to get in the 4’s. No points is looking like upper 5’s. 6.0 seems to be the going rate on government loans.
I think rates will fall back in the next 2 weeks, I’m just not feeling the vibe of economic recovery. We’ll see. For a mortgage in Ephrata and anywhere in Lancaster County, be sure to check in with ol’ Brother Weems at Beacon Mortgage in Ephrata.
Missing Person in Ephrata!!!
IT’S ME!!!
See the post below about my doctor visit. I haven’t been to Mickey D’s in 4 weeks!