Hudson Valley Happenings Blog : March 2010

When I was quite small and learning to walk I was a determined child.  My mother told me that I would repeat "Can Do" over and over when trying to take those first steps.  They called me the "Can Do" girl.  As I look back over my accomplishments in life I see that the times I employed a "Can Do" attitude I always got to my goal.  I think the times I floundered and failed to achieve are those times that I lost that "Can Do" attitude.  

I was a good student in school using that "Can Do" to earn good grades and excel but sometime over the course of high school never managed to focus in on a career path. Well it was the 1970's, after all, and women were having a hard time focusing on exactly what it was we were supposed to be doing.  I did head to college for a year but without my "Can Do" attitude.  I decided to take some time off and here I am 30+ years later without a college degree. I have had many great highlights and brilliant shinning moments during those 30 years in which I decided to accomplish a goal and brought that "Can Do" back to the forefront of my mind.

I think that we all need to remember that no matter where we are in life, we are given moments to make decisions that will send us on a path of successes or keep us pinned down by fear of failure or despair.   My wish for all of you today is that you find your "Can Do" and get it done. Make today that moment of decision.  Choose your goal and you are on the way.  Take that first step and the rest will follow.

 

Rave reviews are in for the annual Pine Bush High School Spring Musical which opened last night.  There are two more performances of "Children of Eden" today and you should not miss it.  Choose the  Saturday matinee at 2:00 PM, or the final performance at 8:00 PM.  Children of Eden tells the age old story of children who disappoint parents and are punished then given a second chance is explored in this musical based loosely on the Book of Genesis. The music and lyrics are by the same composer who did Wicked, Godspell, and Pipin.

The curtain rises on the dawn of creation with Let There Be and it is music and dancing and drama and WOW!  The amazing thing is these kids put this together in a few short months hampered by all the snow and winter mess we had this year and have managed to pull together a wonderful production.  Congratulations on the well deserved standing ovation from last night to all who were involved in the show.

 

I hope you can find the time to come out and support the musical. It is largely self supported and ticket sales from this year will allow next year's production to occur. The students of tomorrow will truly miss out on a wonderful experience without your support.  

Did you know that with a library card from any of the libraries in the Ramapo Catskill Library System you can download audio books, ebooks, music, and videos for free? What an awesome service from the libraries in this area!  

Most of the libraries in Orange, Ulster, Sullivan and Rockland counties of New York belong to this system.

We have recently added smart phones to my family electronic gadgets.  Unlike the famous shoe phone of a certain secret agentman these phones have so many possibilities.  It is now possible to read a book on the phone. 

Nicole has downloaded a required reading book for school and is finding more time to get through it while reading it on the go.  You can also download audio books to listen to on the road.  I will be adding these to my IPod or phone so I can listen while I drive. I spend a lot of time driving around between Real Estate showings and tours, Mom Taxi duties, and just getting things done.  I might as well be learning something or enjoying a good story.

So if you haven't visited your library for a while because you can't find time to get there try browsing on line and downloading something?   

If you are browsing around looking for a new place to live I would love to help.  Give me a call, write an email, send a text, check out my website, or come on down to our Pine Bush office and ask for Paddy Pizappi.  

You are invited to attend a Free Bridal Expo at

Colden Manor at Spruce Lodge
619 ROUTE 17K,
Montgomery NY

Today, March 14, 2010
12:00 PM - 4:00PM

 

Many prizes will be awarded including 3 Free Honeymoons

click here to register or just come

While you are there please stop and visit my booth where I will be promoting using your wedding to help provide the down payment for your first home.  Did you know you could ask your guests for cash presents and put them in a dedicated account to be used as a down payment and or closing costs?  This year there are so many great incentives to buy your first home.  Interest rates are low, inventory is high, and there are several grant programs that you may qualify for.  You may qualify for a savings club programs that can get you as much as $7500 in $4 to $1 matching funds for your savings.  

Hey you have to live somewhere and you will be paying someone's mortgage, it is just a question weather you or the landlord will be gaining the equity.  Stop and visit or give me a call for more information on how to use your wedding gifts to help buy your first home.

If you are looking to buy in the Greater Hudson Valley of New York I would love to be your Buyer's Agent.  If you live anywhere else in the world I can find you a great agent to help you where you want to live.  Good luck to you as you plan your wedding and your future life together.

The Greater Hudson Valley is a great place to live or to have a weekend place.  If you would like to start a search for a permanent residence or vacation home in the area I would love to help you.  Working with an experienced buyer's agent can help you to choose what is best for you.  I work in Orange, Ulster, or Sullivan County NY and I would love to be your Buyer's Agent. If you are looking elsewhere I would love to find someone in your chosen location to help you.  Give me a call  or send an email today.

I have been attending many of the Pine Bush Central School District Board of Education meetings and and budget forums recently in an effort to support the continuation of high quality educational programs for our District.  As I pointed out at the first forum I attended, the reputation of our schools will directly affect each and every one of us in the communities that make up the District. Whether we have children in the system or not our property values and future saleability of our homes and other real estate is influenced by how desirable the schools are to prospective home buyers and businesses who are considering a move to our community.  

As a parent I am hoping that our children will receive the kind of educational opportunities that will excite them and keep them motivated.  I also pointed out that we need to work together to find creative solutions so we can maintain programs and minimize impact on our schools.  It is no secret that I value the Music Programs we offer here and I was very happy to see that the proposed budget kept the Music Programs that might have been eliminated.

That having been said I think that we need to acknowledge that we are in financial crisis and need to get real about it.  I, myself, am trying hard to make a living in a year that so many have lost so much.  I work as an Associate Real Estate Broker here in Pine Bush.  I do not get a regular paycheck, I work on a commission only self employed basis.  On March 10, 2010 received my first commission check of this year for a rental placement of $220.00.  I have paid out over $2500.00 so far this year for the privilege of keeping my Realtor standing , continuing education, and business expenses which, if you do the math, puts me way in the red. Most of the other Real Estate Agents I speak with have similar stories to tell. Many of us have had deal after deal fall due to mortgage and appraisal issues, buyers loss of job, or other problems that home sellers and buyers are facing in this economy. My commissions are my main contribution to my family budget.  I have some steep expenses with one in college and two high school students.  We are trying to do the best we can.

Many of the people in our communities are facing trying times from forces beyond their control.  I am lucky that my husband who works in construction is still working but many of our friends and relatives are not.  Some have been out of work for a year or more now. Retirees who were secure in their investments in stock markets and funds lost so much.  The very homes that they live in whose paid up walls were what they believed to be a secure investment in the future have lost value and now they face a future with less.  Families are losing wage earners as one or both parents take pay cuts or lose jobs all together.  It is reality.  

I applaud the work that the Administration has done to pare down the budget.  I am so pleased that they have found a way to save programing and minimize the tax increase but it is still a tax increase.  I think we still have some work to do to find those creative solutions that will allow us to move forward with great programs and little or no increases.  

I find, as I review the projecting 2010-2011 budget, that the first item on the Increases is contractual pay increases. These are increases across the board to administrators, educators, and support staff. Might I suggest that the unions and individuals who have these hard won contracts agree that they will freeze wages where they are in order to save TWO MILLION Dollars.  I do understand that this affects your family.  I do understand that to accept such a freeze you will be sacrificing a lot.  But we can lower the tax increase even further and save some of the programs and positions that are being considered for cut. These very positions that teachers and staff stood up to defend in prior forums and Board meetings.  Please consider giving a little to save a lot.

I know that this may not make me as popular around the schools but understand that I love our teachers and the school staff.  I am trying to save more of your jobs while asking each of you to give a little bit.  This does not even ask you to take a cut it asks you to not take an increase.  It asks you to think outside the box as you plan for next year and order your supplies and materials.  I hope that you will hear my plea and follow through by offering to forgo increases in favor of the future of our children and this community.    

I urge the Board of Education to take a tough stand in negotiations of all contracts this year, not only in salary and benefit areas but in contracts for goods and services.  Can we do it better and cheaper by changing the way we do things?  YES WE CAN!    

Here I am back in the modern world.  Yes I have been living without electricity at home for the better part of four days and it is soooo nice to turn on a switch and see that amazing little light bulb create illumination.  

I don't even mind so much that I accidentally deleted a whole page of comments from my log this morning, sorry if your's was on the list I really only meant to delete the one from the spammer. I did lose a few points in the process but I will get back on track as soon as I catch up on the house full of laundry and everything else that has been waiting for Ben Franklin's discovery to be restored to me.

Hope you all survived without my posts on things To Do in Orange County this weekend, there wasn't much doing in my part of the county anyway.  Here are some pictures of how were spent the evenings in the living room with the wood stove cranking out heat.  

We weren't totally in the dark.  
The glow you see on my daughters' faces is the light from the cell phones in their hands.

I did save my food from the fridge by burying it in coolers in the two feet of snow in the back yard.  Oh yes fun was had by all this weekend. I will never take electricity and it's importance to our lives for granted again.  Have a great week.