Cyber Minions.net

Maryland Is Beautiful...

The wonderful thing about hanging out with writers who produce Localism posts is the fact that if you read their blogs you kinda know where you want to go and what you want to see when you get there. I had breakfast with Margaret Rome this morning after I checked out of the Hilton and am having lunch with Audrey June Forshey at her office right now. I will be having dinner with the incomparable Lenn Harley tonight. I'll admit to being a wee bit nervous because she's my hero (LOL). I keep hearing, "we're gonna have fun," echoing in my brain. I'm grinning like an idiot in anticipation because we are (LOL). ;-)

I am thrilled to still be here meeting and greeting Rainers.  I have a lot of eye candy to share with you from our sight seeing later on. At some point before I return to New York City I'm going to take you on a tour of Maryland and show you what I've experienced with my friends during our down time. I also promised the kids I'd show them something interesting before I return home. They likes planes, trains, automobiles, boats and birds. Lately Noah has been into trees (LOL).

Stay tuned... I got a lot of eye candy already and am still collecting more so this may take a while... I have a checklist but may have to do a few cross offs (LOL). ;-)

I would like to take time out of my calculated wandering about to thank Audrey June Forshey and Maria Carpenter for being such wonderful hosts to me this afternoon (and allowing me to high-jack their Internet accounts so I can say hello to my Facebook and ActiveRain peeps before I get back on the highway).

I would also like to say a big thank you to Margaret Rome for inviting me to such a lovely business event. She is a thoughtful friend and knows how much my shorties love to feed the birds so she took me to a lovely, quiet spot to enjoy them after breakfast. When I get to Lenn's house I'll show you what I enjoyed most about it. They were surprisingly friendly and walked right up to us.

My kids would have loved it. They are gorgeous... simply gorgeous. :-)

Insanity Is Watching Your Body Parts Turn Gray (LOL)

"Jabon Desodorante Antibacterial" seemed like a harmless phrase. The soap smelled nice. The box says it's from Turkey...

This is what I get for not speaking other languages. The active ingredient is something called Triclocarban. I am assuming that is why my body parts are now turning gray at an alarming rate (LOL).

All I wanted was a friggin' shower after the gym and chatting with my hubby and son's teachers during a call conference.

Now I am a gray chick about to do an open house in 30 minutes. My life is turning into a cartoon. Seriously...

New  road trip rule: do not buy exotic soap from Turkey unless someone you know tried it before you (LOL).

Meet me at 1 PM here: 2716 Spring Hill Road Greenspring Valley - Owings Mills if you want to hang out and see if I start glowing in the dark from this. Warning: this is not Photoshop. I am friggin' turning blue gray over here. I need another shower and a new bar of soap. I can't take pictures with Lenn Harley and Margaret Rome looking like I'm casting for Shaun of the Dead (LOL). ;-)

Life With Wee People: Call Conference

I love the school my kids are going to. The teachers are really cool and they come up with such interesting ways to help their students. Noah got his assessment done today. Hubby was there while I am in Maryland so they call conferenced me in so I can participate. I learned something new and useful today about Noah. We now have a new project to do with the shorties so I am going to start on it now while I am here and when I get back we going to use some of that eye candy I am collecting to help Noah with his social cues and reading.

I'm thinking scrap book, but not quite. I need to get him to comprehend and describe what it is he is seeing and has seen. Mikey and I have to get his visual tendencies shifting into high gear so his reading and comprehension can improve enough so his school and life experience can become an adventure of meaning.

I guess the first rule to is never assume what they do or don't know. Make them tell you. I see more road trips and joy rides in their future. We are going to be making our own work books where they glue their pictures down and label stuff. I may have to film this because trying to get the non-verbals to explain themselves verbally should be very interesting. I may need some mommy advice from the people who have gone before me. Get ready for some quirky Facebook and YouTube embeds of me teaching the shorties how to read with books they will create themselves (LOL).

I am sitting in my hotel room smiling with glee. Orange County Choppers seems like a good place to start. A motorcycle book would be lovely. We can talk about wheels and colors. The Air Space Museum holds a lot of possibilities as well (LOL).

Hilton Pikesville

1726 Reisterstown Road, Pikesville, Maryland, United States 21208

Tel: 1-410-653-1100 Fax: 1-410-415-6232

Live From The Hilton At Pikesville: Realtor Magazine Goes To The Gym With Margaret Rome

I like this place. It's close to everything on my bucket list of things to see and do while in Maryland. It is also an hour from Washington DC so I am going to show you guys the harbor later because I think my kids will get a kick out of seeing it while I eventually make my way to DC for a brief meeting (and joy ride by a few historical sites).

We like the South Street Seaport in Manhattan so how can I not get some shipping eye candy to show off later (LOL). My kids are not just car crazy. They like trains, planes and boats too. This morning was a lovely 40 degrees so I am wandering about in a hoodie and gym clothes until lunch time. We have clear skies and no hint of bad weather in sight so the ActiveRain Open House and Pizza party later should be fun. If you want to blame someone for us having pizza this afternoon you have to blame me for the menu. I am a New Yorker. I like sampling pizza pies when I travel and Margaret Rome (being a sweetie pie of a host) selected a cool pizza spot so I shall be blogging about it before the open (so you guys can find us if you want to come hang out at the ActiveRain Open House and go get a slice later).

Barnes and Nobles and a host of other neat businesses are located in the Woodholme Center. I am a WiFi kinda gal, so I need to know these things when I am wandering the I-95 corridor. When you blog on the fly like I do you are always scoping computer access points. Is it a social media diva thing or digital addiction? I don't know. I can't decide and really don't care as long as I can log in when ever I want to catch up with my friends and family. LifeBridge Health and Fitness has computers you can use so I didn't have to whip out my laptop to see what you guys were doing during my morning workout with Margaret (LOL). Realtor Magazine was on location to capture more digital film and they will be covering the ActiveRain Open House this afternoon. We're cooking up a few more things to do today so if you don't come to the AR open you may miss your opportunity to come out and play. (Am I teasing you? You betcha - LOL).

I love my TomTom but sometimes it has a dumbdumb moment. If not for this sign I would have driven off the complex (LOL).

The walkway fascinated me. Margaret had to explain a storm ripped the green off it's awning hinges (LOL). Here I am thinking, "Wow, I've never seen that before. What a neat design..." I had no idea something was missing (LMAO). I kind of like the way it looks without the green but since I have nothing to compare it to I guess I have to let that notion go. I am a New York Sports Club kinda gal so being here as a guest was a neat treat.

Stating this place is huge is an understatement. I was in machine Heaven. I had to shoot hubby and my gal pal Susana each a text telling them I was having a blast but wish they were here. Sana and I go to the gym with Tamara. Mikey likes to work out in the parks. This place has an indoor three lane track circling the floor so you can run circles around all the work out stations. There's a pool downstairs and lots of other rooms to meet your personal trainer. I got to meet Margaret's. What a nice man. :-)

Gabe and Kate have been doing a marvelous job of collecting footage of a typical day in the hood. Sometimes people forget that Realtors have to get up really early and stay up really late because business takes up our prime time hours. Small business owners are constantly trying to balance work, necessity and play. I love blogging and am always whipping out the camera if I see something I think is interesting. I am so used to being on the backside of the viewer it's a bit strange when you find yourself on the other end with your friends. We have been playing pass the Nikon since I got to Maryland. I have hundreds of shots. I kinda miss having the kids underfoot to help me pick 'em for my blog. As soon as my call conference is done I am going back to work and collecting lots of eye candy. I am looking forward to sharing my day with the wee people.

Stephen, the Minion Blur would have been all over Margaret trying to follow in her footsteps. Shorty is quick on his feet. Dancing in and out of a ladder would have been right up his alley (LOL). Noah would have stuck to gabe like glue. Did I mention his has a digital camera to drool over? ;-)

I always do several miles on the bike as a warm down before I leave the gym. It was nice to discover Margaret Romes ends her workout routine the same way. :-)

Random Maryland Musings

I am waiting to say good morning to my kids. They are not due to be up yet. It's kinda strange not having them here with me. I have to do a call conference at 10 AM for Noah so I figure that would be a good time to order breakfast. By the time the tray shows up I should be off the phone and recovering from what ever it is I am about to do to myself in the guise of working out (LOL). I am getting ready to meet Margaret Rome at the gym. We have some more filming to do with Realtor Magazine so this should be very interesting.

I also e-mailed a couple of ActiveRain peeps I'd like to try and see while I'm wandering around during my business trip. I may actually make it to Washington DC today so if we can tweak our schedules I shall have a lot to blog about. :-)

I really want to collect some cool eye candy for the little minions while scoping something fun for them to do when we all come down together. I'm hoping the natives will point me in the right direction. It's been mad fun so far (LOL). I have no intention of being a bench warmer while I am here although the view from this one was particularly lovely. I shall blog about that later because this bench is located in front of yesterday's open house. Today's open house shall be a unique experience because Lenn Harley et al is coming.

It's moments like these when I really, really love my job. ;-) 

Gotta run. My shorty alarm just went off. Time to call the hubby and spoof on the wee people. Mornings in my apartment are usually an interesting event (LOL). :-)

Realtor Magazine Dinner With Margaret Rome and some of Maryland's Finest Professionals

Was it worth driving 242 miles from New York City to Maryland? Yup. I love the people living in my computer and any business meeting that ensures I get to spend some quality time with them is a priority for my schedule. If not for Margaret Rome I would not have had the pleasure of meeting Helen L. Dellheim, an Associate Broker and Attorney at Law that knocked my socks off. Her wee people are older than my wee people so I am looking forward to picking her brain about teenagers and real estate. We had a blast comparing notes and I have a lot to learn regarding kids and the industry so I bet you wish you were a fly on the wall for our coversation with Margaret Rome's mentor Ann. To say that was a real treat is an understatement of major proportions (LOL). Besides, I may need a Maryland lawyer because I took a virgin blogger hostage and made her write a blog post before I let her go home (LMAO). I'll be high-jacking my newest Club Chaos bay-bay tomorrow to force her to write another blog post. She's helping me with my Russian since I am away from my gal pal Susana so helping her start to write is least I can do. She joined Club Chaos, Whacked and Diary of a Realtor yesterday. The way I see it, if your first post is going to be a diary entry, the least I can do is help make it interesting (LOL).

Yeah, I know, you didn't expect Club Chaos Boot Camp to take hostages, eh? At least my version of writing jail is mad fun (LOL). Will I be telling you more about the other creative writing inmates volunteering for quirky bouts of creative incarceration with Wordy C? You betcha, but first you need to name these professionals who attended a spanking social media event with Realtor Magazine and Margaret Rome (LOL).

Pssst... it wasn't just a crab cake dinner. We were allowed to order anything on the menu as a guest of Margaret Rome. Half of us ate Italian. I had the double crab cake with spaghetti and tea. It was absolutely marvelous. Good company and great food makes me a very happy blogger. The Olive Branch gets a thumb up in my foodie paradise book of nice places to eat. :-)

Don't forget to go say hello to my writing hostage. It's Anna's first blog post and she may need some kindness therapy to get over being a wee bit shy. Don't worry. Dr Stacey will be around to curb my quirky predilections for making people write in the here and now rather than procrastinate. It appears I may suffer from outside office syndrome and my ActiveRain addictions are contagious (LOL). You too will crave blogging if you hang out with me. I dare you to come to the first ActiveRain Open House tomorrow and not blog about it. ;-)

Rumor has it I may be trying to kidnap Ellie McIntire, Margaret Woda and Lenn Harley. Tune in tomorrow for when our next blogging hostage says...

OMG - is she really a Realtor? Who let her out of New York? Be afraid. Be very afraid... She's thinking about working here on the weekends. Seriously... :-P

Realtor Magazine Rocks

Katherine Tarbox with Margaret, Helen, Anna and Ann at an open house in Maryland I attended with my Rainer blogging buddies. I have sooo gotta chat more with Gabe the camera man. He has a spanking digital camera i have to get a shot of. I love tech toys and the film crew has techie stuff that makes me wanna go shopping (LOL).

We're going to out to dinner. Will be blogging live from the Hilton later.

I also will be conducting a few interviews of my own tomorrow. Gotta collect lots of eye candy. :-)

We're having mad fun.

Film at 11 (LOL). ;-)

Life With Wee People: The Autistic Photographs of Noah E Starr

We are always wandering around after school doing something. I like letting the kids play TomTom because you never know when and where they are going to tell you to turn. Stephen likes feeding the birds and squirrels so since the shorties wanted to see the lake (and toss bread) we went to Flushing Meadows Park to hang out by the boat house and splash puddles.

Noah and Stephen had a blast wandering about chasing birds and examining trees. It doesn't matter if there is rain, sleet, snow or hail. My kids are park crazy. They are going to want their five minutes in bad weather and how many other minutes they can get their hands on a good day. This was fun. We stayed out for about an hour and traveled from one side of the lake to the other on the hunt for some eye candy.

Here are Noah's fave shots of their play date. Will be chatting about other adventures later. Enjoy. :-)

Fun is watching Stephen, the Minion Blur, feed the birds. He actually aims at them with great gusto (LMAO). ;-)

Life With Wee People: Black and White

We are all way past our bedtimes over here and having a blast playing in Photoshop. We are supposed to be  packing my bags for the Maryland trip, however, Noah has discovered the black and white option and is content to bleed the color from our photographs like a digital wizard performing magic to amuse his captive brother. 

The shorties have discovered the drop down tables and I am cracking up laughing at their expressions of surprise. We are in the middle of a major digital gigglefest over here. How can I not sneak in a shot with the web-cam? Seriously (LOL).

I promised Noah I would post more of his photographs so we're peeking at his growing collection and will do it after breakfast tomorrow morning if we don't do it tonight. I'll be out the door around 7AM so he has to finish picking his choices of what to share now. The boys will be hanging out with their Dad until I get back from my business trip. Will be blogging live from I-95 during lunch to let you know how my trip is progressing. I promised I'd do four for Sunday and Monday so the wee people and the rest of my bay-bays can keep up.

Noah has been having a blast with both cameras while Stephen has been creating these really demented videos (LOL). Obviously I need to work on Mr. PDD-NOS because Mr. Autistic has an expectation that Stephen, the Minion Blur, shall blossom as Cecil B Demented (his director sidekick). How can I not encourage their mad movie making? It's just too much fun handing Stephen the video camera and watching him spin into a frenzy (LOL).

I know, I know, bad Mommy Blogger - we're supposed to be calming them down not letting them run amok (especially when we all know frenzy is an understatement - LOL). Little Dude talks when he wants to, does sign language and other non-verbal cues. Giving him a camera makes him talk. I like hearing him chatter. I especially enjoy when he tries to make inanimate objects say "cheese."

I should film that (LOL).

Gotta go. Noah wants the laptop back. Seems I'm being sent to my room by my 8 year old who is trying to work  (LOL). ;-)

Life With Wee People: Friends With Cameras

My favorite part of being a writer is sharing something about my day with my kids and readers. Watching them skip off to school, marching off to do wee people chores, engaged in playdates and/or going on road trips makes it all worth while and frequently inspires me to chat about what I experienced or found interesting for the day. When the shorties are not around to get up close and personal with a project I am working on, I always make it my business to snap several pictures so they can see what they missed and help me decide what to blog about.

They like blogging... They love seeing themselves in the mix. They enjoy discovering life and having digital memories that prompt a reminiscent smile regarding a particularly tasty cookie, brilliant bug, fascinating yard or awesome car ride. We frequently joy ride with them playing TomTom after school. Kids will not hesitate to tell their parents where to go if you let them. (Yes, I have a wicked sense of humor but no, do not take that last line two ways - LOL)

Besides me passing along my Nikon fetish to the Little Minions I've also passed along my love for the hunt for eye candy. Noah is totally into his coffee book. I think the project is coming along fabulously and I will be posting more "Autistic Photographs of Noah E Starr" before I go on my next AR Road Trip so you can see what he has been sharing with me.

I hope to get the kid blogging. I am trying to use it as an incentive for him to read. Bloggers share a lot and sometimes if we/they take the right picture it will make you want to experience an event for yourself. Talking about life is fun but showing you what I am talking about is so much better don't you think? I think so. :-)

Bloggers can save you if you get lost while running amok looking for stuff to blog about (LOL).

Margaret Rome and I have been on a few eye candy hunts together and the very the first one was an accident (LMAO).

I was supposed to be going home from North Carolina after having mad fun teaching about being a "Google Whore" and "How To Monetize Your Blog" at Real Estate BarCamp RDU with my ActiveRain Club Chaos bay-bays. Seminars are a hoot. I really like them. I am looking forward to going back and doing it again. Maybe I'll bring the shorties and the Hubby if the dates work out with school (LOL).

I checked out of my hotel like a good little wife, had breakfast, got an invite to have lunch and figured what the hey, might as well stay for dinner because there was still so much to blog about and people to see (LOL). Dinner was so much fun I decided to spend the night in NC and had a lovely sleepover at SarahGray's house. BTW, that event alone is at least four very fun blog posts waiting to happen because we had wildlife drama  but I digress (LMAO).

The point of bringing up NC is the fact that my TomTom failed while I was on the road. I was bent out of shape because there was a lot of highway construction detours and being a cranky New Yorker I was afraid I would get lost and take forever to get home. What did I do? I decided if I was going to be lost I might as well do it my way and started calling blogging buddies and making up AR Road Trips on the fly so I could get back to New York (LOL). Margaret Rome was at a business convention. When she discovered I was about to invade her state she offered me her Garmin, a free convention pass and a spanking dinner. I accepted. We were not together two minutes before we had our cameras out covering the event and each other (LOL).

Friends with cameras do that. They will start laughing about an event and soon invent an eye candy moment out of a flat tire, squirrel attack, lightening strike, snowflake, clogged drain, raging hormones, crazy kids (LOL). Here are a few of my fave shots from the first evening we hung out in Maryland together:

Had my TomTom not failed I would have missed all the fun and a stellar dinner. :-)

Being a good blogging buddy, of course I had to travel back to Maryland to return the Garmin. How could I not? Friends with cameras tend to want to use them. Besides, she has this spanking listing with classic cars so I met the owner and hung out in his garage (LMAO). Yes, I took lots of pictures. I also gave my girlfriend my camera so I could get in on the action. Did I mention me and my kids are car crazy? We are you know. We lurk at car shows. Getting a personal tour by an investor and/or collector is always a sweet treat. :-)

It's moments like this that make my kids run to go to work with me. We have fun with sellers and buyers. We have fun with other Realtors. It isn't just a profession, it's an adventure where you get to connect with people, make new friends, experience life and take a moment to enjoy when people are kind and take a moment out of their busy lives to share something that they love with you. If you only use your blog to troll for business and nit pick about how someone else does something different than you do, maybe you need to figure out why you are blogging instead of trying to tell someone else why they should or shouldn't blog what they do. Just because someone tells you the definition of blog equals business log doesn't mean you actually know what someone else's business plan is (LOL). 

I have visited and will continue to invade states to hang out with my friends with cameras. We frequently mix pleasure with business. We are about to have an ActiveRain Open House in MD. If you had bothered to come to this listing you would have enjoyed the company of the seller, listing broker and visiting broker. We had a lovely time. The seller left us to hang out and conduct business as we saw fit. I played photographer and e-mailed exclusive photographs and info to my New York buyers.

I am about to go to Maryland to do it again at another of Margaret Rome's listings. My boys love farm houses. Too bad Mikey decided to stay in New York to minion sit. Maybe next time... At least they'll have lots of pictures to help me sort through.

The last time I went to MD Stephen selected this tree as a screen saver. Noah went for the car (LOL). :-)