Greetings to you all!

The 4th of July is near, and the heat is on! We will be gathering our family around us as we plan food, pool activity and anticipatory fun. Just returned from the Emerald Isle in North Carolina. It harkened back to the days when our kids were young and we spent our vacation with my wife’s brother, Dave, and his kids, all together at the Hatteras Outer Banks. We were together again but without all our kids. Just Nathan and his brood and Dave with his daughters Kate and Taryn and their kids. We made some great memories with perfect weather, perfect ocean, and perfect company. The guys all had a tasting tour at a local distillery and partook of the wares. Katie was so kind to drop us off and pick us up just in case it was needed. Good stuff and good times. I was able to bring home some fine “award winning” spirits that I can savor for a long while.

My hip is doing well, almost back to “normal” as the ultrasound guided shot proved to be successful in all but eliminating the inflammation and accompanying pain. I am still a little wary of pushing my luck with resuming my “hill” walks, but I am feeling good enough to risk it.

The Market

Seeing a bit of a slowdown in activity as intertest rates approach the 6% range. Buyers with enough cash assets may consider “buying down” the

Rate to maintain affordability. Still, it is a busy time with few properties available and plenty of buyers trying to secure homes, anticipating even higher interest rates and no relief in pricing. It is a little less competitive and writing offers without requiring inspections is becoming less common.

Prince and Princess Report

The Emerald Isle vacation was a great opportunity to do some bonding with our new Princess Lissy (Elisabeth). She was such a delight, and I had many opportunities to hold and cuddle. We have designated monikers for Nathans’s trio: Sissy, Lissy and Kissy. Ben can’t keep away from his beautiful sister and is kissing all over her all the time. She has yet to be offended by this activity and has grown quite use to it.

We were away from Jimmy and Rosie for three weeks as they were in the Dominican Republic before we left for our vacation. We had a sleepover upon our return to make up for lost time. Poor Rosie has been nursing constant congestion for quite a while and upon checking with a specialist discovered tonsils will have to come out. She is scared of course but has been promised the remedy of lots of ice cream.

Home Front News

Grass growing has slowed so mowing has as well. I am running out of excuses to get back to the painting of the office windows.

The man cave shelves are done and filled with most of the movie collection.

Thanks to Nathan, the cave is adorned with synchronized back and side lighting that changes to match the TV picture. It has the effect of immersing you in the video experience. The kids love it.
It doesn’t stop there. I have installed seat shakers that blu tooth connect to my subwoofer to “shake” the theater seats to the any bass sounds 200 Hz or less that are generated. Pretty cool. Leo and I will be watching the first two Guardians of the Galaxy movies in anticipation of the release of Number 3, scheduled sometime in July. The shakers will add a cool dimension to the viewing experience.

Yes, I am a geek, way too late for me to change my ways!

I can live with the derision. Until Next time,