I have not blogged since May 22, I have not been able to upload my post!  I contacted AR and they said to try using Firefox as my browser.  So here goes!  I hope this works! Has anyone else had this problem?  Everytime I would write my post, I would try to upload it and it would say, "this page cannot be displayed."  I am hoping this Firefox will solve the problem.  This blog will be short as I am just trying to see if it will work! 06/02/2008

Here is still another picture of old town Searcy Arkansas.  This picture shows a group of happy kids who have won prizes for some contest.  Perhaps selling seeds?  I'm sure that my friend Paula Windsor Thompson, who is the tall girl in the picture, will tell me more in a comment.  She appears to have won a camera and took pictures of Searcy with that camera. Family Shoe Store was a fixture in Searcy for so many years!  It closed just a few years ago and everyone was sorry to lose the traditional family shoe store!  If those kids had saved those prized, they'd be treasures on ebay right now!               05/31/2008

I wrote this blog just a few days ago and now I have the listing on this lovely house located at 105 Christopher in Judsonia.  It is a truly better than new house!  It has 1 1/2 lots with wide side yards large enough to drive to the backyard and store an RV.  Inside it has a split bedroom floor plan and oak cabinetry.  Privacy fenced back yard.  Meticulously maintained.  Only $135,000. Receiving the call to "come and tell me what my house might bring because I'm moving and may want you to sell it" is always a good thing to hear!    WHEN DO YOU WANT ME TO COME, TODAY OR TOMORROW?   That call came this week.  The house was bought new about 3 years ago.  There were several children involved and would live there.  I had not been in the house since the purchase.  We always wonder what we'll ... 05/30/2008

  While looking at old photos of our Searcy AR White County town, I was loaned this wonderful photo as well as the ones yesterday of our old Safeway store that was in the middle of downtown.  A friend has given me permission to post it. It shows part of the court house sqare and the memorial that stands on the SW corner.  It also shows the Safeway store but it is an easier-to-recognize location in this picture.  The old Security Bank building shown here is under renovation right now.  I hope it will end up looking like this photo again. Thanks again to Paula Windsor Thompson for the loan of the picture.  Her dad was the Safeway manager. 05/29/2008

      Today we have wonderful photos loaned to me by the daughter of the first manager of Safeway in Searcy AR.  It was on one of the main streets of Searcy, right in the middle of downtown.  It's hard for us to imagine now that people went DOWNTOWN to shop for groceries.  Horrors!  Where'd they park?  How'd they push the carts to their car to load the groceries?  She has also included a picture of the inside of the store!  Not a vast selection of groceries, was there? And the most interesting thing of all could be the street showing in front of the stores.  Brick!  It looks like it would be the old original brick pavers that was later covered with asphalt.  The city thinks they might be able to get the asphalt off but sounds like a terribly hard job to me.  Thank you Paula Windsor Thom... 05/28/2008

I have watched American Idol all season and I have been totally amazed at the talent!  There were several performers who were voted off that I thought should have stayed.  One, being Michael Johns, who I thought was a terrific singer. The two Davids are very talented, but I was pulling for David Cook!  I thought he had more self assurance and was a better performer.  David Archuletta is a great singer, he can sing anything.  But, he is very shy, and a little too young.  I was thrilled that Simon made a public apology to David Cook!  The final night he was a little hard on David Cook.  An apology from Simon is  priceless! I think this season of American Idol was the best yet!  There were so many talented singers, I think any of the top ten will do well in show business.                  ... 05/22/2008

        Look what I've found this time.  This is a postcard of Morning Sun, Searcy AR.  It is a newspaper copy and not a great picture but who would have thought there'd be one at all? Morning Sun reminds me of one of our real estate friends who said as a young man he worked at the filling station there for some super salesman.  He was trained to go out and say, "Fill er up?"  Then he'd do the service on the car.  They apparently also had a snack bar.  He was to make a milk shake and he'd say, "One egg or two?"  Notice no option for NO eggs.  It was a sales trick and very successful. Morning Sun was actually just a corner and is still just a corner BUT the corner is now surrounded by the gas exploration going on in our area.  Land that used to be considered mosquito infested is now sell... 05/22/2008

      Thanks to a friend of mine for giving me permission to put these football beauties on my blog.  These ladies were football royalty at Searcy High School in 1953.  All were lovely.  The thing that intriques me in these old pictures is how styles change but the young people don't really change. They want to look alike. Note how the girls are all dressed the same just as the kids do today.  Only one girl has on a scarf  while the others have the oh-so-popular strings of pearls around the sweater neck. Scarves were popular too but those pearls were the "cat's pajamas." Someone once said that fads are actually started by the kids who have no money and are forced to look a certain way in their dress.  This could be true when you examine the worn-out-jeans look that is stylish now.  Did ... 05/21/2008

ARE YOU ON TIME FOR YOUR APPOINTMENT?  Keeping clients waiting is not a good thing!  Being on time shows that you think your clients are important. DO YOU DRESS LIKE A PROFESSIONAL?  Being neat about your appearance says alot  about you!  Don't show property in tank tops and short shorts!  Yes, some do!  If you are going to list a farm, don't wear spike heels, you won't get the listing!  Farmers want someone who can walk the land in comfortable shoes or boots!  I got a listing once, because the previous agent showed up in a dress and heels. IS THE INSIDE OF YOUR CAR CLEAN?  Do your clients have a place to sit?  Is your car full of clutter?  Make your clients comfortable during the showing process, it will pay off! IS YOUR PERFUME STRONG?  Some people are allergic to perfume, is your per... 05/20/2008

  I have a permanent search on ebay for certain collectibles or memorabilia and one of the searches I have is for Searcy AR, my home town.  The fun thing is ebay will email you any new items for that search.  No looking every night or wondering if you've missed something.  This card is one that I found.  It shows Arch Street before it was paved.  The front says Arch Street.  Searcy Ark. Made in Germany.  W. L. Baugh, Druggist, Wholesale & Retail Searcy Ark. The back has a hand written note to Mrs. Mattie Hurt Eureka Springs Ark.  It was from George and has a postmark of August 25 1912 and a one cent stamp.  It's a true look at the past. My next-office neighbor is Jim Baugh and the store owner was one of his relatives.  He is a wealth of knowledge about this city. 05/15/2008

I don't know about the rest of America, but Arkansas has had some major flooding and storms!  There are several counties, including White, that still have flood water from the March and April rains!  Saturday night we had tornadoes throughout the state!  The wind blew so hard,  and our electricity was out for several hours.  Today, it is looking like rain again!  I have a party barge that I keep docked at Eden Isle  in Heber Springs!  The water is so high that I can't get to my barge.  A friend told me that the corps of engineers said it would probally be the middle of August before the water was down!  I won't be going to the lake this summer!  This has really been a tough year on Arkansans!  We not only have had to deal with rising fuel and food prices, but the weather has been hard o... 05/13/2008

Aging has it's drawbacks!  It seems when you reach 40 your eyesight starts failing!  I have always been farsighted, I could see far away, but not up close!  My eyesight continued to get worse, and,  being a Realtor, that is not a good thing!  To read a contract I wore contact lens, glasses and used a magnifying glass!  It was getting harder and harder to see!  I decided I had to do something! I searched the internet and got the name of a wonderful doctor in Little Rock, Dr. Hampton Roy.  He evaluated my eyes and we discussed intraocular lens, I had never heard of them.  We set a date for the surgery and he inserted the permanent lens in my eyes.  After the surgery I had to wear dark glasses for one day. The next day, I could see perfectly!  It was amazing, I could read small print!  I w... 05/13/2008

    I have a permanent search on ebay for certain collectibles or memorabilia and one of the searches I have is for Searcy AR, my home town.  The fun thing is ebay will email you any new items for that search.  No looking every night or wondering if you've missed something.  This card is another one that I found.  It shows Spring Street looking North. The front says Spring Street, Looking North,  Searcy Ark. Notice the Coke sign on one of the buildings that was evidently a barber shop and a place for baths!  Spring Park is just a block away and had therapeutic waters for baths.  People visited Searcy for the waters, similar to Hot Springs today. I personally like the old vehicles in this one.  It must have been a Saturday when everyone went shopping downtown!  Isn't it a neat look at th... 05/13/2008

  I have a permanent search on ebay for certain collectibles or memorabilia and one of the searches I have is for Searcy AR, my home town.  The fun thing is ebay will email you any new items for that search.  No looking every night or wondering if you've missed something.  This card is one that I found.  It shows Galloway College, Searcy ARK.  This building must have been new because there are almost no trees in the front yard.  It was a huge building.  I love the dog and the gentlement in the front yard.  Galloway College was a women's college.  This, I believe, was the dorm.  It later burned. There's a name, J. A. Kimbrough on the front of the card.  Perhaps he was the photographer.  On the back is is postmarked August 19 1908 and was addredded to Miss Emma Painter, Philadelphia Penn.... 05/12/2008

Fire! Fire! I had cash buyers in my car.  They liked houses in nice quiet established neighborhoods.  I called an agent to show her house.  She had her own house listed and she knew exactly how to make it show well.  We'd had lots of training and knew what we were doing. She rushed home to turn on the lights, pick up and spruce up and make sure the house smelled good.  In order to make sure it smelled good she threw some cookies in the oven to bake and let that wonderful aroma of fresh baked cookies fill the air!  Then she rushed out so she'd be gone during the showing.My buyers and I walked up to the front door and there was smoke coming out around the cracks.  I opened the door very cautiously and there was smoke all over the house!  It smelled awful;  something was burning!!  Is this... 05/09/2008

 This rap tune has been on youtube for several months now and each time I view it I appreciate the work that had to go into it to make it.  These four Harding University students had to walk down the streets of Searcy, climb over railroad cars, write the lyrics, record the lyrics, probably lip-sinc the lyrics as they are out in the middle of a Searcy landmark.Searcy Arkansas is home to Harding University, a highly rated private school that is also my alma mater.  Extremely talented students attend from all over the world.We are now BIG TIME into videos on Activerain so I want to introduce you to S E A R C Y.   The video is full of subtle humor like the one guy losing his pants while rapping.  In the scene at the car wash they say the clothes got mixed up on the characters.   Watch the v... 05/07/2008

Are you ready to put your home on the market?  Here is my  list of the top ten things to do to get your home SOLD! 1. Trim your shrubs, keep your yard mowed, plant flowers, remove clutter from yard, you need curb appeal! 2. Does your home need to be painted?  A gallon of paint can do wonders! 3. Do your repairs BEFORE putting it on the market!  You will get a better price! 4. Does your siding  and exterior of home need cleaned?  A clean exterior can make a difference! 5. Clean the garage, get rid of junk and clutter!  The garage will look larger! 6. Have your carpets professionally cleaned!  They will look and smell cleaner. 7. Clean out closets, it will look like you have more closet space! 8. Check lighting and make sure the bulbs work!  A dark house is NOT inviting! 9. Get rid of smo... 05/06/2008

Sunday night I received word that my wonderful aunt had passed.  Becky was a very loving, caring and beautiful person.  She battled brain cancer for almost a year.   During the time of her illness, her family updated other  family members and friends of her progress through http://caringbridge.orgOur family is scattered throughout the United States, some in Indiana, Florida, California, Arkansas and other states.  We were all updated about Becky's progress, sometimes daily, sometimes weekly.  Each morning I would check my e-mail to see if there was an update.   CaringBridge is  a free  non-profit web service, that helps the family connect with others to share information about a loved one's condition, treatment and recovery.  This is such a big help to the family of the loved one, they ... 05/05/2008

Millicent The Millicent Collinsworth Story.  A Gripping, True-Life Saga of Family Pride and Love, by Millicent Collinsworth and Jan Winebrenner, published in 1993 is about an actress who becomes blind after having been born into a Southern world of privilege.  At one time during her life she returns to Searcy Arkansas and retraces her happy childhood years.  One of the houses she was determined to visit still stands and is pictured in the book.If you like biographies, pick this one up and read it.  Or if you just like old houses, here's one of our Searcy historical houses.  Note the formal garden shrubs that are tended faithfully.  Also note all the power lines and stop signs that modern living has brought to the once-quiet area. 05/05/2008

Our area Realtors get together every week to tour new listings and every so often on that 5th Wednesday that comes around, we have guest speakers or some type of program.  Yesterday we met with area loan officers, appraisers, inspectors, title work companies and a representative from the city to discuss changes in the city codes, loan programs and appraisal issues so that we could better serve the Searcy community.  I want to thank a fellow Realtor, Larry Degroat for putting the program together.  It was very informative.  I hope you have a member in your area that works as hard keeping everyone on the same page..... 05/01/2008