Property Management Blog

Thanksgiving~

I can almost smell the turkey cooking in the oven, pumpkin pies out resting, and the sounds of friends and family members laughing. It is by far one of my favorite Holidays. It isn’t about anything other than FOOTBALL, FOOD and FAMILY. I like that the only thing exchanged are a few choice words at the t.v. while watching football or between siblings because they are fighting over who gets the wishbone.

Thanksgiving started back in 1621 however it didn’t become an annual tradition in the USA until 1863. This feast lasted 3 days between the Native Americans and the Pilgrims. Thanksgiving is held on the 4^th Thursday of November. Thanksgiving is known for setting aside time to give thanks for one’s blessings.

I don’t know about your family but I am a part of a HUGE Family. My father in law is 1 of 9 kids. Some of those kids have kids of their own. Thanksgiving has always been so amazingly fun and entertaining. You have never met a family more loving. I remember my first Thanksgiving with their family and I was greeted with hugs and kisses. It was truly all about giving Thanks and about family. A Grandpa sneaking his grandson cranberry sauce under the table because mom said he needed to eat more meat, an Aunt meeting her niece for the first time, and so so so much love.

Traditions are a big thing in my family. Every year we get together at my sister in law’s house and my mother-in-law teaches her two granddaughter’s how to make Sweet Potato Casserole. I love hearing them laugh as they are crunching up the corn flakes and getting their hands all messy from mashing the sweet potatoes. I am always in charge of taking pictures because I always seem to have a camera in my hands. Plus I love getting to capture those wonderful moments.

And if 2 Thanksgivings aren’t enough welcome to my family and the 3^rd Thanksgiving. My mom is also a part of a big family. All of her brothers and sisters have kids and even some of them have kids. We normally all pitch in and bring some sort of side and one of us normally get stuck baking the Ham and the other the Turkey. Most of my mom’s family live in another state or not so close so when we get together everyone tries to catch up. We also take a LOT of Family pictures. It is amazing how much everyone grows.

One of my favorite memories of Thanksgiving were the conversations I had with my Grandpa. We would sit at the dining room table and we would have very heated discussions about the new and hip things. My grandpa didn’t like change very much. Plus every year my grandma would ask what we wanted for Christmas and he would say that we weren’t getting anything for Christmas because he was taking my Grandma and going someplace warm. However, EVERY year we went to my grandparent’s house for Christmas.

My favorite food on Thanksgiving is the mashed potatoes and corn mixed together. I know you don’t have to wait for Thanksgiving to have them but I just love them. I have really never liked Pumpkin pie or Sweet potato casserole. What is your favorite part of Thanksgiving? What is your favorite Food?

Until Next Time………

I LOVE LOVE LOVE fall. I love the rustic reds, burnt orange, and the smell of bonfires at night. My children spent the weekend raking the leaves in a huge pile in the back yard just so they could jump in it. They did it for hours. They would get the pile big, jump into it until it was flat and then rake it into a big pile again. Brings back memories doesn’t it. It was so beautiful this weekend it almost felt like the beginning of Spring and not Fall. My family had family photos taken on Sunday afternoon at a local park. They turned out beautiful.

Saturday was the perfect day. I spent most of my day out on my motorcycle with my kids and my mother. We went and got my son’s haircut, a few new pairs of jeans, and their Halloween costumes. I must admit that I HATE HATE HATE Halloween. I am not a big fan of Scary Clowns and the kids like to make fun of me for it and try to scare me every chance they get. Also, I am not a fan of scary movies and that is the only thing that seems to come on during the month of October. We spent the afternoon and evening on our back porch playing cards with my brother and sister in law while our kids and the kids I was babysitting were playing a weird form of tag in the backyard.

The biggest thing I love about the fall is it is the start of FOOTBALL SEASON!!!! I know that the season is almost ½ over but there is nothing I like more than watching the Indianapolis Colts play on Sunday. Win or lose I have been a fan of them since as long as I can remember. I think my next blog is going to be about them. They have a lot of history here in Indianapolis and this is their 30^th year here so why not.

Well a few tips for fall clean up.

1)    Clean out your gutters

2)    When raking leaves, rake them around the base of a tree. This helps mulch the tree.

3)    This is the time to start cleaning out your flower beds if you want to plant flowers that will bloom by spring time.

4)    Make sure your downspouts are not clogged when cleaning the gutters

Enjoy time with Family and Friends.

Until Next Time………

Labor Day~

Did you ever wonder what Labor Day was actually about? I did. So I googled it and I found out and it is about ME and YOU and any hard working individual. Here are some important facts about Labor Day for you.

1)      It is celebrated the first Monday of September  

2)      It was originally celebrated on May 4 back in 1886 but they moved it to September in 1887.

3)      It became a Federal Holiday in 1894

4)      It is known to a lot of people as the end of summer and the start of football.

Most families celebrate by having a cookout. Brats, burgers, hotdogs, potato salad, baked beans and lots of other good stuff. Others go camping and enjoy the peacefulness of Mother Nature.

Whichever you prefer I hope that you have a restful week.

Back to School

I can’t think of anyone more excited right now than parents. It is that time again. BACK TO SCHOOL. Do you have all your kids’ pencils, papers, crayons, markers, binders, folders, colored pencils, paints, so on and so forth???? It all seems so overwhelming doesn’t it? Luckily for me I waited, like a lot of parents, until the last minute. We were all scrambling around looking for things and we would hear someone say “Where are the red pens” and someone would kindly point them out. Eventually we were all shopping together calling out what we needed and when we found something the other needed. The hardest thing to find was multicolored highlighters. Which by the way were nowhere near the school supplies.

The night before school….kids are fed, showered, and ready for bed and you crash into your bed waiting for the alarm to sound in just a few short hours. It only like you shut your eyes when the alarm sounds and you are rushing around to make sure they kids are up, dressed, eating breakfast, have all their school stuff, get a couple of pictures, and out the door to make sure that you don’t miss the bus. You wait and wait and wait…….still no bus. Then it goes by and you are like WHAT?????? So you hop in your car and chase the bus down and get your kid off to school only to find out that your kids was at the wrong bus stop. Which isn’t too bad since I had some friends put their kids on the wrong bus that took them to the wrong school OOPs!

Now that your kids are at school you have some kind of relief throughout the day knowing that they are learning but worried and wondering if they are doing okay? If they made any new friends? If they are being bullied? If they are missing you as much as you are missing them? You have waited all summer long to get rid of them just to want to hear from them long enough to know they are okay.

So the night before school I always say a little prayer and I would like to share it with all of you.

Dear Bus Driver, Please make sure that you get plenty of sleep tonight as I am depending on you to take my children to and from school safely. Please protect them as if they were your own. I know that your job is extremely hard and I am very thankful for you.

 Dear Teachers, Please make sure that you remember that my kids are nervous, scared, and excited all rolled into one. I am trusting you to fill my kids’ minds with knowledge and to keep them safe. I am entrusting you with my kids and know that your job is extremely hard and couldn't imagine doing it myself. I very thankful for you.

                To all other drivers, Remember that there are innocent children at the bus stop eagerly waiting for that big yellow bus to come pick them up and carry them to school. There are kids super excited because Mom and Dad said they were finally old enough to ride their bike to school. There are moms/dads on their way to drop their kids off on their first day of school. Please be careful, take your time, and drive safely. Remember to slow down in the school zones and keep your eyes out for children.