This morning I woke up with a sore throat, a racking cough, sneezes, a funny tummy and the thought that I had to get rid of it all by tomorrow when I take off for Bloggers' Connect in New York.

I cancelled all appointments and crawled under the covers, waking up from time to time to drink a glass of fizzy pomegranate juice.  I just spent the last hour commenting, wrapped up in a shawl.  And I'm about to take two liquid gels that my neighbor promises me will give me a good night's sleep. 

I get to NY around 2 in the afternoon, and I'll probably check in and sleep until the fun starts in the late afternoon.  I've been really looking forward to meeting lots of blog buddies in person, but if you see me, you probably ought to keep your distance!

Ah Choo!

I never get sick!  Why now, God?

OK, you all!  I know that 2008 was a funky year for some of us, and there must have been some wonderful successes out there!

So here's a little reminder to write yours up and submit it to the 2008 Success Contest!  The deadline is 12:00 noon on January 6th - that would be tomorrow!

Go for it!

Willie the hyperactive Labradoodle is my domestic companion and co-host of last night's little gathering at my house.  He was a gracious host, but sometimes a little inappropriate.

Now, I have this rule that I don't mess with clients.  But to Willie, they're just legs!  And last night, he messed with a couple of my clients.

In spite of these couple of little slips in decorum, we had a great time. 

Lots of food, wine, spiced apple cider and witty repartee made for a really fun First Saturday at Pat's, the first in a series. 

There was live chamber music.

And there would have been a little tango demonstration from Blog Buddie Brian Block and TSHW (The Smokin' Hot Wife) except that none of us could figure out how to work the CD player on my boom box. 

Cindy Jones came, too.  But, Cindy, I still owe you lunch for that sale in Fairfax County last year.  The party doesn't count!

I am blessed with really fun clients, friends and neighbors.  A lot of them made it last night, but those who couldn't, there'll be another gathering in February.  It's in my business plan. 

And the cool thing?  They're planning what to cook for the 1st Saturday in February!  How great is that?

Now, last night was work.  Or was it?

It's noon on Saturday.  And tonight, I'm having my little "Hair of the Dog" gathering, expecting friends, colleagues and neighbors (with a whole bunch of overlap)  to show up at about 7:30.  And if this is like other gatherings I've had, about 7:00, the scenario will be sort of like this:

• I'll be dashing through the house, Willie dashing after me, throwing together all the last minute stuff, taking the curlers out of my hair, throwing on eye make up, and feeling generally crazed.
• My cell phone will ring with a guest asking, "What can I bring?"  Yikes!  I don't care!  Bring yourself!  Bring a bottle of wine!  Bring cookies!  Just show up and be charming!
• Then it will ring again with someone asking for directions from Dupont Circle.  Check Google maps, don't call your hostess!
• Then it will ring again with someone asking if it's alright to come if they forgot to RSVP!  Of course!  This is not a sit-down dinner!  Just come already!
• Then it will ring again with someone asking if it's OK to bring their houseguests from Montana.  Yes, again! 
  

Nobody ever told me it was rude to call a hostess just before the party begins, and I'm sure I used to do it all the time.  But no more!

Actually, tonight a friend is coming early to help set up the music stuff.  I think I'll just hand over my cell phone and delegate this one!

So this is the time I start facing my two huge fears:

1. Nobody will come; and
2. I'll run out of food!

Yikes!  Better go out and pick up some more pate!

Any chance I get, I'll drop everything and head for New York on the Vamoose Bus!  And this time, my excuse is Inman Connect 2009, from January 6th through the 9th.

I went last year, learned a lot, met a bunch of blog buddies and decided to go again.

And i was just wondering - I hadn't seen any blog posts here on Active Rain and thought I'd ask - who else might be going?

I was sitting at my Big Mac blogging away when I heard the little musical  "ding" alerting me to a new email - probably a comment from a blog buddy on my latest post.  But no, it was from NAR President Charles McMillan, and it was all about the NAR float that will glide along the Tournament of Roses Parade! 

Now, it does look like a pretty cool float - you can check it out in a series of "webisodes".  Then, after the parade, you can vote for the NAR float (and this link has a great drawing of the thing).

Here in Washington, DC, the home of the NAR, we are not seeing huge numbers of foreclosures.  And area Realtors® are not leaving the business in droves.  Most of our sellers do have equity in their homes, and the wolf is not at the door.  Is it just possible that our trade association isn't aware of what it's like outside of Washington?

Perhaps if I didn't read lots of blog posts from real estate professionals all across the country, I might think that the rosy image of home ownership portrayed by this float is totally appropriate to ringing in the New Year.  But looking at it, I'm feeling a queazy feeling in my abdominal regions that this may not have been one of NAR's better decisions.

I'm assuming that this email went out to all NAR members, and I can only imagine what some of you may be thinking as they read it.  And I can only imagine what many about-to-be foreclosed upon homeowners across the country will be thinking as they watch the parade.

And by the way, any time is a great time to buy a home!

On Tuesday, our office administrative person handed me a printout showing my dollar volume and earnings for 2008, and I gasped when I looked at it! 

I knew it had been a good year, but this was showing that it was a great year!  A totally fabulous year!  Actually, my best in 25-years!  I nailed it!

My income had doubled over 2007, and so had my sales volume!  And this in spite of the fact that I took a lot of time off and spent an inordinate amount of time blogging and playing a highly addictive computer game.

So what made the difference?

For me, it was three things.

First, I have to credit my broker, Donna Evers, who is the queen of out-performing the market.  She provided tools that work and a no-excuses approach to making this screwball market work.  And she created an atmosphere where most of my colleagues were in the same mode I was in, of looking for ways to prosper and sharing whatever we were doing.  When things went wrong, we might share our misfortunes, but in a way that helped all of us learn!  I work in a no-whining zone with fabulous energy, and I think that made a gigantic difference.  I moved to Evers in 2007, and while the move was a little disruptive, it's the smartest thing I've ever done!  So I'd say the right work environment is probably the single most important factor in an agent's success.

Second, thanks to Active Rain's Makeover2Takeover contest, I wound up with a really good and up-to-date database.  As many of you may have figured out, I am not naturally the most organized person in the world.  My house, car, and office are hopelessly cluttered.  But my database is not - at least not now.  Making my list and checking it twice was a crucial cornerstone to success, and without Active Rain, I probably would not have done it.

Third, and also thanks to Makeover2Takeover, I put together a business plan that actually worked - so I actually did a great job of using that shiny new database to make serious money. 

And most of the year, I managed to stay optimistic.  Does that mean I never had moments of extreme panic?  Did I totally avoid the "I'll never sell another house" self-talk? 

Certainly not!  There were a bunch of times that I felt earning a living as a Realtor® was extremely scary! 

So, as we all face 2009, I think it's important to go there with more than "hope"!  Hope is not a business plan and is not going to do it for us all by itself, even if the market completely turns itself around.   The same must be said for "luck" - even the luck of the Irish!

So my wish for all of my blog buddies is a 2009 filled with a wonderful office and broker, a fabulously organized database, and a business plan that works. 

And with that, I'll kiss 2008 goodbye!

One of the really fun things here in Washington is The Capitol Steps, a group of ex-congressional aids whose songs make lots of fun of their former employers.  Listening to the 28 albums they've made over the years is a most amusing history lesson.

By now, most of them have quit their day jobs to entertain at

They make fun of everybody - equal opportunity offenders.  In 2008, they picked on Blagojevich, Bush, Joe the Plumber, Obama, and the whole bunch of the players in the campaign. 

So if you ever become prominent in politics and then do something stupid, you could wind up as fodder on one fo the Capitol Steps future albuns!

If you need a present for someone you really like who is a complete political junkie, you can stop by thier web site and pick up a couple of their albums.

Hey, Sweetie!  That's a hint!