On this Memorial Day, let us not forget those who serve and those who have served to protect our rights and defend our great country. Let us also be thoughtful of the thousands of mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, wives, children and friends who sacrifice so much so that their loved ones can be off defending our liberties.
On this Memorial Day, let us not forget that Freedom is Not Free
"I watched the flag pass by one day.
It fluttered in the breeze.
A young Marine saluted it,
and then he stood at ease.
I looked at him in uniform
So young, so tall, so proud,
He'd stand out in any crowd.
I thought how many men like him
Had fallen through the years.
How many died on foreign soil?
How many mothers' tears?
How many pilots' planes shot down?
How many died at sea?
How many foxholes were soldiers' graves?
No, freedom isn't free.
I heard the sound of TAPS one night,
When everything was still
I listened to the bugler play
And felt a sudden chill.
I wondered just how many times
That TAPS had meant "Amen,"
When a flag had draped a coffin
Of a brother or a friend.
I thought of all the children,
Of the mothers and the wives,
Of fathers, sons and husbands
With interrupted lives.
I thought about a graveyard
At the bottom of the sea
Of unmarked graves in Arlington.
No, freedom isn't free."
---Kelly Strong
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Moving Madness
In the current economic climate, a person may have to make choices he or she never would have dreamed of in the past. That is the case with our home and our decision, against our up bringing, and at risk to our very high credit scores, to let it go back to the bank.
And we are not alone. Our experience in this matter seems to be a more common happening than we are led to believe. Not a day goes by that someone doesn't regale me with their own tales of loss and surrender. I am not sure if is to make me feel better about our choices or to make them feel better about theirs, but I'm guessing a little of both.
But we are fine. We built this house as an investment. We had no intention of staying here long term. Don't get me wrong, we have enjoyed it. We packed a lot of life into the 3 years we where here. It was kind of like living at a resort for three years...even if it was a resort where we were the maid service and the grounds keepers as well as the guests. But now it is worth $600K less that we owed on it and a $1M less than it was appraised for in 2007. It was a financial decision, pure and simple, and was made without much hesitation or debate. Or as they say, "business is business."
We are cool with it. Yes, we really are. I know this may sound strange to some of you but we are actually really excited about moving from a 6300 sq ft lake house to a 1900 sq ft townhouse. Keeping a house up that is this size, just for the two of us, is massively time consuming. And if time is money, it is costing us hundreds of thousands of dollars in potential business. And we have come to discover that the more stuff you have the less time you will have to enjoy it.
I'm not gonna lie to you, there has been some emotion that comes into play, some brief second guessing as to the decision to let our house go back to the bank after we tried and failed to sell it. But that quickly gave way to the reality of how sore our feet, knees and back were after toting box after box, table after table, sofa after sofa from one residence to the next; up and down three sets of stairs here and another there. (Thank goodness for Monavie!!) I wonder if we can put our gym membership on hold until after the move because we are getting PLENTY of cardio in this process.) My second guessing has given way to my sense of self preservation.
There was a moment however, when I actually fought the idea and the whole process of letting go of a lot of our accumulated material possessions...that is until my wife pointed out that resistance was futile and then we had to pack, load, unload and unpack all of the previously mentioned items. I am now a materialistic convert...LESS is the new MORE.
It was at that point that I decided that I have WAY to much useless crap for me to use in the remainder of my life and that I should shower my friends and family with these "gifts". I can just see Christmas 2010, our unsuspecting family members opening the presents from under the tree, and flashing a brief if not confused forced smile and exclaim, "Thanks Marshall, I always wanted used random yard tools, black light bulbs and a dot matrix printer....you shouldn't have...no REALLY you shouldn't have". Or when they look in their stockings only to find "Spuds McKenzie" or "Charlotte Hornets" paraphernalia that I collected God knows when.
I honestly believe that a little madness creeps in as you sort through your belongings and unwittingly and for no reason what so ever, justify why you need to keep the 5 boxes of used Sports Illustrated with the false illusion you will ever find the time to sort through them, and organize them into anything that resembles "organized" and that someone else would ever buy your collection.
I am beginning to feel a little like Gollum, in the Lord of the Rings and his unhealthy desire for "my precious". If anyone sees me squatting down by the lake, snatching up, beating on a rock and tearing into a still live and thrashing fish of some kind, feel free to give me a good shake or smack on the head and get me back to reality, OK?....It's Moving Madness...I'm just saying.
But could I interest you in a box of random "koozies"?
And we are not alone. Our experience in this matter seems to be a more common happening than we are led to believe. Not a day goes by that someone doesn't regale me with their own tales of loss and surrender. I am not sure if is to make me feel better about our choices or to make them feel better about theirs, but I'm guessing a little of both.
But we are fine. We built this house as an investment. We had no intention of staying here long term. Don't get me wrong, we have enjoyed it. We packed a lot of life into the 3 years we where here. It was kind of like living at a resort for three years...even if it was a resort where we were the maid service and the grounds keepers as well as the guests. But now it is worth $600K less that we owed on it and a $1M less than it was appraised for in 2007. It was a financial decision, pure and simple, and was made without much hesitation or debate. Or as they say, "business is business."
We are cool with it. Yes, we really are. I know this may sound strange to some of you but we are actually really excited about moving from a 6300 sq ft lake house to a 1900 sq ft townhouse. Keeping a house up that is this size, just for the two of us, is massively time consuming. And if time is money, it is costing us hundreds of thousands of dollars in potential business. And we have come to discover that the more stuff you have the less time you will have to enjoy it.
I'm not gonna lie to you, there has been some emotion that comes into play, some brief second guessing as to the decision to let our house go back to the bank after we tried and failed to sell it. But that quickly gave way to the reality of how sore our feet, knees and back were after toting box after box, table after table, sofa after sofa from one residence to the next; up and down three sets of stairs here and another there. (Thank goodness for Monavie!!) I wonder if we can put our gym membership on hold until after the move because we are getting PLENTY of cardio in this process.) My second guessing has given way to my sense of self preservation.
There was a moment however, when I actually fought the idea and the whole process of letting go of a lot of our accumulated material possessions...that is until my wife pointed out that resistance was futile and then we had to pack, load, unload and unpack all of the previously mentioned items. I am now a materialistic convert...LESS is the new MORE.
It was at that point that I decided that I have WAY to much useless crap for me to use in the remainder of my life and that I should shower my friends and family with these "gifts". I can just see Christmas 2010, our unsuspecting family members opening the presents from under the tree, and flashing a brief if not confused forced smile and exclaim, "Thanks Marshall, I always wanted used random yard tools, black light bulbs and a dot matrix printer....you shouldn't have...no REALLY you shouldn't have". Or when they look in their stockings only to find "Spuds McKenzie" or "Charlotte Hornets" paraphernalia that I collected God knows when.
I honestly believe that a little madness creeps in as you sort through your belongings and unwittingly and for no reason what so ever, justify why you need to keep the 5 boxes of used Sports Illustrated with the false illusion you will ever find the time to sort through them, and organize them into anything that resembles "organized" and that someone else would ever buy your collection.
I am beginning to feel a little like Gollum, in the Lord of the Rings and his unhealthy desire for "my precious". If anyone sees me squatting down by the lake, snatching up, beating on a rock and tearing into a still live and thrashing fish of some kind, feel free to give me a good shake or smack on the head and get me back to reality, OK?....It's Moving Madness...I'm just saying.
But could I interest you in a box of random "koozies"?
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