Queen Terri with Jane McCune, Habitat Honoree     The Iowa Valley Habitat for Humanity will hold its annual competition for Mr. and Ms. Iowa Valley Habitat for Humanity from 6 to 8:30 p.m Tuesday at the Clarion Highlander.

While IVHH calls this competition the Hammers and Hardhats Bash, I’m going to refer to it as Of Hammering Hardhats and a Tiara.

IVHH did not spring for a tiara when I won the competition last year, which I am generously overlooking, but given the austere company against whom I will be defending my crown, I have spent an unbelievable amount of money on suitable jewels and will place this lovely tiara upon the head of the newly crowned 2012 Ms. Iowa Valley Habitat for Humanity queen.

Whoever wins the male competition can have the hardhat.

The austere company of which I earlier spoke is of such noble blood, the event is not one to miss.

Competing for the hardhat will be John Bacon, Iowa City’s born and raised City High principal; Tim Dwight, former Iowa City High and Iowa Hawk and NFL jousting expert; Bart Floyd, financier exemplar at Great Western Bank; and Bill Nusser, guardian of many crown jewels at Hands Jewelers.

Competing for the sparkling faux-jeweled tiara will be Catherine Champion, dedicated Iowa City activist and owner of the clothier Catherine’s; Jody Hovland, renown actress and artistic director of Riverside Theater; Nancy Quellhorst, reigning president of the Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce; and alas, me, the soon-to-be deposed queen.

(This queen hopes the court understands the difference between deposed and disposed …)

In addition to our royal competition, there will be auction items available, all donated to the Habitat home. A list of items to be auctioned can be found at www.iowavalleyhabitat.org. With the holidays implausibly around the corner, you should spend your shopping dollars on these great gifts for a very worthwhile cause.

This year’s Habitat Home is honoring Jackie Blank and Jane McCune, two wise women who defied criticism and naysayers by opening their own real estate company in 1979. At that time, women owners were not commonly in the real estate profession, and these two proved without doubt that the best revenge (against their critics) was success.

Past and present clients, who by sheer numbers could fill a great hall, are encouraged to come and support the passion for home ownership these two women have shown.

Habitat for Humanity has long understood the value of home ownership, and believes every person deserves to have a decent, safe, and affordable place to live. Founded outside of Americus, Ga., in 1942, Clarence and Florence Jordan stopped living an affluent lifestyle and began investing in people.

Side by side with those in need, the Jordans began building homes and fulfilling dreams. Their vision has blossomed into Habitat for Humanity, an international organization that has built more than 500,000 homes that shelter more than 2.5 million people.

Tickets for this fun evening are $40 and can be purchased online atwww.iowavalleyhabitat.org or by calling Heather at 337-8949. The evening will be filled with fun, food and frolic. No matter how humble or magnificent your abode, everyone feels their home is their castle.

Help Habitat help others realize the home ownership dream, and join us Tuesday for what promises to be a worthwhile evening.

And I hope very much that I am allowed to leave with my head still attached. The night will be a once-in-a-lifetime event if I’m not.

Email can be a very dangerous thing, and in today’s world email is used for many communications. The following was sent to me in an email – and whether true or not, you can envision it happening.

A Minneapolis couple decided to go to Florida to thaw out during a particularly icy winter. They planned to stay at the same hotel where they spent their honeymoon 20 years earlier.

Because of hectic schedules, it was difficult to coordinate their travel schedules. So, the husband left Minnesota and flew to Florida on Thursday, with his wife flying down the following day.

The husband checked into the hotel. There was a computer in his room, so he decided to send an email to his wife. However, he accidentally left out one letter in her email address, and without realizing his error, sent the email.

Meanwhile, somewhere in Houston, a widow had just returned home from her husband’s funeral. He was a minister who was called home to glory following a heart attack.

The widow decided to check her email expecting messages from relatives and friends. After reading the first message, she screamed and fainted.

The widow’s son rushed into the room, found his mother on the floor, and saw the computer screen which read:
To: My Loving Wife
Subject: I’ve Arrived
Date: October 16, 2009

I know you’re surprised to hear from me. They have computers here now and you are allowed to send emails to your loved ones. I’ve just arrived and have been checked in.

I’ve seen that everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing you then!!!! Hope your journey is as uneventful as mine was.

P. S. Sure is hot down here!
Not so long ago I committed an email faux pas, but not as amusing as the tale told above. Instead, I hit reply and sent an email back to the sender with a rather cryptic message. Of course, I didn’t realize my error until I’d hit the send button and saw it’d gone to a different person than I had intended. I about gagged on my Thin Mint Girl Scout cookie, and quickly sent a second email explaining the first.
A few hours later I received an email filled with wonderment and a little annoyance. A few days later, over two cups of great hot chocolate, I was able to explain myself in person, which is still perhaps the best way to communicate. In person, you can hear the speaker’s tone and inflections, read their verbal and non-verbal cues, and ask questions immediately to make sure everyone is on the same page.
I learned several lessons from all of this: 1. Rethink hitting reply. Perhaps it’s best to just compose a new email to the person with whom you want to communicate. 2. Write every correspondence as if others might read it. Carrying on a running conversation, as I was doing, has great potential to be misconstrued when read by the wrong set of eyes because the message alone is out of context. 3. When there is a miscommunication, meeting face to face should be the preferred choice. Words are impossible to take back, and when in written form and out of context, with no non-verbal cues to help the receiver interpret the message, it’s easy to dig a pretty big hole. Having the opportunity to explain can’t take the words back, but does allow the other person to see what your intent actually was, and both can walk away feeling better.
And last but not least, have an understanding nature if you’re the receiver of a mis-addressed email. The widow in Houston will not have the advantage of an explanation – luckily, I did.

A small group of friends got together for lunch the other day.  All gathered looked a bit weary around the eyes.

“I hate people,” said the black Crow.  And so the conversation began.

“I’m kind of there with you,” said the grey Fox.  “Or perhaps I’m just really tired of poorly behaving people.”

“I’ve met several nice people this year,” said the family Dog, “but I can also say I’ve met some very difficult folks, too.”

“I try to please everyone, take care of everyone, anticipate the needs of everyone,” said eager Beaver, “but no one seems to even notice.  Then if I get really busy and one little thing slips up, the volcano erupts.”

“I’ve decided there are two types of people,” declared Crow.  “There are those who open doors, walk through, and never consider holding it open for someone else or even bothering to close it, and then there are those who open the door and hold it for the next person.”

“I’ve always said there are open or closed curtain people,” said Dog.

Grey Fox had been sitting quietly listening to everyone’s opinion.  “I think the world is made up of two kinds also,” Fox said.  “Those who open their windows and throw crap out and those who come along after them and clean it up.”  All those around the table chuckled at the mental picture.

“Seriously,” Fox said, “we need to change the folks who are throwing crap out the window.  Those of us always cleaning it up are getting tired – tired of those who feel so entitled, tired of those who think their time is more important than anyone else’s time.  We need to start with our young, and teach them manners do count.  Everyone counts.  Work hard, do the right thing, be polite, and criticize only if it’s constructive.”

“You sound like some sound bite,” said Beaver.  “We can sit here and gnaw all day, but nothing will be accomplished.”

“I did something the other day,” said Dog.  “In my college classroom, I told the students before they leave after each class they need to pick up their spots and push their chairs back in.  I’ve come into the classroom and had to pick up water and pop bottles, newspapers, spit balls, and candy wrappers in order for the room to be ready for my class.  I’ve asked my class to start acting more ‘professional’, take more care of their surroundings.  With privileges come responsibilities.  College is a privilege, not a right.”

“It sounds like we need to start caring more,” said Crow.

“That would be a start,” said Fox.  “People are so quick to anger today, and if you take a step back and look, there was no damage. “

“I think people have more pressures on them today, and maybe we’re not prepared to handle it,” said Dog.  “Maybe we need to be teaching kids how to handle disappointment, rather than shielding them from disappointment. “

“Maybe we adults need to set a better example,” said Crow.

Eager Beaver had been quiet for some time.  “I think,” he said, “that we need to acknowledge the crap, but pay more attention to the positive and quit paying attention to the trash-throwers.  Stop giving them so much power and energy.”

“I’ll personally start today,” said Dog.  “When I go for my evening stroll, I will take a bag and pick up litter, even if it’s not my own. “

“I will quit calling and complaining,” said Crow.  “I will try to only talk about positives, not negatives.”

“I pledge to slow down a little, and pay more attention to the details,” said Beaver.

Fox was smiling slyly at the table.  “I think we ‘nice’ people should band together, and unite our forces.  Live by one another, be there for one another, maybe even start using our financial power to support one another.  Buy from the nice businesses, support the common sense politicians. “

Our bill came – the wait staff had been very polite.  We tipped generously.  We felt empowered.

Perception is in the eye of the beholder, and finding out what other’s think of you and your profession is interesting if not a bit daunting.  I’m a Realtor® and have been  for over ten years. I love what I do.  I love meeting new people, hearing new stories, helping folks find a home that suits their needs.  I love helping others sell their homes so they can move on with life.

As a Realtor®, I do not consider myself a sales person.  Others may view all Realtors® that way.  Personally, I view myself as a service provider.  I don’t just sell homes.  I listen to needs, arguments, conflicting opinions, and show many homes to help a buyer find just the right one for all of their needs.  It is not an easy task.  I help line up movers, storage, lawn mowing, snow blowing, dentists, eye care, specific grocery stores, libraries, soccer coaches, child care centers, churches, hair stylists, and schools.  There are times I do all of the above, and they decide to move to Ann Arbor instead of Iowa City.  Oh, well.

While there may be other perceptions out there about the role of a Realtor®, my objective in writing this is to paint my own picture of what a Realtor® is and what a Realtor® does.   But this is a good sample of what my past years as a Realtor® have been like.  I hope this helps clear the air about what we do, and what value we add to any housing transaction.  For me, it is not about the sales.  It is about the service.