Did someone say "Contest"?

Alas, I did not win Patriot's BEKA Giveaway, but a really cool chic, Park Wife, won, and that makes the world a better place.

This week, he's giving away a Tazza Transparent Rainbow Glass ornament...it's stunning, truly stunning, even in the photo. So...yes...Go. Enter. Read. Now. Return.

Patriot's Tazza Glass Ornament Giveaway.

Are you back? Good then. Now I have another one for you. Pioneer Woman, as I've said in practically every post in some shape or form, is another cool chic. She's having a Surprise Give That Photo A Name contest today. It's supposed to be a surprise, but she spilled the beans a few days ago. Now she's teasing us, because as of 8:40am, it's still not posted. Ugh! Except that I just went to double check that, and it is posted. So Go. Now. Enter. Read. Don't-be-as-clever-as-me. Return.

P-Dub's Give That Photo A Name Contest.

Are you back again? Excellent. And now? The news. I just want to say that homes are not all they're cracked up to be when you view them online. I spent a good while in the past few days searching for homes for sale in certain areas of southern Illinois, and found a few that were actually in our price range and that looked "nice" in the pictures.

HA.

Apparently, realtors are realtors because they are actually magicians, but there are no magician positions open with their company. Did you know that they work magic with a camera? I'd swear to it. And they know when to take pictures of homes too...like when the grass is cut...and when the windows are all intact. I actually read a description the other day that said something along the lines of "All window coverings present". I imagined a classroom full of windows:

Teacher: Front family room?

FFR: Here!

Teacher: Side kitchen?

SK: Here!

And so on, and so forth. Then I actually may have teared up, because this home was so bad, or in such a bad neighborhood maybe, that they felt the need to report that all the windows still had their coverings...at least the last time they'd been there.

So I grabbed my mom, tied her hands, gagged her, and forced her to come with me into what would become one of the most terrifying experiences of my adult life (the basement of my current home still has it beat, but not by much). She actually volunteered to go, but I don't think she had any clue what I was getting her into.

I came out of the experience with a higher understanding of homes and the pricing of them, a greater knowledge of the backroads of a certain couple of towns across the river, and a newfound thankfulness for my life. And one, count it, ONE home left on my list to actually call on.