Some unknown hour: awake in the dark, mind abuzz with activity. Still working on realizing the fruition of, “He gives His beloved rest.”
7:15 Drive daughter to work.
7:50 Creation sequence in whisper mode, willing myself forward.
8:30 a.m. Spend a few minutes thinking about what to put in my “Best Life” bookmarks folder on my browser. My “why,” I need some of my why in there, especially for days like today. I look up and bookmark the Global Conflict Tracker and two of my favorite non-profits that directly serve areas of violent conflict. Just spending a few minutes there gets my engines firing, and I suddenly, for the first time yet today, feel like I have energy to face the day.
9:16 a.m. Wait! What’s that sound I hear? Son’s at university until 2, no construction guys are banging around on the wall opposite me, no dogs are scratching and acting like Thumper, no phones ringing. It’s the beautiful, amazing, coveted sound of . . . . silence.
Yes, yes, yes I realize that one day I will hear silence continually and truly miss all the commotion, but that is not my now. Now, today, the silence brings a feeling of deep rest to my soul, and I need that so badly today when my brain decided to wake me up in the dark and start working without my permission again…
9:20 a.m. I’ve checked my email, my FB messages, and forwarded on the night’s leads to my Acq Director; now, I’m going to rally my brain to sort out the day’s work. Just like with the money, I need to tell my time where to go, to give each hour a job. At least a half of one will be for rest at some point today.
9:32 a.m. Determined to make this day productive and to take advantage of the magical quiet.
9:47 a.m. To the CRM. Scratch that.
First, I’m going to shove down my fear and pride and ask in the subto community who would be interested in funding my first flip. Then, I’m going to work on my deal analyzer using Pace’s Flip Calculator first. If I don’t do it now, everything else will take over the day, and I’ll never get to it. I’ll burrow down into those two most likely leads from my new agent contact and let my Acq Director (AD) follow up on the night’s leads. I’ll work on dispositions (“disp” – selling contracts) and follow-up later in the afternoon, amidst the family hubbub.
10:16 Little sideline there trying to log in and then attending to a question from AD. Let’s go for it again.
As you can see, the day all kind of blended together for me after that. More comping, phone calls with Acq Director, sellers, buyers. I had woken up dizzy & with a headache, so I was a little off my game. Took a quick break at noon to grab an open-faced egg sandwich with my husband. Had some interaction with son & daughter in the afternoon.
I had finished my careful comparison of the agent leads for my first flip. Most proved to predict a ridiculous loss, so I asked him for more accurate sales comps. He tried to give me a general bucket of all sales for the year in that town, and I kindly responded that the report wouldn’t cut it. He promised to get back at it more specifically on Monday. I think I’ll be asking local wholesalers for properties in the meantime.
Had a conversation with my AD about how I can respect her need to be part-time. We’re going to do our best to keep our communications between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m., and everything else will go as notes and tasks in the CRM. If it’s something that elicits a more timely response, I will pick it back up. This is something that has gotten a little confusing – trying to have multiple people communicate with any particular person; however, it’s just where my business is at right now, so I’m going to have to do my best until we get over this ugly duckling hump of my current capacity.
5:55 p.m. Take a call from a novice buyer from last year on a wholesale purchase “subject to” that went sideways. Listen. Care. He’s going through a hard time. Reach back out to the seller and ask for understanding and release of his earnest money funds still sitting at title. Fingers crossed.
Around 6 p.m. Family went out to eat, since we’re still without a functioning kitchen and groceries are somewhat lacking. I decided to stay home and eat a quiet meal of butternut squash from the garden and homemade Indian chai (delicious & perfect for a fall-turning day), while I caught up on my Flip Me tutorials I didn’t realize I was far behind on. This section was about corporate structure and intelligent tax planning – gets me excited. 🙂
7 p.m. Start cleaning & putting away some kitchen items into the finished upper cabinets while simultaneously watching my Flip Me classes.
8 p.m. Hubs hadn’t been feeling up to par and started studying for his Aquinas exam early. I joined him now for a little relaxation on our favorite farm show – now, sadly, at its end.
10:30 p.m. Deut. 28:1-13 I got thinking about Bill Walton’s testimony at some point today (how at 90 days of meditating on and speaking that portion of Scripture, he received his first big business opportunity) and decided, just for fun, to count out 90 days from the day I started. No joke, guess what day it falls on?! Christmas Day! I can hardly wait to see what opportunity comes across my path around that time for me to put my hand to as God empowers me to prosper in every aspect of life.
He’s a good, good Father! I’ve had days I felt like an orphan, but every time I stop to think about what a good Father God’s been to me, since my own was tragically killed, I get so full of love, joy, and thankfulness I feel like I’m going to explode!