Friday, May 28, 2010

St. Joseph - Realtor's Helper!



We have decided to sell our house.  To make a long, boring description of the process short – we looked at a lot of houses and finally found our dream home, made and offer and it was accepted. Found, signed, sealed and ready for delivery.  Since I am a Realtor in NJ, this entire process was expedited quite a bit…shout out to my office:  Century 21 Alliance, Cherry Hill, NJ office woo-hoo!!!
The house we found and agreed upon unanimously is in a great location - is a great house and it is; as Ed likes to call it, our ‘not new, new house’.
It was the builder’s model in the development, professionally decorated (mostly to our tastes) but never lived in – so technically a ‘new’ house.  There are a few paint color changes I’d make, one room of wallpaper and a couple of wallpaper borders I’d remove – but that is nothing!
Additionally, it has the double garage already converted into a large office area – with powder room – so that we can pretty much just move in and set up house, home and office. 
Here is a slideshow of the house:
Anyway – we are looking to sell our house ASAP and then I remembered that if you bury a figurine of St. Joseph in your yard; that your house will sell quickly.  I did some research on the net and as it happens; my local (DiCocco’s) St. Jude Catholic Store sells a ready-made St. Joseph Realtor kit.
There is also a readymade kit available online:
If you are interested, there is even a website dedicated to St. Joseph testimonials:
Here is how the St. Joseph kit works.
1.        Bury the figurine in the back yard on his head facing the house – or street that the house is on.  (There is some debate about these logistics but I used the most common and it makes sense to me.)
2.       You say a prayer to St. Joseph and then wait for the house to sell.
3.       Once the house is sold, you go back and remove the buried figurine and then take him with you to the new house where you put St. Joseph in a place of honor in the new home.
So – I went to the store, picked up a kit for me (and another for friends of ours) and headed home to bury St. Joseph on his head.
The kit is pretty simple – a figurine, a couple of prayers and a little bit of history.

Once home, I grabbed the kit and my potting shovel and went right by the big tree in our back yard.   I figured that since St. Joseph was a carpenter, he’d appreciate being by a big old tree – besides it is shady and protected from the rain.
I also wrapped St. Joseph in a sandwich bag – protection from the dirt – and that bit of plastic shouldn’t impede St. Joseph’s ability to make it work…right?

In any case, I dug a nice, neat hole and placed St. Joseph on his head facing the back of the house (and ostensibly the street the house is on, which is Prospect Avenue), and said BOTH included prayers.
We have a bit more cleaning to do tonight and some last minute polishing and staging tomorrow – then Sunday Open House from 1 – 4.  I don’t know what the traffic will be on a holiday weekend, but I have open houses scheduled for the next two Sundays and will have one EVERY Sunday until the house is SOLD!!
Please say a prayer that our house sells quickly and – thank you St. Joseph!!
P



Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Shanklish - the book!!

Hello,

So it has been a bit since I have posted - between work, school and getting our house ready to sell - it has been busy!!

However, I did manage to get out a small 'how-to' book on making shanklish, a Lebanese cheese that can be made at home using a few ingredients that you can get from any market.  Here is a peek:


Shanklish by Patrick Owen Chadd | Make Your Own Book

The book was a lot of fun to put together.  (^_^)

 I have the book available via Blurb Bookstore and Amazon.com - if you have any questions, feel free to send me a note!!

Have a great day!!

P