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I'm usually pretty laid back in regards to what I call irrelevant e-mails (I don't like to call them 'spam' when they are from fellow real estate agents or others in the industry).  I don't send nasty replies back, i don't unsubscribe...I read the interesting ones, or I just click 'Delete'. 

Now that listings are piling up everywhere, I get dozens of e-mails promoting them every day, so many that I can't possibly open and read them all.  E-mails with titles like, "Gorgeous New Construction", "5% SOC", "Price Reduced", etc, etc, etc.

Now, these are fine titles.  But for me, and perhaps for those of us who have decided to focus on a particular area or go by the 30 mile/30 minute guideline for showing homes, it irks me a little that there is no indication of where the property is located within the title of the e-mail. 

Furthermore, when bulk e-mails come from a 3rd party server, such as I-Flyer, I'm not even able to see the name of the agent who sent me the e-mail.   That would be one small clue for me as to where this particular listing is located; at that point, I can decide whether or not I want to open the file.

Perhaps agents use the line of reasoning that, "the less information the better". I agree, when it's a flyer located in a flyer box outside of a house; at least you know where the property is.  Perhaps people think that the recipient will be intrigued so much by the title that they'll just have to click on the file to get more information.  

For me, personally, I doubt that, especially with the massive amounts of e-mails that end up in our boxes.  I really don't like opening up a flyer just to read about a property that's obviously way too far away for me to have any buyers for.   I wonder how I end up on their list.

What I'm trying to do right now is make a database for all the agents in my area, and all of the ones I come in contact with, and I do it by zip code.  When I get a listing in a particular zip code, I send it to only those agents, and perhaps in the surrounding zip codes as well.  What I don't do (anymore!) send a listing to a blanket 10,000 agents just because they're in Washington State.

So, basically what I've started to do since I'm overwhelmed is to only open e-mails that state a specific location.  The rest? I just 'delete'. And that's the rule I'm sticking to.   I like to support my fellow agents, but I have to take steps to manage my time better. 

On Friday, March 28th Discover Burien will hold a Dinner, Silent Auction and Awards Ceremony at Karuna Yoga Studio on Ambaum and SW 152nd St., from 6 - 10 pm. If you're interested in attending, tickets are $25 and may still be available - contact Debra George at debrageorgemi@aol.com.

If you own a business in the area, donating an item is a great way to help Discover Burien raise money for city-wide events AND promote your business.  I was very lucky that Discover Burien allowed me to donate something mere days before the event.  Once again the day snuck up on me.

Anyway, I've put together a lovely tea basket for the occasion, and I hope someone buys it! Here's a picture of it, below.  My company, Three Tree Tea, has never really focused on advertising in our own home town of Burien; since our focus is mostly on wholesale, our tea is in lots of coffee and tea shops across the country, so I've never really pushed our product right here in my backyard! At least now more people will know about Three Tree Tea.

The auction was a lot of fun last year; it was held at the Burien Elks Lodge.  This year it will be at a completely different venue, a new yoga studio in the heart of Olde Burien.  I'm very much looking forward to it!

A: Three or four, if you time it right!

The Saturday before Easter was a whirlwind for my 6 year-old son and I.  We left the house at about 8:30 in order to be at the first Easter Egg Hunt, held at Sea-Tac's Angle Lake Park, at 9:00 a.m.  Despite arriving early, there was no parking so we had to park at the neighboring Alaska Airlines corporate parking lot and risk getting towed.  With all the people parking there, though, they would have had to call every surrounding city in order to get enough tow trucks! Besides, these hunts begin and end quickly, and we were out of there by 9:20.

If you've never been to Angle Lake, it's a lovely park with a covered BBQ area, play equipment, and sandy beach area with a dock for the fishermen.  It was very picturesque that morning, with the sun's rays reflecting off of the lake and a lone fisherman in a rowboat enjoying the quiet before the onslaught of children.

This hunt was very well organized.  There were different sections of the park cordoned off for different age groups.  There were also dozens of prize Easter baskets under the BBQ shelter, for kids who found a special plastic egg.

Firemen were out spreading candy like grass seed across the lawn as the excitement was building.  Kids were running up to the Easter Bunny to have their picture taken.  The Easter Bunny was handing out huge decorated sugar cookies(600 calories and 26 grams of fat per cookie, BTW!) to each kid. 

Then the countdown began, the yellow tape was lowered so that the kids wouldn't trip, and then the kids were given the signal to go for it!! In one big burst hundreds of kids ran out to get as much candy as they could; or in my son's case, to pick through the candy to get as much banana Laffy Taffy as he could.

The only problem? Even though this was a hunt for kids aged 4 - 6, unfortunately the organizers did not tell the parents to stay back, so...along with the swarm of kids came the swarm of 'helpful'(read: extremely annoying) parents telling their kids what to pick up.  Big, overbearing parents getting in the way of little ones trying to pick up candy.  I guess that's to be expected when giant Easter baskets are at stake. 

I mean, I told my son to go for the plastic eggs, but how he goes about his hunt is his choice, and with every hunt he adjusts his strategy.  It's all part of learning how to problem solve.  Despite all of that, though, it was lots of fun.

After Angle Lake we headed over to our church Egg Hunt at Grace Baptist on 28th in North Shorewood; that was a blast, and how sweet of them to offer free Latte's to the parents! Yeah. 

Once we finished that hunt, as we headed home to Burien, I remembered that the Burien Community Center Egg Hunt was starting in 3 minutes; we pulled into the parking lot, ran out of the car, and got to the area right as the organizers were announcing the rules.  (Rule #1 - NO PARENTS ON THE FIELD!) Hallelujah. 

That hunt started prematurely when, in a Bugs-Bunnyesque twist someone misunderstood the organizer, who was saying, "Now when I say, GO...and off the kids went, stampeding their way to get the candy before all the candy was put out.  As they were hunting, volunteers were throwing out more candy behind them(including huge Nerd Ropes - Yum!) That was fun.

I missed the W. Seattle Thriftway egg hunt, which I've heard is also quite good.  But there's always next year!

A: Three or four, if you time it right!

The Saturday before Easter was a whirlwind for my 6 year-old son and I.  We left the house at about 8:30 in order to be at the first Easter Egg Hunt, held at Sea-Tac's Angle Lake Park, at 9:00 a.m.  Despite arriving early, there was no parking so we had to park at the neighboring Alaska Airlines corporate parking lot and risk getting towed.  With all the people parking there, though, they would have had to call every surrounding city in order to get enough tow trucks! Besides, these hunts begin and end quickly, and we were out of there by 9:20.

If you've never been to Angle Lake, it's a lovely park with a covered BBQ area, play equipment, and sandy beach area with a dock for the fishermen.  It was very picturesque that morning, with the sun's rays reflecting off of the lake and a lone fisherman in a rowboat enjoying the quiet before the onslaught of children.

This hunt was very well organized.  There were different sections of the park cordoned off for different age groups.  There were also dozens of prize Easter baskets under the BBQ shelter, for kids who found a special plastic egg.

Firemen were out spreading candy like grass seed across the lawn as the excitement was building.  Kids were running up to the Easter Bunny to have their picture taken.  The Easter Bunny was handing out huge decorated sugar cookies(600 calories and 26 grams of fat per cookie, BTW!) to each kid. 

Then the countdown began, the yellow tape was lowered so that the kids wouldn't trip, and then the kids were given the signal to go for it!! In one big burst hundreds of kids ran out to get as much candy as they could; or in my son's case, to pick through the candy to get as much banana Laffy Taffy as he could.

The only problem? Even though this was a hunt for kids aged 4 - 6, unfortunately the organizers did not tell the parents to stay back, so...along with the swarm of kids came the swarm of 'helpful'(read: extremely annoying) parents telling their kids what to pick up.  Big, overbearing parents getting in the way of little ones trying to pick up candy.  I guess that's to be expected when giant Easter baskets are at stake. 

I mean, I told my son to go for the plastic eggs, but how he goes about his hunt is his choice, and with every hunt he adjusts his strategy.  It's all part of learning how to problem solve.  Despite all of that, though, it was lots of fun.

After Angle Lake we headed over to our church Egg Hunt at Grace Baptist on 28th in North Shorewood; that was a blast, and how sweet of them to offer free Latte's to the parents! Yeah. 

Once we finished that hunt, as we headed home to Burien, I remembered that the Burien Community Center Egg Hunt was starting in 3 minutes; we pulled into the parking lot, ran out of the car, and got to the area right as the organizers were announcing the rules.  (Rule #1 - NO PARENTS ON THE FIELD!) Hallelujah. 

That hunt started prematurely when, in a Bugs-Bunnyesque twist someone misunderstood the organizer, who was saying, "Now when I say, GO...and off the kids went, stampeding their way to get the candy before all the candy was put out.  As they were hunting, volunteers were throwing out more candy behind them(including huge Nerd Ropes - Yum!) That was fun.

I missed the W. Seattle Thriftway egg hunt, which I've heard is also quite good.  But there's always next year!

For those who are interested in the subject of potential annexation of North Highline to Burien, there will be a Special Meeting on Monday, March 31st at 7:00 p.m. at the Educational Resource & Administrative Center(ERAC) board room.  Address is 15675 Ambaum Blvd S.W., next to Hi-Line Bowl. 

For more info, please contact the City Clerk's office at (206) 248-5517.

Also: 

The next meeting of the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council will be on April 3, 2008 at the North Highline Fire Station, 1243 SW 112th St beginning at 7:00 PM.
  

Looking for someplace fun to take the child in your life next Saturday?  With so much to do, you'll have a hard time deciding which event to participate in!  

Here's a list of local Egg Hunts:

Saturday, March 22nd

Burien -  Easter Eggstravaganza(Burien Community Center, 4th SW and SW 146th ST)

    Bunny Breakfast, 9 - 10:45 a.m.($3/person, children under 1 yr FREE), Egg Hunt 11:00(broken into age groups); also the Easter Bunny will be here! $3/photo 

Shorewood - Annual Egg Hunt sponsored by Shorewood on the Sound Community

    See link above for more info about the event.  Registration begins at 10:30 at the top of         the hill on 30th SW.  Wear shoes that won't slip on the beach rocks.  Volunteers needed!

Normandy Park -  Annual Easter Egg Hunt at the Cove(1500 Shorebrook Drive)

     11:00 sharp at the Cove. All are welcome - bring your baskets!

Sea-Tac -  Egg Hunt at Angle Lake Park(19408 International Blvd S)

    Starts at 9:00 a.m. sharp! Bring a basket or bag to collect eggs. 

Des Moines -  Spring Egg Hunt at Des Moines Beach Park

    From 9:00 a.m. till 11:00 a.m. Candy and prizes for every child! Pics with the Easter Bunny     are $2. 

Tukwila - Easter Egg Scramble & Hunt, Tukwila Community Center, 12424 42nd Ave S.

    Breakfast, 9:00 - 10:30 a.m., Hunt begins at 10:00 a.m. sharp! Also, the 2nd Annual Kid's     Closet will take place.  Shop for kids items or reserve a table for $15 and sell yours.  

West Seattle - West Seattle Thriftway

 9:00 - 10:00 a.m.

    Bring your kids aged 0 - 10 years of age for a great time at our annual easter egg hunt (It's West Seattle famous!) there are not only goodies     hidden in those eggs, prizes too, maybe even a Wii! Make sure to get here early, the lot gets full quickly and the line gets long!

Also in West Seattle: Egg Hunts at the following community centers: Alki, Hiawatha, Delridge, High Point and Southwest start at 10:00 a.m.  

Sunday, March 23 

    IKEA - Head over to Renton for Easter events and prizes from 10:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m.

 **If you time it right, perhaps you can make two or three of these events!  Have a blast!

Looking for someplace fun to take the child in your life next Saturday?  With so much to do, you'll have a hard time deciding which event to participate in!  

Here's a list of local Egg Hunts:

Saturday, March 22nd

Burien -  Easter Eggstravaganza(Burien Community Center, 4th SW and SW 146th ST)

    Bunny Breakfast, 9 - 10:45 a.m.($3/person, children under 1 yr FREE), Egg Hunt 11:00(broken into age groups); also the Easter Bunny will be here! $3/photo 

Shorewood - Annual Egg Hunt sponsored by Shorewood on the Sound Community

    See link above for more info about the event.  Registration begins at 10:30 at the top of         the hill on 30th SW.  Wear shoes that won't slip on the beach rocks.  Volunteers needed!

Normandy Park -  Annual Easter Egg Hunt at the Cove(1500 Shorebrook Drive)

     11:00 sharp at the Cove. All are welcome - bring your baskets!

Sea-Tac -  Egg Hunt at Angle Lake Park(19408 International Blvd S)

    Starts at 9:00 a.m. sharp! Bring a basket or bag to collect eggs. 

Des Moines -  Spring Egg Hunt at Des Moines Beach Park

    From 9:00 a.m. till 11:00 a.m. Candy and prizes for every child! Pics with the Easter Bunny     are $2. 

Tukwila - Easter Egg Scramble & Hunt, Tukwila Community Center, 12424 42nd Ave S.

    Breakfast, 9:00 - 10:30 a.m., Hunt begins at 10:00 a.m. sharp! Also, the 2nd Annual Kid's     Closet will take place.  Shop for kids items or reserve a table for $15 and sell yours.  

West Seattle - West Seattle Thriftway

 9:00 - 10:00 a.m.

    Bring your kids aged 0 - 10 years of age for a great time at our annual easter egg hunt (It's West Seattle famous!) there are not only goodies     hidden in those eggs, prizes too, maybe even a Wii! Make sure to get here early, the lot gets full quickly and the line gets long!

Also in West Seattle: Egg Hunts at the following community centers: Alki, Hiawatha, Delridge, High Point and Southwest start at 10:00 a.m.  

Sunday, March 23 

    IKEA - Head over to Renton for Easter events and prizes from 10:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m.

 **If you time it right, perhaps you can make two or three of these events!  Have a blast!

This Thursday, March 20, Arbor Heights Elementary School will hold an Auction & Art Fair to fundraise for art-enrichment programs.  Silent auction, art fair, musical entertainment and artist demonstrations.  5:30-8 pm at Arbor Heights Elementary, 3701 S.W. 104th St.

Check out the neighborhood while you're at it; I've been noticing some new sidewalks lately.  They go quite nicely with the new-ish street signs that were put in about a year ago or so.  

Maybe I'll see you there! 

Early this morning four 2007-built, unoccupied homes went up in flames in Woodinville.  These homes were featured in a local, yearly real-estate event called Street of Dreams.  I viewed these beautiful homes last summer, as many thousands of people did.  These homes represented the latest in design, technology and materials; they were also multi-million dollar homes that the Earth Liberation Front refers to as "McMansions".

Apparently, besides these four homes, one home sustained smoke and heat damage, and the other one was unscathed.  Here is the wiki page on the Earth Liberation Front:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Liberation_Front

The ELF is noted as the #1 domestic terror threat in the United States by the Department of Homeland Security. Their modus operandi is arson.  The effects of their insane and inexplicable actions send shock waves through the communities surrounding their criminal acts. Their goal: to "remove the profit motive from the killing of the natural environment." They torched these homes in protest of urban sprawl. 

Today, one ELF activist stands trial for the 2001 fire bombings of cement and logging trucks in Oregon.  I wish the media would stop calling them 'activists' and start calling them by the more aptly suited name 'terrorist', because that is exactly what they are. 

The irony here is that their actions seem to do more harm than the developers they are protesting against.  These homes were built eco-friendly, and one of them was a 5-star Built Green home(built to the highest environmental standards).  While touring the homes last summer I remember the recycled-paper countertops getting quite a bit of attention for its innovativeness.  Indeed, one of the reasons for the homes' hefty price tags was because of the builders' desire to create homes with as little environmental impact as possible, and to incorporate earth-friendly systems and materials into the design of these homes.

Now, four homes are gone in a cloud of toxic smoke thanks to the ELF, and everyone must begin again.  The homes will be rebuilt after insurance payoffs.  But what about the neighbors who've already purchased homes in that cul-de-sac? What about the Realtors who held Open Houses and marketed these high-end listings over the past eight months, where does that leave them? Where does it leave the builders, everyone with time, heart, soul and money tied up in this development? 

The Earth Liberation Front is a covert, clandestine group with no authority.  Every group acts on their own to inflict their beliefs on others through violent measures.  Perhaps if they were to embrace the philosophy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Cesar Chavez and other true activists of protest through non-violence, they might win people over and build some momentum.  After all, plenty of people here are opposed to urban sprawl and the destruction of the environment.  But isn't that what city council meetings are for?

...that in 1910 White Center was known as Seola? Most of us residents currently know Seola as the area surrounding Seola Beach Drive, which is off of SW 106th Street just before 31st Ave SW. There's also a Seola Park that is public, located where 35th Ave SW meets SW Marine View Drive.  Seola loosely translates in Spanish to "Know the Wave".

For the record, I do not claim to be the area historian(though I would love that title someday!); I actually learned this from the Greenbridge HOPE VI Project website.   Visit the website and learn all about this project, a mixed-income master planned community located near where the Park Lake Homes used to be, at 9839 8th Ave S.W.  This development includes a renovated community center, 8-unit apartment project that's Built Green, and open spaces including a plaza for concerts, picnics and play. 

There's also a diverse assortment of public art on display; you'll find a map  here, so that you can check out the locally made art and sculptures that enhance the grounds and the atmosphere at Greenbridge. 

Cheers!