Good grief, has it been THAT long since I blogged?! My profuse apologies but life, as we all know, moves rather briskly. Ryan has had an astounding few days, and as we speak he is breathing on his own. Will God's grace never cease? He is closing in on the magical three pounds, and yesterday evening Laura got to kiss him for the first time. I don't know what was more pleasurable... watching his eyes flutter open with each butterfly kiss that she wafted onto his tiny forehead, or feeling her soft sobs against my chest as his evening feeding was delivered and he drifted off to sleep. Both worked fine for me.

The evening before, I played horribly in our team tennis championship (no sleep and about 75 unnecessary pounds... I've got to apply myself to physical recovery or the kid will have Jabba the Hut for a father,) while my wife visited Ryan on his first day "breathing apparatus free." She brought back video of his "voice," and it was my turn to lose it. Yeah, she married a wuss. He's absolutely amazing, and the thought of his potential presence in our home gives me chills to beat the band.

Check out this photo snapped by step-dad outside FLA South Hospital. A serene place it certainly is. I'll try to get a pic of the painting that adorns the hospital's main entrance. It's very moving.

So here are some recent snaps of the Long family enjoying FLA Hospital-approved "quality time" together. This first one is a bit out of focus, but still shows a contented Ryan asleep under the watchful eye of our white kitty. The nurses have used this stuffed toy as a sort of "shim" to position our son in a myriad of ways.

These next two stole my heart. Laura enjoys reading to Ryan, and he relaxes to the sound of her melodious recitations of various infant novellas. Rarely is the time that she finishes with dry eyes, but being the goal-oriented super freak that she is, the stories get read. Looking at these photos fills me at once with a sense of dread and complete gratitude; that I am allowed to experience any portion of this journey with my wife and son is sometimes just too much.

Kangaroo Care is fast becoming a family favorite, as Laura's beaming countenance in this photo will attest. What did I tell you? Angelic.

Here she and Ryan are having a heart-to-heart, while this next image shows the multiple steps necessary to even set up a session of kangaroo care. Note the nurse affixing Ryan's lines to mommy's shoulder, in case adjustments need to be made. He eats while he nuzzles, and is bundled to avoid chills. These men and women of medicine are so good at their jobs it gives me a friggin' complex.

Not the best photo, but here's a rather contented miniature human enjoying warm skin and warmer milk.

Do you think we're even wondering if it's all worth it?

Lots more to say about lots of things real estate (here's a new listing... it's my buddy Chris Howe's home in South DeLand, a real beauty) and otherwise, but Paulie needs to start worrying about Paulie's sleep habits. There may be some merit to this whole REM sleep-thingee. After nine straight days of 4 or less hours shut-eye, a change needed to be made when I swore up and down that a band of elves had commandeered my sock drawer.

Tomorrow then? I'll be here.

Love you, boy.

Posted by: Paul @ 12:10 AM

Ryan was in rare form tonight, and may soon be losing his breathing tube again. His numbers are waaaaay up, and his weight is now 2 lbs., 13 oz. As I write this, mom is exiting the "milking room" with another three gallons or so. I feel like an employee at Cloverland Dairy. Our freezer has enough milk to comfortably supply every neonate in Florida. Think I'm joking? Well, by this time tomorrow we'll have proof on this site. She'll kill me for snapping a photo, but it's truly hilarious how diligent she's been about expressing. Like clockwork, baby.

Loads of events in the real estate market both in and around DeLand. We are working on a development group to consider selling a part of their portfolio. They made some very shrewd investments around 22 years ago, and the land has become a focal point of developers far and wide. Cards on the table, the land would be snatched up within two phone calls if we get the opportunity to present it to our investors. It's a bit daunting, exciting... it makes me feel funny, like when I used to climb the rope in gym class. Alright, so I borrow lines from movies. Does that make me a BAD person?! Sorry, saw his bloated visage on C-SPAN tonight and couldn't resist.

Anywho, the fact that this property smack dab in the middle of the action has not yet contracted is beyond me. Folks, look at the photos! Look at interest rates! We're talking historic lows here, and the time is now to buy in DeLand and Central Florida in general. Fortunately, you've handled the hard part... you've found a REALTOR.

Just got sent an email by a friend and couldn't resist posting this pic. It's not even a right-left thing anymore with me. I cannot stand these charlatans nipping at the President's heels, followed by their cronies in the media. Where's the balance, people? Exhausting...

Saw a couple of properties in downtown DeLand that caught my eye. They both seem to offer multiple streams of income, and are close to a never-ending rental base. That is, of course, Stetson University. It is the oldest private university in Florida, and quite a charming and beautiful campus... mirroring the town.

If you have any questions or interest regarding these or any properties in Central Florida, please contact me at the number listed above. Thanks for all of the support both personally and professionally. We are in your debt.

Nite, Ryan! Mommy and Daddy love you. You're such a good boy.

Sorry, just practicing.

Posted by: Paul @ 11:47 PM

Sometimes the business can be quite exasperating. The past couple of days have been spent putting out fires, and stoking a few that were already smoking. I am releasing a salable listing in my own neighborhood, for no reason other than my inability to stand one more minute of dealings with my client. It is going to take every fiber of my being not to shoot a paintball gun at this person, but to do so would be completely counterproductive and unprofessional. Exhilarating, yes... but again, counterproductive and unprofessional.

The dynamics of this termination are so annoying, to rehash them here would do this site an injustice. The home was overpriced, and that is as much my fault as it is the sellers. After the list period began, she became abusive and unreasonable. I refused to see the signs, and attempted to placate her when I knew that she was not about to be pleased by anything other than my spontaneous combustion. Today was the last straw, as her combative disposition and vitriol again bubbled to the surface. I was conducting business with serious people, with serious money, and this act had grown tiresome. I cut her loose, and feel absolutely fine with it. The rub of this situation is that this seller will contract with an unsuspecting REALTOR, no doubt badmouthing me all the while, and then do with this agent exactly what I've been begging her to do for the past six weeks. That is, of course, to lower the price of her home. Whatever. The prospect of a meager commission for enduring a boorish and obviously unhappy person is not necessary at this point in my life. We haven't even fielded an offer, and with the lack of upkeep and the home's tired systems, a post-contractual inspection would have surely scuttled the deal. Oh, well... that's that.

More important things do take precedence. Take a look at this sequence of photos, and offer feedback to confirm if our li'l boy is making progress. This was taken on February 24, 2004. Here are some others taken along the way which show Ryan's strides toward joining us at home. This next photo was taken a approximately one week later, and shows the change in skin tone from "able to be seen from space" to "somewhat like a human."

This shot was taken soon after Ryan's PDA ligation, and you can clearly see the incision along the left side of his torso. He was glued together after his surgery, which leads me to believe that by the year 2020 we'll be able to perform major surgery on ourselves using only Home Depot as our primary care provider. You laugh now...

Another image of our son, post-op. That finger he's grasping belongs to his mommy. The boy knows where his bread is buttered.

A somewhat mediocre pic of Ryan after his premie Ray-Bans were removed. The scar is healing, and he is beginning to take a cc or two of mom's milk every 12 hours. Little did we know that he would enjoy the taste so much. As of today, he's handling 22 cc's every three hours, and his weight has really increased since the surgery.

I'll try to confine this sequence of photos to a single paragraph, but they are so precious because it was the first time I got to hold my son. After a long nap, Ryan was ready for cluster care and a quiet evening. Margaret was on duty, and she is a take-no-prisoners nurse with a droll sense of humor and a heart as big as the sky is blue. He was quite comfy and couldn't understand why his tranquility need be shattered by a change of linen, etc. The look is priceless, isn't it? Anyway, after fussing and fidgeting with Margaret, who was determined to show him who was boss, the time came for yours truly to step in while we weighed and measured him. So while the monitors beeped and the numbers registered, my life changed forever. It lasted about ten minutes... or ten years. I don't remember.

This recent one was taken on March 26, 2004 by his doting step-grand pappy, Jack. Ever the troubleshooter, Jack sauntered into the NICU with the sole intent of getting a great photo, saw that Ryan was dozing, and decided that this needed to be remedied. He tapped on the glass and growled "Wake up, boy!" The young 'uns' eyes flew open, and history was recorded. Thank you, Jack... just a general "don't know what we'd do without you" thanks.

This is a lot to read in one installment, and if you've made it to the end... there are no prizes. Real estate blogging resumes tomorrow in earnest, and brother do we have some stuff to jaw about! This is absolutely the hottest area in the country, and I ain't talkin' temperature.

Until the AM, be good. Love you, son.

Posted by: Paul @ 1:51 AM