” width=”300″ height=”225″>Two weeks in early May were spent in the Black Hills of South Dakota helping one of my brothers on a remodel of his home.  When I returned home, it was hard to hit the ground running, not only because of my daughter’s impending wedding in NYC in June, but because of some things going on here locally. I was able to hire about thirty (yes, 30) experienced Realtors for our Company in those few short weeks, so things really never did get back to anything approaching ‘normal.’

When I returned to Colorado Springs from NYC on Monday, June 25, I was eager to find my momentum again, to throw myself back into the real estate market, to get motivated again, to get thoroughly involved.  I was so excited to see Bob Stewart’s Hyper Local Blogging Challenge, and made an immediate outline of the posts that I would write for my 7,000 points.

While we knew that there were fires in the mountains when we returned, they did not affect us.  The temperatures were in the 100s, and smoke filled the air.  But as I returned to town on Tuesday morning after taking my brother to the airport in Denver, the ridges and hills and skies along the Front Range looked ominous.  As I mentioned in Ordering Your Priorities, we had no clue that the shifting wind currents in Denver were getting ready to explode this fire into an uncontrolled destroyer of lives and homes, property and possessions. As one of my daughters and her family were evacuated for almost a week, I learned a lot about my community, our words-can’t-describe-utterly-amazing Firefighters, my family, and myself.

So NOW the time has come to take Bob Stewart up on his challenge, no longer for the points, but for the learning skills and the focus that it will give me.  But before I do that, I will write this post to share some during-and-after photos from the destructive fire that I was able to take, ones that immortalized the tragedy and triumph of Colorado Springs last week.  Then, because so many of you have asked, I will share the joyous celebration of lives and love that we had two weeks ago in NYC for the wedding of my second daughter, Susie.  THEN I’ll begin my personal hyper local challenge. :))   I hope to be around a lot more again.  Thank you ALL for your wonderful notes, cards, emails, and phone calls.