ONLINE RELOCATION PACKAGE

Keep the REAL spooks out of your children's Halloween night by taking these precautions.

1.  Accompany children when they go trick-or-treating - If they're a little older, stand back so you're not "lurking", but don't let a pedophile take advantage of this great opportunity to troll for vulnerable kids.  Adolescents are not too old to be at risk on Halloween or at any other time. (You might want to check the Maryland Sex Offender Registry, and avoid those residences when you take your children trick-or-treating.)  

2.  Encourage children to go trick-or-treating in small groups.  If the group is too large, you might lose count if one is missing.  My grandkids love it that their parents dress up in costume, too, but other kids may wish the adults to be less visible.  Make this decision in advance, to avoid last minute hassle and controversy as you leave to go Trick-or-treating.

3.  Make sure that your children's masks don't restrict their vision.  You don't want them to trip and fall, bump into things, or be oblivious to what is around them.

4.  Dress your children in costumes that will be visible in the dark.  Black costumes may be Halloween-spooky, but they put children at risk, crossing the street.  Even when children are safely on the sidewalk, you want them to be visible to someone backing out of their driveway.

5.  Enforce a strict rule of "No testing the treats ‘til you get home" so you have an opportunity to look them over for obvious tampering.  Frankly, when my kids were small and less aware of every treat they received, I trashed everything they collected after they went to sleep and replaced it with candy I provided. (Reading this will probably be the first time they know that.)  By the way, if you give your kids a big dinner before they go out Trick-or-treating, they're less likely to eat candy before they get home.

Continue reading for Hints on Halloween Hosting...

This information is included in the Online Anne Arundel County Relocation Package for Fort George G. Meade, NSA, Northrop Grumman, BWI, the the U.S. Naval Academy

Looking for a Maryland waterfront home?  Look no further than Anne Arundel County, with over 500 miles of shoreline along the many inlets, coves, bays and creeks that are tributaries to the Chesapeake Bay and several rivers.   Many waterfront properties have Riparian Rights, and others are located in communities with a marina or community pier.

According to the Metropolitan Regional Information System, Inc. (MRIS), there are about 400 waterfront properties for sale in Anne Arundel County at this time (10/21/07) ranging from $195,000 for a two-bedroom rancher on Marley Creek in Glen Burnie to $16 million estate in Annapolis that features twelve bedrooms, ten full and two half baths, and a quarter-mile of waterfront on Whitehall Creek.

Following is a breakdown of places in Anne Arundel County where you can find a waterfront home:

1. Annapolis (137)
2. Arnold (30)
3. Churchton (9)
4. Crownsville (15)
5. Curtis Bay (13)
6. Deale (14)
7. Edgewater (30)
8. Galesville (1)
9. Gibson Island (5)
10. Glen Burie (18)
11. Harwood (2)
12. Lake Shore (4)
13. North Beach (5)
14. Orchard Beach (3)
15. Pasadena (68)
16. Riva (8)
17. Severna Park (24)
18. Shady Side (13)
19. Tracey's Landing (1)
20. West River (6)

There are many ways that I can refine the search besides city and price.  For example, I can search according to body of water, water depth, and whether or not the property has a dock.  It is possible, also, to search for properties that may not be waterfront, but perhaps have a waterview, or homes that are located in communities with water access.

While I don't pretend to be a "waterfront expert", I am a REAL ESTATE expert with over thirty years of experience in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.  If you're interested in waterfront property and have a WATER or BOATING question I can't answer, I will get you the answer.  Please let me know how I can help you.

Source:  Metropolitan Regional Information Systems, Inc. (MRIS), 10/21/07

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Relocating to the Baltimore-Washington area?  Check out Your Relocation Package for Anne Arundel County, Maryland.

Find a Home and learn about Real Estate Market Conditions in Odenton and Anne Arundel County, Maryland.  Check out Today's Rates, use the free Mortgage Calculator, and watch a brief video about the Power of RE/MAX.  These consumer-friendly real estate tools are provided by Margaret Woda for you to use at your own pace. 

When you're ready to go from "just browsing" to "let's get serious", contact Margaret online or call her at RE/MAX Vision in Crofton Maryland. 410-451-1900 

Posted to Localism.com and FocusonCrofton.com.

If you are new to Maryland, and not familiar with the Wye Oak, perhaps I should start by telling you what this is all about.

About the species - In 1941, Maryland designated the White Oak (Quercus Alba) as the State Tree. 

The white oak is a handsome and sturdy tree, named for its whitish bark and grey twigs.  The trees are large, long-lived, and slow-growing - reaching heights of 60 to 150 feet, with diameters between three to four feet.  They have glossy bright green leaves with five to seven rounded lobes on each leaf. 

A white oak begins to produce acorns when it is about fifty years old - as many as 10,000 annually.  The acorns, crowned with shallow caps that are smooth underneath, sprout soon after falling from the tree.  They are sweet to the taste, and provide nourishment to more than eighty different Maryland birds and mammals. 

Some history -The 450 year old Wye Oak, on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, was the oldest and largest white oak in the world at ninety-six feet tall and thirty-one feet around, with an average crown spread of 119 feet, when it succumbed to high winds in June 2002. 

For four centuries, travelers along the road from Oxford, Maryland, to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, reportedly rested in the shade of the massive tree and tied their horses at its base, perhaps causing the gnarled roots and so-called "knees" at the base of the Wye Oak. 

In 1919, the tree gained notoriety when it was featured in an article by H. S. Clopper, appearing in the American Forester magazine.   The State of Maryland purchased a few acres around the tree from private owners in 1939 to create the Wye Oak State Park.  Then, in 1941, when the white oak was designated as the Maryland State Tree, the Wye Oak became the honorary state tree.

Why Plant a Wye Oak? 

1.  The White Oak is Maryland's state tree.
2.  The Wye Oak is a piece of Maryland history.
3.  Three-year old seedlings, approximately fifteen inches tall and certified descendants of the Wye Oak, are available now for $35 from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.  (Limited quantity, on a first come-first serve basis.) 

A better question might be "Why NOT plant a Wye Oak?".   I don't have an answer for that one!   Click here to order your Wye Oak seedling for $35 plus shipping and sales tax.

By the way, leaves of the fallen Wye Oak were carefully collected, preserved and stored, and now they are available to purchase - covered in copper and finished with a greenish-blue or brown patina:

• A piece of jewelry - a unique pin for a coat or jacket lapel ($36-$76) or earrings ($36)
• Mounted on a slate tile for use in your home ($64)
• An ornament. ($28-$38)

Adopting a leaf will help support the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.  Click here to place an order.

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Relocating to the Baltimore-Washington area?  Check out Your Relocation Package for Anne Arundel County, Maryland.

Find a Home and learn about Real Estate Market Conditions in Odenton and Anne Arundel County, Maryland.  Check out Today's Rates, use the free Mortgage Calculator, and watch a brief video about the Power of RE/MAX.  These consumer-friendly real estate tools are provided by Margaret Woda for you to use at your own pace. 

When you're ready to go from "just browsing" to "let's get serious", contact Margaret online or call her at RE/MAX Vision in Crofton Maryland. 410-451-1900 

 Prepared especially for FocusOnCrofton.com and Localism.com

Larry and I took our grandchildren, Megan and Matthew, to the Fall Festival at Homestead Gardens in Davisonville on a windy and chilly October day last year.  With that memory fresh in mind, it almost caught me by surprise to see the big tent set up and this year's Fall Festival already in progress, when I stopped by to get some mums on a sunny 90 degree day in early October.

If the Fall Festival is not on your calendar yet, believe me, you should make room for it!  Homestead Gardens is the place to be during weekends in fall, with live music, games, food, rides, and activities for everyone - including scarecrow-building workshops, a pumpkin-decorating tent, wood-carving demonstrations, and more.  

I think Matthew liked the maze, built from bales of hay, better than anything else last year, in spite of falling on his face in the mud.  Megan was fascinated by the animals - especially the goat, at about her eye level.  Both kids enjoyed decorating pumpkins, and the four of us combined a few minutes of rest with a hay ride around the property.  The kids even had fun jumping off the bale of hay while we waited in line. 

Here is the calendar of special events, but there are things to do and see all week long: 

October 6 and 7

• 11am- 3pm Anne Arundel County SPCA Meet & Grr-eet
• 11am-4pm Games Food & Fun!
• 11am Family Event: Build your own scarecrow- HG will provide faces and straw, you will bring old clothes to dress him. Fee $10 Garden Club $9. Class is limited, pre register with customer service.  Call (410)798-5000. 
• 12-3pm Live music with Sparks & Raymond
• 2pm Family Event: Build your own scarecrow

October 13 and 14

• 11am-4pm Games Food & Fun!
• 11-4pm Chesapeake Wood turners Demonstration
• 1-3pm Live omm-pagh music with Incidental Brass

October 20 and 21

• 11am-4pm Games Food & Fun!
• 11:30am-1:30pm Live music with Annapolis Bluegrass Coalition
• 1-3pm DNR "Scales & Tails" Display

October 27 and 28

• 11am-4pm Games Food & Fun!
• 11am "Turtle Talk" Meet several species of live turtles and learn about their special adaptations with the Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center
• 1-3pm Live music with The Boonetown Stompers Dixieland Band

If you're worried about small children decorating pumpkins, have no fear - there will be no carving of Jack-o-Lanterns!  Homestead Gardens provides pumpkins, markers and kettles full of stick-on decorations.  It's perfectly safe, but I wouldn't just drop off the kids and go shopping.  It's such a great memory-making opportunity to share!

Of course, you can't visit Homestead Gardens without getting some mums and a pumpkin to take home.  But you'll also find some colorful gourds for making fall arrangements and got a sneak peak at the fabulous holiday displays under construction.

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Relocating to the Baltimore-Washington area?  Check out Your Relocation Package for Anne Arundel County, Maryland.

Find a Home and learn about Real Estate Market Conditions in Odenton and Anne Arundel County, Maryland.  Check out Today's Rates, use the free Mortgage Calculator, and watch a brief video about the Power of RE/MAX.  These consumer-friendly real estate tools are provided by Margaret Woda for you to use at your own pace. 

When you're ready to go from "just browsing" to "let's get serious", contact Margaret online or call her at RE/MAX Vision in Crofton Maryland. 410-451-1900 

Finally, three weeks after getting together with Karen Anne Stone during my trip to Texas, here is a photo of the occasion.  We won't be winning any beauty pageant crowns with this photo, but what's REALLY important here is the camaraderie developed through ActiveRain and person-to-person connections all over this country.  

When I found out I would be in the DFW area for over a week, I looked up Karen Anne's contact info at RE/MAX Associates Realty and invited her to meet me for dinner.  She quickly accepted the invite and we met at Salt Lick, a steak house franchise in Arlington, not far from Dallas and Fort Worth. 

Even though I have exchanged ActiveRain comments with a few other DFW area agents and meme'd two of them in the hopes of getting to know them... and even though I have sent referrals to two pre-ActiveRain agents in the area this year,... and even though there are countless DFW area agents with whom I've exchanged business cards at several RE/MAX Conventions... Karen Anne is the first and only person I thought to contact.  Why?  Because I know and like her, thanks to ActiveRain.

It seems like we've been exchanging comments for months, but then I looked it up.  Her first ActiveRain post was August 24, and our dinner was less than a month later.  So what's the difference between her and all those other agents... why did I "click" with Karen Anne online and want to meet her?  The answer has to be quality of content in our exchange of comments and a consistent effort to keep in touch after our first exchange of comments.  Our meeting was just as expected - warm and friendly, like two old friends getting together to talk about real estate and family.

So the next time a non-believer tells you that all this time spent on ActiveRain is a distraction and a waste, just tell them that you're building relationships that are important to your business - because you are - and important personally.  I'm turning lemons into lemonade, replacing that lost synergy in my office (because everyone works at home now) with new friends around the country, like Karen Anne Stone.  

You could call this a Match Made in Texas - or a Friend Made on ActiveRain- or just another ActiveRain Gathering.

P.S.  Be sure to read Brian Block's post about Meeting Some of the Lovely Ladies of Blogging, another "match-up" of ActiveRain agents that I had the pleasure to join last month.  My new goal?  Meet one new ActiveRainer in person every month.  (If you're in Pinehurst, N.C., I'll be there for Thanksgiving weekend, so give me a call.)

Check out my new "outside" blog:  FocusOnCrofton.com

That may sound like a silly question, but the annual Fright Fest during October at Six Flags in nearby Mitchellville is all about fear - fear of diabolical roller coasters, haunted mazes, costumed ghouls, live cockroaches, the Coffin of Fear and more.

It's fun, too - the ecstasy of "surviving" all of the above, the energy of the season, and amazement at the fabulous sights, sounds and costumes.

I'm betting that most kids (of the PG-13 variety) would choose the Fun and Fear of Six Flags from now through October 28 over trick-or-treating with the little kids in their local neighborhoods.

Six Flags suggests that you enjoy Fright Fest five different ways: 

1.  Thrills by Day- Your kids can go trick-or-treating in a safe and exciting environment in the Looney Tunes Spooky Town, or enjoy a not-too-spooky Hay Ride.  Looney Tune characters will be in the Pumpkin Patch for photos and dancing along to the Monster Mash Bash.

2.  Chills by Night- As the sun goes down, ghouls, ghosts, spirits, monsters and phantoms come out all over the park.  Experience the fun and fear of the Firghttorium Haunted House and the Haunted Wild West Stunt Show.

3.  Haunted Rides - The rides at Six Flags are transformed into haunted motion machines in the spooky shadows of the night during Fright Fest.  

4.  Wheel of Fright -Last year, kids "enjoyed" the opportunity to eat a live Madagascar hissing cockroach and get front-of-the-line access.  This year's guests can spin the Wheel of Fright for a chance to win front-of-line access when the wheel lands on cockroaches, wax worms, crickets, night-crawlers, Rocky Mountain oysters and hot Habenero peppers.

5.  Coffin of Fear - Each "guest" will lie in a coffin filled with meal worms, and must remain in the coffin for at least one minute to receive a prize.  Oh my!

If you're reading this, you are probably an adult... and you may share my feelings that this fear doesn't sound much like fun.  But I'm betting your adolescent and teenage kids will! 

Six Flags is located in Mitchellville, Maryland, about 10 miles south and 15 minutes from Crofton.  During Fright Fest, you will get a fourth ticket free, when you buy three tickets online.

Photos courtesy of Six Flags

Information posted to Localism.com and FocusOnCrofton.com

LINKS:

• Six Flags Fright Fest
• Buy Discounted Tickets Online
• Six Flags America, Mitchellville

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Relocating to the Baltimore-Washington area?  Check out Your Relocation Package for Anne Arundel County, Maryland.

Find a Home and learn about Real Estate Market Conditions in Odenton and Anne Arundel County, Maryland.  Check out Today's Rates, use the free Mortgage Calculator, and watch a brief video about the Power of RE/MAX.  These consumer-friendly real estate tools are provided by Margaret Woda for you to use at your own pace. 

When you're ready to go from "just browsing" to "let's get serious", contact Margaret online or call her at RE/MAX Vision in Crofton Maryland. 410-451-1900 

Have you been wondering how other ActiveRainers come up with all these custom graphics for their blogs?

Take, for example, the Calendar posted on my "outside" blog, the Business Plan graphic on one of my ActiveRain blogs this weekend, or the book and sign-carrying dog on my 12 Key Questions for All Home Sellers blog a few weeks ago.  Be sure to click on these three links before you continue, so you can see examples of what this blog is about.

Well, the book and sign-carrying dog were created using a free and easy website I learned about on ActiveRain, called ImageChef.  But here is my easy 10-step recipe for the other custom graphics: 

Secret Ingredients:

• MS Publisher
• MS Paint
• Shrink Pictures or Irfanview (or Picnik, per Julie Neering in the comments below)

Magic Formula:

1. In MS Pub, create your document or graphic
2. IF your MS Pub document or graphic has 2 or more elements, such as clipart and a text box, group them as follows:  (1) Click on Edit and Select All, (2) Cllick on Arrange and Group. Now all your elements are combined into one image
3. In MS Pub, click on Edit, Select All, and Copy
4. In MS Paint, click on Flie and New 
5. In MS Paint, click on Edit and Paste
6. In MS Paint, click on Image and Crop
7. In MS Paint, click on File and Save As
8. Choose the picture file on your computer where you want to save this (I created a new folder called "Custom Clipart") and save it there.
9. In Internet Explorer, open Shrink Pictures or Irfanview and follow directions to size your new graphic image
10. In ActiveRain, insert your new custom graphic image using the same tool you use to insert photos

Thanks to Brian Block, I learned that you can follow a similar recipe after you create a graph or chart in Excel (instead of a document or graphic in MS Pub).  I had been suffering from "graph envy" for months, and he showed me that the process was super-easy.  Be sure to check it out!

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Thinking of selling your home in Anne Arundel or Prince George's County?  Check out some of the tools I provide for buyers because they could help attract a buyer for YOUR home:

Buyers, Find a Home and learn about Real Estate Market Conditions in Maryland; Check out Today's Rates, use the free Mortgage Calculator, and watch a brief video about the Power of RE/MAX.  These consumer-friendly real estate tools are provided by Margaret Woda for you to use at your own pace. 

When you're ready to go from "just browsing" to "let's get serious", contact Margaret online or call her at RE/MAX Vision in Crofton Maryland. 410-451-1900 

With so many trees in some areas of Anne Arundel County, you may be wondering what to do with all those leaves when they start to fall.  My first word of advice would be to mulch them with your lawn mower, when there are only a few.  But there will come a time when you and your family are likely to spend some quality family time together raking your yard. 

Leaf pick-up in Anne Arundel County occurs on your regular re-cycling day, assuming you have Anne Arundel County trash pick-up.  Some condo or home-owner associations may have private trash and recycling contractors, however, and you should rely on your association newsletter for information about leaf pick-up.

Guidelines for all yard waste in Anne Arundel County are the same for leaves, grass clippings, garden waste and brush such as twigs, prunings, and small branches:

• Use a 32-gallon or smaller trash bag and mark it with a large "X" so it will be visible to the collectors.
• Tie bags, rather than closing them with wire or metal ties.
• Do not mix trash with yard waste.
• Collect leaves no more than a few days prior to collection, to avoid odors.
• Cut branches less than 4 inches diameter to lengths of 4 ft. or less, and bundle with twine.
• Limit the weight of bags or bundles to 40 pounds maximum.
• There is no limit to the number of bags or bundles of yard waste you can put out for collection.  

Your kids or grandchildren will be more eager to help with the leaves if you offer them the opportunity to play in the leaves after certain milestones are reached.  With my children (and now my grandkids) I always used 5 bags as the incentive for some fun leaf-throwing or leaf pile-jumping.  The little mess it makes is well worth the raking and bagging help from these eager volunteers, and they will be more than happy to help you bag those leaves when they are finished playing.  We made some good memories for them and me, thanks to all the trees and leaves in our Crofton yard.