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Friday, September 11, 2009
The Adventure Called Life-Continued IV
When I started this project/travelogue I thought how easy it would be. Just right about each day and do one day after another. It is now September 11th and I am on day three which is August 3, 2009. Oh well, I will eventually get it done and try very hard not to bore you all to death.
  This was a day I had really been looking forward to because we were having Hungarian Goulash (the real stuff) prepared by Zsuzsa's brother Ferenc. He and his wife own several farms and raise and race some of the world's most beautiful horses. They are huge animals and great fun as long as I am on the ground looking up and not sitting on one! They remind me of Clydesdales without the big feet. They have three grown children. The youngest girl is married and teaches riding, the oldest girl is a school teacher and their son assists with the farms and horses and also races. One of his ambitions is to bring the horses, a carriage/surrey/wagon (sp? I'm just not sure what you call them) to the U.S. for a race. This just might take him awhile since I would imagine this would be very expensive. The picture to the left shows our lunch table outside and very, very comfortable.   After our incredible lunch, Ferenc took us for a ride in the open carriage around the town and country side. In many ways, it reminds me of Colorado particularly when we have a lot of rain and are green. By the way we have some nice ranches in Colorado too! The picture above is Zsuzsa, busy on the phone doing business just like my other two girls! After that trip we said goodbye to this very nice family and journeyed to a business that does horse shows and riding exhibitions as well as serves wonderful food. I bet you didn't know that Hungary had cowboys well before they appeared in the Old West in the United States. They dress a little differently but are excellent horsemen. It is amazing to me to see a man standing on the back of two horses and controlling five of these animals. Of course, I do have pictures and am anxious to show them to you. More tomorrow in between delivering peaches. --- Denver and Points North REALTOR® Infinity Real Estate Services # posted by Jacqui Jeffress @ 3:35 PM
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
The Adventure Called Life and Aspirations
Excuses, excuses, excuses - I have so many of them. My very intention was to write one blog a day. I missed yesterday. Today will be a short one in explanation of what happened the previous two days. No pictures for this blog! (To my English major fans, I do know the previous statement is not a full sentence).
I love the fact that I have plenty to do and I certainly do not get bored. Monday I was up early doing my mother's laundry, grocery shopping and blanching, skinning, quartering and seeding 20#'s of tomatoes. My feet and legs were tired but I will be very glad I did that this winter when I am making soups and stews. Hopefully, my family and dinner guests will be glad too. I also made six pans of brownies for the Family in Christ church dinner on Tuesday night.
Tuesday I had a 7:30 am Board meeting at the Erie Chamber of Commerce then it was home again around 11:00 (after a few errands) to start making baked ziti. I needed four 9 x 12 pans to serve 42 Broomfield Soccer Varsity and Junior Varsity players toward the end of the month. My grandson is one of the team captains at Broomfield on the Varsity Squad, and I just like to stay in touch. In the middle of boiling, mixing and wrapping up my oldest son called as he was in town from Dallas. Of course I encouraged him to come and visit. Once he got here, since he is a tall person and I am not, he agreed to put in seven new light bulbs for me. It's a good thing he came before my whole house was dark! While he was performing those chores, I finished up my ziti and got it in the freezer. I will add the receipe below as it is so easy and convenient. After all this was out of the way, he took me to lunch and paid. It is really nice to have grown children who treat you. I received good hugs and a nice visit, thank you Bobby! By the way, I am the only one who still calls him that since he is about 6'1" or 2". After Bobby left I also spent about an hour and a half cutting up vegetables for the salad for the church dinner.
Here's the receipe for ziti just in case you want to try it.
Baked Ziti 2# ziti or rigatoni 2# ricotta 2 eggs 2# mozzarella cheese grated 1# grated parmesan 2 jars sauce (or be energetic and make your own) garlic powder, basil, oregano, parsley, pepper, some salt to taste Spray Pam in a 9 x 12 pan, pour one jar of sauce in the bottom to cover (if you have a little left, save to use on top, cook the pasta al dente, in the meantime mix the ricotta and eggs till well blended, add your seasonings, add the cooked pasta while still warm, mix, add the mozzarella and blend well. Pour into your 9 x 12 pan. Top with the other jar of sauce and any that you didn't need to cover the bottom of your pan, top with the 1# of parmesan, cover with plastic wrap, then aluminum foil and freeze. It freezes very well. Set out in the morning to start to thaw, bake at 350 to 375 degrees, covered, approximately one hour till done. Add a salad and garlic bread and you have a great meal. I will try very hard to get back to the travelogue tomorrow. --- Jacqui Jeffress
Denver and Points North REALTOR®
Infinity Real Estate Services
(303) 887-4210
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Denver Real Estate, Condos, Homes for Sale
Erie, CO Real Estate, Condos, Homes for Sale
Westminster, CO Real Estate, Condos, Homes for Sale
---
# posted by Jacqui Jeffress @ 4:42 PM
Monday, September 07, 2009
The Adventure Called Life-Continued III
It occurred to me yesterday that I was leaving something very important out of my story. I forgot to tell everyone how in the world I met this wonderful Hungarian family.
Here we have Zsolt, Laci, Zoli and one American kid, my Joshua
Several years ago (I already had my International Real Estate Certification) my local Realtor Board decided to participate with a group of Hungarian real estate/developer people who wanted to visit Colorado and find out more about the opportunities here. Our groups job was to plan activites for their four day stay. We managed to keep everyone very busy with tours, parties, information (translated) and general get acquainted times.
Our visit meeting was very formal and stiff. Of course everyone was on their best behaviour! By the end of the tour, we had all become friends. In the middle of all this activity I was fortunate to establish a connection with Zsuzsa who was accompanying her husband, Laci. The interesting thing about our interaction is that she spoke very little English and I spoke no Hungarian.
 Somehow we learned about one another's children and grandchildren. She and I arranged for her oldest son Zoli to come stay with the me following summer so that he could improve his English. He was then beginning law school. We worked this all out between us and during the intervening months enlisted the help of my buddy Pete who speaks fluent Hungarian since he is one! As we raise our children and they go off to begin their adult lives a bit of a hole is left in our homes. What an opportunity for me this was! I had a young person to feed, entertain and get to know. Zoli proved to be an exceptional young man. My past clients served us well as one of them got him the chance to work with local law enforcement and another took him on a "ride around". He also went up in the mountains to observe a transaction with my son-in-law who is a real estate attorney. One of Zoli's favorite things to do was drive my Jeep so I gladly left that chore to him. One of his first comments was "could we take a few days trip to California". Since he had never been in the States he had no idea of distance. Obviously he was interested in California so I sent him to stay with my grandson for a week who was doing an internship there. They got acquainted and had a great time. It came time for him to leave and I had to re-adjust again to an empty nest.
 In the meantime, thankfully, there was another child still left, Akos. I got him the next year. He didn't stay quite as long but he also was a delight. He is in school in Switzerland for hotel and restaurant management. He loves to cook so there was a local restaurant right across from my office and he got to work in the kitchen (no salary but plenty of good food). He is a quieter young man than Zoli but warms up as he gets to know you. He was back in Colorado last year working in an internship at the Broadmoor. Here are Akos and his friend, Fanny.
There is one child left so perhaps I will get to host Zsolt in the coming years but he does have to grow up a little bit since he is just 15 now. As a consequence of all this interaction, we have kept in touch. The boys call me on Skype (sp?) and we e-mail. I got a call this past winter from Zoli explaining that his mom and Laci were sending me an airline ticket to come to Hungary and when would I like to make the trip? I was floored. The plan was a week in Hungary and a week sailing down the coast of Croatia. After I recovered from my shock, I said yes and the trip was set from August 1st to August 17th. Hence the travelogue that I am currently doing. Who says real estate doesn't pay you back and in more ways than one!
Isn't he a cute one! ---
Jacqui Jeffress
Denver and Points North REALTOR®
Infinity Real Estate Services
(303) 887-4210
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Denver Real Estate, Condos, Homes for Sale
Erie, CO Real Estate, Condos, Homes for Sale
Westminster, CO Real Estate, Condos, Homes for Sale
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# posted by Jacqui Jeffress @ 9:56 AM
Saturday, September 05, 2009
The Adventure Called Life-Continued II
I just lost all that I had written. One of these days I will know exactly how all this works and not have these inconveniences. Anyway to continue this is about Sunday, August 2, 2009 as we prepare to go to church. As my thoughts wander just a little I find myself thinking about the 20# of tomatoes I purchased on Thursday to peel, seed, cut up and freeze. I remember this is really pretty easy compared to my grandmother who had to plant the tomatoes, weed them, pick them and then can them. I'm not about to go to those lengths. Anyway, back to Sunday.
  The church was formerly a Catholic Church that the congregation purchased and totally renovated making everything very aesthic and clean looking. We later visited a Catholic Church that while beautiful was totally the opposite with all kinds of incredible decoration. I did get a picture of the steeple which I really liked. The service reminded me a great deal of my mother's Lutheran Church in Minnesota. The pastor was a novice giving one of her first sermons. She did very well and managed to look cool and calm even in heavy black robes on a very hot Sunday. Actually it wasn't too bad inside the church as the walls must be at least two feet thick. The pews have been there for awhile and are just a tad narrow for a more generous backside. I am assuming the previous congregants were a bit smaller. Josh and I found we could pretty much follow the service in the prayer book even though it was totally in Hungarian. Our Hungarian is rather sparse. At the end of the service we got to stand and tell our names and where we were from (Josh absolutely loved this part!). We weren't the only visitors that day as there was a pastor from Melbourne, Australia raised in Transylvania who was also visiting. It just goes to show you that our world is definitely getting smaller. I have had my International Real Estate Certification for a number of years because I truly believe we are rapidly becoming one world.
We did a walk around town as Josh has never been there before. I will be displaying a picture that shows a side of me I prefer not to reveal but you can see some typical streets. We stopped for glasses of lemonade and then went home to Laci's fresh fish lunch. Just in case starvation was about to set in, he made steak on the barbeque for dinner. One thing I really like about Hungary is that everyone, including the kids, sits around the table after a meal and actually Talks. After a nice visit, the boys went out for a while, and I said good night and went for a very sound sleep.---
Jacqui Jeffress
Denver and Points North REALTOR®
Infinity Real Estate Services
(303) 887-4210
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Denver Real Estate, Condos, Homes for Sale
Erie, CO Real Estate, Condos, Homes for Sale
Westminster, CO Real Estate, Condos, Homes for Sale
---
# posted by Jacqui Jeffress @ 5:14 PM
Friday, September 04, 2009
The Adventure Called Life-Continued
 Okay, I have been procrastinating! I have been back from my last adventure for 18 days now. This does not mean I won't have another adventure, I plan to have a lot of them. the one adventure that has occurred this past two hours was learning how to post a picture from my e-mail to my blog. I'm not through yet and I anticipate a few more challenges along the way.
Joshua (19 year old grandson) and I departed from DIA on July 31st and after brief stops in Chicago and London arrived in Budapest on August 1st. Yes, I was a little tired but ready to see my friends.
We were promptly gathered and off for the approximate 30 minute drive to Szentendre. Zsuzsa and Laci haven't aged a bit and the boys, Zoli, Akos and Szolt, are all brilliant, beautiful and doing very well in their chosen fields. Zoli will soon take his law exams, Akos is headed back to Switzerland for one more year in hotel and restaurant management (anyone out there looking for a bright young Hungarian who speaks English and would do a bang up job with your hotel?), and Szolt is 15 still paying chess and winning all games and is now into soccer and tennis. We got settled and unpacked and I will be showing some pictures of this beautiful home. You will see why we ate many of our at home meals right in the back yard. I also have a picture of the view from my balcony off my second floor bedroom.  Everyone then decided to eat out a the Kereskedohaz Cafe and Restaurant in the heart of Szentendre. The Kereskedohaz (don't ask me to pronouce it!) is a building constructed in the 18th and 19th centuries. The cafe/restaurant also is connected via an arched passage way to the Kovacs Margit Museum. A dream of the owners has been to offer various cultural events in the square and that dream has come to fruition. The restaurant is one of the first in Hungary to offer the special "sous-vide", a new technology which is a special, scientific method of slow heating of vacuumed-food. The food is delicious and tastes like it just came from the garden or the farm. Just as an aside, the food in Europe is wonderful. Afterward we walked off a little of "too much food". There is a great broadwalk right along the Danube. By the way, contrary to Strauss, the Danube is brown not blue. By this time, I was ready to go nighty-nite and Joshua was ready to party with the boys. And I did and they did! Labels: Adventure Called Life, Kereskedohaz Cafe and Restaurant, Switzerland, Szentendre
# posted by Jacqui Jeffress @ 2:24 PM
The Adventure Called Life
 Forgive me everyone, I am still learning how to do all this blogging, uploading, downloading, and trying to learn a whole new computer vocabulary. I just posted my title, how dumb is that. Anyway let's get to what I want to talk about. It dawned on me this morning that I too am growing up. As I was thinking about my family, I realized that my grandchildren have all of a sudden become adults. I realized this for the inane reason that two of them have acquired dogs. They are becoming family units all on their own. In fact two of my granddaughters are either becoming mothers or are mothers. So that makes me a great grandmother. Araya is almost two and exceptionally beautiful and Zoey will join us in November. It is hard to believe because I don't feel a bit different than I did when I was 30 (with the exception of a few stiffing joints). I have enrolled in a Yoga, Cardiac something class at the local Y to hopefully alleviate this condition.  My grandchildren are each unique in their own ways and of course very talented people. I am so proud of all of them. I read a sad story in the news this morning about a mother that could not let go of her son and in the process was about ready to destroy his marriage. A big part of being a mother, grandmother, great grandmother is the letting go. I realized a few years ago that I was putting all of myself either into my work or my family. I decided it was time to develop a life. I have been doing that and having a great time. I volunteer at Open Studios, an organization that develops art and artists in Boulder, I started cooking at Family in Christ Church, and volunteering at both the Erie Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club. I am even learning how to play bocce ball! Life is good, children are great, and grand children are even better. You need to love them with all your being and hold them close to your heart as you let them go to build their own life and famly. Have an incredible day and let's see if I can up load the two pictures of the newest members of our family: Penelope Ann, a labradoodle and Dexter Bebop Roos (a minature daschound). Now lets get on with this Adventure Called Life.
Jacqui JeffressDenver and Points North REALTOR® Infinity Real Estate Services (303) 887-4210 --- Denver Real Estate, Condos, Homes for SaleErie, CO Real Estate, Condos, Homes for SaleWestminster, CO Real Estate, Condos, Homes for Sale--- Labels: adults, Adventure Called Life, bocce ball, dogs, grandchildren, mothers
# posted by Jacqui Jeffress @ 12:35 PM
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