Meet Financial Planner Tana Gildae | Parkbench.com

Meet Financial Planner Tana Gildae | Parkbench.com: TANA, CAN YOU DESCRIBE FOR OUR SUBSCRIBERS WHAT YOU AND YOUR FIRM DO FOR YOUR CLIENTS?We serve as a...

PANACEA Plumbing in Crabapple, meet the Owner | Master Plumber John White | Parkbench.com

PANACEA Plumbing in Crabapple, meet the Owner | Master Plumber John White | Parkbench.com: Summary With years of experience in the plumbing trade, we provide workmanship and innovation whethe...

Seva6 in Cumming, meet the Founder/Owner/CEO Celia Cortes | Parkbench.com

Seva6 in Cumming, meet the Founder/Owner/CEO Celia Cortes | Parkbench.com: CELIA, LET'S START WITH THE NAME OF YOUR COMPANY, SEVA6. WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

'Seva' mean...

Meet author Gail Heller | Parkbench.com

Meet author Gail Heller | Parkbench.com: Summary I first met Gail Heller at the Alpharetta Farmers Market where she was promoting her books....

What is The Resale Value of My Home Remodeling Project This Year?

Are you wondering what the resale value of your Home Remodeling Project is? Here are some of the surprising winners in the Remodeling 2014 Cost vs. Value Report, www.costvsvalue.com, for the Metro Atlanta Area for mid-range homes.
At number one is the replacement of the Entry Door with a steel unit--a whooping 141.8% in resale value. Replacing your Entry Door with fiberglass unit will recoup you 99.0%, which ranks number three on the project type list.

In second place at 116.8% resale value is the addition of a Wood Deck.
The replacement of your Garage Door ranks fourth with recouped cost of 94.0%.
For all of you curious about the resale value of kitchens, here are the numbers: a major Kitchen Remodel returns 74.9 cents on the dollar and a minor Kitchen Remodel 64.7l.
Interesting Fact: Due to the changing weather patterns, installing a Backup Power Generator will recoup your cost at 84.8%.
And don't forget--a good view is priceless.

If you have a project in mind and would like to know what to expect in resale value, or are interested in how the numbers stack up for upscale homes, please give me a call or email me.

Roswell Reads Luncheon

Once again it is time to fling the camera over my shoulder and take pictures to feed our ever hungry website, www.1MetroPlace.com, but my camera is broken, so words must suffice.

Today, my destination is the annual Roswell Reads Luncheon. Heidi, my neighbor and book club buddy, started the tradition of attending the event five years ago. If you are new to Roswell or have been procrastinating, don’t delay any longer, join the crowd next year. Buy your tickets early because they sell out in the first week. The Roswell Reads Luncheon is organized by the Roswell Public Library and in the current frenzy of cutting intelligent programs due to shrinking city budgets your dollar can hardly find a better job.

This year, Roswell Reads’ pick is Sweeping Up Glass by Carolyn Wall. I must say this relatively small book, some 300+ pages cost me two sleepless nights, but no hangovers.  I like exacting words, and short chapters.  I think the best works of fiction are local. Well, you may argue, Isaac Asimov wrote the greatest science fiction novels about times and places no one had been before, so how does local work for him? His local was science and humans and he knew both; he knew the drudgery to discovery, the stumbles before triumphs, he knew the language of science and humans. To me that’s local, and so is Carolyn Wall.Like a scientific experiment, Sweeping Up Glass screams a simple truth: when all else is equal, race and color don't matter.

I connect with the author on many levels. If I were a writer, I would be like her — a sponge of unfiltered life. No kidding, this woman seems to instinctively imbibe her surroundings with such precision, accuracy and immediacy that, like an oracle, her visions of the future are a natural outcome.

Surprisingly, her speech at this luncheon is more appropriate for a writing workshop; she assumes most every woman in the hall is an aspiring writer -- except for Roswell Mayor, Jerre Wood, and Carolyn Wall’s thirteen year old grandson, everyone present is of the female variety. Clairvoyant she is indeed! A wave of hope seems to turn on the light in many pairs of eyes in the hall. Maybe, just maybe, they will make it as a published author one day.   And then, Carolyn Wall offers another unexpected revelation to the audience — she doesn’t remember the names of all her characters and all the situations they get into. My book club members are confused, uncertain of what to make of it. I, on the other hand, am relieved. This is exactly how I would be, if I were a writer.

Carolyn Wall and me, Curtsey of my friend Sally

I would give birth to a story,  just  like birthing a baby,  and a few years down the road,  when the story is all grown up and told in the right words and can stand on its own, I would forget the exact details of rearing it up; I would make room for my future offspring.  Very little of what Carolyn Wall says about Sweeping Up Glass seems rehearsed, which may be the best indication for what hard work looks like when it’s over.

72 Sloan St

 I like to walk whenever I can, without a phone, to look around, take in the views and see what bloomed and what wilted and what transformed, and still the changes with my camera whenever possible. If you too would like to walk to the Roswell Adult Recreation Center, at 830 Grimes Bridge Rd, for the next Roswell Reads Luncheon, here are the three most and least expensive homes for sale within a mile radius.

1018 Taiman Dr

1069 Merrivale Chase

364 Norcross St

10175 Sway Branch Dr

329 Cestview Cir

Meditating Mantis

 It is  once gain time to take the camera and shoot the pictures that feed our hungry website, www.OneMetroPlace.com; the topic is Meditating Mantis in downtown Roswell. 

 At one of my book club meetings, I mentioned Meditating Mantis and to my complete surprise, the response was:  “?”. I took that question mark to heart all the way to 1025 Canton Street  where a small dreamy shop with the soothing name Meditating Mantis specializes in restoring the idea that feeling happy in one’s own skin comforts the Universe. 

 

Years ago, Connie Taylor, owner of Meditating Mantis, had a boxer, Gracie, with severe medical issues. When Gracie could not be left alone at home anymore, Connie started thinking of a job where she and Gracie could be together throughout the day. Soon she took out all her savings and opened Meditating Mantis. For a month and a half after that, she and Gracie were inseparable; then Gracie passed away.

Now, there is Xander, the Velcro dog as Connie refers to him, who is always a foot away from her

and Mojo, who lies in the hallway and amicably sniffs out the mood of visitors.

The name, Meditating Mantis, goes back to Connie’s childhood.

“Whenever I walked outside the house, Praying Mantises would perch on my hair, shoulders, arms, hands,” Connie recalls.  “So when I opened the shop, the name was a no brainer, the praying mantis turned into a meditating one. The line between prayer and meditation is a thin one. You know, I haven’t seen a Praying Mantis since I opened the shop. A dove perched on a chair on the front porch the other day, and left me a few feathers to give to my staff, but not a meditating mantis. ”

“When did you learn how to use energy to heal?”

“I never not knew how to do it. It’s in my blood. Great grandpa was a medicine man, or a botanist as grandma called him. I never met him, but grandma passed down to me all she had learned from great grandfather, so I got to learn early on the healing power of plants and positive energy.

Connie is a descendant of Chidcha, the largest Indian tribe in Columbia.

 Her mom passed away when Connie was seven, so either grandma flew in from Columbia to help with the upbringing of the kids, or dad flew them to grandma.

“For years, I was an X-ray technician and a closeted energy healer. I was afraid people would stone me if they found out. I still get disturbing little notes in the mailbox accusing me of doing the devil’s work, but I have helped many people.  I try to educate people of the delicate balance in nature. I try to show them that the spirit resides everywhere.”

Ah, the spirit--that mysterious elusive which colors the aura and, as is often the case in nature, paradoxically delineates and unites us. 

“My grandma used to ask, if you could unzip your skin from head to toe and step out of it, who would you introduce your inner self to?”

A good question stops my heartbeat. I need to get out and think.  If I could unzip my skin from head to toe and step out of it, who would I introduce my inner self to?

I hug Connie, thank her for her time and kindness, skirt around Mojo in the hallway and step out of the shop. For months, no matter what I do, I ask myself, if I could unzip my skin from head to toe and step out of it, who would I introduce my inner self to?

It wasn’t just that real estate was hectic in August, and September was travel time, and October and November just couldn't wait to be over that I couldn’t write this post. I had a question to answer first.

Last week, my friend’s car broke down and I drove her to work early in the morning. On the way back I had the sudden urge to go back to Meditating Mantis. I had been thinking about Gracie, wondering if she was a white boxer, as if it really mattered. I exited 285 to north on Roswell Rd and 15 minutes later pulled in the back of the shop. It was early and quiet. I walked to the meditating garden and sat down.

I took off my shoes and walked around; at Meditating Mantis, it’s okay to walk barefoot and leave footprints. At Meditating Mantis, inner space is abundant.

You can wiggle your aura, and let your energy travel unobstructed.

I must have been there for some time when a car pulled next to mine. It was Connie, Xander and Mojo, coming to work.

“The blog lady,” Connie smiled.
“Yes. I had to come back.”

I watched Xander and Mojo.

“Was Gracie white?”

“Yes, funny that you would ask that.”
“She’s been around lately?”
“Yes, yes.” Connie was quiet for a few seconds.
“I have to go now,” I said, “back to my daytime job in real estate.”

We hugged.  I had found my answer.

 If I could unzip my skin from head to toe and step out of it, I would reintroduce my inner self to MY dog, Luke SkyWalker.

I have to drive to Meditating Mantis, but if you would rather walk to it, here are the three most and least expensive homes within a mile of the shop.