09/07/2026
๐ข๐ป ๐ฎ๐ป๐ผ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ถ๐๐ผ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ผ๐๐ซ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐ช๐ง๐๐จ ๐๐ฃ ๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ฉโฆ ๐๐ก
Today was another first.
After almost 10 years in real estate, I can now officially say that ๐ ๐๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ง๐๐๐๐ก ๐ ๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ฅ๐ง ๐ข๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐๐ก๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ฆ๐ง๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐ข๐๐ก๐ง๐ ๐๐ก๐ง.
And yes, the seller took hers off too. ๐
Let me explain.
Today I was meeting with the most fantastic senior woman who is preparing for her next season of life and moving into a home that will be easier for her to age in place. She was happily walking me around her roughly third-acre property that she has lovingly renovated and improved for more than 20 years.
๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ต๐ผ๐๐๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ข๐ข๐.
At one point, we walked through the sunroom addition and out onto this massive composite deck she had built across the back of the house.
As I'm admiring this huge party deck, she's explaining that she also had custom composite benches built into it. The seats lift up so she can store things inside during the winter.
So she's moving things out of the way to show me.
She lifts the lid.
At this particular moment, I'm taking in the deck and not really paying attention to what she's doing.
As she's saying, โSee how you can put things inโโ
I turn around.
And there, attached to the ๐๐ก๐ฆ๐๐๐ ๐ข๐ ๐ง๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ ๐๐ฆ ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ก๐ง๐๐ฌ ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐ก๐ ๐ข๐ฃ๐๐ก, is an absolutely ๐๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐ ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ hornet's nest.
๐ณ
I grab her shoulder.
โCarrie. Look left. Let's slowlyโโ
She looks.
She sees it.
And at that exact moment, the yellow jackets start pouring out.
Carrie understandably panics.
๐ฆ๐๐๐ .
Down goes the lid.
And apparently the yellow jackets took that personally.
Suddenly, we are standing in what can only be described as a ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐๐๐ก๐ ๐ข๐ ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐๐ข๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐๐๐๐ข๐ช ๐๐๐๐๐๐ง๐ฆ.
We're getting stung. I'm trying to get Carrie out of there.
โ๐๐๐ง'๐ฆ ๐๐ข ๐๐ก๐ฆ๐๐๐!โ
She makes it back through the sunroom doors.
I do not.
By this point, the nest is so stirred up that there is absolutely no way I'm running back through that swarmโand I'm already getting stung.
Then I realize something significantly worse:
๐ง๐๐๐ฌ ๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ก๐ฆ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ฅ๐ง.
So I take off running around the side of the house.
And I will readily admit that for one brief moment, I considered ripping my shirt off right there in the yard.
Then I remembered something important.
There was a ๐ญ๐ฐ-๐ฌ๐๐๐ฅ-๐ข๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ฌ cleaning Carrie's windows that day.
And every blind in this mostly empty house was wide open.
So as I come flying past poor Josh like a woman being chased by demons, I yell:
โ๐๐ข๐ฆ๐! ๐ช๐ ๐๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐จ๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก! ๐ ๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ฅ๐ง ๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ง๐ข ๐๐ข๐ ๐ ๐ข๐๐! ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ'๐ฉ๐ ๐๐๐๐ก ๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ก๐๐!โ
Because the only thing worse than being attacked by yellow jackets is traumatizing an unsuspecting teenage boy who looks through a window and sees two women suddenly ripping their clothes off during a real estate appointment.
I finally make it through the front door.
Phone: tossed.
Glasses: tossed.
Shirt: ๐ข๐๐.
Carrie's shirt comes off too.
So now we're standing in her mostly empty house in our bras, inspecting each other's backs, shoulders and arms, trying to figure out whether we still have any yellow jackets trapped in our clothing or crawling around on us.
Once we establish that the immediate insect threat has passed, we have another problem:
๐ช๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ก ๐ฃ๐๐๐ก.
We've both clearly been stung multiple times.
Now, keep in mind, this house is mostly empty. There aren't exactly a lot of first-aid options available to two half-naked women whose adrenaline is currently through the roof.
Carrie announces that when she was growing up in Texas, they used ๐๐๐๐๐๐ on red-ant bites.
And she has bleach.
At this point, I'm standing shirtless in a client's kitchen after being attacked by a swarm of yellow jackets, so apparently my standards for evidence-based medicine have temporarily dropped considerably.
โ๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ธ. ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐บ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต.โ
And THAT is how I found myself standing in a seller's kitchen, in my bra, with every window treatment in the house wide open, holding paper towels and bleach while Carrie and I ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ผ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ'๐ ๐๐ฒ๐น๐น๐ผ๐-๐ท๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐.
And somewhere in the middle of this absolute insanity, I just started laughing. Then she started laughing. What a sight we must have been!
Because you cannot make this stuff up.
I've seen a LOT in almost 10 years of real estate.
I've crawled through questionable basements and dealt with inspection disasters, bizarre repairs, unexpected animals and transactions that seemed determined to go off the rails.
But I've also walked alongside people through just about every season of life.
I've helped families find homes where multiple generations could live under one roof. I've helped longtime homeowners leave houses they loved when it was time to move somewhere that better fit the next chapter of their lives. I've sat with sellers sorting through decades of memories as they prepared to downsize. I've helped families sell a beloved parent's or family member's home after losing them. I've worked with people through marriages, divorces, growing families, empty nests, job changes, military moves, retirement and all the complicated life circumstances that somehow end up wrapped into the sale of a house.
Real estate puts you in people's lives during some of their biggest transitions, and over the years I've found myself in plenty of situations I never could have imagined when I got my license.
But neverโ๐ก๐๐ฉ๐๐ฅโhave I stripped down to my bra with a seller in her kitchen and treated yellow-jacket stings on each other's bodies during a listing appointment.
Until today.
Another box checked that I did not know existed. โ
๐
And for the record?
We eventually put our shirts back onโฆ
๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ก๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ ๐ง๐๐ ๐๐๐ฆ๐ง๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐ข๐๐ก๐ง๐ ๐๐ก๐ง.
Because, apparently, that's what professionals do. ๐๐ก
But wait. There's more.
After it was all said and done, I discovered one final bonus:
๐ ๐๐๐ฉ๐ ๐๐ก ๐๐จ๐๐๐ข ๐ฅ๐๐๐ข๐ฅ๐๐๐ก๐ ๐ข๐ ๐ง๐๐ ๐ช๐๐ข๐๐ ๐ง๐๐๐ก๐. ๐๐๐
I like to record audio notes while I'm walking through a property so I don't forget important details about renovations, improvements, things I need to research, etc.
And guess what happened to be recording throughout this entire ridiculous event?
Yep.
Somewhere in my real estate files now exists an audio recording that starts out as perfectly normal property notes and then devolves into two women being attacked by yellow jackets, running for their lives, ripping their shirts off and discussing the merits of bleach as emergency sting treatment.
You know. ๐๐บ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐น๐ถ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ถ๐ป๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป. ๐
So now I'm home.
I'm doped up on allergy meds and Advil, I've located some hydrocortisone, and I'm mentally preparing to occupy my couch in the ๐๐ข๐ข๐ฆ๐๐ฆ๐ง-๐๐๐ง๐ง๐๐ก๐ ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฆ ๐ ๐ข๐ช๐ก for the remainder of the day.
I think I've real-estated enough this Labor Day. ๐
