A holiday breakfast feast in the Grand Ballroom will incude freshly cooked waffles and omlettes at stations and you can spy on Santa to see what he likes best from the buffet of scrambled eggs and blintzes, fresh fruit and juices. The cost is $16.95 for good little boys and girls 12 and under and $21.95 for parents.

Reservations are recommended and you can call 281-364-6323 to save a spot.

The run is for serious runners as well as general exercise enthusiasts and visiting kids and grandparents who just want an excuse to get out and stretch their legs before they sit down to a big Thanksgiving dinner. You might even feel a little less guilt about having the second helping of dressing!

The activities start at The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavillion at about 7:30 a.m. Thursday and there are events for kids and teens, as well as the 5 miles run. Last year there were over 4,000 folks who participated to help raise $100,000.

The entry fee is $25 to $30 on race day, depending on which event you want to participate in. No pets are allowed on the course, no rollerblades, jogging strollers or bicycles on the race course, but wagons and strollers are welcomed on the walk course.

So, plan a little ahead, do some of your prep work early and head out to the Run in the Woods this Thanksgiving to help several worthy local programs and get your metabolism revved up for that fabulous feast!

In addition to reducing their impact on the environment, lower utility bills are an added incentive for new home buyers to watch your energy consumption and assesss your ‘carbon footprint.’

Many of the builders here are part of the Energy Star program in conjunction with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy. There is a website www.energystar.gov that is full of ideas on how to make choices that are more energy efficient. Lighting, appliances and electronics are just a few of the things addressed on the site along with a way to use previous energy bills to analyze a home’s energy consumption and get ways to improve it. There is also an opportunity to hire an Energy-Star certified contractor to come out and do an on-site evaluation of your current usage and give you a personalized plan to lower your rate of usage.

Those folks who are really into the ‘green’ movement can actually access The Nature Conservancy’s website, http://www.nature.org/initiatives/climatechange/calculator/ and fill out information that will calculate your ‘carbon footprint’ and takes into account such things as travel, food choices, commute time, and other variables that will give you a good snapshot of your family’s impact on the environment.

But for those of you who are interested in what’s going on on a national scale here’s the scoop:

The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $230,100 in June, up 0.3 percent from June 2006 when the median was $229,300. The median existing single-family home price was $230,300 in June, up 0.1 percent from a year ago.

Regionally, existing-home sales in the South eased by 1.7 percent to an annual sales rate of 2.26 million in June, and are 11.4 percent below a year ago. The median price in the South was $190,800, up 0.7 percent from June 2006.

Existing-home sales in the Midwest declined 2.8 percent in June to a level of 1.37 million, and are 8.1 percent below June 2006. Existing-home sales in the West dropped 6.8 percent in June to an annual pace of 1.10 million, and are 19.1 percent below a year ago. The median price in the West was $340,000, down 0.4 percent from June 2006.

Existing-home sales in the Northeast fell 7.3 percent to a level of 1.01 million in June, and are 7.3 percent lower than June 2006.

This is a great time to buy your real estate in The Woodlands.

The Village of Creekside Park will be releasing 35 lots on the south side of the creek with some of these being waterfront lots. This is scheduled for 2008.

The YMCA Trail Run is a charity event benefiting the Leap of Faith program. Leap of Faith is an Equine Assisted Therapy Program dedicated to serving riders with disabilities and is located at the Conroe Family YMCA Equestrian Center. Our horses, therapists and volunteers provide physical, mental and social therapies that help our riders expand their range of their abilities and encourage them to “pick up the reins of life.” The program is subsidized through the YMCA Partners program and is available at no charge to families living in Montgomery County and surrounding communities.

The Village of Sterling Ridge where the last of the new home construction is underway will be completely built out by the end of summer according to some of the new home salespeople I work with on a regular basis.

Village Builders, DR Horton, Chesmar and Darling are already planning their move to the newest (and last) village in The Woodlands, Creekside Park. Although the grand opening of Creekside Park was slated for next month by The Woodlands Development Company, the large amount of rain and bad weather we’ve had over the last few months has put them behind schedule. I think they will still have the opening ceremony, but my sources tells me that they are way behind schedule on getting the infrastructure in so that the builders can come in and start selling lots.

As soon as I have definite info on the Grand Opening of Creekside Park in The Woodlands I’ll post it here.