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Sunday 4/30/2006 5:28PM
I actually ate onion rings and a cheese stick for breakfast this morning. That is a healthy breakfast and a great way to start a Friday! Who says I'm in denial. I heard that.

I had a meeting with a client who is a spine surgeon down in Newbury Park yesterday. My Hungarian neighbor also met with him to show him a new patented technology he has for 3Dx-rays. Then Paul came down and we all went out to dinner in Thousand Oaks at Claim Jumper with the owners of the company Paul works for (hence the fried leftovers).

We've been working hard all week and the laundry room is once again in limbo. I haven't done laundry all week and am looking forward to this weekend when we can finish up back there. The weather has been absolutely beautiful and last weekend I FINALLY got my little 6 pak of flowers planted. I put some in the big pot near the door along with the winter survivors and the rest in the wine barrel on the back deck. I still need to test and clean out my drip lines that water the pots on the back deck and setup a drip for the front. We redid our front flower bed last year and haven't put the drip line back in. So many projects... so little time.

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Sunday 4/30/2006 5:28PM
Paul and I spend the majority of our weekend on our hands and knees crawling around on the laundry room floor. We are on our last leg of a very long journey through do-it-yourself home improvement land. As always it's been an adventure with twists and turns we never expected including an unexpected meeting with rotted flooring near a previously leaking back door, a split water heater and fun with a paper cutter.

The rotted flooring wasn't as bad as it sounds. Just a little around the back door. Paul had to cut out and replace a piece of the sub floor and we've had to level it out with a fix-it-all/latex mixture which is drying now as we speak... on the floor and on my jeans.

The water heater started dripping after we turned it of for several hours to prep and work on the floor a week or so ago. Luckily I think it was just from fact that it cooled down and contracted, because now it seems to be fine although at some point in the near future I'm sure were going to have to replace it.

The paper cutter is the best tool for cutting vinyl tile. Without it all hope of ever finishing this job would surely be lost. Being that it's a post and beam house, every vinyl tile has to be custom cut to fit around wood beams, pipes behind the washer and dryer, and other odd protruding shapes.

With only a few feet to go I am beginning to see that there is indeed an end to this seemingly endless adventure. Still to go, the cabinets I stained yesterday will need to be installed, the new sink put in, and then the best part... putting everything back in, sitting down and having a beer.

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Monday 4/24/2006 11:15AM
Ugg, it's Monday. It's too nice outside to be working. I'm trying to talk Paul into playing hooky with me and going for a drive. Maybe later this afternoon. In the meantime I've been deleting spam and not doing anything overly productive as far as work goes. I'm too restless to focus on anything complex.

Paul sold his big red flat bed trailer to my Uncle Jeff. We drove that out to them last week and got to visit with Una and chat for a while. I also finally got to see their new pool supply business that they bought about a year ago. We didn't stay long since Paul was still not feeling too well.

I had a nice weekend. Went out to the desert to see mi familia and exchange gifts for a very belated Christmas. On Sunday we finished the flooring in the pantry and I helped prep the area around the back door so Paul can put in the new sub floor there. We still have cabinets in the living room that Paul needs to sand and put the ends on so I can stain them before installing them.

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Tuesday 4/18/2006 5:23PM
I'm determined to get back on track. My energy has been so low. I've been feeling weak, tired, and on top of that re-injured my wrist. I was doing really well for a while there, exercizing just about every day, keeping a positive additude and I felt really good because of it. Then I got sick. It seems like it's been going on and on for weeks. Now, I've got to take charge and get back on top of things.

I got up around 7 this morning and went to the ranch. There are two new horses!!!!!!!!!! I love them, they are beautiful mustangs. One is a paint from a reservation and the other is a gray young horse that doesn't have much training and is a little shy. I spent some time just hanging out with them today making friends. [V] worked for me since my wrist is screwed up and I'm trying not to re-injure it again.

I'm so tired today. I took a nap for an hour this afternoon. Then I've been dealing with clients and projects on and off all day. I made the decision to exercize for about 20 minutes even though I was feeling beat. That cleared my head and I'm determined to keep it up at least 4 times a week until I get back into a more positive state. As far as smoking goes, I haven't smoked in weeks except for 2 cigarettes on Saturday night because I was feeling wacked out from xylen fumes after working on the laundry room flooring.

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Friday 4/14/2006 9:00AM
It's Friday and I'm in a pretty good mood even though I have way too many things on my calendar today and know I won't be able to get through them all. I'm thinking positive today. I'm not going to give any attention to thoughts of being stressed out today, because I know if I do then I will get even less done. Because if I do, I will just want to go back to bed and not even start working. The thought is tempting, especially on another gray day like this. Luckily I have super powers... actually no, just will power, but it's enough for me to get some stuff done so I can feel like I've at least accomplished something today. Sometimes when my 'to do' list is overwhelming it helps to write it down so I can see an actual end to the list.

Here's mine:

Filter email boxes. This entails going through about 200 messages, quickly and deleting all of the junk. Sometimes I accidentally delete legitimate emails too. oops. - done
Send star graphics to Alisen
Finish InSPAration retail sales page
Call newly referred lead
Make breakfast
Work on Coinage magazine site
SullivanGoss.com database import
AACorvette header change, add new car image - I'll probably push this to Monday, again
Take a shower, get dressed
Make lunch
Skin4you.com Order Export feature, need to check on one thing here
SK order refund for error after reboot
Send Canyon View video to editor
Start on Bill Moss's new CD
SK sub categories - involves programming and will probably get pushed to Monday.
Bill Canyon View
4 more less urgent things that keep getting pushed to the next day will get pushed to Monday.
Weed the yard so Paul can mow this weekend - tomorrow

Projects that are on my mind:

Finish laundry room floor - we put a hold on this since Paul's been sick... he's feeling a bit better today
Paint the house. I think the color we got is too light. I checked it yesterday against the new church they built in LOW. The guy there then gave me a tour of the place which is still under construction on the inside. The color we got is slightly lighter than that which is too light. I'm going to check it on one other house up here and then probably decide to take it back and have them add more tint. We can't start painting until it's dry for at least a week. Then we have to scape peeling paint... oi it's going to be a big job.
Plant the little flowers I bought at Lowes last weekend before they die in their plastic containers on the porch.
Practice my German
Ok, I'm running out of things now.
I still need to get my butt out to the desert to visit my family.
Oh yeah, I need to stain the new cabinets that are going in the laundry room. Paul glued the wood panels on the sides and they are ready to go
The end.

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Tuesday 4/11/2006 10:00PM
I'm obsessed with the band Iron and Wine. I just got five of their albums in the mail from Amazon and am waiting for one more. I've put them all on my ipod and now that I'm plugged in nothing else matters. I just want to paint and let work slide. It's good music.

It's been another gray day but everything is looking green outside. The trees are budding and I bought a few flowers to plant. We had a little frost last night but I think it's warm enough now for them to survive.

Paul's sick now. He's been working non stop since Monday.

Me and my iPod are going to wash the dishes now.

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Monday 4/10/2006 9:00AM
I feel like crap today. I think I caught a cold from Margo. I just want to sleep but I know that won't make me feel any better so I'm having coffee and have already started the daily routine of cleaning the spam out of my mail boxes.

Saturday was going to be a day off to go get some errands done but then had a couple of urgent work related things come up so I spent most of my day on the computer. Paul spent most of the day stringing cable under the house for our new T-1s, which should be up in a week or so, and a phone line to the DirecTV receiver in the end room and some other not so fun crawling-in-the-dirt kind of stuff.

I spent most of yesterday crawling around in the laundry room laying out the tiles. I had to clean out the room first then do a "dry run" to make sure the tiles would layout on all of the walls ok. I had to redo that several times before finally getting it right. Then we went down to Lowes in Bakersfield to pick up a few things. We started laying the tile out last night. We did one row across and filled in around the door. It looks really good and once you get your layout figured out the sticking down and cutting isn't so bad. We're using a paper-cutter to cut the vinyl tiles which look a lot like real stone. I draw the templates and Paul cuts them out, then I stick them in and Paul rolls them with the roller. It's kind of fun and goes pretty fast. I had to stop last night though because my calf was cramping up so much from squatting down all day.

There was a point last week when I felt perfectly balanced with work. I'd just finished my big project with Global West and only had my regular simple jobs left to complete. Then, what happens? I get requests for 4-5 estimates for new jobs. I spent most of last week writing estimates and feeling stressed out about taking on more work again. I don't know how I forgot my plan to work less and not take on more than I can handle. I completely ignored my idea to send more of this work to my helper and just did it myself. Two steps forward one step back I guess. I've put this on my self and I'm in control of how much I work, so I'm the one who has to change that.

My goal is to have more time to take care of the house, cook, and have a life that is not always in front of a computer screen. Hopefully I can really make this happen and not get so caught up in pleasing everyone next time.

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Thursday 4/6/2006 10:00AM
I really need to get to work. I just can't seem to get started. I spent at least an hour this morning practicing German and looking for online flash cards. Then I made breakfast while listening to Dr. Laura. I really don't want to work. I need a break... I know I say that too much. I should just get back to work and stop complaining and being distracted by everything. I'm just so darn stubborn. Maybe I really do just need a break. Maybe I'm just being hormonal. I've been grumpy for a couple of days and feel like I have a.d.d. Oh well, no sense dwelling I'm going to make another effort to get started here.

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Wednesday 4/5/2006 9:00AM
We got at least a foot of snow last night. Almost all within a half hour. We went out to move my car from the street into the driveway to keep out of the way of the snow plow. Paul cleared the snow from the windshield of his truck, since we had to shuffle my car behind his, then cleared it from my windows. By the time he got back to his truck it was completely solid snow again. Just trying to back down the driveway I had to get out two more times to clear the snow from the back window it was coming down so fast. All of the trees are heavy this morning and look sugar coated. I finally went out and put some seeds out for the birds. It's still snowing a little now although it could just be flakes blowing out of the trees. The sky is white-gray. The snow in the back yard was almost higher than my Ugg boots. When I came back in from feeding the birds I found balls of snow in my robe pockets. I put towels down by the front and back doors as is the ritual when there's snow.

I miss the horses. I bet they are having fun in this.

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Tuesday 4/4/2006 12:50PM
I just got dressed and took a shower for the first time since Sunday. I had a lovely pajama day yesterday. Although I was feeling a little under the weather, I got plenty of work done and practiced with my German program for almost two hours. I hurt my wrist yesterday evening and have been doing everything left handed. It doesn't really hurt to type but I can't put any major tension on it without feeling a sharp pain. I've got weak wrists, it happens sometimes. It will get better in a day or two I'm sure.

It's raining yet again. Tom wanted to work at the ranch for me today so that actually worked out very well considering my wrist and my feeling crappy lately. I just love staying inside when it's gray out. It feels so cozy. Paul's here too working away so I get to go hug him every half hour or so. All things considered, life is good.

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Sunday 4/2/2006 8:45AM
The light at the end of the weekend

I'm back in the world of the living. I was sick with an upset stomach yesterday. I'm sure it was partly due to the fact that I drank a bottle of wine with my neighbor the night before, but I think it was also something I ate. The only nice thing about it was I did absolutely nothing the whole day, except for drive Paul down to Valencia to pick up his truck.

I'm feeling a lot better today. I need to catch up on dishes, the house projects and some work on the computer today.

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