I am rocking now

Yesterday was my friend, Mary's birthday. I was really excited to see her for her birthday. I know she has mentioned Metalsome Monday in her blog before, so I was pretty darn happy that I was going to have a chance to check it out for myself. This is not child's play. We have been to places like Val's where anyone can get up there and sing a song, but that does not seem to be the case here at 10 High. Everyone that got up on stage is part of a local band. I have a professional organization like URISA to network in, these guys have Metalsome Monday at 10 High. And the band! My gosh!!! They can play anything from Prince to Pantara. And they sound so much like the real thing. I am amazed!!!

So, I got the chance to buy my girl a beer for her birthday and stay out way too late, as I did as much destruction to my eardrum as I dare for one evening. I think I will have to go back. I think next time I will make sure that I streak my hair blue and purple and maybe get a tattoo. I guess the phrase really is true, "Dress for success."

In a Hurry

It feels like fall came over night. A week ago, I was sweating like a pack mule when I was doing yard work and wearing as little clothing as possible. Sunday afternoon I was dreaming of crisp fall leaves and getting excited about going to my first outdoor football game of the season. I am amazed, yet I am so excited. I will be wearing sweat shirts soon and warm coats. I will wrap up in my favorite scarves and hats, pull on my gloves and turn my back to the winter wind. I can not wait!!!!

For some reason fall seems to be the most nostalgic time of the year for me. To me, fall just smells like football and bonfires. I was laying in my hammock Sunday afternoon following a really good run and I just closed my eyes and I was 17 again. I was laying in my mom's hammock looking up at the pine trees above me. Wow! Fall is amazing! I am anxiously awaiting for every leaf in our yard to fall. I want to rake them into a huge pile and chase the dog through it and then rake them again.

Full Production

I still love my job- no doubt about that. I just do not like my lack of time. Time to really work on the house, to write, read, and maybe shop. Ultra sweet hubby of mine is very kind to remind me that I have not blogged from time to time. It is always good to know that he reads it.

Last week was huge. My director and I were in Savannah for a big presentation. He decided after reviewing it again at 10 PM that he wanted to completely trash it and do it over. Bahhh!!!! I am still "the new girl" and I really did not want to get in bad with my boss, so the internal monologue, stayed exactly that- internal. At 12:30 AM a new presentation was born. I was wired and nervous and barely slept the rest of the night. It probably had something to do with the fact that my security blanket (hubby) was miles and miles away.

Fast forward to 10 AM on Thursday. My director and I met with one of the political players in this whole sorted mix and he says that he does not want us to do the presentation that we gave him a sneak preview of. I was afraid that I was going throw myself on the floor and start having a fit. Kicking and screaming like a brat who was not getting their way. A LOT of time went into that presentation. So, we broke for lunch and got our thoughts together. I could not eat much since I was really nervous now, I was going on three hours sleep and you know what lunch will do to you. So, my director and I grabbed a cup of coffee and headed back to the conference room. We made last minute notes and people started to pour in. This meeting had a happy ending though, so that made my day.

Since then, I have moved into conference mode. I just finished one and I have another one coming up next week. Lots to do. I am going to have to do better time management. Love my job, but having a life is important too. I got that now....

Doors, Floors, and Furni-chores.....

Last night I sat down with Greg and we started talking about a sixteen month plan for some things we want to do to the house. We are on a total roll right now with our house projects. We still have several interior doors to replace before we start looking for a new front door or storm doors for the back.

One thing we really want to do between now and October is get a new bedroom suite. I love our bedroom. We both have our own closet, although I do share my closet with Greg's t-shirts and shorts. We love the color that we picked, and now we just need some new furniture. What we have is good, but none of it matches and we want to get a bigger bed. I think Greg is hoping I will finally get use to my side of the bed and not roll over to his side every night. So, I know my new obsession over the next few weeks will be furniture. I can not tell you how excited I am about it right now!!!!

We are planning out our Christmas gifts to each other for this year and next year as part of this master plan. This year we plan to give each other hardwood floors in the dining room. The room is a perfect rectangle so we feel pretty confident we should be able to do that ourselves. The living room is a different story. As for Christmas next year, we are planning to give new living room furniture to ourselves then. So much for surprises, ey?

Sometime next spring we plan to have someone come in and install hardwood floors in the living room. This is going to be a much more difficult task because after the carpet is taken up, the linoleum has to be taken up and then the glue or whatever it is that is holding that ugly stuff down right now. We have a fire place so the wood has to be cut to fit around it and there are three entry ways to deal with. Not as easy as a rectangular room.

Then, there is a fan for the master bath, new light fixture for the office, and art work or something to go on the walls. The list may never end. But, as Greg said after we get through our plan for now until the end of next year, we will be broke and will not be able to do anything else to the house. We better love it then!

Wrapping up in wind and rain

Another few days of not blogging and lots to catch up on. I went to our neighbor's house on Friday afternoon when I got home from work and talked with her about our dog. She felt bad for being harsh and not telling us before that she was distressed. I felt bad that our sweet little dog was bothering her and that we looked like some young punks. All is well now, though. We chatted about gardening and even exchanged a couple of books. It was very nice.

My dear husband has become a very handy man, I must say. We hung a few more doors this weekend, did yard work, cleaned the house, rearranged the living room, bought a slip cover for the old couch in the dining room/den, and put crown molding in the guest bathroom. As busy as it was, I have to say it was fun. We have a good time working on the house together. We do not always have the same ideas on things, but there has been something fun about working on our home together. I think we have both gotten a lot of satisfaction from stepping back and seeing what we have done. I think we both feel a lot of pride in what we have done. It might sound corny, but it has seemed really special.

The weather has not been a friend to us at all though. I have not lost my home so I really have nothing to complain about, but my schedule is all messed up. That has not been as fun. I had a presentation scheduled for today, that I worked hard on this weekend. It has been rescheduled for Friday morning. Mainly by my request, because quite frankly, I do not want to end up stranded in a rental car in mountains. Just does not sound like fun to me- at all. So, Friday will be a busy day as well, but then I have the weekend to look forward to. My father-in-lay (or my other dad as I like to call him) might be coming into town. I love it when he comes to town, because we have a good time, but somehow he always ends up doing something at the house. That, I do feel bad about. He knows so much and is really good at fixing things, which I guess is where my hubby inherited the skills. I know he would like to just come visit and not have anything to do, and one of these days, he will. I will just make sure that we feed him well and stock the fridge with Diet Coke and maybe take him to a movie. At least let him know how much we appreciate his help. He really has been good to us.

Other then that, I am cranking at work. Sadly, I have not done any writing in a long time. I really miss it, too. But, life is good and it will be even better when my basement dries out.

Bad Dog! Bad!

Greg and I officially got into trouble last night with one of our neighbors. We were having dinner with a friend so we put Cassie outside so she would not jump in our laps or bother our guest while we tried to eat.

Shortly after dinner we were sitting in the den when one of our neighbors came to the door calling for, "Gregory". I knew that had to be trouble. No one even knows him as Gregory, so I just assumed that she was getting into her, "You are in big trouble" voice. We had not had a chance to say anything more than "hi", when she started on her rant. Just to add to it, Cassie had to bark while our neighbor listed off the offenses, so Greg was sweet enough to bring her in so we could hear everything our neighbor had to say.

It was pretty clear that she was not at all comfortable with coming over. She was very nervous, which I can understand. I mean, Greg and I are such scary people. I am all of 5 feet, two inches, I say hi to neighbors when I see them, try to be friendly and Greg is just as kind of a man as them come, so of course, anyone would be scared to talk to us. Right...

You know when you rehearse in your mind what you are going to say and when you finally say it, it comes out broken, you forget things and then add them completely out of order at the end. Well, that is what our neighbor did here. Apparently she has never had to complain about one of her neighbors- ever. Our dog kept she and her company from watching the Olympics Friday night and apparently our dog is ruining her retirement. There.... What do you say to that. We were embarrassed and dumbfounded. Greg and I just stood there and said nothing, except we were sorry. My mind just kept going back to when I have gone out to get Cassie when she went on a barking fit and I have apologized to our neighbor. She has always said "Oh, that's okay." In her sweetest grandmotherly voice. We have been in the house for a year now and this is the first time we have ever had a complaint. Now, we have become a little slack on making her stop because no one ever says anything. She is in the house for 8 hours every day. We let her out when we get home from work. By that time I would assume our neighbor would be finished in her garden, but it looks like she is not. Our dog is keeping her from everything in her life that she loves. This all seems so harsh and I am not even sure she meant it that way.

After her rant she just turned around and scurried back to her house. No, "Thank you". No, "I appreciate your attention to this matter". Nothing. Just turn and leave us there with our mouths hanging open and a lot of words at the tip of my tongue that I really wanted to say. That is not at all what I want to do though. Greg and I both knew that between the three of us, we needed a day to let that cool off and to allow everyone to feel better. Also, to give us time to buy a muzzle. I am going to talk to her this afternoon when I get home from work. The thing Greg and I want her to understand is that we are not trying to ruin her retirement, we want her to enjoy her garden, we want to even be friendly. We are making our home here too and we want it to be comfortable for everyone around. Hopefully I can use my words in a kind way, but still get across the fact that Greg and I are not thoughtless, young punks who are out to ruin everyone's lives.

The joys of having neighbors...... Does anyone know of any good dog training books or classes? Greg and I have got to deal with our little mop. She is going to turn us into the most hated neighbors around.