Progress!

As you probably know by now - I consider a productive day a good day. Today was a great day! I painted two bedrooms! I started at 7:30 a.m. and finished about 5:00 p.m. Everything looks really nice.

We moved to this condo in April and immediately began turning the lower level into a master suite (bedroom, bath, HUGE closet and laundry room). While the work has been going on, we stayed in what is considered the master bedroom in the condo. It is a nice room with a nice full bath, but the closet doesn't come close to handling all of our clothes. Because of this we have bought some clothing racks that are just standing in the bedroom. The other bedroom that we will use as an office, immediately became the holding room for all the boxes that did not yet have a home, plus my computer, plus my ironing board, plus . . . well, you get the idea.

The good news is, the master suite SHOULD be complete this week. We are just waiting on the plumber to connect the tub, vanity and potty. We had planned on having the painting done for us, but since I just seemed to be waiting for things to get done, (and waiting (patiently) is NOT one of my virtues, I decided to spend my time wisely and paint. So I did and I feel good!

When the plumbers are finished with their last step, all I'll have to do is put the new bedspread on the bed, move some more clothes to the new closet, move toiletries to the new bathroom and finish decorating.

hallelujah!

Good/Great Weekend!

Yesterday was my birthday and a great one it was. Early in the week Jeff told me he had planned a birthday surprise, so all week I had something to look forward to. It was a surprise until the very last minute. Last night we took the Admiral's Cruise on a B&B Riverboat. The food was delicious, the ride was relaxing, the music was good and the weather was perfect! Of course the best part of all was that Jeff planned such a wonderful evening.

Mom gave me a beautiful pair of gold loop earring and towels to match each of our new bathrooms. Not to mention my birthday chicken. Most people get a birthday cake, but I get mom's barbecue chicken. Needless to say, I've eaten a whole chicken since Friday!

I got A Little Good News Today! Really! Farrah and Jim gave me a music book with that song it in. (See earlier blog). I've been looking for it for a long time and that they took the time to find it makes it even more special. They also gave me a purse and a cable to let me use my printer with this laptop.

After meeting Farrah and Jim and opening my presents, we headed to the Old Spaghetti Factory - one of my favorite places to eat. After the meal, we went to Jungle Jims - a fun place to shop or just browse. From there we went to the Newport Levee where I had a caramel frappucino at Barnes and Noble. At 5:00 we went to Omnimax to see Beavers.

With birthdays like this, I'm already looking forward to my 48th!

We Made It!

Today is our 26th wedding anniversary. Whew!

The week of June 12, 2006

I really do love to work - if I can see satisfactory results. Accomplishing something makes me happy. This has been a happy week.

I painted three bathrooms, did some major cleaning, bought a television that I unloaded and hooked up all by myself, bought a reproduction of a small washstand for the foyer, carried more things to our almost completed master suite, washed windows, finalized the meal for the Monday council training, had a mammogram, attended a condo association meeting where I was elected secretary, sent a couple get well cards, had lunch with mom and Ramona (compliments of mom), went to Curves three times, worked at school a few hours, had coffee with mom and one of her friends, cooked three big suppers (served leftovers the other nights), went to the library, finished one book and started another and now I'm sitting in bed watching my Y&R tape. After getting off to a slow start, the week improved drastically. Perhaps it just took me a few days to get in the summer routine.

Tomorrow will probably find me at Curves and hopefully doing a little shopping. I need to buy two shower curtains, some type of window treatment, paint for the office, two bathroom rugs, one towel rack, one tp paper holder, maybe a bookcase, a two drawer file cabinet, a floor lamp, and that's all I can think of right now.

On Sunday we will be celebrating Father's Day with Farrah and Jim by going to see Cars - the movie and going to eat at Herbs. Jeff is really looking forward to his day.

Next week I hope to do some decorating and furniture arranging in our new rooms, continue hanging things on the walls in our main areas, organize my new closet, paint the laundry room, and maybe do some decorative painting in our 1/2 bath off the foyer. Valerie, I wish I had your talents. For sure next week I'll be taking mom to the doctor for a test and working 8+ hours on Monday.

If my motivation continues, this is going to be a great summer!

MOTIVATION - Part II

I couldn't stand it. After supper, Jeff had to go to a meeting. Guess what I did???? Painted the bathroom. Yay Me!

Motivation

Today was really the first day of my summer break and I had absolutely nothing planned. I THOUGHT ABOUT painting the bathroom. I THOUGHT ABOUT going through some of the boxes that have been in the spare room since we moved. I THOUGHT ABOUT listing something on Ebay.

You know what I did???? I read, went to Curves, washed the car and cooked supper - all of which took about two hours - total. Considering I get out of bed at 6:00 a.m., I wasted a lot of time. When I'm in school, I do this much after working eight hours. I don't feel good about my lack of motivation. I need to be on a schedule.

Tomorrow I HOPE to paint the bathroom, go through some boxes and investigate Ebay. We'll see. :)

I Could Use "A Little Good News"

Yes, I'm blogging twice today! Hard to believe since I let five months go without blogging at all. This blog, however is a little different for me. It is a continuing effort to find the piano music to one of my favorite songs; Anne Murray's A Little Good News Today. I've searched the internet and an occasional music store. I'm hoping that someone who may read this blog can help me. In the mean time, here are the words to this song. Although it's several years old, I think you'll agree it is very applicable today. And . . . if you know where I can get a copy of the sheet music, please let me know.

A Little Good News Today

I rolled out this morning
The kids had the morning news show on
Bryant Gumbel was talking about the fighting in Lebanon
Some senator was squawking about the bad economy
It's gonna get worse you see
We need a change in policy.

There's a local paper rolled up in the rubber band
One more sad story's one more than I can stand
Just once how I'd like to see the headline say
Not much to print today, can't find nothing bad to say.

Because ... nobody robbed a liquor store on the lower part of town
Nobody OD'ed, nobody burned a single building down
Nobody fired a shot in anger, nobody had to die in vain
We sure could use a little good news today.

I'll come home this evening
I bet that the news will be the same
Somebody takes a hostage, somebody steals a plane
How I wanna hear the anchor man, talk about a county fair
And how we cleaned up the air, how everybody learned to care.

Oh tell me ... nobody was assassinated in the whole Third World today
And in the streets of Ireland, all the children had to do was play
And everybody loves everybody in the good ol' USA
We sure could use a little good news today.

Updates

As you can see, I'm not the most dedicated blogger. It's not because I don't enjoy blogging. It's not necessarily that I don't have anything to blog. Nor is it because I haven't had time, as I believe we all have time to do want we really want to do - we just have to prioritize. So, I guess it can be said that blogging hasn't been a priority.

Since I haven't submitted an entry since January - jeesh! -I'm going to try to remember what has been happening since then.

In February, husband Jeff had major back surgery. He was hospitalized for two nights following a 4-5 hour operation. He was supposed to be off work for six weeks, but returned after a month. I blame his quick return to work on the Mars/Venus problem. The doctor/surgeon told him and me that he could return to work part-time or until he got tired after four weeks. I interpreted this to mean that after four weeks, he could go back to work for four hours a day. Jeff understood him to mean that he could work until he got tired. The problem being, I wasn't there to tell him he was tired. So - after major surgery, he was back to work full time in four weeks.

In March, Ramona and I traveled to Bowling Green to attend the Kentucky Association of Educational Office Professionals Conference. While there, Jeff called me from home to tell me he had sold our house. No - he didn't sell it out from under me. It had been on the market for many months, but we hadn't really been living like it was for sale. Now all at once we had to find a place to move in 30 days!

Last year Jeff and I purchased 3.8 acres with building a house in mind. So, when our house sold, Jeff was determined to build a house. My concerns included; where we would live while the house was built, who would build it, how much would it cost, etc. etc. etc. I'm a nester. I have to have a home. I was not looking forward to living out of a suitcase while a house was being built - especially a house that Jeff insisted on help building - especially since he had just had back surgery and most especially since I knew that Jeff isn't one for using the best sense where his limitations are concerned.

Jeff (tried) to relieve my worries by reminding me that one time his mom and dad had a house under roof and moved in to it within 30 days. He also promised that he would not take on any house building projects that would harm him. I countered these statements by telling him that I was not about to move in to anything he could build in 30 days and that historically he had never kept his promises about being careful. (Jeff's back was damaged because of his theory that if he could pick it up, it must not be too heavy).

While we continued having "discussions", I began to pack and pack and pack. Jeff was still recuperating, so he wasn't much help. I would pack before I left for school and come home to pack some more. We finally came to a compromise. We would purchase a condo and build a house in leisure. He was happy. I was happy.

I'm still not sure when Jeff had his revelation, but one day he told me that HE didn't think building a house would be a such a good idea, stating the following reasons; his back would never be in great shape, we didn't need another yard to take care of, there was plenty of room in the condo, and . . . yes . . . he admitted he probably wouldn't be able to use the best of sense when assisting the house building. DUH!!!!!!!!!!!

So, on April 12, we moved to our new home!

Next up, came our May events. Jeff's aunt passed away on May 6 and his brother lost his three year battle with lung cancer on May 8.

Presently we are still waiting the completion of our master suite. It's all done except for the vinyl flooring and plumbing fixtures. Our garage door opener still needs to be installed as well. When all this is done, our home will be PERFECT. We love it here. The floor plan is great - the living area is so light and airy. It is so cozy - just the right size for the two of us. In the evenings we sit on our deck overlooking the golf course, being happy that we don't have the maintenance of a house.

The most recent happening in our family is my mom's retirement. This came as a shock to me and one that I have very mixed emotions about. Mom loved her job. She loved the kids and the general happenings at school. I loved her being in the same building with me. Since her major heart attack and very, very close call, it was always so comforting for me to see her walk in the school office each morning. I always thought that it was her duties at school that kept her going. Now since she has retired, I pray that isn't true.

Well - that about sums it up. I'll try to be more dedicated to Outlooks in the future.

Night Out with the Ladies

SURPRISE! Good picture of a good guy!