Shelved!

J.'s project was a total success!  Behold, appliances NOT on the counter!  'Tis a thing of beauty!

Time with my friend was fun - we sat at Starbucks for hours catching up.  She is more conservative than I remember (though not annoyingly so...and she's rational so she realizes that we may not share the same perspective on a variety of subjects but oh well).  She's also totally 'agnostic' which surprises me.  Shouldn't - but does.  She was a boss when I last knew her - my boss, actually - so it just goes to show that you often don't really know the people you work with.  You know the person they are at their job - but not them.  It was a great walk down memory lane and lots of fun.  I think we will try to get together for dinner next time she's here.  Her daughter lives in Foster City so she will definitely be returning.

Today, I am making homemade lasagna for dinner.  It is very helpful to have the extra bunch of frozen spaghetti sauce available.  Turns a 3 hour process into an hour or so...making it doable on a day I have already worked for a few hours and still have a couple to go with stuff I brought home.  It's stupid to heat up the oven today but oh well....they don't do 'Smart Days' (when we are supposed to lower our usage from 2PM to 7PM) on weekends so I'm going to cook up a storm.  Hopefully enough for leftovers tomorrow.  It's approaching 3:30 and there are two trays of lasagna in the oven!!  Yummy!

Watching the Olympics is fun....

Monday looms....ugh!  

Handyman

I am heading into work leaving J. working with screwdrivers, drills and other assorted power tools.  He's been reorganizing the garage and found some 'parts' to a rolling cart we purchased awhile back.  It arrived with a cracked top so they replaced it for us.  We saved the old top and now J. is crafting it into a shelf to put underneath the 'empty' space under our breakfast bar.  Designed to be a 'desk' area (which was really poor design because if you were to have a chair there to sit in, no one would be able to walk by you - the island would block your passing).  Hoping he is successful and leaving him to it as I head into my office for a bit.

I was in bed and sound asleep shortly after 8:30 last night - so I saw little of the opening ceremonies.  Thankfully, J. taped it so we've been watching a bit this morning.  After Beijing, it's a little disappointing.  I keep reminding myself 'they're British'....all the pomp daily makes for lesser creativity, maybe?  Still, it IS the Olympics and it is amazing...so looking forward to watching more later today.

We did have red, white and blue cocktails - which is probably why I ended up asleep at 8:30~!

Multiple nights of lengthy, restful sleep has really helped my disposition.  I am raring to go this morning and heading into the office to continue making progress on things big and small.  Much accomplished yesterday and still more to do - but instead of feeling hopeless and down in the dumps about it all, I am back to 'matter of factly' plowing through.

The solar design team will arrive this week to begin planning our system.  Contracts are signed.  After our close to $600 electric bill, I am excited to be getting off the power roller coaster....

Heading out....looking forward to driving to Castro Valley BART to meet my friend for coffee later today.  Coffee, dinner, walk in a park?  Not sure what we'll do but we have a lot to catch up on....

Downstairs Rain Forest

After 12 years in the house, the downstairs shower is finally getting used!  H.'s job has created a shower conundrum 'cuz he bolts out of bed and heads straight to the shower usually just as I'm winding up my morning routine.  J. says 'just shower in our shower' but I don't like to wake him up and while I'm pretty adept at doing things in low light, I don't want to feel worried that I'm bothering him.   Now I'm showering in the downstairs shower and thankfully, we happened to have an extra 'rain forest' shower head (purchased to replace one upstairs that J. ended up being able to fix and I said 'let's just keep the shower head as a spare').  So glad I did 'cuz I showered in there successfully yesterday morning but the old shower head wouldn't move a bit and it was mainly spraying the back of the shower wall vs. me.  Now I'll be showering in a rain storm!  Yeah!

I am meeting a friend somewhere on Saturday for a meal - she is visiting from Texas.  She was my boss when B. was a baby and I am looking forward to seeing her.

No other plans besides working both here and office.  Busy weekend ahead.

On a great note, I have had two night of lengthy, decent sleep which is getting me back to my positive self - thank goodness!  More on that later....

It's Friday!  And for my youngest son it's payday!!  The day that makes all his hard work and effort worth it.  I've lost track of how many weeks he's been at this full time and I'm sure proud of him!  From zero to sixty on the work front!  Way to go, H.!!

Ingrid & Missy

I made a huge mistake yesterday - I downloaded two new albums from iTunes (spending the gift card J. gave me for my birthday - thanks honey!).  Missy Higgins and Ingrid Michaelson....

So instead of working on the massive project I brought home with me (after working yesterday), I am sitting here watching videos and singing at the top of my lungs.  Therapeutic...but not all that productive on my list of things to do today.

I am always floored by how music transports me to places I didn't know my soul needed to travel towards....

Saturday Blanket

J. is out knocking on doors getting support for the Senate candidate in our area with the same party affiliation we are.  It's a bit scary, honestly - this is an extremely (I am thinking of that word said with grave emphasis and a drawl) conservative town and I really don't like him going around announcing that he is not supportive of the same policies or candidates 80% of the town is.  Heaven help him that he knocks on the wrong farmers door and gets blasted to bits with a shot gun.  There are a lot of crazies out there -

(A moment of sadness for the Colorado shooting victims and their families.  Such a huge sadness...).  Marking the week with the worst shooting event in our history is certainly giving pause this weekend...
You never really know a person's tipping point...

I should have been at work HOURS ago but I am enjoying a leisurely Saturday morning and heading out the door shortly for an afternoon of massive effort.  My lunch will be a light caramel frapp, heavy on the drizzle with two protein shots.  And it will be free courtesy of my gold card rewards postcard entitling me to a free drink of my choice.  I try to really load up on protein powder and 'extras' to get the most value for the dollar.  Maybe I will even add an extra shot of espresso - yum!  That should do the trick!

I love having J. at home.  Love it to bits!  He is doing so much around here it is amazing!  And I'm proud of him for keeping busy and finding causes he wants to support.

We enjoyed a family dinner out at a restaurant we having visited in over a year.  B. was excited to realize he could order a margarita!  It was good.  The boys discussed purchasing new cars - don't ask me why.  Boys and toys!  H.'s new job seems to have him thinking he can afford anything he wants....which isn't true by any stretch of the imagination.  It's hard to reign a kid in who went from zero income to $350-400 a week just like that.  And in a month, he starts mandatory OT which will increase that to close to $800 a week.  Wow.  That is a lot for a 'young' man.  I gently remind that there will be no new cars until they are able to qualify for and obtain their own insurance on their own. No f-ing way are we paying that much for insurance - and they can't afford it.  Period.

It's often ridiculous - the things they torture me about over dinner.

Testosterone.  May be a female appetite suppressant 'cuz I was ready to go home shortly into dinner.  Though it was delicious.  The tacos I had have always been and will always be my absolute favorite tacos on the planet - they are scrumptious!

I need to head out.  I will feel so much more positive if I can get stuff at work 'under control'.  Or at least quasi controlled.  The week just flies by and things pull me everywhere BUT the massive list of stuff I have to do....

My assistant is moving to a new department (sad to see her go but it's full time and that's what she needs) so this week, I will interview for a part time person.  Pray.  Having my assistant the last six months has been the best thing ever and that's what I need again.  Someone who 'meshes' well and digs in and works hard to help offload me - 'cuz having that the past six months has been such a blessing and I need to find that again.  Please...let me find that again...

Newsroom

If you haven't discovered the HBO series "Newsroom", check it out.  Awesome TV....really, truly.  Awesome like West Wing was awesome.  Love it and get sad when the most recent episode is over - it's that good.  Watch it!!

Does it count if I add things I'm doing to my 'to do' list as they come across my desk to be done?  Nothing I accomplished today was actually on my one page single space list of things to do but I did get a lot done.  So I started adding what I was doing to the list for the satisfaction (and hopefully momentum) of actually crossing things off the list vs. just adding.  Guess they count 'cuz they were (lots) of things that needed to be done - I just didn't realize they would become a 'NOW' item until they splatted on my desk.  Construction projects do that - a lot of 'splatting' of things that require decisions or actions, etc. .  Busy Monday but not the things I thought I would be doing.

A co-worker returned from close to three weeks off today.  Ahhh...I remember those days....the one week break I had this summer is the shortest break I've had in any summer I've been in this job and it's starting to show.  I never had enough time off to really 'let go' of work.  One week doesn't do that.  Two sort of does.  Three is pretty darn close to perfect.  I am trying to wedge in another week or two off this fall but I don't know when that will happen.  But I'm sure going to try.  I need to disconnect.

Our new finance system came up on 7/5 and so far, we are all systems full speed ahead.  Sure, it takes us all three times longer to do the simplest thing because it's all new and we don't know this system as well as the last...but we're managing.  That's a great thing and I am really relieved.  Now we just have to have the first round of paychecks go as smoothly.  Keep your fingers crossed!

Time to do some stuff around the house.  J. is making massive headway around here.  We are culling away and every time we toss something in recycling or trash or a Goodwill bin, I think 'one less thing for the eventual dumpster of the stuff our kids won't want'.

That's what age does for you - gets you to lessen the dumpster load.  :-)

Solar

We met with a solar company today and all my questions were answered satisfactorily - so we are moving forward on having solar installed.  With PG&E requesting (another) rate increase and moving to a 'time of use' rate model, I am open to 'getting off the grid' as soon as possible.

We are choosing the lease option - locking in our lease rate at a fixed amount which is about $120 per month less than our current average electric bill.  Once the system is up and running, we won't pay PG&E for electricity.  We just make the flat lease payment and save each month.  That savings will increase over time as PG&E rates increase and our rate doesn't.  We don't have to come up with any up front money.  Buying the system outright is $50K and then we are responsible for maintenance and equipment replacement.  With a lease, we make a phone call and they come out and repair or replace as needed.  We're asking for references of other homes that have installed with this company in our area and they are providing info.   I'm pretty excited because I can't stand PG&E and am looking forward to getting off their rate structure as soon as possible.  I was hesitant to put more $ into the house but with no out of pocket costs, it's a great deal!

The A/C is cranking today 'cuz it's very hot here - and we are running the pool filter longer because the pool has been shocked within an inch of it's life and needs to keep circulating.  [It is looking a lot better thankfully, 'cuz if it didn't, we would be firing our pool guy].  I think he's been skimping on chemicals and time and hence the algae bloom that we've spent tons of time and effort trying to abate.  Snorkels and masks litter the house 'cuz J. and B. have both headed underwater lately to scrub-a-dub-dub....something we shouldn't have to do with a full service pool guy.  So he saved his job and we can enjoy a sparkling clean pool again!  I hope.

I feel mildly productive so far....worked around the house this morning and went in to work for a couple hours after the solar guy.  Take-out Chinese for dinner and I'm working on cleaning out the refrigerator shelf by shelf.  Slowly.

J. has been madly culling things on his side of the study desks/counters.  Recycling is filling up pretty darn quickly with an assortment of old boxes, etc. .  I'm also cleaning away....

Next week is the last 'quiet' week before the school site staff returns.  Hard to believe another year is here already....

Morning

Trudging into work this morning around 6:30AM.  Was not happy about the hour and the day wasn't looking that much better.

I heard the gas jets - thankfully, I know what they are, otherwise, I probably would have fainted because they were very loud - and looked up....and this was the view.

So close (far closer than this picture shows) I could see the fire in the balloon and the people in the basket.  The balloon glided slowly (and very low) across our field and even though the construction crew were encouraging them to land there, they kept going and landed on the corner just past the field. Guess when you run out of 'lift' you have to just come down.

The day improved from there!  Uplifting way to start the day.....

Katie and Tom

20 years from now, I'll be re-reading this post and probably not remember who in the heck Katie and Tom are....in fact, last weekend I was at Target when J. texted me 'Tom and Katie split up'.  And I had absolutely no idea who he was talking about - cousins?  Work friends?  He texted me back...ahhh....no surprise really.

Say what you want about Scientologists, but their parenting perspectives are different.  And yet, it had never occurred to me prior to all the hub bub about Katie and Tom that Nicole Kidman lost her kids to Scientology and Tom Cruise.  The kids stayed in LA with him - and why wouldn't they?  Pre-teen kids given the choice to be with the permissive Scientologist parent or the mom who likely was doing most of the actual parenting?  Of course they stayed with Tom!  Kudos to Katie for wanting to raise a child that understands the word 'no'.  

Anyway, I'm happy for Katie.  And I think she finally got a clue.  As if his insistence at calling her 'Kate' and stating 'she is a child-bearing woman now - Katie is a girls name' wasn't enough to make her run for the hills years ago.  She was smart and savvy and handled it all expediently and beautifully.  I've been a fan of hers forever and now, I add 'genius' to the list of adjectives that I use to describe her.  Brilliantly handled.  Sure, it helps to have a lawyer for a dad and a husband who was in Iceland filming a movie.  But every move she made in the past few months now seems strategic - and I applaud her ingenuity and decisiveness.

All is well here - it's hot and getting hotter but I can't complain too much 'cuz it's approaching mid-July and this is the first solid week of intense heat we've had.  Compared to back east where it's been unbelievable warm, humid and people have been without power for a week or more.  Crazy!

J. is heading to San Fran tomorrow for lunch with his work friends.  We are meeting family in San Leandro for dinner - carefully planning to pick up H. at his job in Livermore.  He doesn't want to go....he's tired after his full day of 'manual labor'....but we'll see.  I understand.

Tomorrow, I am taking vitamins in the morning and forcing myself to eat breakfast at 5AM.  My lack of energy is troublesome and while some of it is just the heat - I wilt in heat like a gentle flower :-)  - I have to get my ass in gear and snap out of this lethargy.  We are a few weeks away from another school year starting and it's busier than ever around work.  Construction projects at every single site and it's a zoo....and I'm the zookeeper.  Ha ha ha....

My boss returned from Thailand and we had lunch together to catch up.  No emergencies in his absence which was great.  I had only one week off (vs. the two or three I usually enjoy) and I think that is part of the exhaustion.  I will try to take some long weekends in the fall...and have scheduled a few weeks off here and there.  It's just sticking to the scheduled time off that's hard.  But I'm sure going to try. 

Must go to bed.  So very tired.  More later this week.  Not that anything is all that exciting around here - but that's not a bad thing.  Algae in the pool is the most pressing 'crisis' at this point -

Projects Galore

Hello!  Did you have a great 4th of July? 

Remember how I was so excited for the mid-week break?  Well, I forgot one really important part of that mid-week break:  while Tuesday eve felt like an extra 'Friday evening', the inevitable happened.  Thursday morning felt like the 2nd Monday morning - and that really sucked.  Big time.  The week dragged and around Thursday at noon, it hit me!  I am rarely working the week of the 4th.  I am almost always off - and frequently out of the country during that week.  So being at work this past week was really awful.  Not in the sense of the work - it was fine.  And sort of fun.  Quiet.  Got stuff done.  But physically being there was far harder than I imagined.....I couldn't wait for the true Friday evening. 

J. is working hard on stuff around the house.  I work just as hard finding things for him to do.  I just sent him an email with a link to this project:

Requested two of them - but we will start with one.  Our raised beds aren't doing that great 'cuz they are being attacked by various bugs and slugs.  Organic gardening is pretty hard - my instinct is to procure copious amounts of harmful chemicals and KILL EVERYTHING....but that's so many shades of wrong.  We aren't getting a lot of edibility from the raised beds so I'm hoping 'going up' might help.

I love Pinterest, by the way.  So many amazing ideas.  Love looking at things and seeing creative ideas and thinking 'why didn't I think of that'?  It's amazing the things people come up with...

J. has also cleaned the carpets (much improved!!  Thanks, honey!).  He repaired the dishwasher only another part broke so we ordered more parts plus extras.  The shipping costs more than the tiny little plastic pieces we need....

I am low energy this weekend - when I shouldn't be.  Oh well.  I have a couple errands to run today and do want to get to my office for a bit.  The boss returns this week and I have a zillion projects I am supposed to have made progress on.  And I have....just not 'done'.  The quiet weeks of summer zoom by more quickly than I ever imagine they will....

And I found a site that gives free Kindle books and now I have so many things to read that I just want to curl up with my Kindle and read/veg. 

Happy Sunday!

Anderson

Actual email exchange between me and J.:

-----Original Message-----
From: J
Sent: Monday, July 02, 2012 8:38 AM
To: M
Subject: Anderson Cooper


It's official:  "I'm gay."

Sent from my iPhone

-----Original Message-----
From: M
Sent: Monday, July 02, 2012 8:39 AM
To: J
Subject: RE: Anderson Cooper

That's not news...he's been 'out' for a long time....
-----Original Message-----
From: J
Sent: Monday, July 02, 2012 8:50 AM
To: M
Subject: RE: Anderson Cooper

Apparently he's never officially said it, I guess.  It's all over Twitter this morning.  
-----Original Message-----
From: M
Sent: Monday, July 02, 2012 9:09 AM
To: J
Subject: RE: Anderson Cooper

Must be a very slow news day 'cuz he's said that many times before....every woman in America knows he's gay and we've all quietly cried about it at some point....

Sunday....leads....to.....Monday

The only thing making it semi-OK to be on the cusp of returning to work after 10 days off is the joy of a mid-week day off!  Two days on...one day off...two days on and then it will be another weekend!  Yeah!

I was really truly OFF which is a miracle.  Did check emails off and on and returned a couple phone calls (from people I trust to not ask me to call them back unless they have a reason to need something that can't wait)....forced myself to sleep in today 'cuz it was my last day to do that.

I ran a ton of errands this weekend.  Planned menus, grocery shopped.  J. did a Costco run yesterday.  He is keeping busy with some household projects including cleaning the carpet of the landing between the entry way and the kitchen/family room.  We're not sure what happened while we were away but they are an absolute filthy mess.  I think wet feet walked on them and then dirty shoes walked on them more and they are just gross. 

We feel pretty proud of ourselves for locating and ordering parts to fix our dishwasher 'all by ourselves'.  My instinct was to call a repair person - but we figured out what's wrong, found the part online and found instructions to replace the broken part with the new part and we feel pretty confident we can do it.  We also ordered two replacement knobs for our stove 'cuz people have not been careful putting hot cookie sheets too near the plastic knobs and they are melted.  They are also $39 A PIECE - which is ridiculous.  But oh well.  Every time I look at the stove, I get irritated about the melted knobs so we're replacing them.  Or maybe we will put the new knobs in a drawer and wait until the kids move out and THEN replace them.  But we probably won't be able to remember where we put the knobs when we could replace them...so that won't work. 

J. got in the pool and scrubbed away at the various algae blooms.  The pool guy left us a card to say he added chemicals to clear the growth - but it was taking off pretty fast so J. did a great job scrubbing it in both the pool and the spa.  It looks a lot better....

We barbecued hot dogs last night and tonight we are making hamburgers.  J. is also grilling some chicken for chicken fried rice tomorrow....

Better get french fries baking and start tidying up the kitchen.  I took a little nap so I will hopefully be up until at least 9 or so...and anticipate having trouble sleeping 'cuz it's the night before returning to work after a vacation and I always have trouble sleeping then. 

Weather is warm but not hot which is awesome!  Looks like it will be a great week -