Friday, June 30, 2006

Back in the Saddle

I can't believe it's been more than a month since I've posted to my blog. There are a lot of things that I can bring you all up to speed with.

The Zoo
It's still hard to believe that Sasha is no longer here. Our other cat Mia seems to be adjusting. I think it was hard for him at first. He's actually roaming around the house more. Trixie is actually learning not to chase him. It's probably because Mia's hiss is pretty potent. Let's put it this way, poor Mia doesn't have the best oral hygiene; his breath stinks. So a few hisses and air swats later was enough to teach Trixie to keep her distance. Maybe I can bottle his saliva and sell it as an alternative to mace.
Knitting Project
The socks are coming along slowly. I'm still on the first one. I finished the leg, "turned" the heel and am getting close to the toe. I would include an in progress picture but the camera is temporarily M.I.A.
Exotic Trips
David and I have decided to take a 2-week vacation to Japan in November. This is a trip we've been wanting to do for a long time. We love everything Japanese; the culture, food, architecture, art and of course David loves Godzilla. We'll be meeting our friend Greg from NY and his Japanese girlfriend Koziko (sorry guys if I spelled her name wrong). We're reading up on places to go and sites to see. Greg, like David, is a Godzilla collector. I've been promised that the trip will not be all about Godzilla. Although an idea to visit some of the places that Godzilla has destroyed has been thrown around. I guess it could be interesting. I mean I did go on the "Sound of Music" tour when I was in Austria.
House Projects
The 2nd bedroom is pretty much done!!!! The only details left to do are to hang the shades (once they arrive) and install the ceiling light. A 2-year long project will finally be over in about a week. You're probably asking yourself, 'What the hell finally got their asses moving?' Okay, well maybe your not asking but I wanted to add some level of suspense. The reason we finally cranked it out was because my Mother and Step-Father are arriving from NJ on July 31st for 1-week. This will be the first time they are visiting us since we moved Out West in '97. There is still a lot of other projects to do but at least the guest bedroom will be done. I'll post a picture once the shades and light are installed.

We were going to begin a kitchen remodel but have decided to put it on hold until next year since the trip to Japan will put a bit of a dent in our savings. We'll probably continue to finalize the plans so that we can hit the ground running after the winter rains stop next year. (I didn't just say winter rains did I?)

So the next project we have embarked on is the backyard. We want to make it presentable as an interim step to a 'renovation'. We're aiming to have it cleaned up and plants in the ground before my Mother and Step-Father arrive.
Work
My job is still taking up a good portion of my time and energy. The big project I'm working on won't be officially completed until October. Managing it, the other smaller projects, recruiting for the open positions, and the daily overhead has been challenging. Plus our organization recently went through a reorg which has been a bit of a bumpy ride. I'm hoping that I'll hire the 2 additional producers I need soon and that we'll hit a stride before we are in "Holiday Mode". You read correctly, Holiday Mode. In the Etailer world holiday planning is already underway and will begin graphic production in the next few months!
That's all for now.

Happy July 4th weekend