What was I thinking?!

     This week I took on a bit of extra stress.  Not a lot, but a bit.  I took over a few more staff members, and have already shaken things up some.
     With the departure of a housekeeper, I have been interviewing candidates all week for a replacement, and I cannot believe what I am seeing!  I can remember back to the days in high school when I was taught how to create a resume, and how to interview for a job.  It is apparent that this particular session is no longer being taught.  I had three resumes that I had no idea of their origin, it simply stated "your name here" where they should have put the name.  Phone numbers were present, but no name!  I particularly enjoyed the fact that at least one person in this world thinks that they should list the fact that they ranked in the top 100 on a Call of Duty Xbox game under job skills!!  What job did they think they were applying for?  I did hire a new housekeeper, but they cannot start for a couple weeks.
     Being down one person, today I decided to roll up my sleeves, put on some scrubs, and clean me some rooms.  What a mistake!  That is hard work!  First of all, it has been so many years since I have worn scrubs.  I forgot how comfortable they are.  I felt like I was in my pajamas all day!  Second, I still had some building audits to perform, so I had to get 8 hours of cleaning done in 4 hours.
     After a long, humbling day, I was ready to head home.  That is when I learned that there was a state surveyor in the building, which means that managers have to stay.  UGH!  At least I was still home by 5:30.

     On another note, I received a huge compliment at work today!  There was some shuffling at the corporate office, and the corporate building director could not make it to Arizona to train some new managers,  an email was sent out to only a few administrators asking to send their directors to Arizona in his place.  My boss was one of those recipients.  I can't go to Arizona next week, I am too swamped here in Clarkston, but my boss told me that the email only went to a few buildings, so I took it as a huge compliment!  Also, sounds like there will be more opportunities for travel, and train.  I'm looking forward to that!


   

   

What a week! And it's only Tuesday?!

     I started my week a bit early by working Sunday, moving furniture and assisting an outside contractor with getting all the carpet at my facility professionally cleaned!  Happy to report that the carpets turned out great, and so far it has stayed that way.  Not much you can do with carpet that gets hundreds, if not thousands of steps each day!  Yesterday and today have been pretty demanding as well, but WOW!  what a sense of accomplishment I have had upon returning from work so far this week.  I love my job!!!
     We are having a bit of a party to end this week.  We have some state politicians scheduled to visit the facility Friday, and I want the facility to look it's best.  Do not misunderstand, I always try to ensure that the building looks great, but this week, we are trying to finish all those little projects that always seem to get pushed to the bottom of the list.
     I plan to come into work tomorrow night to finish some of those things that can't really be done during the day.  That should be fun.  I assume I will be there until the next morning.  This makes me happy that I will be leaving early on Friday!  I was told by a co-worker today that staying all night and working the next day is not normal.  This made me laugh, because I have been making some small adjustments to my life in an effort to be more "normal"  and it is proving more difficult than I anticipated.
     I have certain....let us say "quirks".  Like any habit, it is hard to change these things, so I am starting small.  First thing I gave up; I don't number my socks anymore.  Now in the morning when I grab a "pair" of socks it is up to chance.  Perhaps the left sock has been worn more times than the right sock, or perhaps it is not the left sock at all!  It is all up to chance.  But I'm okay with that.  For the past 2 weeks I have been wearing whatever shirt looks comfortable at any given morning.  This hasn't been too bad, and I have found some shirts that I have not worn for quite sometime that I really like!
     My next venture is to come to the realization that I am not the grammar police!  I do not need to correct every grammatical mistake that anyone makes ever!  I have attempted to remain quiet a couple times this week with no success.  Baby steps right?  Perhaps I will keep this quirk.

     I am looking forward to this weekend, I am going to Lake City to watch my oldest son's final football game on Friday, and my youngest son's final game on Saturday.  I am planning to take my oldest son to Scarywood on Saturday as well.  There is a theme park called Silverwood, but for 2 months they convert it to a huge Halloween festival with many scary characters walking about, and several "haunted" attractions.  Everyone else, including my wife, chickened out, so just me and Jacob.  :)

Just one of those days! (one of those GREAT days!)

     Ever have one of those days that start on a good note, and just stays great all day?  I woke up to a great surprise!  Every morning for over 2 weeks, I have delicately twisted myself out of bed, due to the fact that my shoulder was in so much pain.  This morning, however, I was surprised to feel no pain at all!  All day, in fact, it felt great!  What a way to start the day.
 

   Busy day at work today, with a couple of networking issues that came up in the afternoon, but they were quick fixes, so nothing to stress me out.  Just an all around GREAT DAY!
     On another note, Lake City High School added a game to the end of their season, so I will be traveling to Lake City on Friday to watch!  I am excited to see my son play one more game!

NEVER GET OLD!

   


     Until this year, for some reason, I have never actually considered myself to be "old".  Sure, I have had a receding hairline, and the ability to grow a full beard since I was 16, I have 3 sons, the oldest who is is high school, and I have already done more in my life than I thought I would by this point, but this year my body is telling me that this is not a joke anymore!  Up until now I was able to take a fairly passive stance as far as my health went.  I could drink, lose sleep, and push the limits without much consequence.  Now, however, I am suffering as a result of some of my decisions.
     So I have decided to take a more aggressive approach to my health which includes a major overhaul to my eating/drinking habits..(mostly my drinking habits), a healthy workout routine at the gym, and perhaps most importantly, mental exercises every evening.  One must always work to stay sharp!  A friend of mine has recommended cross-fit, he has lost so much weight so far, and says he is having a lot of fun.  I have often thought about this as being way beyond my physical level, but he had back surgery a few years ago and is able to do it, so I should be fine if this is an avenue I decide to stroll down.  I just cannot believe the reaction my body has to certain things anymore.
     For instance, Last month I strained a muscle in my shoulder by trying to be a macho man and not ask for help when it came time to unload a 200 lb box.  Prior to my current age, I could put some ice on it or spend an evening in the hot tub, and by the next day..right as rain!  I suffered through it for over a week, gritting my teeth and trying not to let on just how much pain I was really in.  Finally, this last Sunday, I woke up to NO PAIN!  I was so thrilled!  I approached my Monday at work with so much enthusiasm, and great spirits.  Midday, however, another 250 lb box, (for which I did seek my assistant's help)  and now I am back to hurting.  GOOD GRIEF!
     On another note, I have now entered the annoying stage of growing a long beard.  If I can make it through the next few weeks, I will be alright.  I look like I should be stranded on a mountain somewhere, but it's something I do every year.  I usually shave after we return from our annual trip to McCall, ID in January.
     In a couple weeks I will be taking over some additional responsibilities at work, for which I am moderately excited.  A lot of changes to be made in certain operations, and I know people do not like change, so it promises to be, at the very least, interesting.
     Speaking of OLD, now that Jeopardy is over, I think I will go to bed!

Road Rage

     People who know me well, know that I am not someone who has a short temper.  However, those unfortunate few that have ever been in a car that I am operating have seen a different side of me!  I do not get "road rage" like you see on television or hear about on the news, I'm the guy who slows down when you are riding my bumper, or wave and smile while you pass me while screaming and flipping me off.

     Today was an exception...As I was at an intersection, a small child began to cross at the crosswalk.  The guy behind me did not see her, so when he approached my vehicle to see that there was no oncoming traffic, he began to honk and rev his engine.  He then proceeded to approach my dodge until he was less than a foot away from hitting my bumper.  In fact, the only reason he saw the little girl was because he began to speed around me and missed hitting her by mere feet.  Once the child had passed and we passed through the intersection he sped around me and turned right into the taco time parking lot.  This was just the wrong day!  Therefore, I also pulled into the lot.  As soon as I was out of the car, he knew we were about to have words..Imagine my surprise when the freakin' giant exited his vehicle!  So, I used the power of carefully planned, intimidating words to get my apology and was on my way.   It was definitely an experience that does not happen often. I am glad for that.
     Tonight I performed some maintenance on the furnace, inspected it, and fired it up for the season.  Now our home is toasty warm.  Its been cold for a bit now, but I have this rule about heating before October.
     Tonight, an early bedtime so I can have a good workout in the morning.  I am stepping up my cardio, as I have been having an incredibly difficult time losing the final 2 pounds of my first goal.  Ugh!!

An interesting evening

     I have been looking forward to this day for a while.  My oldest son is now playing high school football, and he had a game this evening that I have been planning to attend.  For those who do not know, my sons live in Couer D Alene with their mother which is a good 2 hours away from me.  So, I got off work early, quickly finished the pre-trip checklist, and Dawn and I set out.
     We decided that we had some extra time to grab a bite in Moscow, this is the hometown of University of Idaho.  Neighboring Pullman, which houses Washington State University.  There is not as much rivalry as one would assume between these 2 schools, but the rivalry still exists.  So, as I usually do during football season, I was proudly sporting my WSU gear, and around Moscow, this is particularly entertaining as everyone is wearing their U of I gear.
     I had the afternoon planned.  When we arrived we would visit my mother's house for a bit, and then pick up the 2 younger boys, and head to the high school for the game.  However, when we were just a few minutes out of town I received a phone call from the kid's mother stating that Jayce's middle school was currently in "lock-down"  He would not be able to leave at 3.  The school offered that there was an incident that involved someone with a knife, but no other details were given.  This was particularly stressful to me, so we drove directly to his school where there were parents everywhere!  Turns out, the incident occurred a half mile away, and they just wanted to be safe, so no harm done...except for screwing up my carefully planned schedule.  We scrambled to make up the time and pick up Justin from his school and barreled to the high school on time to find out that the game started a few minutes early.  So, we found a seat and settled down for what turned out to be a great game, and a great win for Lake City.
     After the game, and visiting with Jacob for a bit, we headed home.  A pretty decent drive, for me anyway..Dawn is a real trooper, because whenever I drive more than 20 miles, I sing...the whole way...loudly!  It does not matter the song, I will sing it...it helps pass the time.  I did notice a curious glance as I performed my versions of songs by Niki Minaj and Katy Perry, but hey..that's what was playing!
   

     We rolled back into town at 10:00 ( 10 hours later) and I must say, this bed has never looked so inviting!  Missing more than half the day at work today has it's consequences, so I am planning on a good long day tomorrow.  Better get to sleep!