I would say I’ve been busy but isn’t that obvious?

Summer has been good so far.  The heat isn’t killing me too bad yet but it’s only the first few days of July.  Fall is looking good right now.  My fix of hot weather is complete.  Plus I’m kind of tired of mowing grass.  For the last few months it’s been every week.  I could have probably mowed it twice a week in the back yard.

Work has been great.  Getting ready to move into the Thompkins building next week.  We’re merging Tech and Customer Care which will be an interesting time.  There will be some needed adjustments but overall it is certainly for the better.  I’ll actually have my own space which will be a nice change.  The few that have been over there so far have loved it and I anticipate I will, too.

Sunday is promising an intriguing morning at Faith Church as it is the first service with Pastor Keith Peachy (not sure if that’s the right spelling but oh well).  Change is good and I believe the changes that are coming will take a great church and make it even better.

From the “Insane Once in a Lifetime Experience” files, I had an extraordinary experience with a cardinal yesterday.  One literally walked up to me and allowed me to pet it.  I tried to feed it by hand and it decided to jump on my head before going to the bird feeder.  I don’t know why it was so trustworthy but it trusted me like we had known each other for years.

Until next time…

Oh, and for the record, I’m picking Lebron to stay in Cleveland.

The last couple of months have been filled with work at Resource Systems and work at home.  The house is starting to really look amazing.  The true greatness is outside in the yard and the labyrinth.  Tera has worked extremely hard and it’s coming together fast.  The animals love it.  We’ve had deer, squirrels, our groundhog, our rabbit, and Tera even caught a salamander last week.  Having an acre is something that I didn’t really care to have when we were looking at houses but now it’s something I wouldn’t want to live without.

As the title suggests, Duke won the men’s NCAA basketball championship Monday in a great game against Butler.  Before the game started I didn’t plan on getting too emontionally invested in the game but that didn’t last very long.  By the end of the game I felt as exhausted as I assume the players were.  I couldn’t have been happier though.  After taking so much mouth from so many people over the years for liking Duke and Notre Dame it was fun to finally be able to wear a smile after the title game.

We have Emma tonight.  Tera and I got a bunch of great pics of her in the labrynth and the back yard.  She’s just over a year old but she seems so smart.  Definitely a fun age.  Doesn’t make me want one anytime soon though.

Work is still going great.  We’ve been super busy but the Beach has been stepping up big time.  I had my quarterly meeting this past week and it was nothing but good things.  I have some challenges to take on which I’m excited/nervous about.  I have faith that I can handle whatever they throw at me so I’m embracing any opportunity I can get.

I finally got to the dentist last week.  The last time I went was last year (probably around April) before I graduated from Muskingum.  My teeth needed cleaned but I didn’t think I had any cavities; however, you never know.  Thankfully, everything went well and I had no troubles. 

The bed is calling.  Video at church is up to me this month which means I need to be up a little bit earlier to get everything setup.  Well worth it though.

Still getting all moved in.  We’ve been in for about a month but just got internet/cable last Saturday.  Everything has been great so far.  We got mostly everything moved before the 17-20 inches of snow hit.  The worst part has been getting in and out of our driveway.  I haven’t had too much trouble but Tera’s car has had some issues.  Neither of us will complain too much though because it’s far better than having to go up icy flights of stairs at the apartment.  There is plenty of work ahead but I think we’re prepared for it.

Work has still been going great.  I’ve been given more responsibility with handling some installs (new Somo 650’s) of my own which has been a lot of fun.  It’s great to know how much I’m trusted and it’s great to be challenged.  Driving to work every day being excited is something the be thankful for and I don’t take it for granted.

I’m really having a hard time getting things done outside of work.  Don’t get me wrong, all of the major things are fine.  It’s the little things that have been getting put off over and over again for the big things that pop up.  It’s ok though.  No where near the danger zone yet, just not where I want to be.  My expectations are usually pretty blown up though…

I added a bunch of new artwork to the Artwork page so go check it out!

We are set to close on our house this Friday.  Seems hard to believe that the weeks have flown by so fast.  We’re both definitely excited but not ready for the move.  Plenty of stuff has been packed but moving down three flights of stairs doesn’t sound fun no matter how you look at it.

Work has been amazing this week.  I’ve had the opportunity to really step up and have savored everything that comes with it.  It also seems that an offer is going to be coming to me soon which is great news just days before closing the house.

I’ve done a TON of new artwork that needs to be uploaded.  It’s in the works and will be well worth the wait.

I’m also planning to upgrade my tablet to Windows 7 sometime this week.  Playing with it on Scott’s tablet finally pushed me over the edge.  It may not run the greatest for me but I’ll survive.  Speaking of 7, time to do a little bit of work on that.

So I’m sitting at the computer tonight and I noticed the wind blowing snow all over the place outside.  I thought I actually felt a gust from my chair.  Being the nosy person I am, I get up to look out the window at the snow and really feel a gust.  I bump the towel laying on the window sill and witness snow coming in!  Needless to say it didn’t take me long to caulk the whole thing to put an end to that.  Definitely not something I was expecting.

CareTracker training is going good so far.  A lot has been review but it’s also helping to piece together some parts.  The hardest factor is trying to focus and not worry about the work I can be doing to help the team.  The exam that is required after the classes isn’t a timed/written exam.  Instead, I can do it on my own and turn it in any time before January 30th.  That fact takes the pressure off a little bit.

Click on the Artwork link at the top to check out some of my digital artwork.  I didn’t get very  good until this past summer when I had too much free time.  Some pieces are good, some are not, some are in between.  Feel free to click on the thumbnails to open up a full size version.  The page should be updated somewhat frequently with new artwork so check it out each time you visit.  New pieces will likely go at the top and I’ll be sure to try and highlight them.

The 3 day weekend has gone way too fast.  This week should be fun though so I’m not too terribly devastated about going back to work.  For the first few days of the week I have my CareTracker certification training and then it’s a short week due to New Years.  I’m hoping that the training goes well.  There should be about 4 people in the class which will remind me of Muskingum.

I picked up a Dilbert 2010 365 day calendar at the mall yesterday.  As a kid when I had the 365 day calendars I could never keep up.  Whether it would be laziness or just forgetfulness, I would have to tear off weeks at a time to catch up when I noticed that incorrect date.  The plan is to place it on my desk at work so I’ll have to look at it almost every day.

Weather.com is now calling for 1-2 inches of snow tonight which really doesn’t make me want to look out the window when I wake up in the morning.  I’ll probably get to bed a little early tonight so I can take my time driving.

Time to do a little cleaning up around the apartment.  Check the Artwork page!

I’ve made some progress with the Artwork page (although it’s been far more difficult than I thought).  I tried implementing a couple of things that just didn’t work but I think I now know exactly what direction I’m going to take it in.  It’s kind of a mess at the moment but soon it should look presentable.

Mom and I played “Carol of the Bells” at the Christmas Eve service tonight.  She played piano and I played on the keyboard.  The keyboard was set with choir vocals on the left hand and violin on the right.  I was a lot more nervous than I thought I would be but we played it really well.  We got a decent applause which was kind of a surprise since the service hadn’t even officially started yet at that time.  It was fun to perform music again after so many months off.

Tera and I are going to watch Rudolph and probably go to bed.  We’re going to my parents at 8am tomorrow, then my uncles and Kay are coming down around lunchtime, then we’re going to her mom’s at 2pm.  I’m  still trying to get into the Christmas mood.  With my luck it will be December 26th when I really get excited.

I had an amazing lunch today at The Forum.  The Tech team went for our Christmas lunch and I had marinated chicken, fries, and mashed potatoes.  It took a long time to get our food but it was well worth it.  Until a few weeks  ago I hadn’t been to The Forum in years.  Now, after going twice in the last month, I’m trying to figure out why I never went more often.

My parents and I met Tera in Marietta today and stopped by my uncles’ and Geneva’s to check out their Christmas stuff.  The trip seemed quick but it was fun.  At one point we were sitting at a red light when I looked over to see Santa Claus in very old, very beat up pickup truck.  Hilarious.

I changed the Media page to Artwork but not much visible is showing up yet.  I’m currently working on getting most my artwork to the server.  Hopefully, there should be something up either before or over the weekend.  I had forgotten just how deep those folders went.  I actually have over 120 files which is about 80 more than I thought.  Considering there were some nights over the summer when I would crank out 5-10 I probably shouldn’t have been as surprised.

Tera and I watched “See No Evil, Hear No Evil” late tonight on Netflix.  Great movie.  I had only seen parts but never from start to finish.  You truly cannot got wrong with Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder.  We both gave it 5 stars.

I made a few tweaks to the site tonight.  The biggest change on the way is going to be the death of the Media page.  For it’s entire life it has been misunderstood and neglected.  It has had many purposes and always stretched to handle what needed to be done.  Still, the time is coming for it to go away once and for all.  I would do it tonight…but I’m tired.