Why haven't we heard from Michael??

Well - the answer lies in the fact that I really haven't had much of a chance to sit down and type anything out for the last several weeks. Thankfully though - I can sit down at the keyboard this morning to type out a few things because Darby is still sleeping and the java has entered my blood stream. :)

Speaking of Java -- I came across a brand that I have fallen in love with: Peet's Coffee. A friend of mine introduced me to it a long while back and thankfully I've been able to find it in the stores here locally. I did find a few dedicated Peets Coffee and Tea stores in Denver that I'll have to check out. The coffee itself is simply impressive -- a rich flavor, but not overpowering, it holds it's flavor throughout each sip and doesn't leave a bitter after taste. It's robust, but not nearly as strong as some of the other espresso flavor coffees I've tried. Nevertheless - it's become a favorite.

My projects have really been keeping us busy lately. I just spent a week in Denver in court on a high profile case over there. There were parts that were frustrating though -- mainly because of some certain parties that chose to make things a lot more difficult than was really necessary. It was their way of ensuring that their "point" was being made, which only made them look incompetent and silly.

As Darby wrote about -- the dishwasher started smoking the other day. And like all good appliances and computers -- the moment I showed up and started it up -- it behaved. There must be something about me because the same thing happened with my folk's television after I left. It was behaving the entire time I was there, but the moment I left -- it went screwy. I think I need to have my cosmic aura checked -- maybe I could market this and sell it. *laughs*

The weekend will be spent partly recovering, partly working, and partly getting organized as to what's on the plate for the coming week. So much going on right now - we have several "to-do" lists and the calendar reflects a really wide assortment of things on tap. Being busy is good when you're self-employed, but sheesh -- I wish there would be a larger break so that I can get my feet to touch the ground every so oft.

Not much else to report -- if I can encourage Darby to get out of bed, we may venture down south to the Dollar Tree -- just to get her out of town for a bit, enjoy the bright sunny day and hopefully relax a bit.

November, already??

We were sitting down yesterday (I believe) when it dawned on me that not only were we in November, but my birthday isn't that far away AND that means Christmas is also very close -- which left me completely (and I mean completely) whiplashed into trying to figure out exactly where has our year gone?!?!?

Then when you try to break it down - it actually makes a little bit of sense:
July: Road trip to Minnesota to celebrate Bob and Sandi's 40th wedding anniversary
August: Denver for 3 weeks on a major project over there
September: Home for 2 weeks before leaving for Louisiana and out of town for another 3 weeks
October: Home for exactly 4 days before heading back over to celebrate Darby's birthday followed by a flurry of catching up, jury duty and getting sick......

And we're in November just like that..

A perfect whirlwind of a summer and fall -- with winter already staring us down.. YIKES!!

November looks to be just as busy in parts -- and Lord knows what awaits us for December.. Suffice to say though: we're very busy and in the middle of more projects than we can shake a stick at.. I love the idea of being busy - but it can be very overwhelming at the same time..

I did -- finally -- make the following observations: rest is good..

And I'm not talking about the type of afternoon break to watch a movie or something.. Thanks to being sick the past couple of days -- I walked away from all of the current project stuff so that I could just focus on resting.. That's when it dawned on me tonight that I'm actually feeling pretty jazzed about starting things back up tomorrow.. I'm not certain I'll be feeling 100% yet, but the drive is there to get things done and to be productive.. Which ultimately prescribes the following medication: if you don't rest occasionally, you will not work as efficiently as you expect yourself to..

It's only taken me over a year to finally make that determination, but hey -- better late than never..

Monday awaits and I think I'm ready.. :)

Thy feet rarely touch the ground...

Here it is - nearing the end of the third week of October and I'm left scratching the top of my head wondering exactly where did the summer and fall go. It seems like we were just gearing up for a major project in Golden, Colorado -- and then I blinked somewhere -- and we're almost ready for Halloween! Yikes!

Ever since I left the PD's office, I've completely lost track of the days of the week, and even lost track of what month it is. I've been trying to get down some normalcy of a schedule, but as I found out this week: it constantly changes. No matter if I have the entire week mapped out in terms of what to do Monday, where to go Tuesday and who to contact Wednesday -- nothing ever seems to go according to plan. There's always a few last minute snafu type snags just eventually wreck the over all list of things to do.

...and I firmly believe this is how I've effectively lost track of time...

But - I will say that we've had a very nice time over the last few months. Starting back in the summer when we made the long road trip to Minneapolis for Bob & Sandi's 40th anniversary, to even making an errand run to the post office a couple of days ago. You'd think that we'd get sick of each other - me spending what is now a permanent, full-time schedule from home -- but it hasn't been like that. I'm sure it's different for other couples, but we really enjoy the time we share together. Granted, a great deal of that time is spent when I'm in my office working and Darby is in her studio getting creative -- but we see each other, we can walk next door to see what the other is doing -- and when my errands take me out of the house, we usually go together so that we can enjoy the Colorado scenery together.

So when I look back on the past year - I can honestly say: it's been wonderful!! :)

Now if I can just address that "feet not touching the ground" part...

Today....OUCH!

Okay so this a quick account of the day...
7:30 am Michael and I woke up early and decided going back to sleep sounded good to both of us. He was out town this weekend and didn't get hardly any sleep. And I don't sleep well without him so I didn't either. So sleep sounded wonderful.

11 am We finally woke up. And Michael went to make call backs from messages he had after being out of town.

12 noon We had brunch. I had been craving oatmeal/apple pancakes while he was gone and he thought they sounded good too and so we made those together. I am horrible at flipping so I mix the pancakes up and Michael mans the griddle. While eating, we watched the next episode of West Wing (we started season 3 last week).

1 pm After we ate, we did kind of a weekly meeting to discuss where business is at and what we need to do with this current client.

1:20pm We started working.

1:30pm I heard a LOUD horrible crash and Michael obviously in pain....his knee went out/dislocated. He got his knee back in place but he couldn't move from the floor for about 30 minutes. This has happened to him before but it was before he and I were together.

2 pm After I got him to the couch and set up, he needed crutches. So he called around while I took a shower knowing I was going to have to go out and get them.

2:45 pm I was getting in the car to go get crutches.

3:15pm Leaving the medical supply store with crutches in hand.

3:30pm home again

4 pm after getting a new ice pack and some ibuprofen, I am now sitting down to do work.

It has been a hell of a day.

He is okay. Not great but he is much better then he was when he fell. It doesn't look too swollen to me so that is good and I hope it stays that way. He was able to use the crutches to get to the bathroom and the pain was much less then it was right after it went out but I can tell it is still bad. But I am grateful it is better then it was right when he fell. So right now he is sitting on the couch with laptop doing work and watching the Bronco's game I dvr'd for him last night.

I was really really scared because I have never seen him in that much pain even after he had surgery that first year I was here. I almost just went and called 911 so voiced that outloud wondering if I should call 911 - he said no that it wasn't needed. As I said he seems a lot better at the moment so I am very grateful. But poor Michael! I hope that his heals quickly!

We have liftoff....

The last few weeks have been absolutely crazy around here. First, I leave my job of 11 years.. Secondly, there was a mad dash to "emptying out my brain" that left many-a-heads-a-spinning just before I departed. Then I had to put a rush job on a couple of projects before leaving on my first film assignment last week. All the while of making contacts, arrangements, setting up my business books, drafting releases and contracts. That on top of having a number of due dates on upcoming projects that just sent us from 0 to 60 in nothing flat.

But I must say - it's been an incredible time too. My parents and Darby went in together to buy me a printer that I've been looking at - which will give me the ability to print directly onto CD's and DVD's. It's totally awesome! My folks also got me a monogramed shirt with Reflecting Time on it that was really cool. I wore it when I was doing my shoot in Pueblo last week -- very spiffy and professional! It was very cool. The party was held at a local watering hole across the street from the office where I worked. In a very touching gesture - Nicole's parents bought the party $250 worth of drinks for "the first round.." It was very touching and I am still overwhelmed by their gesture. It was really incredible.

The reality hit though when I was leaving a message on the phone a week or so ago. Darby was in the other room. I got their voicemail and I wasn't really paying attention or anything. It got to where you start leaving the message that I said: "Hello this is.... " and then it hits....

OH MY GOD - I'M IN BUSINESS!!!!!!

I instantly wore a smile as I said: "yes, this is Michael from Reflecting Time Productions and I was given your number....." OH WHAT A FEELING!!! Immediately when I got off the phone I screamed "WOOHOO" loud enough that the neighbors probably wondered what in the heck happened! Darby was squealing in the other room and I rushed into her art studio and we had a very warm and happy moment.

Yep.. I'm officially in business..

Wow..

Take a deep breath...Smiling wide!

So it's been chaotic around here. I think my brain is still playing tricks though because it thinks it has to go back to work for the Public Defender soon. Alas, eventually the reality sinks in that I don't do that anymore.. And that becomes a wonderful, overwhelming feeling after 11 years of fighting in the mud of so many different cases, after riding so many different roller coasters and wearing my emotions to a nub -- it's all changed. It's not as though I regret my time with my co-horts.. In fact, I miss them and yet I don't miss the onslaught of cases and projects that I was doing all the time. I know I was enduring many layers of burnout - of which I had no means to escape.. Each time I tried to remove myself from there - I'd get another phone call, an email or some other crisis that needed my attention. I was simply unable to pull myself from the job -- and that's when I realized something had to change.. Unfortunately this is something I've had to deal with for the last 4-5 years.

But that's in the past. A new direction has broken out and there are things evolving in the stream of life that can really take off. Of this, I have no doubt but to know that I'm on a much different adventure than I was on.....

...and it's very exciting!!

Crossing Fingers, Praying and whatnot....

....that the Broncos start doing better or Michael will be very grumpy tonight!