Summer is Here....

Already tired of the 80's temps ... and we're no where close to June yet.

But the trees are in full bloom, the flowers, the bugs and other things.  It's nice to have this cycle in the universe and sometimes we forget to take a gander at it as we drive by.

So take a moment - in your next travels and look for something beautiful on your trek.  Flowers, trees, fruit stands, kids playing, butterflies, sun drenched skies.

Life is going by quick again ... gotta slow it down when you can.

Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Mom :)

I just wanted to wish my mom a very happy birthday!

Hit ... hard......

It was bound to happen.

We left the safe confines of our bubble, we interacted with the general population - we got what we deserved.

Okay - actually that's not true, but what is true is that I'm nearing week #1 of having one of the worse colds I've had in recent memory. Poor Darby is a week behind me as we scatter around to try and figure out what the best way is going to be to rid our bodies with this gunk.

So far - the only that seems to make any difference is .... sleep.

Last week we were burning the candle and both ends - getting ramped up to what was supposed to be an extended trip back east. Thankfully that didn't happen because of these colds we got instead. It's your standard intense upper respiratory, body ache, fever on, fever off, fever back on, cough cough cough, physically and emotionally draining cold.

Darby was an angel taking care of me the first few days until she got it - now the tables are reversed as I'm starting to emerge from the cold-bug, while she's about 48 hours behind me. *ughs* I'm trying to take care of her while dealing with my own ebola-like cough that sends people to move in a 15 foot buffer away from me ... which is fine - I really don't want to pass this onto anyone.

On the plus side of things, at least we still got some projects done - completed and delivered. There's a blessing there - I just wish that this thing didn't hit us so hard.

Anyway - if you start getting symptoms, be very vigilant in getting rest, taking whatever voodoo medicine you take to ward off the germies, eat right, drink a lot of liquid and sleep sleep sleep.

Where Did the Spring Go?

Here it is the first of June - and we're both like: "what, already???"

Work has been very good lately. It's coming in parts - but thankfully it's steady. I'm excited about some changes that are upcoming. Have been doing a lot of websites - so much so that there's a small backlog to go through. Not so many video projects at the moment, but there's so much diversity in what's going on, it's nice to switch from website work and to do investigation then work on pre-production video work.

With the weather changing - our swamp has been on for the last several weeks. Our Swampy is a little old and showing its age a bit. Things are rusting out quite a bit and so when we have water present ... I can't help but think that its time is overdue.

Anyhow - that catches you up a bit on what's happening around here. We hope and trust all is well for everyone! (sorry for not posting as often as I should be -- thankfully Darby fills in the blanks!)

What's that you hear?

It was the week before Christmas,
And all through the house,
Ribbons, boxes scattered like a madhouse.
The girl has been bustling to the point of despair,
In hopes to reach the post office with moments to spare.

Packages and treats and wondrous spreads
All await their delivery down everyone's homesteads.
So maybe today we can sneak in a catnap,
But not before realizing everything has been ASAP.

So if you've been wondering where we've been,
And why we've been out of sight,
We haven't gone anywhere,
Just staying up late every night.

Nothing is wrong,
We haven't forgotten,
The things that we've done
Simply made us exhausted.

Soon it will be Christmas and we will be rolling,
We just hope for good weather and wind that's not blowing.
But we'll be back here with updates and glee,
To tell you our tales and things that go squee!

And if we don't get a chance to wish you cheer before then,
Let the wishes of safe journeys be spread for everyone, amen.
May you have a wondrous and happy holiday,
And we'll be back to blogging again soon - someday.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Listy List

I feel like I haven't had much to say lately. But I thought I would just do a listy update....

* We had a nice time going to Michael's brother's 50th birthday party this past weekend. We just went over for the party - made it a day trip to Denver. It was a milestone that we wanted to share with him.
* I have been missing this week due to migraines.
* A very good friend of mine gave me a kitchen knife. I had been saying a while back that one thing I don't have in my kitchen is good knives. Michael bought me a good chef's knife not too long ago. And now my friend gave me a very nice quality utility knife. It is beautiful - and feels so good in my hand. It is an amazing gift and I am humbled by her generosity and kindness.
* Michael had his doctor appointment about his knee today....and again I wonder if those that don't want a public option have ever went through not having insurance. It is too expensive for us to handle the cost right now. House payments or getting the knee fixed - house payment wins. Pre-existing conditions suck!
* I am on the waiting list at the library for The Pioneer Woman's Cookbook and the 7th book in the Outlander series. I can't wait to read both!
* I wish we had IKEA. There will be one in Denver - eventually but not until 2011 or 2012.
* I think I have decided what I am making for holiday presents. I will start making that next week.
* Michael is going to Denver for just one day. And then we go to Denver next week for several days.
* Our oven is out. It works but it isn't working right and everyone I have talked to says - don't use it because I could blow up the house. Again another reason I don't like gas appliances! It heats to the temp I want but as soon as it reaches it - it turns off. And the only way to get it to stay on is turn it up and keep turning it up.
* Of course above I just mentioned how we couldn't afford surgery for Michael and although an oven will cost much less - it still is going to hurt us. So not sure if we will be having a turkey for Thanksgiving. But hopefully we have a new one in time for holiday baking. Still not an expense we needed right now just before the holidays.
* I have caught up on my guilty pleasure - Project Runway. I think the designers and the clothing they are designing are a little boring this year. Still going to watch it but not as good as past seasons. Season 1 is still my favorite.

Well that is about all I can think of right now.

Where did Michael Go?

Very good question.

My last entry was back in March and ... well ... I haven't been very good at blogging, have I.....

Well - I don't think I have a lot of excuses to offer. I don't email people as often as I once did. Things have been busy and well, things haven't exactly gone very well. In fact, Darby noticed a change in me since January and the only thing I can say is that there's been a cloud, a heavy cloud for quite some time.

Physically - I can actually feel it hanging above my eyes ... it's a pressure that feels like a heavy blanket weighing down on my head, my mind, my eyes....

It has been a depression that just hasn't really let go. It's been building and building -- without much of a reprieve or opportunity to adjust the slope and climb out of the ruts I've found myself in. The latest rut has been very difficult that has been settling in this summer.

I've been pretty good at managing depressions for a long time - but there are times when it just starts to rise faster than I'm doggy paddling. That's how it has felt all year - and admitting that much has helped me realize that it's okay to go through it. The influx of work has helped - as it has been one of the major stressors with the downturn of the economy. Having stable jobs has been difficult to maintain - as everyone is hurting.

So that's where I've been.

I'm feeling better than I have been - but I'm still feeling the cloud hanging around. I fully recognize that depressions generally don't evaporate like a fog - as it takes a lot of work to eventually have them dissipate. I'm coming out of my shell a bit more and that's a good thing. Shells are good for self-repair, but hardly ideal for any significant living quarters.

Bliss

I am hoping I will have some pictures to share tomorrow. I took almost 200 pictures just need to pull them from my camera.

We went to the Farmer's Market that had of course fruit and vegetable stands but also good eats (brats, gigantic caramel pecan roll), flowers and plants, handmade goods (soaps, candles and quilts), flea market type finds (sunglasses, purses and beanie babies). My Mom bought a gorgeous bouquet that I haven't got a picture of but want to take it where she has it in her house as it look so pretty. And then my sister April got 2 bouquets towards the close of the Farmer's Market for $5 for 2 bouquets - a dozen roses and also a bunch of gerbera daisies. So so pretty. My sister Michelle bought me some homemade soap - coconut pear. So yummy smelling it makes me hungry just inhaling around it!

After the Farmer's Market, my sisters and I headed to the sculpture garden. I had never been there. I took a ton of photos there - between the sculpture and the flowers - just so many pretty shots. If you have never been to Minneapolis, you might still know where I have been by the just me mentioning the spoon with the cherry. It is a big spoon with a cherry sculpture that it is famous for.

From there we went to have ice cream and then go to a store called Patina. It is a store I could lose many hours in and did lose quite a bit of time. There are so many little wonderful treasures. It also had art by Papaya Art which I always enjoy. And had the image I used with this post. One of my favorite images.

We then headed back to my sister's house for a bit before she delivered me back to my parents. I spent quality time with Mom looking at cookbooks and visiting. You know that is where I get my love of cooking and also just browsing cookbooks - from my Mom. I think tomorrow we are going to to Penzeys Spices. I know she will love their spices just as much as I do.

I am missing Michael of course but talking to him a couple times a day so that is good.

Very tired from the busy day. But very happy to have had such a beautiful day with my family! I miss them so much living so far away so it is just fabulous to be able to spend this time with them.

Computer problems

Well this Monday isn't starting out very well....

Last night we had a power outage that had a power spike that started it. The power spike ended up frying one of Michael's computers. The one of course with tax info on and he hadn't filed taxes yet. We have a back-up server which is great and we love having but of course the power spike messed with it too. And it took most of the morning for Michael to get it back. And now he is tranfering the last copy of the fried computer over to his other computer.

So I believe this week is going to be a little stressful - at least until he gets taxes done.

Just not a great way to start a week.

Being sick is no fun!

It's been a tough couple of weeks for us.

We've been trading colds back and forth -- which only makes the recuperation time go on for days on end. I seem to be the lucky one and have gotten over it first, so now the task is to try and get Darby over it once and for all.

Work has been doing okay lately. We hit a pretty big lull starting at the tail end of the year and it's starting to improve, but we could really use some consistency. With the economy the way it is -- I know we're extremely lucky to have what we do and we keep running on the positive approach that things will be okay. We're going to get some good business the next couple of weeks and then hopefully a couple of big projects that will come to fruition.

Caesar's allergies have come back a little bit -- thankfully I think we caught it in time, but we'll have to keep an eye on it. So he's back on his meds and taking them like a trooper -- (well sorta...) :) Chessie is doing just fine and she's been spending her mornings and afternoons in the window catching our beautiful spring weather. And it has been really spring like around here lately -- temperatures hitting the 60's .... and we're still in February..... (Gotta love that Colorado weather...)

Nothing else on the plate for now. Just thought I'd catch up the blog a bit.

A Season to be Thankful

Darby already did a catching up post -- so some of this will be duplicate....

We got back from Denver - and almost immediately landed with our feet running. Taking off a week means that no matter how well you were caught up before you left -- there's a great deal of work to be done. That adage turned out to be very true once again.

But enough of that stuff.

This is a special season for me this year - mainly because of the enormous hit my family took over this past month with news that my Dad had cancer of the kidney. We all took a gigantic deep breath and prayed for good news. The mass seemed enormous in comparison to the size of our organs and we were all very deeply concerned. But with each test, we got more cautiously optimistic - the cancer didn't spread, but he was definitely going to lose one of his kidneys.

Finally - surgery came and we would later find out that his cancer was encapsulated - good news. It was contained to the kidney and to one of his adrenal glands. The luke warm news was that the mass ended up being much larger than any of us had anticipated. The news is good for now - and he goes back to an oncologist in January for more tests to make sure no other organs or anything were affected.

So this is why this is my season to be very thankful. The totality of the last month has left us all exhausted -- but even in that very tired state, I'm once again reminded once again about just how precious life really is. It's something that so many take for granted each day -- losing precious hours in their driving commute while working in a less-than-fulfilling job only to punish themselves with a night of painful partying that takes two days to recover.

So please take a moment to send a thoughtful email to someone you love - a parent, a friend, a grand-parent, a sibling, a loved one and just talk for awhile. Even if it doesn't seem like much - the holiday season is upon us and it's a good time to slow down a bit and to reflect on the positives in our life while enjoying the warm company of the ones we love.

Happy Holidays!

Well, we made it!

It has been a very grueling 72 hour period -- we finally made it on the backside. We've known about this schedule for last month and we both knew it was going to be incredibly hectic..

It was..

A host of technical malfunctions didn't make things better, but we hung in there - the "no quit" attitude and kept focusing on the task while trying to resolve what we could..

Bottom line: we're both incredibly tired and very grateful to be home. We're taking the day off today before getting ready for next week's broadcast, so while the schedule should be easing somewhat, it will be better than it was..

Dealing with the Unpredictability of Tomorrow

This month has been two years since I started my business.

There have been some definite joys, some eek-moments, and a greater sense of peace as the layers of stress have either abated or they have taken on a much more manageable form. It doesn't always look like it's manageable: a.) I'm working longer hours, b.) I'm taking on bigger projects, c.) there is no such thing as a weekend or vacation and d.) my desk is living proof of things gone amok.

But above everything else that's out there there's but one single thing that I have not been able to fully address: tomorrow. It's elusive. It's the "how are we going to pay next month's bills" or "do we have enough time to tackle yet another project." We've been riding a pretty substantial tidal wave since the spring time -- and yet I get the knots in my stomach when I feel like I can see the end of the projects appearing on the horizon.

Darby keeps my head focused on the: "it'll be fine" mentality because anything less and I'm going to squick myself into a pit of self-doubt.

Ultimately though - she's been right on the money each time. We have been incredibly blessed with a tremendous amount of word-of-mouth marketing -- that we haven't needed to do much in the way of advertising. In fact, we haven't had to advertise -- but we're gearing up to send out our first official advertisement directed at lawyers that can hire me out in a myriad of different ways.

It's scary -- it's exciting -- it's reassuring -- it's humbling.

I recently got a referral from someone who I met only once -- merely just sitting in his conference room talking technology .... passed my name to someone and that will likely garner another unforeseen vein of incoming business. Someone who doesn't really know me from Adam -- and all of a sudden I'm being referred.

Keeping it going in the positive direction is tough .... very tough. There are moments when I feel the tidal waves crashing on us -- but we keep moving forward and the unpredictability of tomorrow fades a bit in that moment. Our September is going to have some incredibly busy times for us. It's positive -- and if it keeps going like it is ... it might be very positive.

So in the meanwhile, we'll keep doing the bucket brigade to get the water out from the bottom of the boat ... and let the waves of stress take us where we need to be.

Lots to do -- signing off for a bit.

Describing the psyche of a cat: addendum

I was doing some editing tonight in the office tonight - when Caesar jumps off the small table I have in the office. His toy was in the room as he had brought it to me when I was doing some voice over work. (yes, a little hard to be recording and have a meowing cat in the background...)

I didn't think anything about the toy -- except when he jumped down -- I happened to look over to see if he was still in the room, but he wasn't .... and neither was the yellow toy he usually carries in his mouth around this time of night. At that particular moment I made a mental note because I thought it was strange that here just just *left* the office and took his toy with him.

No sooner that I file that mental note away and here comes the yeowling golden boy with ... the yellow toy in his mouth that was in the office ... meowling along and the spits out the toy nearly to the spot where he had just taken it from.

While all of this might not seem like much to the casual viewer -- it transpired in what couldn't have been more than 30-45 seconds..... Of which gave me quite the chuckle because he was *just* in here along with his toy.....

He and the girl got some treats and they seem content. :)

Haven't posted in awhile....

I'm a bad blogger...

It's been incredibly busy around here - and with another tweak of the knee - that further complicated things. So - instead of complaining and what not, I'll share my most recent plight of UPS... the little brown truck people...

So I placed an order a long time ago - it was back-ordered. But then I got an email that it had shipped (yay!) It was coming from New Jersey and was shipped on the 22nd, 8 days ago. My shipment made its way to Lawnside, NJ followed by Horsham, PA -- all is good, right? It made its way to Commerce City (in Colorado) on the 24th and life was good. Traditionally things that make it to Commerce City take a day or so before being delivered.

Then - on the 25th I had another package delivered by UPS and the online status reported that my New Jersey parcel was in Grand Junction and was sent out for delivery - YAY! But ... when the guy in the little brown truck came by -- only one package. hmmm... I checked the status of the New Jersey parcel and .... no update except for out for delivery.... 26th nothing - 27th nothing -- weekend.. 28th - still showing the 25th "out for delivery" update.... hmmm....

Finally - yesterday - the 29th - I checked online and much to my dismay - my discs have been transported to Little Rock, Arkansas... WHAT?!?!? *sighs* I check back later, and it was sent to Lenexa, Kansas followed by Salina, Kansas. So today when I sign in - it's reporting that it's once again at Commerce City and we'll see if it gets delivered tomorrow.....

*sighs* I'm just glad I wasn't charged by the mile! Holy heck!!

When The World Travels 200mph...

This has been a very busy week for us.

It started out with our major print project swinging into high gear. Then to get a very last minute video production request in a near by town ... all the while getting caught up on some of the other projects that require a bit of time to keep track of.

But today -- was a very very busy day. Filming for over 3 hours, getting wind blown, wind whipped, wind filleted.... Oh it was bad. Darby really helped out though which made it go a lot easier. I'm not sure what the attorney was thinking that my filming would be no more than 30 minutes.... It took us 30 minutes just to do a walk through of the place..

Thankfully I don't have any appointments scheduled in the next 48-72 hours, so hopefully we can recover, get some minor work done, and maybe rest a little this weekend. When I say rest, I'm probably meaning work in there -- since we have so much to do. It's a blessing that we're so busy, but I'd like a break every now and then.

The wayward travels continue

It's been a very busy time around here lately. I just got back from a week over in Denver on a video production that went about as well as a herd of horses spooked and running on an open terrain. In another words: it wasn't very good.

I started off being very sick and couldn't travel over until very early the next morning. Canceling wasn't an option because I had to make the event. It's in those times that my folks reminded me that "it would've been different if I were still employed by the state: I could just call in sick."

*ouch*

Yep.

Very true though. Sick time and vacation time is a concept that's been foreign to me for the last couple of years because when you're self-employed, you don't have that luxury of being able to "call in" when you're feeling well under the weather. And I really could've used the time this past week as it was evident that I needed some rest and recoup time to get over my stomach crud.

But - the show goes on and so does the business. Thankfully I got better as time went on and eventually we got the footage shot. Was it as good as last years? I'm afraid not - a multitude of problems existed which made it virtually impossible to capture each speaker as we wanted. Still - we did the best we could and will hope for the best.

Now I'm home for at least a week, maybe longer. It's been a roller coaster ride and I hope things can settle down for a bit so that we can catch our breath.

For now -- I'm grateful to be home. Darby treated me to a splendid home cooked dinner last night and we spent the majority of the day together. I'll probably start answering emails tonight and get busy on the next round of projects, but this is all good -- it's for the betterment of the whole process and I'm grateful.

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.

Busy month coming up

...actually -- busy SPRING coming up...

I'm going to be lucky for things to "calm" down by June at this rate, but it's good to be busy and being self employed. Our projects lately have had a very wide range to them: audio editing, video production work, website design, trial consulting, training, logo design, duplication and scanning. Which is actually the way I like it -- having such variety so that we're not tied into one thing or another.

Darby has been sick the past week and a half -- poor girl. The coughs just sound miserable and yet we've done all we can, so we're riding out the storm as best we can.

The pussy cats are doing well -- both of them are atop my monitor right now in the office looking adorable as usual.

I hope to get some photography done tomorrow morning as I need a small break in the middle of all of these projects. I leave for Denver this coming Thursday and I'm going to be very busy between now and then.

On that note -- I'm going to get some more Peets Coffee (OMG - this stuff is so good!!!) and continue with my duplication project that's taking forever....

Long time, no type!

It's been a long time since I've had a moment to update our blog here. Darby has been keeping up with most of our major news. Since we got back from Denver during our Christmas vacation -- it's been one thing after another. The business has been doing pretty well lately and as I told Darby in the car yesterday: "I think things are going to get a whole lot busier in the next few months."

That now seems to be a bit of an understatement.

But as they say: "it's better to be busy than not busy" when it comes to running your own business. Of this, we've been blessed -- and continued to be blessed.

I've had some political matters of late that have been troubling - but I've made decisions that were best for us and for the business as a whole.

On a side note of sorts -- we have a friend in California that has started to get interested in photography. We've been doing a "word challenge" of late which has been very interesting. The word was "nearly" - and we were to go out into the world with our cameras and find instances of "nearly." It was difficult at first, but as we got creative, we found some really cool interpretations of the word.

Our Friend's Nest group can be accessed here.

So if you don't hear from me in the next couple of months -- nothing bad has happened, I'm likely just very busy.

Take care!
-Michael