Wednesday, June 27, 2007

The floors are done...

well almost done. We still have the 2 hall closets & both bedrooms to tackle at some point. But the majority of it is done.

There was only one minor freak out when I started pulling up the carpet in the living room & found raw wood. The carpet was already cut, so it had to come out no matter what, so we started ripping & found the raw spot was about 1x3 feet.

I'll post pictures tomorrow after I get the floors mopped again & furniture in place. They were NASTY!!! For 55 year old floors, they look pretty darn good though; much better than the "realtor beige" carpet we had before.

Monday, June 25, 2007

What to do on vacation?

So Friday was my last day at Spyder. I worked like crazy, didn't take lunch & got almost everything I planned on done. There wasn't much said about me leaving on Friday. My big boss even left without saying goodbye. A few of us did go out for drinks after work, which was fun & relaxed me a little bit. But it wasn't until today that I was really excited about my new job & stopped being quite so stressed.

Saturday night Cade got here. Here's a picture of him on Sunday morning:


Yes, he has a mohawk. AND, the it is red, like red red, not hair red. We were both a little shocked by it. He really loves it & doesn't seem to mind people looking at him. And since he is a really shy kid, that's a good thing.

So the question everyone has been asking me is: what are you going to do on vacation? I've been asked if I am going to just relax or maybe do a little sewing. I, of course, have a laundry list of things I would like to do in the next 9 days (besides get my house clean & spend time with Cade & Ben):

  1. rip out the carpet in front part of our house
  2. paint both bedrooms at the condo (and possibly the whole thing, we haven't decided)
  3. organize my laundry room
  4. organize my garage
  5. go to Social Security & get my name changed
  6. get a new driver's liscence with my new name
  7. finish a baby quilt
  8. weed my rose garden
  9. organize my closet
  10. get Quickbooks set up for Ben's real estate

So far, it has started out great. After we dropped Cade off at day camp, Ben came home & worked while I began on the carpet. The carpet was brand new when we moved in a year ago & I have already cleaned it 2 separate times. The old owners had a "sick" cat that had peed in the house, and since the carpet padding was not replaced, the anilmals could smell the urine & would sometimes pee. I have cleaned the carpet 2 separate times to no avail, so since I had the time off, it was the 1st priority on the list.

Here's a couple of pictures before:


Here is the hallway after it was all finished. We found a bunch of nails hammered in one area. We think they were trying to prevent the floor from squeaking. (didn't work, it still sqeaks!) We are debating whether to remove them & fill the holes now or wait until we refinish the floors & fix the holes then .


And here is the dining room partially done. We had to stop because the sun was setting & it was too hot to work in the there. (Our houses faces west, so it was broiling!) Only dissapointing thing we found was some residue by the kitchen door. It looks like something was glued to the floor, like a rug. (Guess I now need to add to my list to remove glue from floor.)

Tomorrow we plan on tackling the living room & finishing the dining room. And by we, I mean, mostly me because Ben has a doctor's appointment tomorrow & has to do a bunch of real estate stuff. But he will help after that is done. So tomorrow there should be pictures of my clean, lovely hardwood floors.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Fun part of my job

So this is what I like about my job.

I get to take this:




And turn it into this:



I get to cut, tear, pin & draw all over clothes to make them look better & be comfortable. Of course to most people, the bottom picture does not look better. But I can see how it is better.

It's especially fun when you are cutting up a jacket that sells for over $1000. (Not this one though, it's part of a $300 jacket.) It is amazing how easily I can hack something so expensive to pieces.

Friday, June 15, 2007

Need to sell a house?

My husband can get it under contract in 58 days!

He got an offer on his brother's house on Wednesday which was pretty crappy, but he did an amazing job negotiating & was able to get a offer that was at least reasonable. And yesterday, 58 days after it went on the market, it was put under contract!

So now he as a track record of selling his properties in 58 days. He rocks!

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

I did it!

I just gave my notice. I was completely nervous & scared to death because this is the first time I have quit a job for no other reason than I am unhappy. It went OK. I felt really bad for my boss because she found out late last week that another person is leaving as well. So she is in a pretty tough position. But completely understood that this was an opportunity that I could not pass up.

Yesterday I got offered the position with Gaiam which comes with a significant pay raise. I was excited to recieve the offer because of the 3 jobs, it was the one I wanted most. I have not accepted the position yet, I am waiting to see what the other 2 have to offer. But it is the one that I want the most & would enjoy working there I think.

The morning interview went well yesterday. It was forever long & I got asked several of the stupid questions like "if you were stranded on a desert island what would you take from you job?". The company is a little scary though. They laid off the entire development team about 1 1/2 years ago when the filed for bankruptcy. An investment company bought them, so really they are not the same company, only the same in name, but it makes me a little nervous.

And the afternoon interview was the worst I have ever been on from a company side. First they made me wait 40 minutes before my interview even started. Then they talked for 1 1/2 hours in circles around each other. One would say that the hours would be 40-45 per week. Then the other would say the hours would be long & very similiar to what I currently work. One would say there would be little travel, maybe once a year. Then the other would say I would have to travel significantly, like once a month. Needless to say, it was not a company I could ever work for.

So my last day here will be 6/22. And I will start my new job on 6/27.

Thursday, June 7, 2007

Holy Crap!?!

So I decided a week ago I was done with my job. Absolutely positively done. I'd had my review 2 weeks ago where I found out there was no job growth or career path planned for me for the next 3-5 years. It was expected that I would stay in my current position & just take on more product.

We discussed what I enjoyed about my current position & what I did not. I explained how I liked the hands-on part & working with other on getting the fit consistent & appropriate to the customer.

The less than a week after my review, my boss informs me that they are dividing my fit responsibility out among myself & 2 other people and that I would be taking on significantly more product.

And that was when I decided I was done. So Ben spent some time looking for jobs for me & I spent Saturday afternoon looking as well. There was only 1 posting that I was qualified for & interested in. But I also emailed several companies who were not looking.

All because I am so desperate to get out of my current position.

Well, I had an interview today with Gaiam (the yoga company). They are looking for a soft goods manager who would be responsible for their apparel product along with bedding, towels, etc. They are seriously understaffed & it is a new position they are creating. I could make it what I want & can focus more on design if I want. The job is in Broomfield which still means a 1/2 hour commute but she was appalled when I told her how many hours I normally work & said they never work that much. So it may not be that bad even with a longer commute.

AND I have 2 more interviews on Monday with 2 other companies who are VERY interested!!! Holy crap, I so was not expecting to actually be able to move on from my current job. And not only will I be able to, now it is looking like I will have my choice of where I want to work! I never would have expected this.

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

It Worked!

Ben went in for his first treatment appointment yesterday. Turns out the C1 vertebrae is off by 50 degrees. Which is 7mm. So it is pretty significant. The most likely cause was one of the 2 car accidents Ben was in years ago. It is a common long term injury from whiplash.

While the dr was doing the procedure, Ben's pain went away. Of course, afterwards the headache returned. But it shows that this will get rid of the daily headache! It's going to take about 2 months to train the vertebrae to stay in place & train the muscles & reduce their swelling. He has to go 3x a week for the rest of the month, then 2x a week for July & it will gradually reduce to where he goes 2x a year.

Now don't ask me to explain what they are doing, I didn't go with him so I have no idea. But I am going with him tonight so I will be able explain it later.

Finally, after almost 2 years we have the problem figured out & the treatment plan in place!

Friday, June 1, 2007

Suspicious Guy

So Wednesday night we had a guy come to our door after 8pm trying to sell us a security system. Ben of course said no & came back to watch TV. Lily was at the front window barking & would not stop and it was her "something is not right" bark.

So I went to look and the guy was aimlessly walking around the street. It had been at least 10 minutes since he finished talking to Ben. He then watched as a neighbor 2 doors down left & only then walked up to the door. At that point, we were really suspicious of him. So Ben called the police while I went to talk to the guy. (The thought was that I am the less threating of the 2 of us so it made sense for me to be the one to approach him.)

The guy refused to give me his full name, phone number, business card, or even a brochure for the product he was pushing. All he kept saying to me was Firstline works with GE & I have heard of GE hadn't I? When he realized I wasn't going to just believe him, he decided to walk away.

Ben had been watching the whole thing & decided to follow him to see if he continued to up to other houses. Until he noticed Ben was there, he did not go up to a single house. (I know this may seem like a little much but I have never been weirded out by some one more.)

About 1/2 hour later or so, Lily is once more at the front window barking. I look out the window & he is back standing in the street looking at our neighbor's houses, one who has a HUGE flat panel TV that can be seen from the street & another who is moving. So we called the police once more as he started walking again. They did stop him, but we don't know what came of it.

Since most of our immediate neighbors were not home, I wrote a quick letter telling them out the suspicious guy. And I am happy that I did because I took it to one house where the owner let him inside & the guy commented on his extensive video collection & wanted to meet their dog because he noticed the food dish. And that really just sounds more like someone who is scoping out a robbery.

Turns out there were several guys for the same company. All tall, white, brown haired nondescript guys canvassing our neighborhood. And several other people were suspicious enough to call the police. We got an email from the neighborhood association alerting us today to the same situation because he harassed an elderly person; even the mailman said something to the association.

At first I was worried that we may have overreacted but after finding out that others were as suspicious & concerned as we were, I feel better about it. Yes, I may have been a little nosy but I would rather be that then not doing anything & find out later that a house was robbed or someone was hurt because I didn't do anything.