Never A Dull Moment...

In our line of work, one never really knows what to expect from each new day. Today I was sitting in my office, minding my own business, literally- making spread sheets, looking at projected and actual numbers for the business- when three guys walked in the front door. They had a case with a broken latch and someone sent them to us. Turns out it was the bass player for Jeremy Camp who is in town for the RocknWorship Road Show. We went down to the Taco Bell Arena, fixed the case, looked around at the production and met Jeremy Camp's guitar player who talked to Rob about building him a guitar case. Interesting afternoon...

Pie Charts...

Things that make me happy:

New White Binders
Page Protectors
Sharpies
Spread Sheets
Numbers
Pie Charts

If I were a SWNK (Single Woman, No Kids), I would be the most boring person on the planet. But I would be totally organized and page protected....

Tumbling...

Home Ec 101...

When I say I lack a sense of style I'm not fishing for compliments, just telling the truth. Gloria has been putting up with my plain and simple "decor" for years in spite of the fact that she has a great sense of style. I don't like to spend my time dusting so I don't hang pictures or put out knick knacks. It's bad enough that the piano has to be dusted twice a week without having a bunch of other stuff to take care of, too. Tonight, however, she took matters into her own hands and made do with things she found around the house. You would think that someone who takes as many pictures as I do would have plenty of photos to choose from. The framed photos she found are all at least two years old but I guess they are better than bare walls to my sweet stylist teenager. And I won't complain....Now to see if she helps keep it this way...

Two Parties...

Today we caught up on the family birthdays from the last couple of months. We went to lunch with my side of the family to celebrate my mom and Rob and then went to Marreen's house in the afternoon to celebrate Colleen, Rob and Tony. I decided that I must really be old because I had to take a brief nap in between the parties! It was a lovely day...

Typical February Day...

Woke up to an inch of snow, spent the day cleaning up the shop while Rob built a case and then came home to my very independent kids who had the house all cleaned up. Can't complain...

Good News / Bad News

Today was one of those days that proved Brads theory on several occasions: if things are good, wait and it will change. If things are bad, wait and it will change.

It started this morning on my way to work. I sent up a short plea for a little good news. Five minutes later, our friend and customer, TJ, called and said he was coming to the shop and had money to spend. Good News!

Not 10 minutes after I arrived at the shop, the neighbor two doors down dropped in to say that the Hookah Bar next door had their conditional use permit approved and would soon be open for business. She called it good news but she was being very sarcastic. Bad News.

Later in the day another friend and customer came in to tell us he had purchased a small sound system at Guitar Center. Bad News.

However, the only reason he bought it was because its been discontinued and was dirt cheap. We went down and bought the last two and will possibly double our money. Good News!

Later in the day we set up for a jazz group out of Seattle in the Sapphire Rm across the street. We started the sound check and they didn't seem very happy with the sound. The accordion player was especially vocal about it and didn't veil his criticism of the room or of the sound guy. Bad News.

After the band's first set, the band couldn't stop saying how great the sound was. They just weren't used to having the speakers behind them and once the room filled up, it was amazing. People love that room and sometimes we get to reap the fruits of our labor. Good News!

So at the end of the day I can honestly say, "all's well that ends well....."

Weird Day...

It was just one of those days. But on days like this I'm reminded to put things into perspective. There will always be someone who will try to make themselves feel better by making someone else feel worse. There will always be people who find the need to complain and point fingers and revel in someone else's misery. But at the end of the day, those things cannot define who you are or change the truth about the situation. One of the best sermons I've ever heard was by Brad Tricola who said, "if things are good, wait, it will change. If things are bad, wait, it will change." Wise words. Life goes on. And on. And on.

And on a bit more cheery of a note, we had two mile stones today. Zach's first job interview (I know, he's 20 but we own a family business and yada, yada, yada... And it was for Quaker Hill Summer Staff not for Target...) AND we filled out the paperwork to register Gloria for high school. Weird on both accounts...

Sisters and Friends. . .

 

 

I'm sure I've said it before, but my sister really is my best friend.  We rely on each other for lots of things and talk or text pretty much every day.  We didn't always get along when we were growing up but once we became adults, we've always had each other's backs. 

 

Today she called me from the ER.  I won't go into any details and she's fine now but it reminded me, once again, that life is fragile.  The older I get, the more I become aware of this fact.  The people in my life are far more important than the stuff and things that seem to demand a lot more of my attention.  Still working on how to solve that one but I'm definitely in process. . . 

Happy Birthday to my Mama!

Today is my mom's birthday. I'm very grateful for the influence she has had on my life and the sense of responsibility she instilled in me. She's the reason I'm a strong, independent woman (most of the time...). Happy birthday Mommy! I love you!

I Got Nothin'

I've become OCD about posting a picture everyday and since today was completely uneventful, I had to resort to this...

Sleep Over...

Thought For The Day...

Rob In His Element...

This is what Rob is up to this weekend.  He has worked very long hours in preparing for and participating in this gun show at the fairgrounds.  I haven't seen him much today but when I took him lunch, he looked pretty happy. . .

Off My Chest...

So...I've got a little something I need to get off my chest and I figure this is a safe place to do that since I don't think my seven readers will judge me or gossip about it. :)

Not long ago we did a blood, sweat and tears (mine, of course) renovation at a local hotel. (I won't mention any names so that Google can't gossip....) It was a rousing success and has gone on to be touted as a "premiere listening room" with state-of-the-art sound, lighting and staging. This is great, right? Yes. Yes, it's great. Which makes my problem a totally selfish one: I want our business to get some credit for it. I want Rob and Kurt to get pats on the back and mentions in the articles about it. I want them to give us an exclusive contract to work the events in the room (even though that's totally unrealistic considering our schedule!!)  It's frustrating to have someone else volunteer to run sound. . .

It's not like we haven't been given credit. The hotel has been great to work with and has gone on to hire us for many other projects. The owners are kind and generous people. No complaints there at all. But I see the excitement surrounding the room and it feels like we are sitting on the bench during a record setting ball game and we aren't getting to play.

For example, this is a link to a recent news clip about the room:

Concert Series Debut

Listening to this interview made me sad and happy at the same time.

We have two concerts in there next weekend so that might help me feel better but in the meantime, it did help to get that off my chest...

And in keeping with my record of posting a daily pic, we had a concert at the same hotel in a different room on Friday night. It was packed and it went well. The band played oldies and the crowd was a bit older... And I had a lovely time people watching from my side-stage view point.

And now I'll go back to just letting it go and recognize that "it is what it is". . . No. Big. Deal.

Last Weekend. . .

I'm beginning to recover from the whirlwind trip to Newberg last weekend so I guess it's time to talk about it. 

The first half of the trip was pretty uneventful.  We left early Thursday morning (7 a.m.) and made good time.  We had to take a little side trip into Yakima to pick up some foam which didn't seem like that big of a deal on paper (or on mapquest):

 

Once we got to Yakima, it didn't take too long to find the warehouse we were going to, although it wasn't in a great part of town.  I don't think I've ever driven in Yakima so the whole thing was a bit of an adventure.  We stopped at McDonalds for lunch and then headed to the warehouse to pick up the sheets of foam that Rob needed for a case order. . .

 



 

 

 

Once we got to the warehouse, the supplier looked at me like I was crazy to load 4 sheets of 4' x 9' x 2" sheets of foam into the 6' bed of my truck but it didn't faze me.  I'm used to people looking at me like I'm crazy.  It wouldn't have been quite so bad if the alarm on my truck wouldn't have gone off wildly due to Zach opening the locked door from the inside (my fault) and then my key fob not wanting to turn it off.  Oh and also the lack of working ratchet straps.

 

 

We had to make our way through the unfamiliar streets of Yakima to find a Walmart.  Rob and Google Earth led us to a much nicer part of town and the familiar Walmart sign so we could buy a new set of working straps.  It took some time but we eventually came up with this:

 

 

Google Earth led us back to the highway and on our way to Newberg, a short 3 hours and 49 minutes away.  My original plan was to hit Portland before 4:00 so I could make my way through the maze of freeways and exits before rush hour traffic. . . 

 

Things didn't quite go according to plan.  I wasn't sure how the load in the back of my truck would travel so with the extra time we spent in Yakima and the slower travel time, we ended up hitting Portland at 6:00.  In the rain.  In the dark. In rush hour traffic. 

In spite of the stress and missing the exit, we did eventually make it safely to Katrina's house.  I love staying at Katrina's house.  I'm sure I looked a bit frazzled when we arrived but it didn't take long to relax and enjoy the good company.  And I have a SLEW of pictures just like these on my Ipad:

As far as the REAL reason we were there, all of that fun kicked off early Friday morning.  Zach was put together and prepared.  Mostly.  He had a pretty packed schedule both Friday and Saturday at the University during the day and I had a few very overwhelming meetings about what it will take to get him to George Fox.  He had a speech to give, interviews with Important People and group projects to work on.  I think he thrived on the whole thing but it wore me out.  I'm thankful that he thrived on it, though, and it makes me want to figure out the details with him so he can make Fox his temporary home in the fall. . .

This is the building where he gave his speech for the Communications academic scholarship.  I couldn't be there.  Which is probably a good thing. He felt good about it. . .

In the meantime I had a really nice visit with Steph and Hailey.  I expected the academic portion to only last an hour so I went and waited in the library where I had a good view of the Communications Building.  I took this "creeper" picture of Steph and Hailey while I was waiting. . .

So. . . all in all it was a productive two days at Fox and now we wait.  We should hear something in early March about the scholarships that he applied for.  Really, really hoping it was worth it. . .

On the way home on Sunday, we drove the truck (still loaded with foam) back around Portland with just a little sidetrack into Portland to figure out which exit to take, and stopped at Multnomah Falls to take a picture. . .

The roads were good, the sun was out and it was a pretty uneventful trip back home. . .

And I ended up with a bunch more pictures on my Ipad that look something like this: