Wondering where I have been?

Well, September is shaping up to be a very busy month. I do try to get to the blog when I can but other things keep dragging me away. Last week for example:

The first and most primary thing was that I had to get 40 hours of work in before 11:30AM on Friday. The fortunate thing was that I had 2 hours of comp to carry over from the previous week. So, no problem with the 40 hours you think. Well, there were complications to making that goal - of course!

To start with, the tiling on my shower was finally complete, after 2 years. I was so excited. With company coming, I was going to have my shower back in the Master Bedroom so that the company could use the guest bath. Yeah! However, there were lots of details to take care of first. The tile was all laid and thinset down but still had to be grouted and sealed. I grouted, waited a few days, sealed, waited another day and sealed again. Then, there was the matter of the shower doors - very heavy and unwieldy - a two person job. I was determined however and did manage to get them up by myself after much grunting, groaning and praying all as I was trying to balance both and keep them from crashing down all over the place. Next, was the problem of what to do with shower items (shampoo, rinse, etc.) I surely did not want to put them on the floor of my nice, new tiled shower. I really liked the teak shower caddy I bought for the other bathroom so ran down to BBB to buy another one but, as luck would have it, the one in the store was missing some of the parts and they didn't have any more so it had to be ordered online. Next, when I turned on the shower, the shower head was squirting as much water back through the hose joint as through the shower head. I guess, after 10+ years, it finally gave up the ghost. Another trip to BBB to get a new shower head. And then the install on that (which didn't take too long but was one more thing).

As if the shower, accessories and 40 hour week were not enough, I had to go and decide to buy a new TV (my first HD plasma - sigh). Buying a tv just isn't the same anymore. You don't just take it home and put it on a stand (unless of course this is your second or third HD TV). The TV was just the beginning. They didn't have it in stock so it had to be delivered (Ooops - have to go home from work a couple of hours early for the delivery men - cutting into that 40 hours I was trying to put in). The delivery went well but then there was the pickup and hook up of the DVD upconverter so that DVDs could be watched in the higher definition format. Then there was the new HD Tivo player that was required and, of course, all of the HDMI and Optical cabling (what the hell were those? - not something used a few years ago for sure!). And, Comcast had to be called to come install the cable cards so that the TIVO would work and the HD on the TV could be used. Comcast, in their ever so efficient (not) manner could not even come out until Friday and then only give you a 4-hour window (hence, having to leave work by 11:30 on Friday) and all just to install 2 cable cards! After receiving the tv, I decided that since the stand did not swivel, it would be nice to have the tv on the wall with a swivel arm so that all in the room could see the tv since I was having guests come over. That required yet another visit by the great guys of the Best Buy Geek Squad. They were kind enough to schedule their visit during the same window as Comcast and even came early in the window (12:15) since they knew I had other things that I needed to do. Their awesome job with the TV - installing the arm, hanging on the wall, hooking up all components and hiding the wires in a plastic arm was complete by 2:00. Still no signs of Comcast. They finally dragged in around 5:00PM (1 hour after their window) and then didn't know how to do the install and didn't bring the right equipment - aargh. Another guy had to come out - still didn't know what to do. By that time, I had missed picking up my friend at the airport and also missed the first yoga class of my spa/yoga retreat at the Four Seasons. This was getting ridiculous. At 8:15PM, I finally kicked the cable guys out and headed off to try and catch the end of the wine and cheese reception.

But first, back to the rest of the week. Aside from the shower, tv and cable stuff and trying to get 40 hours into the week, I also had to close the books for ATW which I did at 5:30AM one morning so that I could be at work by 7:30. Then, my friend Diane had her 50th birthday so, on Thursday eve, we were off to Vino Locale for drinks and food to celebrate. And, I also spent a couple of evenings sanding, painting and fauxing the walls to repair the places that Thomas had chewed. I also painted the wooden divider where he likes to scratch his back.

And then there were the wooden risers I bought to put under the feet of the guest room bed so that I could create a storage space under the bed. That took part of one evening as I had to dismantle the bed to get the risers under the legs and then put it all back together. All of this stuff in one week between Sunday and Thursday. (except the Cable and Best Buy stuff on Fri afternoon.)

By Friday eve, I was so ready for the weekend to begin. I made the end of the reception and met up with my sister and my friend from LA. After the reception, we headed off to the bar for more chat and drinks, finally dropping into bed around midnight. I was up early - 6:30 - the next morning to go home and feed the dogs and let them out. Grabbing a peppermint mocha, I headed back for the 9:00AM yoga session (really glad to make at least one), a stone facial (yes, they stoned my face) and finally relaxation by the pool. My friend, Philip, who had come from NY, joined us at the pool. At about 4:00PM, we finally left the pool and made our way back to my house where we were able to enjoy the new tv by watching the USC game (fight on!). USC won in a nice manner. We saw the ending at Linda's house where we had gone at half time for some pool, food and drinks. Getting home at about midnight again, we were all exhausted. The next morning, I was ever so thankful to have the extra shower as the three of us tried to get ready for the day. After showers, we made our way to the farmer's market where we enjoyed delicious crepes (mine - crab, avocado and asparagus, theirs - ham and cheese) and tasted our way through the fruits, vegetables and chocolates of the market. As afternoon came, Jolene and Philip boarded their planes to return to LA and NY respectively. It had been a wonderful weekend with wonderful friends and family. I was exhausted and thought I might sit down to enjoy some more of the new tv. However, I forgot that I had not yet setup the TIVO on the network and spent the next 3 hours on and off the phone with my BIL and the TIVO tech support staff trying to get it all set up. Whew! Buying a new tv is hard. At last, I was able to watch the great outfits of the Emmys in HD detail - what an experience.

And, what a week! All good but incredibly busy and tiring. I am doing my best to make it through work today and then looking forward to resting at home this evening before going on to more ventures.