From the Desk 5/13/2008

I woke up this morning with a little bit of a sore throat. My guess is that I can have my windows open for part of the day, but exposing myself to the airborne allergens all night long probably isn't a good idea. I once again had some hot tea and muffins for breakfast and then headed off to work. As I passed the Exxon station near work this morning I almost had a wreck when I looked at the gas sign. It has risen to $3.75 per gallon! Seriously, I will have to start bringing a change of clothes to work with me in my hiking pack and just walk to work each day as I would probably go broke if I continue driving!

I worked mostly on the Gov. Gift Card signs and flyers today. I also began playing around with potential sign bases for the back-to-school sale period. We have the signs printed on heavy card stock and then cut into 3" x 4" signs. We then print the product information (item#, sale price, regular price, etc.) on clear labels and have the stores stick them together to promote the sale items throughout the store. I have contemplated several different deigns, but I think I have narrowed it down to just two that I will present to Chris and Vickie and let them decide. I brought a DVD of That 70's Show to watch while I eat my lunch today. I would eat with my group, but I find it hard to eat at 11:00am and then not eat again until 5:30-6:00pm. I also don't want to take my lunch early and then have that much of the day left to endure without reprieve. I gladly go out with them at 11:00 when we go somewhere, but that is because it usually takes about 30 minutes to get our food so I'm not as hungry as early for dinner. I received an unusual email at my School Box email address. I probably received this because I left my email address (phillip@schoolbox.com) when I renewed our program involvement with Camp Twin Lakes, the camp that benefits challenged and handicapped children. Somehow, a beer fest to raise money for a camp for children doesn't seem to add up to me, but perhaps I am just sheltered. I ate the 3-cheese Ziti (Smart Ones brand) for lunch. It was delicious and combined with the smoothie I had been slowly working on throughout the day, filled me up sufficiently to help cut down on my weakness, snacking. I worked on odds and ins concerning the mailing lists and prize winners from customer appreciation week for the latter part of the day.

I left work and went home to change into some mowing clothes. I drove over to Stacy's and (using the key she left with me) I got the mower out of the garage and then proceeded to "beautify" her yard. (I put beautify in quotes as grass can only be so beautiful when it is deprived of rain on a consistent basis) It didn't take very long this time as the grass was much shorter than before. After finishing that I checked for mail and made sure everything was in order at her house before retreating to my apartment for some dinner. I worked more on the video tonight and got the first half of the ceremony done complete with effects and transitions. This wedding is coming together much faster than the last one. (Probably due to the fact that I didn't delay and wait a week to begin working on the production) I also took some time to go through boxes in my office closet to try and determine what might be able to be thrown away and save some space/eliminate clutter. I also got the memory card from Leslie's camera that had the pictures from La Parilla restaurant and Hemmingway's so I spent a few minutes updating my Facebook and Myspace pages with new pictures. I also have included some of those pictures here as well so all can see them. I went to bed earlier than the past few days to prepare for hiking the mountain tomorrow. Dave is coming with us this time so he and I will keep pace and run the back part of the trail while Mike, Tausha, and Carmen take things a little more leisurely pace.

Meditation for the day: Ecclesiatses 7:8 " The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride."