From the Desk 8/25/2008

This morning I woke up early for some reason and decided to use my extra time to read a couple more chapters in "Jimmy". I then got ready and went in to work. I spent the majority of the morning working on finalizing the cover for the toy catalog as I had received an email alerting me to the fact that the cover was not a standard 8.5" x 11". I re-sized the cover, replaced the product images with the hi-res versions I downloaded from vendor image sites, and added an 1/8" bleed area to the cover. I then submitted it to be included in the final proof. I revamped a document for Stacy to use to request co-op money from vendors for the amount of space their products/logo occupies in our new 2009 catalog. Once I made it and revised it once more it was complete and it was also time for lunch.

We ate in the break room after the ladies returned from a trip to Target where they bought food supplies for the week. We are all going to try and be good this week, not eating out at all. We finished up eating and then I returned to the project that would consume the rest of my work day. I decided to go ahead and knock out the creation of the testing flyer for early next year. I know it seems silly to create this piece so early, but the only thing that should change would be the prices, which won't take long to update. This should be a time saver as when the time rolls around for production of this piece we should be able to focus on the next event as this piece will already be complete. I had to grab some of the product images from last year's flyer, and re-typing the copy and descriptions took a considerable amount of time. I chipped away at each group of books, timers, and other items slowly. I managed to complete the entire front side and about half of the back side before I realized what time it was. It was close to 5:00 so I went out to my car to get my hiking clothes. I changed and met Stacy at my car.

We decided to hike up Kennesaw Mountain today as it had been raining off and on all day and the trail at Burnt Hickory Rd. would probably be flooded in parts. When we pulled into the parking lot we instantly noticed that there were only 4 cars there today so the trail would not be crowded due to the weather. It sprinkled lightly off and on through parts of the hike, but never enough to get too wet. We made it to the top and were surprised to have a clear view of downtown. I had imagined the view being clouded over and visibility to be very limited, but apparently the rain had cleared out the smog that usually cloaks the tall buildings in downtown Atlanta. We took a brief rest and then started back down the trail. We were about 50 feet away from the end of the trail and the parking lot when I saw something out of the corner of my eye. Stacy had stopped walking and began flapping her arms with a panicked look on her face. She drew a breath in sharply and then managed to yelp out, "moving!" I turned and looked ahead on the trail and saw the cause of her panic. About 15 feet ahead of us was a 2 ft. long snake slithering across the path. I kept a safe distance as I was unsure what type of snake this was. I managed to snap a couple of pictures and have zoomed in to show you what we saw. I would find out later (after researching online) that this snake was indeed a copperhead, one of Georgia's most common poisonous snakes. We allowed the reptile to peacefully cross the path and then continued on to the car. I dropped Stacy off at her car at the Box and then went home. I ate a quick dinner after talking on the phone with mom for a while. The rain continued all night and I took advantage of the music the rain created on my windows by reading more of "Jimmy". I read until Christina came over and then we talked about our days and watched some "Family Guy" on TV. It was good to laugh and I think it cheered her up. After several episodes I walked her to her car and we said goodnight. I returned inside and got my video equipment together as I would be filming at the Northlake store tomorrow. I went to sleep again listening the rain gently singing me to sleep.

Meditation for the day: Romans 12:4-5 "Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others."