Another day another dollar.....

As I sit here at work...yes, rough end to the day at work! I am surrounded by some of the greatest people I have ever worked with. The laughter is filling the room in the midst of much change and sadness as the detox unit will be officially closed at this time a week from now. Each new day here at the Lighthouse is such a blessing in disguise. Discussions of what everyone is having for dinner, Quizzno diets, turbo tax, kid troubles, movies recently seen, coworkers getting together later in the week outside of work, midgets, when I was born, and grunting are just a few of the things discussed all within the past 3 or 4 minute time frame. Odd conversation topics for some but a "normal" conversation for this crowd. As I look at the past two years of my career at the Lighthouse and looking to the future, I couldn't be any more content right now with where I am working. As challenging as some of my clients are at times and the names I am called (one has to love the clients colorful vocabulary at times), I work with a great group of people. With the economy the way it is at this time, I live from pay check to pay check but am truly blessed to have the crazy job that I do have with the crazy group of people I work with.

Bad house!

Well, the "joys" of being a home owner continues! As of now, I'm lucky I'm even getting my carpet in the basement cleaned...the claims adjuster is only approving the carpets to be cleaned. I went from getting the carpet replaced to "we'll at least get the pad replaced" to the carpet is only being cleaned. And the phone wars to the HOA manager continues as I'll be fighting this one! The guy that is doing the sheet rock was to be at my house at 0800 this morning...he was kind enough to be a no call no show until 1 pm...only 5 hours late. I wonder what my boss would have to say if I showed up to work 5 hours late??? Hmmm

The sheet rock in the basement bathroom is now in and the sheet rock in the kitchen is no longer being replaced...the wet spots have simply had the paint removed and the wall has been re textured. I am now responsible for providing the paint...another "hmmm". When discussing when the guy would come back I was told "I'll be back sometime Monday or Tuesday." Has anyone received the memo on my having no life?? Apparently I missed that one! I quickly let the guy know that Tuesday is out of the question as I will be at work and no one will have access to my house while I am not here. So, I now have the "I'll call you before heading over Monday." This might end out being Merlin's lucky day if he is not moving to "grandpa's" or worse!

I have officially gone into puppy withdrawals so will be going to pick my not so little girls Maddie and Bailey up from "Grandma's" this evening! In the picture, little miss Maddie is on the right and miss Bailey is on the left! Aren't they too cute??? (not that I'm biased or any thing!)

Disaster zone at home

A few day before Christmas, Nathan started the tiling job in my bathroom upstairs, in the kitchen and the entryway in my townhouse. He did an amazing job! In the midst of trying to complete the job, the only bathroom in comission for a short time was the bathroom in the basement. In the midst of the tiliing job, frozen pipes burst in my neighboring townhouse. The houase has been empty for 8 months and is in the mids of foreclosure. Suddenly, I had Nathan and Shelly fighting to finish the tiling in the entryway, 2 restoration crews coming through, the utilities company coming through, a plumbing company on hand, a locksmith on location trying to gain access to the neighboring townhouse, and the HOA manager somewhere enroute. Two and a half weeks later, the other townhouse has $50-$60 k in damage and I still am unsure the amount of damage to mine. Insurance is a blessing to have when needed but also a bear to finght when having to use it. I was spared any major damage, as far as we are able to tell at this time. THe restration crews had my house stabelized within a couple of hours but the other hosue is still being stabelized. Knock on wood, I will finally have the sheetrock in the basement bathroom and in my kitchen on my main level replaced come Friday. The painting and trim will be done next Monday. Carpet??? The restoration crew wants to get the carpet replaced yet has not even pulled it back away from the wall. The claims adjuster appears to be MIA and the restoration crew still has no idea if they are going to be able to replace my carpet. The HOA manager called yesterday to find out how things were going in my house; I laughed and said "your guess is as good as mine!" The musky smell is less than pleasant at this point and not getting any answers is becoming an even greater frustration as the days go by. The blessings in all of this....I have a home, the HOA insurance is paying for all of the repairs, and the damage was not any worse in my home. My girls, Maddie and Bailey, have enjoyed being at "Grandma's" aka my mom's house for the past two and a half weeks and the boys, Oliver and Merlin have enjoyed having more of my attention and less competition. I am hoping the carpet is replaced for a number of reasons; Merlin has been territorial since Oliver came home and has been taking it out on the carpet downstairs. As new carpet and a temperamental cat are not a positive combination, Merlin is going back to the life of a barn cat and is "moving" to "Grandpa's" barn. Merlin always loved getting to mouse at the Florissant house, so dad and I are holding our breath and hoping the move to his property will be a positive move for Merlin. The joys and heartache of being a home and pet owner!

Going international

As though I have nothing on my plate already between "demolition derby" being done at my house due to frozen pipes bursting in my neighbors townhouse causing major damage between their and my townhouse, spring semester has official started, work continues to be full of ample changes, and I have my two beautiful puppies....Maddie and Bailey, I am now in the process of getting arrangements made to study abroad. I am going to be working with the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs and the International Business Seminar Organization to do a two week course in Europe. I'll be goign to London, United Kingdom; Paris, France; and Munich, Belgium. Less than a week after finals are done for spring semester, I'll flying the friendly skies with a group of individuals I have never met and will be dependent upon in some ways as I am on the other side of the world. This is going to be an amazing adventure personally and an amazing career opportunity. Parfume "body oder" here I come!