NEGLECT

I have really neglected by blogging lately. Too much other stuff has gotten in the way. Hopefully I can carve out a few minutes each week to write some. Usually we take a vacation in the summer and I have something to write about during our adventure. We always have an adventure!

So just a few quick thoughts and then I will leave you to your day.

1) Office is under construction

2) Office has hired more people

3) Office is over budget.......of course who is to blame?

4) Yard is finally looking pretty good

5) Haven't spent nearly enough time in The Sanctuary

6) Patio isn't going to get rebuilt this summer

7) Air conditioning needs replaced

8) In February, I tore up the kitchen......still torn up

9) New additional Kitchen cabinets have been designed and contract signed

10) Need to build out the rest of the garage to handle the kitchen expansion

11) Every other weekend I seem to be running off to somewhere for work

12) Achilles is finally feeling better so I can run again

13) Way behind on my running schedule and goals

14) Signed up for Mud & Music Mayhem 6M obstacle run in NC on Aug 3.....first ever for me

15) I will be dead on August 4th

16) Signed up for first marathon in Disney in January

17) Am I crazy? Only need to run four times longer and farther than I am now

18) Starting back on diet for phase 2.....another 15 pounds

19) Haven't done any artwork in a long time

20) Have I mentioned I've been a bit preoccupied?

Enjoy your day my friends. Make time to rest and love your family.

ET This I Believe 

Eugene Thompson

Fourth of July Weekend

Well this holiday weekend is finally over. For me it seemed like I missed out on this one. All of the traditional activities just slipped past. Rest and Relaxation did as well. Unfortunately the duties of life took over this time. What did I do?

Wednesday night: Drove over to Richmond to stay overnight so we would be close by in the morning. Long drive after a long day of work.

Thursday morning: Ran the Fourth of July 7.4 race. Not a great time but my first race since February due to my Achilles issue. Completion is success! Afterwards headed to jobsite and spent roughly 4 hours taking detailed millwork measurements for new library shelving to fit accommodatingly with the existing historic trim and moldings. Hot and sweaty while my wife and Mavrick wait outside for me in the clients gardens. (Funny note: Mavrick wasn't too sure of the statues around the yard. He barked at several of them.....also wanted to chase the deer that ran through.) Afterwards, London drive back home. Went to grocery store.....note to self....remember to go to the store at this time when everyone else is at the fireworks. Walmart was empty! Back home...unloaded....fell asleep.....no fireworks display....too tired.

Friday morning: Got up feeling pretty good from the run. Started mowing the lawn first thing. Was hot and sweaty starting off the beginning of the day. Afterwards....after the cool down.... Started editing the project specifications that I have been procrastinating on.....due Monday! Oops! Worked for about 6 hours while my wife was doing real estate. Quiet day......boring day. Nothing special.

Saturday morning: woke up to begin my specs and get them knocked out and the laptop wouldn't fire up. Great! Brand new laptop and it is dead......Threw a fit and stormed around the house because that meant I had to go to the office to complete the work. Certainly not my expectation of what I wanted to do. After trying several different stores to see if it was the charger. HHGregg, Best Buy, Batteries + no luck....wasted an hour. Up to the office I headed. Spent 8 hours up there trying to knock it out. There is only so much spec writing you can do in one day. Headed home.....did a little bit of gardening to give myself some peace. I like my flowers.

Sunday morning: woke up and decided I needed a more aggressive method of getting my frustrations out. Tested my Achilles again and ran 5.25 miles.....no problems......knock on wood! But super tired now. Went to church and then afterwards went up to the building to work for about 3 1/2 hours on the specs. Made good progress but didn't finish all the way. Close enough that we will be able to wrap the final sections by Monday afternoon. Went home, unwound by playing a video game.....probably a complete waste of time but good unwinding method. The spent the rest of the evening doing some more gardening, sitting and cleaning the wheels on the car......nothing special.

Okay, so now I am ready for my vacation......please. Weird 4th of July. No kids, no fireworks, no cook out, no nothing.......think I missed out on something.

Monday morning duty calls. Busy day, busy week. Marching to the drummer. This is my life......but I still need my getaway. Don't follow my example friends.....be sure to take some time.

ET this I believe 

Eugene Thompson

So What Is The Point?

So what is the point? There are times when I feel that everything I do is somewhat pointless. It is kind of like mowing the lawn. I spend countless hours mowing and trimming and weeding and planting.....and all that happens is having to do it all over again. What do I gain? Or is it just pointless?

There never seems to be an end to the house repairs. Once you get one appliance fixed or item patched or repaired, here comes another. Ownership isn't all that its cracked up to be. By the time you pay taxes, do the repairs and maintenance there isn't any time or money for upgrades. My home is my castle.....yeah right. So what is the point?

Exercise, this tired old body just cannot keep up. I have been trying to lose weight and run to stay fit. Setting some goals for myself. It just seems like every time I turn around I have more injuries preventing me from running or exercising. High ambitions but not enough steam in my engine anymore. My body keeps breaking down. Money on exercise gear, shoes, doctor appointments, race entry fees....s what is the point?

So we are supposed to go to church every Sunday and we do. I even teach morning class. But it seems that nobody else is very committed. Time and preparation for the class for only a few to hear what I have to say....or what the bible has to say. Makes it quite discouraging when there isn't others that care. Makes one question about the relevance of it all. So what is the point?

Work is such a time consuming necessary task in our lives. I spend so much effort in creating a business, building a business, maintaining a business, running a business.....it seems it runs me mostly. Why do I want to grow bigger? Taking on more work means hiring more people. Hiring more people means acquiring more equipment and software. More desks means I will run out of room and will need to rent more space. Of course that space needs to be renovated. Of course now I have more people, more overhead, more deadlines....I need more projects to pay for it. Sort of a never ending cycle. So what is the point?

All the "stuff" we do seems to build up like water in a dam and you just hope that it holds back the floods. If it ever breaks....."Sally bar the door!" Really, all this activity keeps us moving so much that we don't have time for each other. We don't have time for anything but finally crashing in bed at the end of a long day tied together with the string of things needed to get accomplished. Collapsed.

So what is the point! Do you ever find yourself asking these questions? Do you ever wonder why you end of doing the things you do? Or taking responsibility for more stuff? What if you made different decisions in your life, where would you be now? Maybe I live in an apartment, no grass to mow, no repairs to manage. Maybe I shouldn't worry about exercise. Since nobody cares at church, they probably wouldn't even notice if I wasn't there. Think of what I could accomplish with the extra time. Just find a job that paid my bills. No need to worry about all the business headaches. Leave that to others. Wouldn't life be so much easier! So what is the point?

For me I guess it is the in borne trait of always bearing the responsibility. I seem to have to "care". I don't look the other way, I go and help. I was given strong shoulders to carry some of the weight of burden.....regardless of how tired I become. Along side that trait of responsibility is the trait of competitiveness. Something deep inside makes me want to do more, do better, achieve more, accomplish more. I feel sometimes these traits are more like curses than blessings. Life could be simpler if my DNA was different. Different, but probably boring too. Uneventful. Bland. Lackey excitement.

So what is the point? I am still not sure......but I keep on doing it.

Have a great day my friends......find the point!

ET this I beleive

So....What Have I Been Doing These Days?

Not a whole lot, which is frustrating.

Home Repairs: A failed attempt to renovate part of the kitchen and add new slate has only resulted in making a mess and leaving my stove in the middle of the floor with unfinished loose tile. Now it means I have to design new cabinets that will require moving the refrigerator to another part of the kitchen.....before I even get to the placement of the floor. GREAT!

Running: Virtually non existent. After laying off (okay well off and on) due to my Achilles, I have hardly ran this entire year of 2013.... Maybe less than 40 miles! I was doing that in a week last year. I have rested, stretched, massaged and after a long period tried running in Lubbock but only hurt it again. Last week I ran 4.5 miles and it was a little sore the next day but that was it. I recently had signed up for the shamrock 8K and the Dismal Swamp Stomp half marathon coming up in a week but it doesn't look like that will happen. GREAT!

Diet: I really wanted to go back on fully committed to this to drop a few more pounds. Just don't seem to have the support and encouragement needed this time. I cannot make myself be as committed. Maybe we will try again this week to get it going. GREAT!

Yard work: it is that time of year and I think I am going to hate it. It is a task by myself and every years have to start over on the mulch beds. I guess I get some rewards by all the pretty flowers and plants. However, I had a bunch of things I need to upgrade out there like rebuild the patio, finish the trellis, pour the concrete for the patio, move stone to create planters......how can I do that with the kitchen in a mess. Top it off, the four gas cans I had in the garage are now suddenly missing. GREAT!

Vacation: Hasn't happened, heading to burn out because of no time to chill. One day won't do it but I
cannot force myself to take any time off. Who else will do my work? Exactly! I was hoping for our 25th anniversary to head back down to Barbados, have the money...just no time. Maybe we can make more of the weekend cabin trips to Crabtree Falls this year....if we reserve in time. Again, how can I take off when I have a stove sitting in the middle of the floor? I need to pay to get that one finished! GREAT!

Artwork: Yes I want to do some but when? Painting, crafting, sketching, a whole bunch of cool yard things....computer graphics. Between the things I want to do and the things I NEED to do....you know what always wins. GREAT!

Work: This is one thing that I have done a lot of WORK. IONIC has been swamped with work which means all hands on deck. Actually it means "more hands on deck"! Hiring is hard work and exhausting as well. Now who do I hire? A few more interviews and then I have to make a decision
quickly to give the others the much needed help. Now the thought comes up about having enough room in our office.....more space, renegotiate lease, more desks, more computers, more software, renovate office......GREAT!

I know I can only do one thing at a time but it sure would be awesome if I could clone myself for a few months so in could get all this work accomplished. Little by little I will get it done. Maybe today I will just mow the lawn....no mulch beds yet. Maybe today I can measure out the kitchen and sketch out the cabinet design.....just sketch. Maybe today I can do something that will allow our home to be a bit of a peaceful paradise amidst all the chaos in our lives.......maybe GREAT!

Ok, now to work......thanks for listening to me ramble my friends. Enjoy this day because the next one will be here and gone before you know it.

Eugene Thompson
ET this I beleive

A Whole Bunch of THINGYS!

I have really been dragging on any new postings recently.  Not a good thing! It just seems like things are so much busier right now.  Like what you may ask? I don't know....just THINGS!

For one THING it is the beginning of spring and so much yard work has yet to be done. I wish it would just stay frozen over the winter and pick right back up where I left off. Nope! Weeds grow everywhere, mulch beds need replaced. Plantings need to be added and of course all the over growth needs to be cut back or cut out.  Add this to all the other THINGS I am doing and I cannot keep up with the basic lawn mowing. Was out of town for two weeks and the front lawn was crazy.....what is worse that that? Well before I went out of town I didn't have time to mow the back lawn....Now that is a crazy jungle.  I think our small pup felt he was in a safari every time he ventured out in the back for a pee. Poor guy.

RESULT: This weekend (before another rainfall) I got the front lawn mowed and bagged, I worked on another mulch bed that needed mulch work. Yes a play on words.....lol. (Keep in mind I probably have about 13 mulch beds around the house...why 13....because lawn work in itself is unlucky). I trim a few bushes and transplanted a bush/tree...whatever you call that THING. Oh yeah, if you ask me what plants I have in my yard....I don't know.  It is a green tall thingy and the yellow flowers on a stick like branch and there are some growy purple stuff.....you get the idea! The most best piece (poor grammar is prevalent in today's writing) this weekend was a wack down of the back yard grass.  It needs a couple more mows before it is back in shape but at least my pup can go out there without being threatened by wildlife.

STILL TO DO: I always have the "still to do" lists.  They never end because I am never satisfied.  These lists may last for days, weeks and yes even years.  But at least I will add them today so we can all see my pathetic attempt to complete them this year.  I need to remove all the stone patio that I put down a few years ago.  The thought was a nice stone area to dine on in the evenings. The actual result... a constant weed battle that grew up between the cracks.  I am over it.  I will pull up the stone and use them as planter walls in the front yard and then add a concrete and stone (cannot describe because it is just a weird THING...that's what I do) in its place.  Maybe a fountain THING, I will have to see how adventurous I am. I also need to replace all the patio furniture....it has met its day.....do you know how expensive that stuff is?! Crazy. Oh yeah and don't forget the sunscreen trellis THING over the the wood patio that has been planned for maybe 5 years.....still not built.  I did get the posts buried in concrete at the edge of the deck.  Speaking of deck....It all needs replaced as it is beginning to deteriorate.  One area is torn up due to pup getting stuck under the deck last year just before a thunder storm.  I had to tear up a chunck of it to get him out.

So there is one THING. But now I am too tired to type about all the others.  I could mention, work...see my business blog....if I can keep up with that too, travel (vacation)...yes that is a thingy too.... a much needed thingy from all the other thingys, Finish the inside of the house....too long of a list to notate, the need for new interior furniture, the diet and health thingy.....doing good there! To date over the last 9 weeks I have lost over 30 pounds.....yeah! Now I have to work at the running part.  Another 8K  thingy in a few weeks. Am I missing something else?...probably so.  I guess I better stop writing  this blog thingy and get up and start working on some of these other thingys......just after one more cup of coffee.....My friends....enjoy your day....before you know it...it will have slipped away and you will have filled it up with a bunch of THINGYS!

Spare Time?

So tell me....Do any of you actually have any spare time? Me neither.  I just squeeze something in if I want to do it bad enough.  Work keeps me busy enough at the office, but a great design staff allows me to take some time for myself every now and then.  But what do I do with that time? What do you do with your time? When you actually find that there are a few moments available what do you do with it?

Usually there are periods of time or lengths that become available.  Like 5 min.....15 min.....an hour.....an afternoon or morning.....the ever so infrequent DAY......maybe possibly but the unlikely  weekend. Forget about the full week vacation....and no longer does the month long get-a-way happen ever since college. (Maybe once I get all the office running independently I can take some sabbaticals to far away distant lands.....we will see.)

Well I do not plan on going through the entire "things I do" because it will make me feel like I need to DO all those things......and I don't want to right now! Primarily, at nearly 46 years of life, I like to find time to rest.  Rest and recovery (sounds like a computer necessity....a reboot). If I have a few minutes I actually like to keep up with the news, sports, yes facebook or even this silly blog. I can even burn through an hour reading up on stuff on the Internet. If we get to an hour time frame, there isn't really much I can PLAN for....it just becomes spontaneous. Yes, I should come up with a few tasks that need to be done around the house or office, even a few chores but alas that doesn't help in the recovery category.

When it comes to a morning or afternoon time slot, I often try to mix in the TASK along with some down time. There is much to do regarding the yard work.  It seems it always needs mowing or trimming or something.  Nice part about that is we are getting close to winter so that will come to a close soon. Maybe the home repairs lists will kick in at that point? It would be nice to finish the base cove, a new coat of paint, remodel the stairs, redo the main bathroom.....ahhhh and yes the new kitchen floor which includes the walls, demo, lighting, wood flooring, tile flooring....and more.......stop already! Maybe I will just take some time to watch TV......a total waste of time. But I can unwind.  Better yet, I will do a little city building in SIM CITY! (I know, a complete departure from what I do all day long at work! Plan for commerical, industrial and residential areas, make sure there are proper traffic flows both private and public transportation. Incorporate parks and recreational areas for ....get this.... DOWNTIME....I think I will go live in one of my sim cities. Make sure there is enough police, fire and medical facilities and plenty of options for education.  Don't get the city bogged down in traffic or don't let the air and water pollution overcome the occupants. And do all this under budget!)

Okay, if I had a weekend.....it never really consists of just down time.  I always have to DO SOMETHING.  We did get away to the camping site over labor day and that was a complete departure....mostly because it rained the entire time. I usually have to accomplish a bit of everything during a weekend....maybe a bit more relaxing time for a holiday weekend....a real holiday weekend not like Columbus Day.

What about a week long? Well that happen very infrequently.  I haven't taken a vacation in a while. Keeping an eye on the business prevents that mostly.....having no money prevents that the rest of the time. But again if it does occur....I have the tether of the laptop and blackberry that keeps it all at my finger tips......I need a few of these soon.....maybe half weeks?

If I had a month to DO SOMETHING it would have to be an agenda item....you know one of my bucket list items. I have a few that I would really enjoy doing and it would probably be much like a TASK than a VACATION......something to all planned out and coordinated and organized and budgeted and and and.....yep....WORK. I have a massive Bucket List already containing 50 or more items.  I may share that with you all soon........until then......I a going to play SIM CITY!

Get some rest my friends.....or go do something!