Busy times, planning work

Our office visitors headed out just in time for me to get to a three hour afternoon meeting. These last two weeks have been busier than usual partly because I have someone in the office working on our very messed up web page and the hundreds of sites it connects to. She is one who does not do anything without clear direction and she has needed a lot of direction. While that is going on I am setting up to start a new helper in the reception area and preparing to post a job opening for another of my direct reports – which will result in multiple interviews in the near future.

By the time I get both persons trained and self-sufficient it will be November. It is hard to believe that we are near enough to start thinking about Thanksgiving and Christmas in practical terms. I told Mama I am more ready for Christmas this year than in the past several years. That is partly because we are more settled than we have been since we left New Jersey three years ago. That move resulted in three subsequent moves in as many years. I think I am ready for Christmas this year because I have been listening to the iPod play through the repertoire of songs on its playlist and about a quarter of those are Christmas songs.

I am also ready for some time off and I have several slots of time scheduled during the holiday season.  Many of my friends and office mates are talking in animated terms about hunting trips they have planned for that time of year. I have not done any hunting since we left West Virginia and I cannot say that I miss it. For the moment, all my recreational energy is being spent on farm. It just feels more productive to me; and far less self-serving.

When I got home last night I cleared out the laundry room. Mama had painted it during the day so I pulled up the paper the sheetrock crew had put down to protect the floor from their mess. I took the time to get the outlets and switches hooked up and wired in receptacles for the hot water heater and dryer. By the time I had gotten all that done Victoria was home and ready to help me move cabinets but I was still not ready to go there.

Mama and I are going to pick up a rug from the seller at Trade Days this evening. I will meet her there on my way through Bowie. She is planning on going to the nursing home and get away from there in time to meet me. I think we will need the truck for the rug; it is eight foot by eleven foot. It is not the size Mama ordered. She ordered two five by seven rugs to go under either side of our bed. This one will take up the entire room but we are going to look at it and she has planned to buy it.

I need a large rug in the apartment as I stage cabinets. The large cabinets are eight feet tall. In order to get them into the kitchen I have to set them upright in the living room – the ceiling there is almost ten feet high – and carefully scoot them across the kitchen into place. It is not an easy task and I do not want to damage the floors in the process.

 If Mama and Victoria help me we will use some towels under the righted cabined to shuffle and slide it in place. After that one is in place all the rest is fairly easy until I have to put the double oven in the cabinet; it weighs 275#. Mama and I will be out all next week so this weekend is the last time I will have to work on the apartment for a week.

I am hoping to get a good bit done but time will tell.