Woulda Been The Perfect Kodak Moment. . .

. . .If I could have found my camera!!!

Awhile back, I repainted most of the condo and after the scaffolding fiasco, I swore that I would never repaint the condo again! The condo will remain this great color called "Bagel" (and some other walls two colors in the same family) until a new owner decides they want to experience scaffolding. Won't be me.

Tangent time: "Why was is Bagel such a great color?" you might ask. Well, my interior decorator convinced me that I could find a gold color that didn't look like a color that I don't care for. . .OK - don't care for may be an understatement! Bagel was in the one gold color family that I liked and didn't remind me of that one color.

This weekend, we were working on finishing up some projects at the condo and I realized / remembered that there is this an area above the upper stairwell that has a pretty large white spot. Yep, I couldn't reach it with the extension poles for the paint rollers, the scaffolding would work there and it was pretty awkward for ladders in that small space.

Hmmm, I'd really like to make to do something about that large white spot! So, I took my 6' "A" ladder, folded it up and wedged it into the stairwell. With OB bracing the ladder, I climbed up to see if I could reach any of it. Nope.

In my logical mind, I realized that MBB is 7" taller than me and has longer arms, so maybe he could reach a bit of it. I had already accepted the realization that there would always be a white spot there, but I wanted to make it as small as possible. . .If possible.

Now, I'm in the kitchen cleaning up another project and I hear "MaBell, hold up the paint tray." and "OB, you better not let go of that ladder!". Yep, those statements needed some investigation.

Here's where I needed my camera!!!

Imagine this: 6' ladder braced between step and wall over the staircase by a 10 year old with 6' man standing on ONE foot on TOP of the ladder with second foot balanced against third floor stair rail.
GULP!
Needless to say, I quickly started bracing him as much as I could and said a few prayers in my head.

The white spot is now GONE and I have one very sore man.
Yep, he's still my prince charming, but instead of a white horse, he has a bagel paint brush! :)

I know, I know. . .No one is going to believe this story.
Wish I got a picture of it.

Namaste.

TGIF!

Wow - Am I glad that it is Friday!

Yes, this weekend is going to be full of activity.
Yes, I will be attempting to cross as many things off of my To Do List as possible.
Yes, I will probably be ready to go back to work on Monday to get a rest.

Why am I glad that it is Friday?

THERE WILL BE NO ANNOYING BEEPING TO WAKE ME UP IN THE MORNING!
Yes, Ladies and Gents: I am sleeping Saturday morning until my body decides that it is time to wake up, not an alarm clock! :)

Not as good as winning the lottery, but close!

Namaste.

Ever Had. . .

. . .One of those days when all you want to do is sit down and cry?

We've been getting loads of stuff done.
I actually see a light at the end of the tunnel on some things.
I am completely overwhelmed at work, but I have management support which is helping quite a bit.

And yet, my eyes keep tearing up. I am feeling more overwhelmed today than I was last week.

I have no idea why or how to fix it. Maybe I am just due for a good cry for no reason?
Who knows.

Namaste.

Still Overwhelmed. . .

OK, I made significant strides in getting caught up in my personal life!
I still have a long way to go, but things are a bit better as far as breathing room.

The problem that I now have is that I am completely and totally overwhelmed at work because of all of the time I am took off to get things done at home. It probably doesn't help that I'm not able to work much overtime right now either.

I guess that I'm not doing real good at this home / work life balance right at this moment!

Namaste.

Overwhelmed. . .

I'm a bit overwhelmed right now. I don't think that I am the only one feeling that way right now. :)

So in an attempt to get my head back above water, I am taking a few days off work to get some stuff done. I won't be logging into blog land while I am in catch-up mode, so this place will be a bit bare for awhile.

Hope everyone has a good weekend!!!

Namaste.

Rain, Rain. . .

Wow - Who made Mother Nature cry?
Can you stop please?? Play nice!

Granted, I much prefer rain over snow and ice anyday!!
Speaking of snow - I think we are supposed to get some tonight. . .

Where oh where are you spring???

Namaste.

I'm Home. . .

Yep, I am back in the states.
It was wonderful to be home and back to getting my daily quota of hugs and kisses.
In fact, I am getting more than quota now - OB is now including me in the nightly hug routine. :)

The good news of this trip is no jet lag coming back.
The bad news is that I am utterly exhausted trying to get everything on the "To Do" list done.

Namaste.

The Countdown Is On. . .

I am now counting down the hours until I catch the bus for the airport.
I am trying to get as little sleep tonight as possible. . .The less I get in the room and the more I get on the plane, the better chance that my jet-lag will be brief when I get home.

Just to give you a frame of reference:
I'll be doing a happy dance Friday 7:20pm (Eastern) as the bus pulls away from the hotel.
I will be jumping for joy Friday 11:55pm as the plane taxies away from the gate.
I will be crawling out of my skin starting Saturday 11:45am anxious for my layover to be done so that I can get back home.

This trip, I am hopeful that the hours leading up to the flight will go a bit faster as I will have someone to talk to IN ENGLISH!!! Yep, my co-worker from Europe will be keeping me company on the hour ride to the airport as her flight leaves just under an hour before mine.

I'm hoping that everyone missed me as much as I missed them!

Namaste.

Shopping Anyone?

I did some shopping the last two nights. . .Just to see what I could find. Most of family has received gifts from Japan on one of my previous visits, so I have been concentrating on MBB, MaBell and OB.

I did find some pretty Japanese-style tea cups that will look good with some Japanese pottery that I bought years ago. No, I didn't buy anything for myself - I bought for 'the house'!
That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

There are many Japanese foods that I like, but there is one in particular that I make a point of getting each trip. Leave it to me to prioritize getting a sandwich at the local Japanese fast food restaurant (Loteria). . .Yep, I had my shrimp burger last night. :) Tasted as good as I remembered!

For those who have heard me talk about Japan before, you know that there are some cookies that I really like and am always looking for - the koalas (it's not good that I can now get some of the flavors at the Kroger by the condo. . .)! I really like the blue koalas (the box is blue to note that there is white chocolate inside the cookies), but they don't make them anymore!!! :( One of my Japanese co-workers presented me with a tan koala one of the first days that I was here - it's a limited edition flavor of pancake / pancake syrup. And it was good!!! I shared with everyone in the meeting and we have all bought a few to take home.
I also found another cookie that is even better than the koala. They are in the shape of a panda bear and have both milk chocolate and white chocolate. Yep, I am now going to always look for the panda cookies!

Namaste.

Getting Comical. . .

Dinner last night was comical.

I'd like to blame it on being jet-lagged and for myself and that may even fly.
However, I don't think that my co-workers are jet-lagged and cannot come up with a plausible explanation in my current sleepy state.

We had chicken wings. LOTS of chicken wings (many other dishes too).
The wings are similar to what we have in the States, but not exactly.
(will add photos to this post after I get back)

We were all taking lots of pictures and it just started going down hill as it got late and I started hearing things like: "Don't need a taxi tomorrow... Ate so many wings that we can fly there."

The verbage alone would have been funny in it's own right.
Having people flap their arms like a chicken in the restaurant as they are saying it threw me into a state of slap happy giggles.
Disclaimer/Notes: The people who started this were NOT drinking alcohol... Our table was in a private area so we were not causing a scene.

Who says that you have to be a kid to still have fun?

Namaste.