Floored by Susan

POST BOOT CAMP THOUGHTS

2009-07-15T11:08:00.000-05:00

I wasn't in great shape when I started boot camp and I'm not in great shape now that I've finished boot camp, but I'm better off than I was when I started.

I have lost 7 pounds.

I can fit into one smaller dress size, but my regular size is still wearable. Everything just fits MUCH better and some items are downright loose. This makes me very happy.

I haven't tested myself to see if I can run a mile without having to stop and walk yet.

Even though boot camp wrapped up on Friday, we were supposed to go for Performance Tests on Monday morning, but I was out of town and couldn't make my AM class. I told uber-instructor Kari that I'd be at the PM class to do the PTs with that group, but at 6:30opm it was still 103 degrees outside and there was no way I could do a boot camp in that kind of weather.

I knew they'd put us through the opening warm up exercises before doing the PT's which not only consisted of running the mile, but doing sit ups and push ups. We were to compare our post boot camp results with our results from day one...remember that day? It was raining and I said I felt like G.I. Jane. Pffft!

Instead, Andres will time my mile and count my sit ups and push ups for me. Emily will re-measure me and I'll post those results.

Over the weekend I tried to stay on my eating plan and did pretty well until we hit a great steakhouse in Kansas City Sunday night for din din. I had an 8 oz rib eye and it was delicious, but omg I was full.

Monday morning Andres and I got up at 6am and went on our 11 mile bike ride around the lake.

I saw all the cars in the lake's parking lot...all those boot campers out there somewhere sweating and dying. Not me!

After the ride I got out my yoga mat and did my core exercises, 180 different kinds of sit ups and planks and by 7:15am I was getting ready for work!

I had my boot camp fare all day...keeping to the six small meals plan. I felt good about all of it!

I also felt a sense of potent relief when I was riding around the lake. "I don't have to get up and go to boot camp anymore!" But I also felt a sense of paranoia...worry...constant fretting..."I don't want to lose what I've gained".

That bike ride didn't seem strenuous enough. I wasn't dying at the end of it. I found myself wanting to do more. I think when the weather cools off a bit I might try adding a little run into my day. We'll see how it goes.

Andres and I went out to a fried chicken joint with Andrea (his daughter) and her family last night. I removed skin from the chicken I ate, but then ate some of it anyway and I had 10 pieces of fried okra. I feel terribly guilty about this. Andrea and I talked about this paranoia and the word "eating disorder" came up. LOL Well, I don't about becoming anorexic or anything *looks at hips* nope...no anorexia in my future, but I DO have an anxiety about eating.

This morning Andres and I did not get up and do our ride, so tonight when I get home I'll be hopping on the old elliptical. I haven't been on that since boot camp started, so it will be interesting to see how much more I can do on it now.

I want to do the mile run in the morning. That's really gnawing at me. Must get that done.

Boot camp wasn't fun for me, but I'm glad I did it. Someone at work asked why I was doing it. "You won't be able to maintain that level of intensity on your own." he said.

I agreed and knew as much going in, but what I DO have is a new perspective on what a work out should be...COULD be. My stamina is up and I've become accustomed to wonderful new eating habits.

My eating habits before boot camp were horrible. I pray I never go back to that. I won't be as strict on my eating as I was during boot camp, but I'll be MUCH better than I was before boot camp.

My new goal is to lose another 3 pounds to make it an even 10 pounds down.

After I reach that goal...I'll set a new one.

Final Analysis: Boot camp was good for me. I suppose the difficult things usually DO end up being good for you in the end. I would recommend at least one tour of duty to my friends.

Andrea and Jaimie plan to "re-enlist" in the fall. Jaimie invited me to join her.

ROFLMAO!!!!

BOOT CAMP: DAY 18 - FIN

2009-07-10T09:32:00.002-05:00

I can't believe I made it through a month of boot camp, but I have.

This day came quickly, but it was also a long time coming, if that makes sense.

I can't believe the month has passed.

The accomplishment gets little fanfare here though besides the t-shirt I got at graduation today.

I have rush to get everything ready to head to big ol' Seminole Oklahoma for my 25 year class reunion.

I have 2 hours before I have to hit the road and I still have to pack, wash the car, run by the bank and maybe go by Dillard's to see if I can find something to wear tonight.

Everyone have a great weekend.

BOOT CAMP: DAY 17 OF WORKOUTS

2009-07-09T11:10:00.001-05:00

The fact that I am in a foul mood might affect my perception of boot camp today.

Jaimie left an irritatingly chipper note on my wall indicating that she thought boot camp was good today.

*sigh*

Well, Jaimie, if by "good" you mean they gave us a good working over, I say Yes, boot camp today was excellent. Magnificent, even.

Lots of cardio and leg work today. I think the bear crawl (walking on your hands and feet) has surpassed jump rope as my most hated thing to do at boot camp. And it was hard enough doing the bear crawl going forward, but seriously....did they HAVE to make us do it backward too?

To say I was struggling with the backward bear crawl would be an understatement. It was so bad that Uber-instructor Kari got down beside me and was yelling at me that I could, indeed do it.

I tried. I really did and I got to the end of the backward bear crawl part and started on the second bear crawl forward stretch, but halfway through...I swear I was going to fall on my face.

Kari was showing this other girl, who seems to always need adapted exercises, a modified version of the bear crawl. I guess this girl has some condition or something, but anyhoo....Kari was showing this girl a version of the bear crawl where you're standing on two legs and taking large, lunge type strides. I stood up and started doing that. I think Kari started to tell me to get back down, but she must have changed her mind. Maybe seeing my beet red face changed it for her. Who can know these things?

Shout out to Miss Chipper Jaimie for doing the bear crawl all the way through!

I feel kind of bad about this bear crawl thing. I mean there were good things that happened today. For instance, for the first time in my LIFE I did push ups the regular way...not on my knees and I felt great about that...surprised at myself and great, but this bear crawl failure. It colors everything.

I can't bear crawl for long lengths of time.

woe is me.
.
.
.
LOL

okay...see, writing things out always gives me a good perspective. Who cares if I can't bear crawl. I did my best, right?

Right.

Okay...one more day and guess what? I'm going to my high school reunion. Yep, I'll be up for Boot Camp in the morning and by 1pm I'll be in Seminole, Oklahoma decorating for the reunion. I can't wait to see everyone.

BOOT CAMP: DAYS 15 AND 16 OF WORKOUTS

2009-07-08T15:56:00.000-05:00

I think I am out of words about Boot Camp. I went yesterday, but didn't write because there is nothing but the same old, same old to say.

It was hard.

I'm sore.

I go to bed at night with a sense of ...not dread. That's too strong, but I find that I put off going to sleep because I don't want to get up at the dawn of crack and go to boot camp. Add to that the fact that ever since my alarm didn't go off that time I tend to wake up around 3:30 or 4:00 and I can't go back to sleep for fear that I'll miss my alarm again, so I just lay there in bed tossing and turning, drifting off, but jerking awake again, checking the clock.

When I get up I'm not sleepy, but I get sleepy later in the day.

However, today...I hit the wall.

Uber-Instructor, Kari said today's work out would be "a good one". She did not disappoint.

It was hard but not too hard. I was pleased with my performance and I had a very encouraging sub-instructor with my small group. She motivates me to push harder simply because she IS so encouraging. I think she got a lot out of me today. (Yes, Jaimie, I'm talking about Susan...sorry)

Note for self: You did 125 tricep push ups today young lady, and Susan (sub-instructor) told you your form was perfect, so you should feel really awesome about that.

Andres' daughter, Andrea, who has already completed her Boot Camp told us at the beginning that it WOULD get easier. I now find that she was right. It IS easier. When I started out I felt worn slick just during the appetizer portion of our sessions, but now....no sweat. I can run wherever they want me to run and do whatever warm up exercises they throw at us and then do the stretches and then I can run again after that.

But the entre' portion of class seems to be harder this week. I'm not sure, maybe it just seems that way to me because I'm still sore from Monday's class and so I'm starting from a muscularly weak and painful place. Jaimie? What do you think? Is it harder? I dunno.

I can do all they ask of me in class, but when I get home...well, at least today...it hurts to lift my legs to get out of the car. It hurts to walk up the stairs....it hurts to take off my clothes. This morning I cleaned up and started to get ready for work, but I had a bit of extra time, so I laid down on my nice, soft, lovely bed.

...and I slept. I woke up long enough to call my boss. Andres asked me if I was going to call my boss and tell him I'd be late and I said, "Yes" and then said, "but my phone is downstairs." I know Andres didn't understand that I was hinting for him to bring my phone upstairs to me when he went down because he went downstairs and came back up without my phone. I didn't say anything, but I inwardly whimpered as i got up and went downstairs to get my phone.

I called Bill (my boss) and told him I was done up and in bed and I heard him snicker! He did! And I was like, "did you just laugh?" He said, "Boot camp finally found your breaking point, huh?"

"yes." I said. And then asked if it was okay if I came in after lunch.

He said yes. (Thank you, Bill) (Everyone wave at my boss)

So...I crawled back into bed and banked some Z's while in the fetal position.

I feel much better.

I only have two days of boot camp left to go. I'm glad that it will be over, but I'm very nervous that I will lose any hard fought for ground I've gained this month.

Today I am wearing a skirt that is a size smaller than my normal size. *smile* dropping a dress size was one of my goals. Don't get me wrong, the skirt isn't LOOSE or anything like that, but it's on, damn it!

The skirt is on.

HOO-YA

BOOT CAMP: DAY 14 OF WORKOUTS. (last week of camp)

2009-07-06T14:17:00.000-05:00

Well, I made the most of my splurge meal this past weekend. Andres' daughter always has a 4th of July party at her house and I knew lots of good food would be on hand, so I stayed on my dietary track until that blessed event.

Oh the humanity.

There were burgers and ribs and potato salad and Greek salad and cookies and two desserts and beer.

It was sheer heaven and I enjoyed every bit of what I ate.

We had fun with everyone who was at Andrea's house. A big shout out to Andrea and Kevin for hosting everyone again.

Today...us boot campers had to get back on program after three days of no classes. I did workouts each of those three days off. We have to do it for homework or else we get "encouragement". So I wasn't too out of it, however I was nervous about what would be in store for us.

I was right to worry.

Kari had us doing sprints and lots of core bodywork in between sprints. Lots of planks.

It was hard and I did my absolute best on everything she asked us to do which means I spent the entire time feeling like I couldn't do the next thing asked of me, but I did it anyway. I guess I know that since this is my last week, it's my last chance to make the most of this experience. One more week will definitely make a difference in my final results if I'm busting my hump to the max.

But I'm paying for it today. The lower half of my bod is extremely sore. And my quads...
I didn't realize how taxing the sprints were, but toward then end when we did our core workout I had to do slow bicycles with my legs while laying on my back and my quads started immediately twitching and they felt weird. It was a very odd feeling and scared me a bit, but I kept at it and the quivering stopped.

I hope the soreness goes away before tomorrow morning's boot camp excursion.

BOOT CAMP: DAY 13 OF WORKOUTS

2009-07-02T11:51:00.000-05:00

Today was "Bring a Friend" day at Boot Camp.

It was a foregone conclusion that Andres would be my "friend". When he found out I was interested in signing up for boot camp he was all for it. He thought it would be great for me and he was right. it's been hard, but I can honestly say it's been great for me.

I feel good that I've done it.

I feel good that I haven't quit.

I feel good about the exercise challenges I never thought I could do.

It was important to me that Andres go today. I wanted to share this with him. I wanted him to see what I was doing and to be honest, I wanted him to appreciate how hard I've been working. Not that he didn't before. In support of my boot camp efforts, Andres has been getting up at 5:30 every morning to do his daily bike ride. He said he didn't feel good about sleeping when I was out there busting my hump. He hasn't missed a day and he's been understanding about my end of the day exhaustion.

Andres is in great physical shape. He always passes for 10 years younger than he actually is. (Which is great considering I'm 11 years younger than him. heh)

Andres' son, Andy Jr. came to boot camp with his wife Jaimie today too. And you know what? I was glad he was there too! We usually have a good time when we're all together and I think a lot of Andres' family. I know what it meant to Jaimie to have him there, but I didn't expect it to matter to me that he was there too.

Maybe it's because now the entire family has had this experience. Andres' daughter just finished boot camp and she took her hubby, Kevin, on her "Bring a Friend" day.

I really like that.

I didn't expect it to turn out that way because when Jaimie's mom first suggested I enroll in a 5:30 am boot camp with her I flat out said, "No way!" I wanted no part of getting up early because I NEED my 8 hours a night and I didn't want to be pushed to exercise.

But between the time Linda first suggested it to me and the time the class I wanted to take started I began thinking about it. Why did I flat out refuse to do it? What was I afraid of? And...if I don't do this, what WILL I do? I've always wanted to lose a few pounds and tone up. Why NOT boot camp?

It's a good thing I didn't know how hard it was going to be because I probably wouldn't have signed up, but I did. I emailed Linda (Jaimie's mom) and asked her if she still wanted to do it, but in the end Linda said no.

Miss Linda is NOT a morning person. LOL But she always watches her weight anyway. If she gets a few pounds out of whack she does what she needs to do to fix it. When you're 20 lbs out of whack (or more) you need boot camp. Add to that the fact that I had a 25 year high school reunion coming up in mid July and that Andres and I plan to marry SOME TIME this year and well...it became a no-brainer.

I took a big gulp and signed up. (Odd how easy it is to sign up for things online.)

Today was the last work out for week 3. It was hard. Lots of cardio and I was dying at the end of class. But Jaimie, two of her friends who are also in our boot camp class, and I had briefly discussed doing "The Big Hill" today. "We'll do it on Thursday" we said earlier this week.

OMG...class was so hard for me today that I didn't want to do the Big Hill anymore. When the instructors announced it was time for core and people who wanted to do the hill should go now Andres looked at me to see if I wanted to. I looked around for Jaimie thinking that if they weren't doing it, I wasn't doing it.

Well...they were doing it. There went Jaimie and Andy toward the Big Hill. I took a deep breath and followed them and Andres was right there with me.

I'm glad to say we made it up to the top of the big hill and that includes coming down once when we'd made it to the halfway mark the first time up and then re-scaling the heights a second time. At each tier of the hiil we had to stop and do our core exercises...sit ups. (Note: Andres rocked the cardio portion of the class, but told me later that ab work was NOT his friend)

I almost slid in some dirt and was holding on to grass to keep from falling the first time up, but Andres helped me.

So...that was our big day 13 at boot camp. Andy and Andres said it was hard, but they both did a great job. The instructors were impressed with Andres, but I knew he'd do well and I'm so glad he came to class today.

Now a 3 day weekend looms. No boot camp tomorrow. No work and to make it even sweeter....Uber Instructor, Kari, told me I could have beer with my splurge meal on the 4th. "Just don't tell me about it." She said. "Yes, Ma'am!"

I'm having a burger and potato salad and beer and whatever else I can cram into one meal on Saturday.

Everyone have a happy 4th of July.

BOOT CAMP: DAY TWELVE OF WORKOUTS

2009-07-01T14:07:00.003-05:00

I LOVE day 12 of bootcamp workouts.

I never realized how hard the cardio was until today. We focused on strength training.

"We won't be doing much cardio today!" yells Kari before class.

Today was sooo much easier with no cardio.

How many times can I write the word "cardio" in an entry? sheesh!!!

We did strength training with a large rubber band.

We layed on the ground a lot.

The ground was wet....and grassy.

We were all pretty dirty at the end of class and I was surprised to find that I was sweaty again. I didn't think I would be.

So...some of the things we did were difficult (Like the mountain climbers they made us do periodically for just a smidge of cardio) but overall....a great day at Boot Camp!

BOOT CAMP: DAY ELEVEN OF ACTUAL WORK OUTS

2009-06-30T09:39:00.003-05:00

BOOT CAMP: DAY ELEVEN (ACTUAL WORKOUT)

Because I missed Boot Camp yesterday morning I had to go to the 6:30pm camp to make it up. The temperature was 94 degrees according to my car. My car would not lie to me.

We were in a nifty new location that had hills for our instructors to utilize.

First of all I must say that the 6:30pm class is smaller and so a bit more of a friendlier group. I had a good time talking to some of the women there.

Boot Camp is mostly women. We have 3 guys in our AM class of about 40+ people. There was only on guy in the PM class. He didn’t look like he was out of shape, but he seemed to be struggling.

I am still exhilarated when sweat drips off my face. When I’m doing push ups and it drips off of my nose…when I’m running and it skates down my jaw line to my chin. I really like that.

This guy must have been off the chart exhilarated. OMG…he looked like he was just dunked in a pool for the entire hour.

We did what they called “Suicides”.

Do I need to explain that? Sprint to the first cone, touch the ground, sprint back to the starting cone, touch the ground, sprint to the second cone, touch the ground, sprint back to the starting cone, touch the ground, sprint to the third cone and then run all the way down to the bridge and back to the starting cone where you will do about 50 squats as a cool down and then you’ll do another round of suicides.

We did this six times on flat ground. On the fifth round instructors yell out this, “C’MON YOU CAN DO IT! YOU ONLY HAVE ONE MORE OF THESE LEFT!”

Thus encouraged, I continue running even though I feel like stopping because I can see light at the end of the tunnel.

It was false light. I should have known when they used the term “one of these” that something was up.

After round six we moved to a new location where cones went up the side of a small, but steep hill.

Have you ever seen horses, pushed to the edge? They have foam in the corners of their mouths and their eyes are rolling in their sockets? That’s what I felt like when I saw that hill. I wanted to start shaking my head and pull out of my harness.

But I didn’t.

I got all….”I can do this. They can’t beat me.” I lowered my head and tried to “sprint” up the hill to cone one, then ran back down, then I sprinted again up to cone two and then ran back down, and then I sprinted (there was some groaning involved here and my sprints probably looked like NOTHING like a sprint) up to the top cone and ran down. That was round one and then we did push ups and then we did round two and then we did squats and then we did round 3 and boy were my eyes rolling then! But …I did it. I really did it.

After the suicides…we were done. It was time for our warm down…180 sit-ups. We do 6 sets of thirty. Each set is a different type of sit-up. Then we get to do stretches.

I wobbled to my car, drove home, wobbled to my house and cleaned up.

This morning I woke up at 4:45 and went to my regular Tuesday morning boot camp. Same spot, but with my regular fellow campers. This morning wasn’t as bad as yesterday, but I was amused to see that I was sweating just as much as I was the night before in 94 degree heat. Of course it was 79 degrees at 5:30 this morning. That doesn’t sound cool to me, but it felt VERY cool.

I was so worried about the heat, but it’s interesting how you’re so busy worrying about dying that you don’t even notice the weather.

Oh, a shout out to Andres’ daughter Andrea. She finished boot camp last week. She lost 12 pounds, 4 inches off of her waist and she reached very one of her fitness goals.

Hoo-Ya, Andrea!!! WAY TO GO!!!

BOOT CAMP: DAY TEN

2009-06-29T10:22:00.004-05:00

I messed up when I set my phone alarm last night. I set it, but didn't SAVE it and so...

...

you know that sick feeling you get when you realize you overslept.

Yeah...that was my Monday morning.

So I missed boot camp Friday morning and did a make up class on Saturday, now I missed this morning and will have to make it up tonight...at 6:30....during the heat of the day. The high is expected to be 93-degrees.

Jaimie tried to help me see the bright side by saying, "At least it won't be 103." True...at least it won't be 103-degrees.

Thank you, Jaimie.

P.S. Jaime DID go to class and wrote her blog about it bright and early this morning like a good little camper and it sounds like it was hard...very, very hard. There was hill climbing involved.

And what really chaps me is that for once...for ONCE it was actually COOL this morning!!!

Ugh!!!

I am currently waiting to hear from Boot Camp Uber Instructor, Kari, to see whether or not I can attend boot camp this evening.

BOOT CAMP: DAY EIGHT (of actual work outs)

2009-06-25T11:39:00.000-05:00

First of all let me say THANK YOU to those who left encouraging notes yesterday. It really did help me, especially last night. I think I was delaying my bedtime because I knew that as soon as I went to sleep it would be time to wake up and go to Boot Camp. Finally, I forced myself to hit the hay, but I did a quick Facebook Drive By on the computer just to re-read your notes.

And I'm happy to say you guys were right. Today was MUCH better!!!

I was seriously considering not going, but where does that get you? Nowhere. I mean, you have to go again at SOME point or else quit.

Quitting is not an option.

As Andres' daughter Andrea pointed out in a note, I'm almost to the halfway mark. Who quits when they're half way to a goal? Not me!! So, I'm glad Andrea reminded me of that.

Jaimie, Andres' daughter-in-law, is in the same boot camp class. I've been reading her blog entries about her take on the experience and have been surprised at how similar our feelings are day to day.

She wrote a very positive entry today and I was glad. I wanted to write a positive entry today too because I thought to myself as i took my post boot camp shower, "I need to write about the good things in all of this instead of just the bad."

As I said earlier, Boot Camp was easier today. Not easy, but easier than yesterday!!!

Yesterday...Holy Moly.

Today....I didn't feel so demolished and disheartened at the end of class. We did 2 minute drills. Lots of sprinting and core body work. I liked the sprints. They brought back the plank today and my elbows, which were JUST beginning to heal, got roughed up again. (WARNING: NEGATIVE COMMENT AHEAD) I don't know which I hate more, the Plank or jump rope. Okay...back to being positive.

If EVERY day was like today, I'd consider signing up for another month, but...I know every day won't be like today and besides...I need to rest because I have learned that boot camp takes up more than one hour of your day.

You have to stay on an eating schedule and you have to watch what you eat. It isn't difficult to follow and I'm getting acclimated to some WONDERFUL new eating habits, but it isn't easy to be spontaneous with family and friends. I've also been losing quality family time in the evenings because I conk out so early, but on the up side, by getting my work outs done in the morning I don't have to do it in the evenings. Andres and I try to ride around the lake or run at least 4 or 5 days a week after I get off of work.

This morning as I walked from the parking lot toward the field I chatted with a young woman in her 20's who I'd never talked to before. She told me that, like me, she had considered laying out today because yesterday left her hurting so bad. But after camp was over, as I jogged back to the parking lot with Penny, a 56 year old first timer, Penny told me that she had just signed up for two more months.

There is a lesson here....
.
.
.
.
Penny's lost her mind.

*best smile*

Have a very positive day!!!

BOOT CAMP: DAY SEVEN (OF ACTUAL WORKOUTS)

2009-06-24T17:06:00.001-05:00

Short update today for anyone who cares. I've been out of town on a shoot today, so could not post any earlier.

In a nutshell, Boot Camp was hell this morning. At one point I thought i was going to barf because my din din from the night before kept coming up. Then as I stood up and started to jog to another area for more workouts I got dizzy and thought...."Well, I'm going to pass out." and for a moment I wished I would.

But I made it through the hour long meat grinder, somehow, and got home.

Andres met me at the door like he does every morning and gave me his usual question, "How'd it go?" And I started crying.

I didn't bawl or anything, although I almost slipped into a jag when he said, "C'mere." and held me, but I got control of myself.

It was hard, that's all and I'm not even sure I was crying because it was hard. I think i was crying from a combination of exhaustion and just well, for lack of a better word, fear.

I dread going to boot camp now. I hate to say that because it really is a positive thing. I AM seeing results in my shape...I think. Maybe I'm just imagining things. But it's good. That which does not kill us makes us stronger, right?

Right.

Again, Andres, not liking to see me that way, told me I could quit. But I told him I wouldn't. "If I'm crying and puking through the entire class I'm not quitting." I said.

But I'll sure be glad when it's over. At least that's how i feel today.

I wonder what they'll do to us tomorrow.

BOOT CAMP: DAY SIX (OF WORKOUTS)

2009-06-23T12:26:00.003-05:00

We worked our arms today.

5 sets of 20 reps for each of five arm workouts with bars and balls, so that's 500 arm moves with extra weight.

After each set (100 reps) we had to run to another area to do cardio burst work.

The alternation was interesting. I found myself dying to move to cardio when working my arms and then dying to get back to the stationary arm work when I was doing my cardio.
I am writing to you from my desk where I am having a light soup with fat-free yogurt and a piece of string cheese for lunch.

*stare*

Oddly, I know I’ll be satisfied after I eat and then I’ll eat again at 3:00, so the eating is okay.

I was so tired/sleepy last night that I went to bed without supper. Not good. I need to eat.
I think the running is getting easier. I’m not sure. If it is, the improvement is negligible.

I keep looking for improvements even though I’ve only been doing this for a week and two days. I need to get my expectations under control, but when you’re working this hard you sort of expect to be Wonder Woman by now.

Well, I’m not Wonder Woman.

I’m just Tired and Sore Woman.

BOOT CAMP: DAY EIGHT (5th day of actual work outs)

2009-06-22T14:26:00.005-05:00

No days off this week for us weary campers, so I’ve decided to strap in and get psyched for the ride.

And…..the ride got off to a tough start this morning.

Andres and I rode our 11 miles around the lake both on Saturday and Sunday, so I wasn’t a bump on a log this weekend. I also did pretty well with my eating. My splurge meal happened Friday night when Andres and I decided to hit Tokyo House for Sushi on a whim. It was a very nice evening. …but I digress. We were talking about Boot Camp.

I woke up at 4:55 this morning from anxiety dreams about getting ready for boot camp. In the dream I was panicking and racing around trying to find my gear. I was terrified of being late. They told us that if we were late entire class would pay for it, but I noticed today that the late arrivals and those who over-indulged through the weekend were taken off by themselves after class for “encouragement’. That means extra work. That’s a good sign, I suppose. Maybe they’re backing off of the communal punishment idea.

This morning we had to carry around a heavy ball. The ball wasn’t very big, but mine weighed 15 pounds. We ran to our workout area holding the balls over our heads. That gets old fast, trust me. When we arrived at a lovely spot by the water our instructor, Kari (she’s kick butt and I really like her) told us that today would be a high intensity cardio day. Translated that means, “You’ll be dead by the time we’re done.”

And I was.

The work out, as best I can recall, went like this…

Hold ball and jump.

Jump side to side.

Now run in place with knees high…hold that ball up!

Awesome, okay now go take a run.

So we ran and came back and had to go right into pushups using the ball

One hand on the ball, then switch it.

And so it went. That was the pattern…cardio work-out with heavy ball, run, push-ups…cardio work-out with heavy ball, run, push-ups over and over again.

“OKAY YOU’RE THROUGH!” Yells Kari

But it’s a lie. She only means we’re through with the day’s special program. At this point we line up…hold our balls (stop laughing those of you immature enough to laugh) and start running and then alternately side shuffling (I hate this) to a different grassy area where we do our core exercises.

Core Exercises = fifty jillion sit ups.

Then we stretch and THEN we’re finished.

Tomorrow morning is another wonderful day. I can’t wait to see what they do to me.

BOOT CAMP: DAY FIVE

2009-06-19T12:20:00.001-05:00

I was nervous about boot camp this morning because I felt like yesterday's time off would see me losing any ground I might have gained in the first three days of class.

It turned out to be okay.

On day five our boot camp toy du jour was a 10 pound pole. At least I think it was 10 pounds. It was heavy. It was about 4 feet long. We got to hoist that onto our shoulders and jog with it to a lovely hidden glen by the lake where we did squats with the pole. Lots and lots of squats of so many different kinds.

Happily, I have quads like King Kong and so the squats weren't a killer for me. I started feeling the burn at the end, though. Note to self, try to sit down further into the squats.

I'm not sure why, but for some reason the instructors decided we had to run right in the middle of a set. Not in between sets, but right in the middle.

There we were, counting down from 20 and when we got to 12 one of the instructors yells, "DROP YOUR BARS AND RUN!".

We dropped the bars and ran. I don't know why. It was very random and done with zero explanation.

And get this, later, some girl who was across from me in the circle, which means she was as far away from me as she could be said something verboten. There I was doing my squats and counting out loud like a good camper when all of a sudden one of the instructors says something like, "I HEARD AN 'I can't' EVERYONE DROP AND GIVE ME 20!"

So that girl might have said something like, "I can't do this."

Boot Camp rule: NO WHINING!

The 20 push ups didn't bother me too much, so no biggie, but if I'd had to do an extra run with that bar on my shoulders because of her, that would have been a different story altogether. I'd have raked her over the coals....in my mind.

Long story short, I went to bed last night with much trepidation in my heart. I woke up at 4:55 with a dull sense of dread, but by the time we were finished with the bars and had gathered to do our core exercises, something we do at the end of each class, I felt pretty good. Boot camp wasn't very brutal today.

Now we have a boot-camp-free weekend ahead of us and while it's a wonderful thought, it also makes me nervous. Like I said earlier, I don't want to lose any ground, so I may show up at one of the Saturday morning classes that are held for any campers who want to come. That should be at around 10:00am, though, so no early call on Saturday. YAY

DAY FOUR: NO BOOT CAMP

2009-06-18T13:26:00.001-05:00

We got a day off today!

YAY!!!

It was so nice not to have to get up at 4:55am to head off to camp this morning. Instead, I got up at the leisurely hour of 6:00am and went on a tandem bike ride around the lake with The Marrying Man. That’s only about 11 miles, so no biggie. I actually feel guilty for not doing more.

Still the ride was hard. The wind was pretty strong making about 4 miles of the trip pretty difficult.

My legs…they don’t like jumping and so they did not like the ride this morning. My calves are EXTREMELY sore from Wednesday’s boot camp. I had to go down the stairs sideways today. My calves keep threatening to cramp up at the slightest provocation.

More injury inventory:

1. My elbows are all skinned up. We have to do several plank exercises which puts you on your elbows and toes. Yesterday we had to “walk” down the length of our jump ropes in this position and back again. The elbows were already a little gimped up from previous days, but Wednesday pretty much made them officially scabbed. *gross* I look oh, so professional at work walking around with scabbed up elbows.

2. Knees: they don’t like scraping along on dried out grass either. My right leg has scratches all down the shin.

Food Notes:

We have to keep a log of everything we eat and have been told to eat 6 small meals a day and we’ve been advised what to eat and how to eat it. I haven’t been hungry once…well, okay once yesterday afternoon, but it was fine. I am so full from lunch right now it isn’t funny and I have to eat again at 3:00! I have healthy foods and meals I’ve prepared at the house, so I bring everything I need with me to work. I just had 2 oz of beef with stir-fried veggies and yeah…I’m full. I’ll have half an apple and a half cup of cottage cheese at 3:00.

I’m a little sleepy today.

DAY THREE: Just Do It!

2009-06-17T11:20:00.001-05:00

Remember when I wrote about hating the jump rope station on Day Two? Guess what was waiting for each of us Boot Campers when we checked in for duty this morning?

"EVERYONE GRAB A JUMP ROPE!!!"

That's right, we had a flippin' jump rope in our hands for the entire hour.

When I wasn't jumping with the jump rope I was running with the jump rope held over my head.

I had to hold the jump rope aloft while doing lunge squats.

I had to lay the jump rope in front of me and jump back and forth over it, do push ups in front of it and then…I got to jump with it some more.

*sigh*

Well, it was lots of running here to do jump rope exercises, then run over there to do more jump rope exercises. (the lake is lovely at dawn though) Then we ran back to where we had just run from to do more interesting things. (note: I had no idea you could do so many things with a stupid jump rope) It was hard for me, very hard, but not quite as hard as yesterday. At one point by the lake, I think it was during the 100 jumping jacks, I found that my mind had left my body.

Cool.

At that point I realized I wasn’t there with Bravo Company (that’s the name of my squad. Don’t laugh) listening to instructors yell, “C’MON! MAKE SURE THOSE HEELS TOUCH THE GROUND!” My mind was thinking about work and other things. The ol’ brain said, “Enough of THIS! I’m outtie.” My brain is very smart.

Note: I’m a sucker for one on one encouragement. I did not know this about myself, but as I was sludging through some jumping exercise about half way through class one of the instructors got in front of me and said, “Just Do It!” I realized he was talking to me and looked up. (apparently when I’m worn out I stare at the ground while trying to jump) He was smiling at me and said, “yep, I’m reading your shirt.”

I looked down at my shirt and sure enough it had emblazoned on it, “Just Do It”.

I suddenly picked up my pace.

I feel great today. Sore, but great!

DAY TWO: OMG

2009-06-16T09:22:00.001-05:00

Just let me say OMG. Whatever warm feelings I thought I had about feeling cool at boot camp on day one were immediately dislodged this morning.

I can’t even be creative here so I’m just going to outline what we had to do.

Run about a quarter mile to vacant parking lot. Get in a circle with your group and do calisthenics, many, many exercises designed to get us warmed up. While doing this we all had to tell the group something about ourselves.

I’m not gonna lie, I was tired just doing those warm up exercises. I know, it’s shameful, but there it is. I was already winded.

After the warm up we ran again, longer this time, but I’m not sure how long…half a mile? I dunno. We ran to a grassy area where stations were set up with lighted cones so we could see where we were going in the dark. We had to go around to these stations and do workouts in smaller groups with about ten in each group. Even getting from station to station was a workout.

No rest.

No rest.

Just move and jump and lay down and hold your legs up and lay on your side and hold your legs up. Now raise one leg in the air and hold it while you’re in plank position. Don’t put it down. (I had to put it down) Now the other. Now side plank. Hold yourself up. That was an example of what happens at the stations. Then we would run to the next station for more and by the way, I hate jump ropes. Jumping rope sucks when you’re already tired.

And when you’re through jumping rope please run some more.

I was dying as I moved through the circuit and felt some hope in my chest as we came back around to the station where we had begun. I thought that meant we were at the finish line. I thought it was nearly time to go home. But I was wrong. We got to the station only to find they had more work for us. We had to do a second circuit. My legs were shaking as I tried to do more lunge squats. My abs hurt because most of the exercises focused on our abs today.

“JUST THINK ABOUT THOSE BIKINIS!!!”

Yeah, right.

It was as I was moving through the second round of circuits that I realized something, never ending workouts would be a great punishment in hell.
I was seriously dying and wondering what I’d gotten myself into. Someone’s made a HUGE mistake!!!

But you know what? There is a girl in the class. She’s very large. She was in our smaller group at the start of today’s class when they made us introduce ourselves which is how I know anything about her at all. She’s from the Bahama’s and this is her second month of Boot Camp. She’s been through the boot camp once and has decided to do it again.

Just knowing that inspired me. As hard as it is for me, it must be harder for her and she didn’t quit. More importantly, that crazy girl signed up for more!!! So I noticed that she was always trying her best with everything. I tried my best too. It wasn’t stellar by a long shot. I think I even cast out a disparaging comment about jump ropes to a fellow camper as we approached the jump ropes for a second time. I felt bad about that because it’s not very encouraging to my fellow boot camper to be like that. I made a mental note to keep any grumbling to myself. Besides, a positive attitude absolutely makes a difference.

I returned home sore and had a hard time going up the stairs. My body hurts all over, my arms, legs, backside, back, abs.

But the thing I like about today’s boot camp is…I made it through and….well…that’s about it. I made it through and I feel good about that.

We Have to Say HOO-YA and Everything!

2009-06-15T12:59:00.001-05:00

I was feeling very G.I. Jane as I lay on the grass at the park surrounded by 40 other boot campers. It was raining in my face as I struggled to do as many sit-ups as possible in one minute. That was really a nice moment. I felt good about myself in that moment. My first day at Boot camp was more than half way over. Light was seeping into the air. The morning was cool and the rain was gentle.

“14, 15, 16….C’mon, you can do it!”

That’s my partner. We buddied up for this portion of the camp. We had to count for each other while we did push-ups, sit-ups, more sit-ups but in a different way, tricep presses and then some more sit ups. My partner’s name is Dallas. She was a very good counter. She is skinny, a little older than me and has a black eye, but she looks very cool. I was a sucky counter for Dallas because I lost track very early into her pushups. The instructors were walking around all of us barking out things like, “ENCOURAGE YOUR PARTNER” and “30 SECONDS LEFT”. I got distracted and forgot where I’d left off with my counting. I was not prepared for the mental focus needed to count. So I guessed at it. I hope she wasn’t counting for herself, then she’ll know I goofed it up. I will not blame her if she finds another buddy tomorrow, but it should be noted that I did an EXCELLENT job of counting for the rest of the bajillion exercises they made us do.

Class started at 5:30am. Dark Thirty. It was cute. They had a Coleman lantern set up at the table where the instructors check our log books every day. We have to keep a log of everything we eat and how we’re feeling. We get daily emails with encouragement and menu ideas. Andres’ daughter, Andrea, began her boot camp experience about two weeks ago and so was able to give us (us being me and Andres’ daughter-in-law who is in the same class as me) tips like, plan ahead when it comes to eating six meals a day. So I packed my mini-meals last night and had it all ready to go this morning.

The hardest part of camp today was the end of the mile run. They timed the run to get our first day best time. They will time us again on the last day to measure how much we’ve improved.

I was flat out exhausted at the end of that run and looked forward to a little breather, but there would be no breather. At the end of the trail, trainers greet you with this…”GOOD JOB! NOW GET DOWN ON ALL FOURS AND DO...” I don’t know the name of the exercise they made us do, but it was NOT an easy one. (I think it should have been an easy one, because really…the run was very hard) My hands were planted on the asphalt trail. Why couldn’t we be on the grass? (don’t forget, it’s still raining) My feet were together extended behind me. I had to jump up and bring both feet in at the same time and then jump and extend them back out. Totally sucked and I thought I would die.
But I didn’t.

After that terrible exercise I started feeling better Apparently, there is no standing still allowed in Boot Camp. We had to move the entire time. Even if you’re standing there listening to the instructors yak you have to be doing a quick time jog in place. Other instructors will walk around us and yell at us to “MOVE”.

Overall, was very excited about doing day one and worried that they’d cancel class because of the rain and lightening, but the lightening was to the west of us (and beautiful, I might add) so they stayed the course.

When I think about doing this every day it’s a bit overwhelming, so I put that thought out of my mind. Now that I know what to expect, I probably will have a little more dread in my heart about tomorrow morning. I really hated that run and then the quick turn-around to exercise, but I’ll be there and I’ll do it.

And with that I will leave you with a hearty….
HOO-YA!!! ß(they force us to say this at the end of every exercise)

Give Me A Break!!!

2009-04-16T09:44:00.005-05:00

I saw a story on Good Morning, America today that just amazes me. Where is integrity in journalism? It's dead and in a grave...that's where it is.

Chris Cuomo did a story about a little girl in Albuquerque, New Mexico who was given a cheese sandwich instead of a hot lunch because her mom had not paid for her daughter's lunches.

You can see the story here http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/

Cuomo was trying to make the school district look bad for giving kids a cheese sandwich, a piece of fruit and milk because parents wouldn't pay for hot lunch. Then we get to see the mom. She is sitting next to her adorable little girl looking very sad and slightly outraged. She has nicely fixed hair, a french manicure and in b-roll shots of her in the story she is wearing a leather jacket and carrying a digital camera and cell phone.

She expresses outrage that the school would embarrass her daughter and force the child to eat a cold cheese sandwich. Cut to a close-up of the offending cheese sandwich. (I'm surprised they didn't play sinister music to accompany the shot of the heinous food)

Cuomo explains that this woman is no deadbeat parent because she had applied for the free lunch program and was waiting for approval to come through, so....

so....

so what????

Clearly she knew she was not approved yet and that her daughter didn't have money for her freaking lunch, so here's an idea. Why not, oh, i don't know, give up your manicures for a couple of weeks so your daughter can have a hot lunch.

Not that I'm against manicures. I, myself, love them, but it would be a cold day in hell before I got a manicure while my child did without!!!

Here's another crazy idea.

FIX YOUR KID A SACK LUNCH!!!

When my kids were in elementary school, I would receive a notice from thecafeteria when my kids' lunch accounts were low. They'd give them a few days to pay it. After that...it was a peanut butter sandwich for the kid.

My son HAS had to have the peanut butter sandwich because he would forget to bring me the note and I didn't know. But when he got the peanut butter sandwich, he suddenly remembered to give me the note and I paid up. He was fine! He did not suffer emotionally because he was forced to have a peanut butter sandwich and milk for lunch while other kids had a hot lunch. In fact, he learned responsibility.

So here is my problem....that ABC News and Cuomo thought this was a story. Furthermore, they LAID into the district superintendent like he was an abuser instead of this mom who thinks everyone should pay for her children so she can keep her hair nice and her nails done and so she can have the digital camera and cell phone.

Are they serious???

Here's an idea Chris Cuomo, why not do a story about people who get free lunches for their kids at taxpayer expense when they can afford french manicures!!!

Yes, I left a comment at the GMA website. Maybe I should leave another one asking John Stossel (he also works for ABC) to check out free lunch parents' lifestyles.

They Say It's Yer Burfday!

2008-11-24T10:27:00.004-06:00

So there's this little kid in my life who is absolutely the most infectious person ever. I just adore this kid.

His name is Riley.

Isn't he adorable?

Riley celebrated his first birthday on Saturday and he had his own little cake to enjoy. After a year of being told NOT to play with your food the well behaved one year old can be reluctant to tear into a cake placed before him. In this picture he paused as if to say, "What's the catch?" But his dad Kevin and his uncle Andy kept miming cake destruction and soon Sir Riley was convinced and dug in.

I don't think he was able to down as much chocolate as he might have imagined he could. He ate one and a half ears, sort of, and then was pretty much finished.

I don't have a good picture of it, (Darn the lousy photo quality of my iPhone!) but Riley DID end up with chocolate all over his face, thus passing the rite of One Year Old-dom.

So Happy Birthday to Little Riley Bo-Biley.

You might be Expert/Mentor/Boyfriend's grandson, but you're pretty special to me and I love you very much.

My Son Rocks!

2008-11-21T11:02:00.003-06:00

Zak is so awesome. I mean...he's just this really cool young man and I watch him doing his thing and I think, wow...what a neat guy. Is that really my baby??? I love him. I really do. Here's his picture.

He's the big guy with the beard. I know he looks like he's 28, but he's only 17. He's funny, but he's serious about his funny-ness.

He was a contestant and an emcee for his high school talent show last night. And let me tell you, high school talent shows aren't what they used to be. These kids are SERIOUS! I had a high quality night of entertainment for just 6 bucks admission!

They just blew me away. But my son...he's a musician/comedian type of guy. He's been acting since he was in the second grade (Children's Theater) and now in high school. He's made movies since he was in the 8th grade...silly, weird movies that I just don't understand. Well, most of them anyway. He's serious about drama and comedy and movies.

I, being from the 80's and a family that wouldn't even understand that such things COULD involve seriousness, am finding it amazing that his focus could result in such skill. He stood on that stage with his friend. They both had their guitars and they did this humorous bit about robots who killed all the humans. Timing...superb. Facial expressions...priceless. I was just so surprised at how funny they were.

People who saw me snapping pictures turned around and told me how good he was. "Thank you, thank you." I said, beaming!And they won first place in the group category!The overall winner trophy went to a pair of salsa dancers that just blew everyone away. I mean...wow! They could compete on some of those dance shows. And they were so TINY!!!

Okay...just establishing that my son is awesome and I am very proud of him.

You may continue about your day.

Personal Stuff

2008-11-14T13:15:00.008-06:00

Okay, I dedicated this blog to my wood flooring business, which is going wonderfully, by the way, but something has happened which could result in me writing more personal life stories here.

My personal diary site crashed taking more than 5 years worth of entries with it. Those entries are gone forever. It's a little sad for me, but I also don't have anywhere else to rattle on about my life. This is a very therapeutic thing for me, so it's an issue. I may be writing more personal stuff here until I find a new diary home. Or not. I don't know.

As you can see by the date of my last posting it's been about two months since I last posted an entry about All Wood Flooring.

Shame on me! It's not that things have been stagnant. Just the opposite! We've been quite busy!

I still haven't taken pictures of our new truck and truth be told, this is why I haven't written. I wanted my next entry to have a picture of the truck with me and the Expert/Mentor/Boyfriend standing beside it looking like we just bagged a bear or something, but apparently taking a picture with the truck (clean) is beyond us, so...no picture. Bleh.

I have stolen this picture of the truck from a Google Image Search site, but you'll have to imagine it in white. Champagne is the closest I could get to white.

We bought it over the Labor Day weekend. It's a white, 2008 Toyota Tundra Crew Cab with a long bed. It's beautiful and I love it. Alas, I cannot drive it. IT'S TOO BIG!!!

I had to drive it to a Taco Bell drive-through one night (it was raining) and OMG could they make those little curvy pass throughs more narrow and....um, curvy??? I'M WORKING WITH A LONG BED HERE, PEOPLE!!!

I honestly didn't think we'd make it out of the drive through drive way. My daughter thought it was funny.

I have not driven the truck again. It is Expert/Mentor/Boyfriend's truck. He can drive it. He likes driving it. He drives it with authority. I like that in an Expert/Mentor/Boyfriend.

Okay...he looks good in the truck. We've established that.

Business is going well. I just figured up gross revenue and payroll and business expenses and came up with our 3rd quarter gross profit. It's not bad! I mean, i was all excited when I saw the gross revenue and then le Boyfriend told me to calm down and subtract all the business expenses.

Um...yeah, that does put a damper on things. But the profit margin is still very healthy, especially for a fledgling business and I'll be candid and tell you people that I apparently became quite comfortable with the idea of paying myself during the month of October. (I figured up October too) I am going to try to be more frugal during November.

I promise.

But I DO have to get the truck wrapped and that's going to cost about 2,500.00 right there, so...

but it's a business expense so it's okay. Right?

Okay, personal stuff....Last night, I got mad at Expert/Mentor/Boyfriend about something I had no business getting mad about, but we have history and sometimes things just leave raw spots you don't even know are there and then one day Expert/Mentor/Boyfriend makes, what to him is an innocent joke, and the next thing he knows I'm FAHLIPPING OUT!!!

That's what happened last night. I apologized the next morning. I did. He didn't mean anything bad. He was just being himself, but I must say that something about it really DID get me because I was extremely ticked off, so, maybe it bears some reflection. I dunno.

It must be noted that in the arena of personal improvement...Expert/Mentor/Boyfriend handled the matter much differently than he would have done a month ago. He did not blow up back at me. He did not treat me to an unhealthy dose of the silent treatment. He's turning over a new leaf and stuff. It's easy to turn over leaves when things are running smoothly. It's not so easy when those old rough patches inevitably come along, but he handled it gracefully. I'm glad on many levels for this and I think it bodes well for us.

Everyone messes up...it's how you handle yourself once you realize you've made a mistake that tells people who you are.

I'll try to keep the personal stuff to a dull roar around here...heh, just like I'll TRY not to pay myself so much money during the month of November. lol

Training Day

2008-09-15T10:40:00.011-05:00

I can't believe it's been over 2 weeks since I've written here.

You know what else I can't believe? That we STILL haven't finished that house in OKC's Heritage Hills neighborhood. (see pic in previous entry)

Everything's been going nice and smooth until this project. I know stressing won't help, so I'm not exactly flipping out about it, but I will be extremely disappointed if we don't complete it soon and to everyone's satisfaction.

Of course, seeing as how the homeowner is 3 weeks away from delivering a baby and her house is a WRECK because none of the subcontractors is finished yet, it's hard to console her at this point and her "satisfaction" may be an unattainable goal.

We saw her yesterday after Expert/Mentor/Boyfriend and I spent the day working on another project. We woke up at 6:15 Sunday morning and headed out. I watched crew members who had to seal a floor AND put two coats of finish on it. They were able to do all three coats in one day because they used waterbased sealer and finish.

Waterbased products dry quickly enabling you to put on another coat anywhere from 90 minutes to three hours later, depending on humidity. The trade off, (Isn't there always a trade off?) water based finishes aren't as durable as oil based, but that doesn't mean the water base isn't good. It is and I guess unless you're going to have kids and dogs and hedgehogs running through the house night and day you'll be fine with a waterbased finish.

Okay...back to me.

It's one thing to listen to people who know the handiwork talk about it. It's another to see it done and to be able to question everything going on. Why did you do that? Is that mark on the floor fixable with finish? How? Why? Oh I'm sure I was the bane of one crew member's existence on Sunday. LOL, but I need to learn so I know what I'm talking about to customers!

I was on my hands and knees feeling the floor at every stage so I'd know the effects of different coats and buffings. You coat...let it dry...buff, sweep and then do a light mopping with barely damp rags to get as much debris as possible off the floor before you apply the next coat of finish.

It's impossible to keep all debris out, but you certainly do your best and these guys seemed quite meticulous to me. I was impressed, but again, I'm sure they weren't thrilled having me over their shoulder all day.

We wrapped up that gig around 3pm. Then we headed south to the lingering 14th street project I mentioned earlier.

I had wanted to get all the floors done at 14th street the previous weekend, but due to circumstances beyond my control...we couldn't do it. In fact, a lead crew member was fired over it. I must tell you that this entire episode with the crew member makes me extremely sad. He completely disappointed me. I was his biggest champion and he totally let me down and in so doing left me with a bit of egg on my face. I didn't deliver what I said I'd deliver because of this crew member's disregard.

Last week an office administrator for the contracting company that hired us to do the floors at 14th street called me and had the homeowner (very pregnant and unhappy) on the line. They wanted to discuss concerns about the work we had done thus far. We HAD managed to finish coating the second floor, but they said the floor was too rough.

"We want to be able to slide on it in our socks." I heard her say.

I asked Expert/Mentor/Boyfriend to go check it out as my day job was hectic all week and I couldn't get away and even if I could...I don't know as much as him because...well, "Expert" IS in his name. So he did a site check and said he thought the floors looked fine. Knowing how consciencious he is, I was immediately put at ease and called the office administrator with the good news.

Alas, the office administrator concurred with the homeowner that the floors were too rough.

Okay, listen up people. If you want new finished floors, please, by all means install them. We'll be happy to help you. You'll be able to slide on them for at least 50 years! (If you go with solid wood) But if you buy a house built 100 years ago with it's original floors and ask a flooring company to restore what thin, little splinters remain please realize that the finish isn't going to be like new or even like....well, 50 years old.

What you see to the right is pretty good for a one hundred year old floor, but if you try to slide on it you might get a splinter because that wood is thin. Talk about Risky Business!!!

Since we were already in work mode on Sunday decided to go look at the floors in 14th street together and we hoped to find the home owners there so we could hear their concerns face to face.

They were very nice, but clearly upset. Besides floors rougher than they had anticipated upstairs, they showed us where one of our workers had gotten stain on their newly painted wall and ...*heavy sigh*....where someone with stain on their hand had left hand prints on their newly installed front room window.

*shoot me now*

Well, it turned out that Expert/Mentor/Boyfriend knew these people. (I shouldn't have been surprised. He knows everybody) Turns out he pegged the husband as the son of one of our neighbors and he told them about our connection immediately.

We will do our absolute best to make the most of those floors. Expert/Mentor/Boyfriend agreed to put an extra coat of finish upstairs to try and make the floor smoother. Honestly, only the upstairs hallway was rough. I thought all the bedrooms looked GREAT! They were shiney and glossy and a rich mahogony color, but if we do the hall, Mr. Expert says we also have to do the bedrooms.

Painters are coming to touch up other boo boos to the walls made by a plumber and a dry waller, so they're going to cover up ours as well. (We weren't the only ones to make a mess on the very pretty walls) And we will take care of removing the hand print stain from the new front window.

We are supposed to get into the house with full crews running Thursday and Friday. I feel like taking those days off of my day job so I can be there, but I have an all day shoot on Friday, so maybe I'll just take off Thursday morning. I want to be on site when the crews get started so I can point out all of these problems.

I'm sure they'll be thrilled to see me.

LOL

Da Big Job

2008-08-27T14:19:00.005-05:00

In a previous post I said that I hadn't heard back from "The Contracting Company" about the latest bid we submitted for them.

Well, thanks to poor communication I just didn't KNOW they wanted us to do the job. Seems that instead of calling me to say, "hey, we want to use you on the 14th street job." They simply faxed back their response. The onus falls to me on this one because while people normally call, I can't assume that they will. This particular contractor employed by this company is a project manager who has been with them for some time and so he uses office administration for some of his communication.

I am used to over the phone convo's with project managers themselves, but an office person decided to fax. Humpf.

Well, for whatever reason I never saw the fax from the contractor, so I was completely oblivious.

The guy finally called me last week to see if I'd received the fax he'd sent to me a week and a half ago and I'm like..."No. I assumed you had decided to go with someone else."

"No we want you guys to do it and we need you to start next week." says Mr. Entrenched Project Manager. (who is actually very nice)

I calmly say, "Let me check my schedule and see if I can shift things around." as if I'm all kinds of busy. Then I quickly call mentor/expert/boyfriend to see if there is ANY way his crews can do this work. I wasn't sure they'd be able to because they've had their own money-making fish to fry.

But, ever the capitalist, M/E/B (hmmm, maybe that will be his abbreviation from now on) said "we can do it." (He's awesome that way)

Now we have five, count 'em FIVE guys over at this big house in a nice neighborhood slammin' and jammin' on some wood floor, Baby. It's a big, old house that is getting a beautiful remodeling job. I want to go see it when they're finished.

That's the house up there.

I'll be taking pics of those finished floors!

Our goal is to have the floors finished by a week from Friday. Alas, we are ready to put down stain and the homeowner is dragging his or her feet on calling us to tell us what color they want. If the guys (crew) call me to say, "we've sanded as much as we can sand and are ready to stain." and the people STILL haven't called me, I'll let the crew go home for the day. We aren't going to pay employees to sit around twiddling their thumbs.

On another note, I may have made another contact with another contracting company!

When I went to the job site to scope things out on day one of this current project I pulled up behind a man who was with a different contracting company doing work in the house across the street. He waved at me when I got out of the car thinking I was there for his project. And, of course, I thought he was Mr. Entrenched Project Manger because I've never met Mr. Entrenched Project Manager face to face. Well, we had a good laugh over the mistaken identity thing and then he asked for my card. I obliged and he gave me his, so...you never know. I might have another contracting company to do some work for.

This makes me very happy.

I'm a Rainy Day Drip

2008-08-19T14:54:00.010-05:00

Okay...I'm completely uninspired today.

Blame it on the rain or the fact that I've been staying up until the ungodly hour of 11:30 before going to sleep lately. (At my age, 11:30 IS ungodly)

All Wood Flooring is in a hibernation period right now. We finished our fourth job a couple of weeks ago and haven't heard a peep from our new love "The Contracting Company". *heavy sigh*

But just because we aren't rockin' and rollin' on some hard wood floors doesn't mean we aren't taking care of business.

I have hired a graphic designer to develop a company logo. I just saw the first drafts yesterday and while the color palette is a bit blah, the graphic ideas were wonderful. Love them! I emailed back the changes I'd like to see..."mas color, por favor". I'm excited to see the refined product.

I have also checked out the cost on getting a graphics wrap for a vehicle. That will be $2,800.00. However, the young man who gave me that quote has a primary business of his own that has nothing to do with vehicle graphics. After getting involved with his friend's graphics biz he decided to wrap HIS company's vehicles. Here is a link: http://monster-graphx.com/

He said he was blown away by the response. He said it was a blow out compared to the response he's received from a Yellow Pages ad that costs him between 3 and 4 thousand dollars EACH YEAR! So, while $2,800 sounds like a lot, it might be a good investment.

I still have my sights set on my expert/mentor/boyfriend's van, but we have to get a truck for him first. Apparently he enjoys having transportation. (So selfish)

We have a plan to scrape together some money...checking under couch cushions and in the dryer, so we can afford a Toyota Tundra Quad Cab. (They're beautiful inside) He MUST have quad cab because we have some little munchkins to cart around town sometimes. They like to sneak away with their grandpa and have ice cream every once in awhile. *wink* But he/we need a truck because we're forever buying furniture (we don't really need) on ebay. The furniture is ALWAYS in Texas. (sad that there is no furniture in OKC) and so it is not uncommon for us to drive down to the Dallas/Ft. Worth area to pick up couches or glass tables or just...whatever. We usually rent a uhaul for these excursions, but if we had a truck.....oh baby! *que Sanford & Son Theme song*

I'm anxious to get logo, website, vehicle wrapped, but I know it will all happen in due time. First we need a truck and a good logo, then we can move forward on the other goals.

This day continues to drag. It's only 3:15pm. I have 2 hours left....

ugh.

Do You Know How Much to Set Aside? Do you???

2008-08-04T10:44:00.004-05:00

Whatever my concerns were before about doing work for a contracting company, let me tell you now that they are quickly vanishing.

I hope to develop a great partnership with these people. Sure, it could have something to do with the fact that they paid me for TWO jobs this week. One of the jobs wasn't supposed to pay out until next week, but they went ahead and cut me one...nice, big, fat check.

My "mentor"/resident expert/boyfriend was pleased, but then started asking me if I knew how much money to set aside to pay for taxes and for liability premiums.

I already file a monthly report and payment for worker's comp coverage, so I know I'm current with that.

When I set up liability insurance the agent had me "guesstimate" how much I'd pay out in salary my first year. (I did this while on a ski trip over Spring Break with my sweety and his kiddos. The photo above is from that excursion.) Based on my "guesstimate" we came up with a premium which I paid in two installments.

but, because my "mentor"/resident expert/boyfriend was so, um...how shall I say this..."concerned" over the weekend. I called my agent this morning to make sure I didn't have to pay anything.

She said that based on what I've paid out in salary so far, I would not be audited, nor would I owe anything. They would simply renew my policy at the beginning of the year and send me a bill. Personally, I think I WAY over-guesstimated my payroll and they might owe me! I'll bet it doesn't work that way. Maybe I should DEMAND an audit. lol

Oh...and I called my accountant to find out how much I should be setting aside for taxes. He told me to tally up my net profits and he'd come up with a percentage for me.

I don't take any money out of my business account. Well, let me amend, I paid myself once, but the rest of it, I leave in there just because...well, it's a new company and I still have start up costs looming. For instance, I'm meeting with a graphic designer this week to see if she can come up with a logo for me. I need to get a logo ASAP. Once I have that in hand, I'll be ordering forms, stationary and getting a work van all gussied up. (hopefully...first I have to GET a work van)

For the record...(in case any of you are going to audit me)...I have completed four jobs. Alas, my latest bid to the contracting company has not been snatched up. It was a large job that would require careful work as the floors are very old, which means the wood is quite thin. My "mentor"/resident expert/boyfriend saw splintering and told me to charge more per square foot because it would be trickier work.

I supposed the contractor found someone cheaper and that's okay, I guess. But I do know you get what you pay for and if they went cheap, they may just cause more problems for themselves.....or....maybe that's just my wishful thinking. LOL J/K...

Sort of.

Update on Demand and Be Warned It's Gross

2008-07-24T17:07:00.006-05:00

One of my fans wants me to update.
But my dear fan, I have nothing to say.
Shall I write about floors?
*yawn*
It bores me today. My mind is elsewhere.

I could tell you about my vomiting incident at Lido's (Chinese restaurant) yesterday WHILE I was having lunch with some work clients. Oh god, it was terrible.

The silver lining is that I went to the bathroom to do said puking. I did not do it in front of any diners.

I puked a lot...then I had to clean up the mess that didn't make it into the commode. Another silver lining is that no one came into the bathroom while I was um...engaged. If they had, customers in the restaurant would have heard me because the flipping door to the women's restroom pracitcally opens on the dining room.

Note to restauranteurs: Please place bathroom doors far from the view of dining room. No one wants to hear or, for the love of God, see what's going on in there.

After I cleaned myself up, I calmly walked back to the dining room. I don't know if the women I was lunching with knew what had happened, but they acted like they didn't and so our conversation about free lance video production resumed. I did not eat a bit of my lunch, but had it boxed up. I couldn't wait until the time came when I could leave that restaurant. When it did, I slowly walked to my car and drove home.

Note: When you're nauseous and the sun is boiling hot, driving home seems to take forever.

Needless to say, I did make it. I crawled to my bed, called my boss and then I stared at the ceiling for like...3 hours straight. I didn't want to watch TV...I couldn't concentrate on anything but the nausea. I HATE that feeling. I can bear any pain except that. By 5pm I was wishing that I could repeat what had happened in the restaurant, but that relief wouldn't come until 7pm.

AHHHHHH!!!

Yes, Numero Uno Fan, you were downstairs eating when that happened. BWAHAHA!!!

My daughter made me a get well card and my boyfriend's granddaughter made me a beautiful get well flower. I kept both by my face on the bed, so I could see them. Can you say AWWW?? I was really touched. My daughter stayed with me for a bit, forcing me to turn on the TV to distract me from myself, so I watched whatever was on and then around 9:30...fell into blessed sleep.

Today...I feel better...not 100%. My body aches and my head still hurts a bit, but the nausea is gone and for that...I am eternally grateful.

Starting Job 3

2008-07-16T14:02:00.011-05:00

We started our third job this morning. I snapped some "before" photos of the rooms we'll be doing just as the crews were getting started.

Dust is everywhere. *cough* Must see about dustless sanding system. *choke*

This is a small, two story house who's owners, for some inexplicable reason, decided to paint over the wood floors in their upstairs hallway, and two bedrooms.

Here is one of those rooms. It will take extra sanding to remove the paint, so I had to charge more per sq ft for sanding in these areas.

Here is one other view of the downstairs living/dining area we'll be doing. I like the french doors. It's a very cute house.

I won't post exterior shots of the houses we work on for the sake of privacy.

This job is going to take us about 5 or 6 days. I'll be sure to get "after" photos before we turn it over to the owners.

I love starting new jobs!

PS: The contractor who hired us for this job (our second with his company) told me that the homeowners for first job we did for his company loved their floors and he gave them my card because they're interested in having us do more work on their home. This was a very nice older couple who has had a horrible 2008. Their son was found dead in a field in March, leaving them to care for his 8 year old daughter and then, as if that weren't bad enough, on the morning of their son's funeral the couple's house caught fire! Luckily the home only suffered smoke damage, but it was enough to force them to move out until insurance could set things right. Our floor work in their house was part of that insurance restoration. I hope things get better for them.

Okay...that was sort of depressing.
I think my work here is done.

Comparing Profits

2008-07-15T10:28:00.004-05:00

I've been gone for a bit. My dad had some medical stuff going on, so I flew to Raleigh to see if I could help out.

Now to get back in the groove of my daytime job and my new bizziness.

I got my third job scheduled before I left. Crews start today. This is repeat business from the contractor that gave me my second job...so...yay.

I am looking at my profit margin on my second job vs. the profit margin on my first job and I'm not a happy camper. The difference in those two jobs is that on the first job I only subcontracted with one crew. On the second job I subbed with two different crews.

I'm going to have to sit down and pull this apart because by the time I take worker's comp and liability insurance premium out, my profit will dwindle by about another 200 bucks. UGH!!!

Well...to be fair, the profit on the first job was high and it was a big job...with a larger price tag. So...maybe this is normal. I'll still have to tally up the numbers.

In fact...I'm gonna go do that right now.

EDIT!!!: I paid out MORE for labor on the second job than I did for my first job and the first job had more square footage!!!!! Grrrrrr....

Movie Intermission

2008-07-02T13:51:00.006-05:00

I actually got to go see a movie last night!!! I'm astounded and even more impressive is the fact that it was a new release. Typically, if I ever DO get to see a movie in theaters, I'm the last one to see it, but this time...I was one of the first.

Will Smith's summer offering, "Hancock", showed in OKC the day before it's nationwide opening day.

Hancock is a drunken, rude and messy superhero who has no idea who he is or where he came from.

I thought the film was great, but keep in mind I love Will Smith movies...Men in Black, Independence Day, I Am Legend...I just think he's fun to watch. Hancock is no exception except for one difficulty in the storyline. It involves co-star Charlize Theron. The entire attempt to explain Hancock's history along with her function in the film didn't really hold water. I thought it was a weak...well, really a high-schoolish attempt to explain something. Poor job. but it isn't a deal breaker.

I even posted my review on yahoo movie reviews...or whatever it is they call their page for user reviews. After doing my movie review duty (yeah, I'm a nerd) I was curious to see what the critics thought. OH...they hated it! So sad...critics have no sense of fun. They probably hated fairy tales as children, but I was inwardly pleased to see that they also hated the same plot flaw that I did.

Guess if I ever lose my day job I can hook up with Roger Ebert, sit in dark theaters and judge, belittle and criticize to my heart's content.

Go see Hancock if you like fun movies and let me know if the scene in the prison cracked you up as much as it did me...some of the critics thought it was extremely low brow humor. Guess that's why I liked it so much.

A Hectic WOO HOO

2008-06-27T17:24:00.004-05:00

I have just submitted the invoice for my company's second job. The contractor was happy with our work, his main office had all the papers they needed from me to pay me AND...they have asked us to bid on another job, so WOO HOO. (hence the title of this entry)

Oops, I forgot our Hardwood Centerfold of the day. Behold the Medallion.

Nice, huh? These are great for making a statement either in an entry way or a large room that will have a large open area. Of course they come in various sizes and designs. This is a pretty standard design. They can get fairly intricate. Hang on...let me go find something else for you to admire.

How do you like that? That would be a custom job, but there are pre-made medallions you can have installed.

Okay...hectic...this new biz is turning into a full time job!
I received a notice from the state tax commission last weekend telling me that my right to do business as a corporation in Oklahoma has been revoked because they didn't get my franchise tax report.

Um, I paid my accountants good money to file that report, so I called them. They swear that a new filing system enacted by the commission is to blame because they sent in the forms. I know they filled out the forms because I signed them.

Okay...fast forward to today. I'm at my regular job and have nothing to do, so I decided to take my lunch break and go check out the job we just finished for the contractor. I couldn't get into the house, so I peeked through windows and called the client to make sure he was happy with our work. He was and said he wanted us to bid on another project. WOO HOO!!!

Since he was happy, I told him I would run an invoice over to his company's office, so I left the property and drove to their offices. While enroute my accountant called and told me he had new papers for me to sign for the tax commission. I told him I'd be there in 30 minutes. So I dropped off the invoice at the contractors, and then drove even further across town to sign the papers. (I'm keeping track of mileage)

Turns out they wanted ME to send the papers to the tax commission myself *humpf* and advised me to send it certified mail AND I had to attach a check for 15 smackaroos to pay the reinstatement fee. Talk about total B.S.! But the letter my young accountant attached to the new papers DID outline a strong case that it is the Tax Commission's mistake and not anyone elses, so...I decided not to ask said young man to pay the reinstatement fee. I can take that up with the state. And I will. You can't even get through to talk to someone in the commission office. They have a recording that constantly tells you their call load is high and advises you to "call back later". *humpf again*

Determined to get this taken care of, I drove home to get my business checks, then I drove to the post office and mailed that sucker off to the bleeping Tax Commission certified mail. TAKE THAT!

And then...finally...I drove back to work. I was exhausted...so many errands to run just to do biz in my beloved OKC. I had no idea the Tax Commission was so determined to put entrepreneurs out of business.

I'm going to call them about that 15 dollars too...that is, if I can ever get through.

Have a great weekend and DO consider a medallion or design in your floor.

Subcontracting

2008-06-24T14:13:00.008-05:00

Okay everybody...our second job is in full swing!!!

But first...today's hard wood flooring centerfold.

Isn't this beautiful? It's a herringbone pattern. I have something similar in my dining room.

Okay...if you want a beautiful herringbone floor in your home...leave a message! Now back to our story.

I really love doing this. We're working for a contracting company. They called us to help them out with an insurance project they have going on. This house suffered smoke damage from a fire in March. The company that called us works with insurance claims and other renovation work.

Apparently the flooring guy they usually use wasn't doing something right. Not quite sure what the deal is there...they weren't too gabby with the details, but anyway...they call needing someone to do the floors in about a week and a half and can you start, like, tomorrow?

Turns out we could start the day after tomorrow and...you're welcome.

Wait...I didn't get a thank you. What I got was a call from their corporate office (which, considering the size of the company has a TON of office personnel) asking me to come by and pick up a sub-contractors packet which includes a handbook and forms for me to sign.

"We can't pay you without those signed forms." Says the woman on the phone.

Um...okay, guess I'll come get the packet, but I'm also thinking..."you called us and asked us for help. I should be having you sign a bunch of stuff." But I only require one signature on the estimate sheet where they agree to pay me, so my needs are minimal. However, I am trying to come up with extra "requirements" and more forms for people to sign as we speak. (or, as I type and as you read...whatever)

I picked up the packet and I read the handbook that very evening in the comfy privacy of my dark, dark den. The introduction explains that this handbook is to outline what will be expected of me as a subcontractor for this company and what they will do for me in return.

The part that covers what they'll do for me was less than one page.

ALLLLLLLLL the rest of the pages were about what I'll do for them. It irked me a little bit.

I had my own personal flooring veteran read it. I had to make sure I told him to read ALL of it because if I know him, he'll scan the first page...flip through the rest and call it good. I needed his input on it and so it was vital he read all of it. I depend on him SOOOO much for guidance.

He read it all (yay) and told me there was nothing wrong with their "contract" (which is non-binding) and to sign it without fear. So I did.

I turned it in the next day and made sure they had all the proof of insurance they needed from my little company.

The manager I spoke to seemed interested in using us on a more regular basis. According to "The Handbook" subcontractors for this company are encouraged to bid on all projects offered. In return they are guaranteed to receive one out of every three projects they bid on. So that right there is a good thing because it practically guarantees work. The other side of that coin, however, requires that we make their jobs a priority in our scheduling.

Okay...I guess I can understand that, but I started this business out of a desire to be my own boss and this feels a bit like I'll be working for them. Oh well, I suppose every client I have will be my boss, so what the heck, right?

And again, this contract isn't legal or anything. It's just that if we don't abide by the "requirments" they can stop using us.

They also want us to leave the workplace clean at the end of each work day. No cussing, No drunkards, no druggies, no loud music, don't speak to the property owners except to say "hello" or something like that. Don't use the restrooms at the property. If a portapotty isn't set up your contractor will tell you where to do your biz. Don't try to work out deals with the property owners for other projects, don't put your sign in the yard, um...oh there was other stuff, but our crews already do all those things, so it's all good.

I'm a little nervous about this job. I can act all blase' about whether or not they want to use us regularly, but it's nice to be liked and I want them to like the work we do. I want ALL of our clients to be happy with every aspect of our work. I LOVE going to the job site to see the progress being made by our crews.

I got to meet the property owner over the weekend. The project manager was out of town and asked me to help her choose a stain color. The home owners are very nice people who've had a terrible year so far. I hope their house is restored the way they need it to be.

I have found out something about myself....I'm BIG on communication. Maybe it's because I'm new, but I sweat the details and I always want to make sure I got a piece of information right. I don't hesitate to call with new scheduling information or to ask a question of my client.

On Friday I apologized to the project manager for calling him so much.

He said, "That's okay with me! It lets me know things are getting done."

okay...good.

I really hope they're happy with us. Not that it will be the end of the world if they aren't, but still...

Okay...that's all on the job front.

I should have a check from this gig by the 4th of July. WOO HOO!!!

So Tagged, So Cool

2008-06-15T14:42:00.003-05:00

Okay, so I've been tagged to do this little five question survey doo dad. I'm late doing this and the rules say I have to tag six other people, but I only know two bloggers here and they've already done this, so I think I'm going to find some random bloggers and see if they'll do it.

Here Are the Rules: Answer the following questions about yourself. At the end of the post you pass on the questions to 6 other bloggers and list their names. Then write them a comment telling them that they've been tagged and ask them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know that you've accepted the challenge and refer to your post.

1. What did you do 10 years ago?
Ah...1998. I was working as a news anchor and reporter at the ABC affiliate in a northeast Tennessee market. I was wrapping up my station's year long coverage of a horrible story about a group of teenagers that shot an entire family along a country road and left them in a ditch. The family was young, the oldest child was a girl named Tabitha. She was six years old and had long blonde hair...she was small for her age. Her little brother, Peter, was 2 years old. The teens lined the family up in a shallow ditch and shot the husband first, then the mother, then the boy and then the girl. I didn't think I had been able to tell the entire story of this crime during the time my station gave me during each newscast over the past year, so I asked them if I could put together a documentary about the crime and the criminals...who these teens were...where they came from. My stations said yes, but I'd have to do it on my own time. They'd only air it for me. I worked nights and weekends to get it done. I wrote it and edited it and held my breath when it aired. It won the Tennessee Associated Press Best Documentary. I loved doing that story. Two years later I would get a job that let me do documentaries full time.

2. Five items on your to-do list today:
Oh what a hard day I have lined up. I HAVE to go out to lunch with my sweety and his beautiful children for Father's Day. (we already went, but I'm acting like it is yet to happen because it's part of my list) After a fun lunch, I HAVE to visit with said children and way adorable grandchildren. Then I HAVE to make a mousse for my sweety to enjoy. (I always make Mousse for him on any holiday, but it's especially important he have it on Father's Day and his birthday.) Oh...I also HAD to go to the flea market with him this morning just because I didn't want him to have to go alone. Yeah...he so enjoys my company. lol And then tonight I HAVE to go to his son's house for a yummy enchilada dinner. Yep...I'm having a rough day. (I love Father's Day!!!)

3. Snacks I enjoy?
I enjoy Trailmix, but trailmix has an ungodly amount of calories and fat. (They have the kind with the m & m's in it in our work vending machine) So I don't get trailmix. I um....will have a cereal bar around 3pm when I'm at work. I guess I don't really snack too much.

4. What would you do if you were a billionaire?
First I would pay off your home and your cars. (Andrea and Jaimie) I would fund any new business you wanted to undertake. I'd put aside money for my son to chase his dream of being a hot shot film maker. I'd make him get a complete education at Uof C San Diego. I would NOT fun a turn at the New York Film Academy until after he'd gotten his degree. I want him to have that degree, darn it! I'd buy some land and build a large house with plenty of room for company and office and....anything else I can think of. I would travel every chance I could with the kids. I'd establish a fund to support worthwhile causes to make the world a better place. I'd buy great art. My daughter would still have to clean her room and pay for her first car, but she'd have really great clothes! lol And I would make sure she got to attend the college of her choice. She wants to be the next Donald Trump. Okay...I could go on and on, so I'll stop. Oh...I'd buy a house for my parents wherever they wanted to live and provide for all their expenses so my mom can stop working.

5. Places I would live:
I plan to live here the rest of my life. I love OKC, but if I ever felt the need to leave, I'd try to relocate to New York City if I could find a job that would pay da bills.

Now i have to figure out who to tag. Excuse me while I go find some unsuspecting victims. bwahaha!!!

My First Dollar

2008-05-29T09:58:00.000-05:00

When I last left you I had just found out that we got our first job. It was for a contractor who was redoing a very nice house. He had to coordinate a TON of different work crews, each needing time in various rooms. For my part...wood floors, we seem to conflict most with painters. They need to paint without dust flying around and well...when you're sanding a floor you make LOTS of dust.

So while we were ready to go ASAP, there were days we had to wait until some paint dried to get into a room and get our hard wood flooring swerve on. Then, after we get the floor sanded and stained, everyone needs to stay off the floor for the stain to set. THEN, after the stain sets, we have to put a finish on...usually two coats and guess what? Crews need to stay off the floors while the finish dries. That means other crews must find another way around from one end of the house to the other because they need to STAY OFF THE FLOORS!!!

But they don't. They do for a bit of time, but then they apparently get fed up and decide "eff it I'm walking where I want" they ignore the giant X of neon green tape blocking the doorways and go ahead and walk on the floors with their dusty, gritty workerman shoes.

Bleh, I say. I think I will much prefer working in a home where it's just my crews. The homeowner is ONLY having his or her floor redone, not an extreme home makeover.

Despite the orchestrated dance with men in dusty shoes, we got the job done on time and I got a check!!!

It's official...I have been paid for my first job!!! And trust me, it's a good check!

Now I just need to pay my subcontractor and then I'll have my net profit.

You know what I want to do with the money? I'm going to combine it with my tax refund (If I ever get it...don't EVEN get me started) and get a professional logo designed, try to buy a used vehicle and get said coolio logo put on the work van so that I'll at least have rolling advertising, since I can't afford TV ads yet.

I think it's a good, realistic short term goal...logo and coolio work vehicle. Yep, that's doable.

Now I need to find my next gig.

My First Job

2008-05-12T12:53:00.000-05:00

I got the job!!!

The contractor called me Friday. He needs it done by the 22nd, but told me he couldn't let my crews in until the 19th. There was no way the job could be done in 2 days. Turns out he didn't realize that the day he needed me to start was actually the 19th. I think he freaked a little bit.

But he decided to put the push onto his painters. We were able to start sanding in the two front rooms Saturday. The painters will finish up in the great room by Wednesday. We should be done with the two front rooms by then and will be in the great room late Wednesday afternoon.

This is awesome, awesome, awesome and I'm a nervous wreck! My boyfriend and I went to the job site with the crew to look things over. These guys need little instruction. You just tell them what's needed and they get right to work. We found a couple of trouble spots, but they were easy enough to fix.

We are doing something of a combo type of job. This house has an old floor in the dining room that the owners wanted saved and redone. The rest of the area had new floor installed by another wood floor man, but he got sick and could not finish the job. So we're also doing a sand and finish on new wood floors installed by someone else. We had to be careful and make sure any installation flaws were noted before we started work, so that we wouldn't be blamed for any imperfections from installation.

My crews are onsite today...just working away.

I hope this leads to more work. I'll be taking pictures of the finished job to post here. The home is beautiful, so I think the photos will be really great to use on my website.

Speaking of my website, I've been so busy with my day job that I haven't had time to mess with it. That's a huge problem. I need to get that sucker up and running.

Oops, and I also need to get my workman's comp papers sent to the contractor. I can't believe all the little details you have to keep track of just to work!!!

No Networking, No Job, but It's All Good

2008-05-05T16:12:00.001-05:00

I'm not going to join the networking group right now. I think I need to be more established for that group than I am at the moment.

My resources shall go toward finding a great, comfy spot in the OKC hardwood flooring market, a niche if you will, and settling myself in for a long stay.

I never heard back from the contractor about the estimate I submitted. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed. I am. I hope the contractor didn't take the lowest offer. His desire to match the
yet-to-be-installed floor to an existing older wood floor and newly installed pre-finished flooring will be tricky. He'll need someone with experience. The crews I'd use have that experience and they'll work on it until it's as close a match as it can be. If the contractor cuts corners in order to increase his bottom line his clients will suffer. I can see him telling them, "This is the best you can expect." When, in fact, he could have done better.

If only I could bypass the contractor and go straight to the homeowner. Oh well, that isn't the only job up for grabs. My boyfriend is excellent at staying positive and he never cries over lost jobs. He's always looking forward, focusing on the possibilities, not the lost opportunities. It's one of his best traits. He never takes anything personally. If a repeat customer suddenly stops using him, then comes back years later, he's just happy to hear from them. He never asks why they left in the first place.

When that happens to me, it will drive me insane. I'll want to know why, so I'll likely do more "feedback" stuff. I'll send out feedback requests after every job and, maybe...hmmm, would it be too much to ask for feedback from people who do not accept my estimate? I'd like to know why they didn't choose me.

That might not work though, because they'd probably give me fake answers as opposed to a real reason like, "You really rubbed me the wrong way when I met you. You come across as a tart." Or "I was just acting like I was getting estimates for my client's sake. I planned on using my cousin, Jethro, the entire time." I guess I'll just stick to feedback from actual customers.

Note: I bought myself a work belt this weekend. That should really cut back on any possible "tart" impression.

Okay...I'm off to work on my webpage.

Network News

2008-04-29T08:48:00.000-05:00

Okay, so last Tuesday I went to my first networking meeting. Today is Tuesday and I was going to go to today's meeting too. I really was. I asked my ex to take our daughter to school so that I could go. The meetings are at 7:30 every Tuesday morning. They last 90 minutes. The rules state that you are expected to arrive on time and to be at every meeting. If you can't make a meeting you are to send a stand-in. You may attend two meetings gratis, but by the third meeting you must decide whether or not you want to join the group, IE, fork over $430.00 and start to share in a purposeful networking experience.

I love the concept. Only one person from a particular line of work is allowed in each chapter, so there's no competition. The members of each chapter....well, in the one I visited, one is a plumber, another a contractor, a realtor, a roofer, a car salesman, an insurance guy and promotional items person....etc, ...they all keep one another's cards with them at all times, so that if they run into a client who needs...oh, let's say the plumber has a customer who also needs roof work done, well, the plumber would immediately give the customer the card of the roofer from his networking group. At the next meeting the plumber writes down the referral on a little piece of paper...everyone does....they write down all the referrals they made during the week, then those papers are given to the appropriate, referred members. (I know this explanation is becoming dismal, but bear with me) These are considered warm leads. The roofer can now call the plumber's customer and say, "Hi, I'm Don the Roofer. Your plumber, Fred is a friend of mine and he says you need some roof work done."

The organization is called Business Networking International. <--link

You can go check it out because I DO think it's a good idea. I just don't think I'm responsible enough to meet the group's standards. This morning is a case in point. I did not make the meeting. I didn't wake up until 7:00am. My boyfriend said the funniest thing when I woke up. He said, "Can you make it anyway?"

Um...that would be a big N-O. Remember, the meeting started at 7:30 and was a 15 to 20 minute drive away. I mean, maybe if I brushed my teeth, pulled my hair into a ponytail, threw on some jeans and a shirt and raced out the door....maybe, but that hardly makes a good impression on a hardcore networking group that will vote on your acceptance into the chapter plus...I had to go straight to my day job after the meeting. No, I was not going to be able to make this meeting.

Besides, there's another rule that concerns me. The business that I'm promoting, ALLWOOD FLOORING, (I'm working on a website or else I'd have a nifty link to my website for you to enjoy. BE PATIENT!) in the networking group must be my full time job. Well, it isn't. I'm trying to get the business up and running so that it CAN be, but for now...I have to keep my day job, if you know what I mean. Kids need insurance and all that good stuff.

I know I would make that 430.00 back. I know I would. I could cough it up, but...things aren't exactly all flush right now. They will be. I also need to buy a truck or van for my business. Something used and cheap that I can put some signage on, put a crew in and send out into the world. I'm waiting on a tax return for that purchase, but an extremely frustrating act by my ex has delayed my ability to file my personal taxes. I swear I thought divorcing him would mean an end to his ability to screw me over financially. Alas...I was wrong. But that's another story that I might tell you on another day.

For now, check out BNI if you have a small business you'd like to grow. Let me know what you think.

In My Estimation

2008-04-27T22:53:00.000-05:00

I think my company has it's first job. I had to design an estimate sheet today. My boyfriend helped me work out the kinks. He has his estimate sheets set, but he writes up the numbers by hand in the middle of a preprinted sheet. I wanted mine set up to where I could insert the information on the computer and then print them out and sign them. My computer illiteracy proved difficult to overcome, but at 11:00 on Sunday night, I finally have it done and have emailed the estimate off to a contractor.
I think we'll get the job and I'm ready to celebrate making my company's first dollar.

I really like doing this. It's hard to find the time for it, but actually doing the work is fun. I liked designing the estimate sheet. I like trying to figure out the business stuff. The only downfall is that there isn't enough time in my day. Something's going to have to give. I look forward to the day when I can quit my regular job.

Nighty Night. I'm off to bed.

Get a Brazilian

2008-04-24T09:15:00.000-05:00

"Behold the beauty of Brazilian Walnut wood floors. This wood seems to glow with any light that touches it and it is one of the hardest woods you can put underfoot. Beauty and durability? Yeah...I'll take it. Sure it costs a bit more. You're always going to pay a bit more for exotics in any arena, such as women, but this is a home investment, whether you're staying in your house until the day you die or putting it up for sale next month, good wood floors will always pay off."

Okay...that was me practicing a pitch for my new biz. How was it? Maybe I'll leave out the part about exotic women costing more, even though it's true. You get what you pay for, right? I mean, you don't want to hook up with particle board. Not that non-exotics are particle board. Non-exotics can be beautiful and durable too. I have oak floors in the entire upstairs of my home. Those floors are gorgeous, but I DO have Brazilian Walnut in my kitchen and it too....is quite lovely...glowing the way it does.

Note to self..take pics of my floors to post here.

Legal mumbo-jumbo: The above picture is NOT from my home or from any house I've done. I haven't even won my first job yet. That pic is from the trendir.com archives. but I wanted to show you what Brazilian Walnut looks like.

So why would a middle aged female journalist start a wood flooring business? I know, it's random, isn't it? I mean, wood floors have nothing to do with me. No one in my family had anything to do with them. We didn't even have them in our homes.

It's my boyfriend.

He has a wood floor business as did his father before him. At first I was like, "Wood floors, *YAWN*." But you know what? After being around him and his business, I stopped yawning. I became enthusiastic about his work and his biggest fan. I enjoy the fact that he does floors in the best homes and businesses in our city. I love seeing before and after photos....his transformations are just wonderful and I know...I KNOW that these beautiful wood floors change the financial and aesthetic value of the homes they grace. So, basically...I liked his business, but never thought about doing it myself. I mean...that's a guy thing and I'm a woman who cherishes her pedicures. Besides, he's already doing it and I don't want to compete against him...

But still...

Turns out he can't grow his business any bigger than it is right now. And I have some ideas to do things a little differently than he does. My unique twist has been enthusiastically received by everyone who has heard about it. So, with help from someone who has decades of experience in the wood flooring industry behind me (that would be my boyfriend), someone who will help get business for me (at least he said he would, but I haven't seen any business yet.) , someone who I think might be happy to pass the torch (my boyfriend is 11 years older than me) I am going to start a wood flooring business of my own and at some point, he might do away with his business (but not any time soon, I hope).

I have all my insurance squared away, I'm registered with every governmental entity that might want money from me should I ever make any and I have an accountant to make sure I did all that government...financy stuff right. I think use of the word "financy" adequately illustrates my need for an accountant.

Now it's time to get to work! I just....um....well, I can't find any work. My boyfriend and I have spent so much money already, but I suppose I need to spend more for a bit of advertising, eh? And I just visited a networking group this week....networking....I've never had to network before. I'm going to have to think about this purposeful networking proposal. Especially since they would like to have $430.00 from me up front. *choke* These people are clearly serious about their networking. They are hardcore and a bit scary, but that could be good, right?

Okay, I'll take your card and get back to you about the networking.

Knock on Wood

2008-04-23T13:18:00.000-05:00

Hello!

My name is Susan. That's me and my daughter over there. I live in Oklahoma City. Now, before all you urbanites and Californians get too carried away imagining conestoga wagons and Indian mud huts, let me tell you...we only have a couple of those things hanging around these days. It's a new century for Oklahoma. We just celebrated our Centennial. We had fireworks and wagon drives (um...okay, so maybe we have more than a few conestoga wagons hanging around) we washed the Buffalo herds and got them all spiffy. Did you know you can drive through a wildlife refuge in Southwestern Oklahoma and see wild buffalo? Sometimes you even have to stop your car and wait for them to get out of the road so you can go on you merry little way down to Meers for a burger as big as a pie plate, but I digress. We had all of our Oklahoma celebrities come home to spend the actual State Birthday, um...day with us.

Oklahoma City has transformed itself from a stagnant little city, to a rambunctious upstart. Our energy companies are pumping lots of mulah into the state's economy, medical research companies are discovering OKC...we have revamped our downtown area's entertainment district and strengthened school budgets. I love Oklahoma City. It offers me all the amenities of city life with out all the headaches like "Dallas-esque" traffic and gang violence. And the icing on the top of our "It's a brand new century for Oklahoma" cake is news that the NBA Board of Governors has approved moving the Seattle Sonics basketball team to OKC. This will be Oklahoma's first professional sports franchise in like...EVER. They'll be here by 2010. Can you believe that's only 18 months away? Good lord, I remember all the hoopla of 1999 like it was yesterday.

So this is where I live and almost as if catching my city's spirit for reinventing itself, I am doing the same. I have been a television journalist my entire life, but I have just put everything in place to start my own business in a completely unrelated field. Wood Floors.

This should be fun-ny. I'm a 41 year old woman...with NO experience doing wood floors and ZERO business sense. But I'm going to try to make this work. I'll be writing about my exploits on this blog...about the crazy things they make you do when you start a business, about trying to juggle my full time job, my kids, my boyfriend and...this business start up. Think I'm biting off too much? Maybe...maybe I am, but the new century looms and it is time for me to take a step in a new direction. The future looks bright.