four.whole.years.

today is 4 years.

FOUR.YEARS.

that's the longest relationship i have ever had. (aside from friendships).

i have learned a lot. things that i am eternally grateful for.

things that you can't learn unless you are thrown into the small business world and are holding on with white knuckles hoping to come out alive.

i've come out alive and i am stronger than when i started. both mentally and physically.

it has been a trying 4 years, but i wouldn't change any of it.

those 4 years have put me where i am today and that is something i can not thank darwin for enough.

HAPPY FOUR YEARS!

threads.

when you work for a small business in the small business world, you have to be able to roll with the punches.

the punches sometimes just keep coming. you tuck, you bob, you weave, but you can still get pummeled.

survival is key. it's the hardest and most evasive part. if you can figure out how to take the punches, while getting in a few you can guarantee yourself survival.

the biggest problem with survival, is that sometimes, just because you've survived doesn't mean you've made any great leaps or bounds in terms of headway. you may still just be hanging on by the shred of a thread.

threads are tricky. how long do that last before they snap. how do you you rebuild?

that's where we are now.

rebuilding.

we've taken steps back to start over. this time we are doing it for us.

the company is no longer running us. we are running it.

things are much less stressful that way.

for now that's where we are and that's where we will stay.

i promise more funny stories soon. i needed a break. and for that i apologize.

brainstorming.

summer is here.

which means things are slowing down.

now it's onto figuring out just what we are supposed to do.

we've got some money saved (you're welcome darwin), but we would prefer not to bleed ourselves dry.

coming up with meaningful tasks each day is growing more difficult with each passing day.

yesterday i successfully organized the storage space. i fought with ikea shelving for a good two hours. but i got to use powertools. and i am little kid excited that you can now see the floor and everything has a home. mmm organization.

today i drove to the kiln. and then put the seat covers on keisha as best that i could. oh and keisha got a face lift. she got a new bumper. and by bumper i mean menacing grill. it's pretty awesome. i feel like it should be in dawn of the dead.

that said bumper was quite the headache though. the body shop accepted the bumper without inspecting it and it was damaged. darwin called me and told me to to diplomatically handle it because he was going to start yelling if he called. suicide mission began.....needless to say, darwin went to the body shop the next day and told them just exactly what he thought of them and got everyone's ducks in a row....wooohoooo new bumper

must go back to brainstorming...any ideas shoot them my way.

latest update...

many apologies. without further ado...

With the Georgia heat descending upon us with a quickness, Darwin and I opted to take a rainy Monday and get together an actual list of all of our inventory. It took the greater part of a day to chalk, number and picture all of it, but it was well worth it. There were a lot of pieces that Darwin and I had forgotten about and even more pieces that we knew about but didn't realize quite how many or how stunning they actually were.

I've finally managed to get all the pictures up. Both on our photobucket page - here - and our Facebook page - here. If you haven't had a chance to see the pictures, I highly recommend taking a peak. Not only are the pictures of our inventory, but they are also of our finished furniture projects.

The National Ornamental Metal Museum in Memphis, TN contacted us about doing a dining room table top for them. Darwin and I jumped at the opportunity to work with them. They have made some amazing pieces and we knew the base they were building wouldn't disappoint. We went back and forth on which slabs would be the best, and we finally settled on the last of the Sinker Cypress slabs we had. The first one turned out beautifully and we knew this one would hold it's own against whatever base the metal museum created. The slab finished out beautifully and Darwin and I are anxiously awaiting pictures of the completed product.

Speaking of furniture, we've got some new pieces in the works over at Urban Reclaimed. Now that we've got an inventory list, the ideas are blossoming quite rapidly. Two pieces we have recently finished are the Vintage Surfboard Coffee Table as well as a pair of Foldover Side Tables. The website has recently been revamped and the blog is getting an update with the stories behind some of our more unique slabs.

Moving away from inventory and furniture, we fall into Darwin's territory. Milling. Emory University has kindly sent us some more trees from their campus to get milled into lumber. The tree Darwin milled out of one of their trees that fell in front of one of, or the oldest, dorm on campus, has come to the final stages of drying and will soon be on it's way to be made into an amazing conference table to be placed in the dormitory for the students to use. The kiosks we made for them have been assembled on campus and are a big hit.

As always let us know if we can help with anything. Please check out both of our Facebook pages - Mississippi Wood Trader and Urban Reclaimed. If you tweet follow Urban Reclaimed. And look for our updates on the blogs. Yes, this means the rambling has ended...

Until next time,

Dot and Darwin

heart attack.

it's been a minute.

we are officially a floating company. we have no shop. which makes things interesting.

especially when darwin goes out of town and leaves you the dog, the truck, the business, the credit card and a project with a due date of monday.

yesterday i hit the trail running to get everything accomplished and i am fairly positive that i have gotten all my bases covered, but i am all about not jinxing things, so let's keep this between us.

things that will give you a heart attack: the bank putting a big fat check of yours in the wrong bank account. that will get your heart racing. holy pete that was not what i needed today.

luckily the bank put it in one of our accounts, but i can't access it, which makes things really fun...not

eek.

wish me luck with the project.

ciao.

sayonara...sucker!

gone. gone. gone. gone. gone. gone. gone. gone. GOOOOOOOOONE!

woohoo.

we are out of the redneck riviera. riviera is being generious. ruhl generous.

hilarious. pardon my frankness. 

but for the moment we are homeless.

we've got our lumber in storage at the kiln. our tools in storage in a unit. and our trucks and trailer are floating around.

so we are virtually homeless. it's kind of exciting to not be tied to any place. especially after this last place.

pardon my french, but what a shitbox.

that place was falling apart. structurally, financially, landlordly.

i told darwin that i felt like the three little pigs and that someone could literally huff and puff and blow our house down. or malotov cocktail it down. he agreed, adding that a first grader could break into that place.

but none of that matters anymore because we are OUT! woop! woop! no more!

i will miss the mexican restaurant and the guy that detailed our cars, but for now we are regrouping and figuring out the next best step.

stay tuned.

ciao.

source

truck driving.

today marked a momentous day at work.

i drove the truck and trailer.

the trailer was loaded.

all.by.myself.

i didn't even break it, scratch it, dent it, or anything.

ALL.BY.MYSELF.

i should probably mention that it was to the kiln and back. twice. ALL.BY.MYSELF.

believe it.

believe you me it was the single scariest thing i have done in a very long time.

but it was awesome.

it gives you a whole new respect for driving.

im still not very good at reversing, but i am working on it.

i only almost died one time. and it was not my fault. some methed out gorker came around the turn at about 90 miles an hour on the wrong side of the road. i was approximately 1/4 mile from the shop...that would have been a fun phone call. although darwin would have more than likely heard the crash and me screaming more than his phone ringing.

ciao.

tomorrow is more of me driving the truck around.

i'll tell you all the story about the guy who owns the kiln tomorrow.

moving on up.

remember last august when we moved?

remember how we said we never wanted to move ever again?

want to know what we are currently in the process of doing? moving.

shoot me in the face.

it's not like we have a huge job going on right now or anything. it's not like it a bazillion degrees outside or anything.

silly.

memphisism.

i have no fun one liners from the rest of this week. it was a rather uneventful week.

well aside from a guy telling me he had bladder cancer - and then proceeding today to tell darwin the entire story of how he found out. thank you overly zealous life story telling man.

well a couple of weeks ago, darwin, his brother robinson and i were driving around north georgia scouting properties. ya know because of this whole long standing "our landlord sucks at life and is a lowlife scum eating turd face" debacle we are in.

things you see a lot of in north georgia:

-abandoned chicken farms
-abandoned homes
-sweet trailer get-ups
-above ground pools (apparently this is not just a south georgia phenomena)
-lots of winding roads
-very little cell service
-riding tractor/mowers

you know the standard.

speaking of above ground pools. well we saw one of them and i was sitting in the back seat with praia -- while ro was trying no to vomit in the front seat -- and i looked over at it and said, well that is greener than shit.

to which darwin promptly replied: wow you are from memphis.

similar to this, but greener and grosser.

i sometimes forget that there are things that people say in memphis that you just don't hear elsewhere. greener than shit being the front runner at the moment....

back to the search for land...with or without the greener than shit pool...i mean i wouldn't turn down a pool. who does that?

next week is a short week for me. i am leaving thursday for my very best friend's bachelorette party. we are going to the beach and I AM SOOOO EXCITED (see how many caps were in that? that's pure excitement gold right there). which means next week is going to be a shit show.

we only have the rest of a floor to deliver, a pay app to get in, and i am sure something will go terribly wrong. it's guaranteed to in fact. weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee work crises.  oh and dolly and 1 forklift are broken...good lousy.

i'll take the work crisis in exchange for the beach any day. mmmm salt water and air....that's the cure right there folks.

mmm ocean sunsets.

ciao.

p.s. i apologize for the number of "shits" (that was eloquently put, no?) in this post. i take that back. no i'm not....shit

source

one.liners.

let the moving commence people.

i can hardly contain my excitement over the thought of moving.

weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

things that literally happened to me today have led me to the thought that perhaps i should write a book of the amazing one liners i get.

let's paint the scene from today, shall we?:

location - ball ground georgia home depot parking lot

i was sent to purchase us a brand spanking new tool chest. so i take my happy ass on over to the home depot where the one darwin wants is on sale. i find it and purchase it. darwin was going to pick it up tomorrow, but decided last minute that i should just put it in the land rover so it can be transported to his house....

similar to this guy.

i fold down the seats and make a land rover as accommodating as it can be for a british suv. the guys come out with the chest and proceed to tell me they aren't sure it's going to fit. well could you pretty please try? thank you in advance. i'm standing next to the rover and this guy pops around the corner and says: "you sure are a good housewife buying that as a surprise." blank stare. "can i give you my address so you can go and show my wife what appreciation looks like?" blank stare. stutter. smile and back away.

the tool chest fit. 2 36" chests in the back of a rover. quite impressive. the one liners weren't so bad either.


i hear lots of awesome things when working in the lumber business. not all of them are when i am actively doing lumber related activities...

ciao.

p.s. i've decided that the rover's name should be rita.


source

penitentiaries.

today i spent the majority of it sitting in my car and looking at storage facilities.

is there some unspoken rule about them having to be completely in the ghetto? i mean good gracious some of those places are sketchy. nothing like barbed wire to evoke trust in people...yeesh. they look like maximum penitentiaries.

source

i literally went to 7 storage places today.

the first one i talked to someone on the phone and then went to see them. holy sketch vegas. not to mention their gate is only open from 8-6. how is that even useful?

the second one went well. very nice husband and wife run company. she was super sweet and loved me.

the third one was okay. kind of treacherous. not the facility, the riding around on the golf cart throughout the facility.

the fourth one i drove up to it and immediately turned around. didn't even get out of the car. ran.away. not too mention there was no way the truck would fit.

the fifth one was actually the winner. close to home, friendly, nice neighborhood, good price.

the sixth one didn't have any drive up units so i drove away from that one.

the seventh one was expensive and convenient. but expensive.

the fun game is that none of these offices open until 930. which makes it difficult to go view them. weeeeeeeeee. awesome. so that was my entire day.

aside from stopping at starbuck's and drinking caffeine. making phone calls. you know the basic day for this kid.

yay moving. shoot.me.in.the.face.

not yet anyway...

ciao.

deadbeat.

that's a lot of red.

remember that to do list i told you about?

well let's pile on some more things to it shall we? just as i thought it was almost completed.

son of a....

things got really interesting yesterday.

our landlord, who is a wonderful talented and amazing human being (NOT), has found himself in some financial trouble. which does not translate into awesomeness for us. not even in the least. not even a tiny, minuscule, minute, wee bit.

fantabulous.

side note: i do not like ray lamontange. realized that about 10 seconds too late. thanks for nothing pandora...i kid, i love you, please don't ever stop playing your delicious music to me.

now where were we? oh yes, deadbeat landlords.

financial trouble you might ask? well. the list is long and obnoxious so i won't bore you with the details. and poor darwin has to take the brunt of it...

mainly because i like to scheme our power bills. listen, i am all about paying my bills, especially when they are delivered in a timely manner, and are full of things that i have purchased/used. now i get cranky when i am asked to pay for things that i did not break/purchase/use. (ask darwin about the new land rover some time, he can tell you how perturbed i was about that one...)

so we have this long standing feud with our LL about our power bill (LL=landlord). so we moved into our shop in the middle of august, but were fully in september 1. so now. here's the fun part. he hands us a power bill dated...wait for it...july-august.

um no.

not relavent, but funny nonetheless.

so we pay it, because LL has no money, because he apparently spent it all on floozies and michelob ultra (that is not true, well it could be, but i have no proof of that...except the mich ultra...). i then deduct that bill from our rent check. seems logical, no? not to redneck LLs.

darwin calms him and explains it....which only requires about 10 minutes of breathe, but about 3 hours of actual time spent, because you know you have to listen to LL bitch and moan for approximated 2 hours and 50 minutes....

i proceed to do this on all our rent checks...poor darwin must endure this each month.

well let's stroll right along to april...that tactic didn't go over so well. and by so well i mean not at all. LL gets all uppity and in darwin's face about this deduction maneuver i use. he says i quote "if you don't want to pay the rent, then leave."

second favorite quote: "she's (me) your problem. i got rid of mine a long time ago. you can deal with her." why thank you for thinking so highly of me mr. LL.

well played sir...looks like we will be leaving. ASAFP. emphasis on the F.

"later boners"...always sunny in philadelphia. 

so new task...find somewhere to go.

happy spring to us. i think we may have found the solution, but it is going to make april even  busier than that awesome 2 page list.

ciao.

gif source penguin
gif source

duties.

have you ever made a to do list that is so daunting that you begin to panic when you look at it?

i did that today.

it is two pages long.

it spans an entire month (almost).

it is for one job.

ONE JOB.

and it's not even the every step of this job. nope. it's the end of the job. that last hurrah if you will.

it's exhausting to think about.

i mean two pages for one month isn't so terrible. but the task of updating it per every phone call, e-mail, fax, human interaction, and any and all information pertinent to this list of awesomeness.

so cheers to april. at least i'll have things to keep me busy. by things, i mean this list.

oh and you know managing the bank account, answering the phone, paying the bills relatively on time, and whatever else falls into my realm of duties...

ciao.

paperwork.

it's monday and we are back here again:

paperwork.

can there be some sort of paperwork fairy that flies around with her/his magic wand and dust making all the paperwork be done, sorted, and handled accordingly?

i don't like being that magic fairy anymore. well let me restate that. i am okay with doing the paperwork once. even twice if i've got too, but we are on round 7, i believe, of getting this paperwork correct.

preferably not this guy...

do you know how many notaries that has required and how much time has been spent fighting with the printer, driving to a notary, driving to the post office, scanning paperwork, etc? no? me neither, and i frankly do not want to know.

after being on the phone with their lovely office administrator for this project, i believe (again i've certainly said this before) we have finally turned in the proper paperwork.

aside from that. it is beautiful here. so pretty in fact that i had my first pool day of the season yesterday. i am so excited that it is almost acceptable to be at the pool all day every weekend. because that means i can be in a swimsuit at all times. we all know what my main goal in life is: be somewhere where wearing swimsuits is acceptable at all times of the day...

it's been a rather uneventful few days around here. darwin was out of town friday, which meant that paperwork that needed to be turned in before he left was ultimately wrong and i had to hunt him down before he actually skiddadled (absolutely a word, i don't care what the dictionary says) out of town. so that was a fun morning for me. because it didn't just mean finding him to resign things, it meant fighting the printer as well. which always turns out to be a graceful affair for this kid...not. sailor like language, multiple head bangings, a lot of unplugging/plugging back in, and of course the occasional kicking and screaming at it. woosah. woosah. not so much.

here is a picture of a piece i was working on for darwin as a surprise. it still needs one more coat of finish. i have drawn up a couple of bases, so hopefully this piece can come together.

see that stack behind this? that's what i sifted and sorted through to get the heart pine the other day...

we've got a new set of pieces on our website (urbanreclaimed.com). it is a "matching" set of end tables. i say matching because they are from the same tree, but they are not exact matches on dimension. they are BEAUTIFUL though.... go.look.at.them.NOW

that's about all i got for the time being folks. not a very entertaining post i realize, but i am serious about the paperwork fairy. i'll chip in some meager coin for that to come to fruition. 

ciao. 

p.s. look at me with two pictures in one post...woaaaaah

toothfairsource

3rd times a charm.

two things that are the absolute devil:

1. pay applications
2. retainage

i realize that there are probably (actually) a lot more things than that fall into the "absolute devil" category, but those are what i have been dealing with for the past 5 days.

it only comes to be an issue on the last possible day to get everything turned in. because of course it makes that much more sense for it to happen then.

old school notary.

they wouldn't be nearly as bad if they a. didn't have to be notarized and b. they weren't such a pain in the butt to refill out. and we could throw c. in there for shits and giggles of that no one tells you your shit is wrong until the last possible second....(yes two shits in one sentence, i apologize for my sailor like vocabulary - it comes with the territory)

by the way, this is only the 2nd pay-app that has gone horribly awry. we are batting 2 for 2 folks. 2 for 2. we only have 2 more that will need to be filled out...odds are not in our favor this round.

aside from that horror story everything has been pretty back to normal around here.

you know the usual - breaking trucks/fixing trucks, outfitting both trucks with new tires (ouch...), selling our souls to millwork to make sure things get done on time, laughing hysterical until crying (one of my favorites)...

and and and IT'S FINALLY WARM! if you only knew how excited this makes me. shorts, flip flops, sundresses, skirts, ludicrously loud colors, and of course: SWIM SUITS! (you should all be very proud of me, i have not bought one swimsuit this year. -i will also not point out the inordinate amount of them i already own)

if you were wondering: yes i managed to velvit oil 500SF heart pine and 650LF of walnut all by myself.

now with fingers and toes crossed i think we have passed the difficult part of this job (knock on some serious wood folks). aside from well ya know the pay-apps and the rest of the job we have to finish...

disclaimer: i wrote this on tuesday. i am just now finishing it today.

stupid pay-app.

i literally skidded to a halt in front of their office at 4:15. busted through the doors and almost threw the paperwork at them.

to preface: i had already driven all over town to meet darwin (very unsuccessfully in my book - i'm usually really good at time management, not so much tuesday). why did i have to meet darwin? because we had to redo the pay-app for the THIRD time. yes folks 3 times. what a mess.

so once we finally got everything re-notarized, i had to haul tail to their office to drop off paperwork. luckily where we got the pay-app notarized was only about a 10 minute drive there. a harrowing 10 minute drive, but 10 minutes nonetheless.

so fingers and toes crossed. but i think we made it just in the nick of time.

oh and guess what we did yesterday...bought another tire. yes, you read that right. another tire....this one at least was for the deckover.

ciao. 



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the proverbial fan.

remember that time i told you that darwin was going out of town and it was time to get all of our ducks in a row as to ensure things ran smoothly and there were no crises (yes that is plural of crisis and yes i realize that it looks stupid) that i would have to handle.

well. we all know how that usually turns out. shit hitting the proverbial fan. and yes, you guessed it. shit.hit.the.fan.

that sure is some nice manure you have there good sir.

as i told you before, we had a big job that we shipped out a week ago. we were so happy that we got everything done on time and delivered without too many surprises. well, SURPRISE. they under-ordered or someone missed a take-off section. neither here nor there, but they were short material.

guess who got to solve that dilemma? if you guessed me, then you are correct.

want to know what involved solving that dilemma?

-schlepping heart pine
-reschlepping heart pine
-selling my soul to millwork
-reselling my soul to millwork
-bombing around kennesaw while my soul was at millwork
-SOOOOO MUCH CAFFEINE
-getting home at 630 on a friday
-getting up at 6 on a saturday
-finding out the finishing guy has a chest cold and you are now in charge of finishing 500SF
-praia rolling in compost heap waste
-showering off compost heap waste
-trying not to vomit while showering off compost heap waste
-schlepping more heart pine
-breaking into a 5 gallon container of velvit oil (crow bar and screw drivers involved)
-lining up over 500SF of heart pine (over 10' long)
-crouching around wiping on velvit oil
-trying not to die of velvit oil inhalation

you know the usual.

and you know what made it all worth it? well aside from satisfaction and pride: getting to do it all again today.

i really should add heart pine schlepper to my resume (right under fork lift extractor. i should also really come up with more glamorous names for these things.)

now comes the fun part. selling my soul to millwork again tomorrow to get 650LF of walnut run so that i can finish it tomorrow so that all this material can ship out wednesday morning bright and early.

wish me luck.

ciao. 


**picture

the scream heard round the world.

well folks darwin is going out of town tomorrow. that means two things inevitably.

1. i will be running the company
2. something will go wrong

there is another list of things as well: we will be running around like chickens with our heads cut off to make sure everything gets done, i won't be able to leave like i previously thought, etc. etc.

i try when darwin is out of town to also be out of town. it makes logistics much easier. people respond well to the shop is closed and will reopen on this day. notsomuch to darwin is out of town and i can't exactly help you....

needless to say this all comes up at the end of a big job where paperwork is necessary to have turned in before friday of this week, which translates to get everything done before tomorrow morning because darwin has a flight to catch in the wee hours. no big deal...

because this is funnier than the original.

except that part of the paperwork has to be notarized and if we don't do it right the first time...well you will be able to hear darwin scream from arizona and me start to sob from atlanta. lots of dollars will be put on hold, and well frankly we can't afford that to happen.

this day could get interesting folks. very interesting. and it's only 7a.m. i've been up since 6. i am already not looking forward to the days events.

last week darwin and i put a combined 1,000 miles on the trucks. most of it was me, in keisha. i was in the truck one morning from 8 until 6 that night. i love driving the trucks, but somedays the commute back into atlanta is absolutely more than i can bear. you become like a little kid at the very end of a car ride to start your vacation, except less excited and more annoying, and when you finally arrive home you don't want to do anything but lay down.

not to mention last friday i took keisha to get an oil change and then thought hey i'll be nice and take her to get her tires rotated because darwin has been talking about it non-stop for the past 2 weeks. a few bills later, a couple of hours of time spent in a waiting room, and keisha has four new tires...not exactly the outcome i was expecting....

turns out dually trucks are expensive to run...who knew?

ciao.


photo source

hangry.

have you ever done something and proceeded on with your life under the assumption that everything was kosher only to find out a week and change later that it in fact was very unkosher (whatever, totally a word) and you have approximately 12 hours to fix it? by 12 hours, i mean rewind time to when you ordered the product and make it correct then....

needless to say it is a losing battle. i am also not losing it very graciously (prettily, humbly - i'm not sure the exact term for what is happening to me right now), but whatever. it's monday. and mondays suck. it's inherent. it's in their dna if they had dna.

i've called no less that five steel places in an attempt to remedy this little huge little brain burp that i had. i could come to my own defense and say why i under ordered, but that just gets us a bed of excuses to lie in while the problem is still glaring us in the face like churchgoers on sunday when you are still drunk at brunch. (don't judge, you've done it too...)

yes churchgoer analogies during lent. whatever. read back to paragraph two: it's monday. and it's 1106 and i am about to get dangerously hungry or perhaps the lovely term known as hangry...look it up. it flows much better than grungry or the less popular crabungry (i may have made those other two up...)

back to the steel ordering process. it seems the forces have aligned against me. no i do not know the forces and no i do not know what i did to piss them off so horribly, but good gracious mea culpa times 80 bajillion. i have finally located the steel, but they can't cut it. superb. i only need to deliver painted and drilled steel tomorrow morning. that time machine is looking real nice right now. real nice.

i mean, i don't work for a steel company. i work for a lumber company. lumber i can do. steel? ha, not even close. i have to call and start with the "bear with me as i have absolutely no idea what i am doing. can you help?" line.  it takes a few around the circles and up the ladders and back around the circle before we are both presumably on the same page...

now like later this morning - because i haven't been up since 6 or anything - i get the phone call to find some hand hewn beams....that is a mission i can handle. call up and ask about lumber. SOLD. let's do this....finding it seems to be a growing problem. sweet. just add that to my list for the recipe of awesome monday makings.

perhaps i should scratch this whole blog post. it's probably best. eh. there are some witty comments in there.....

ciao.

**note for those of you who are of the less informed party: hangry - hungry + angry; grungry - grumpy + angry; crabungry - crabby + hungry

forklifting...

so it's tomorrow: LOOPHOLE! - i never told you which day would be tomorrow. tricky, i know.

forklift extraction.

ouch.

it's a science. a very inexact science at best. but a science nonetheless.

i am beginning to think that perhaps i should add it to my list in my resume and on my business card: "official forklift extractor." more like really good at telling you how to extract the forklift. that's a lie, i am also really good at getting them out too, but i like to keep that to myself and all 4 of you that read this (that 4 is being generous...)

round 1:

new shop. forklift in a hole. no other method of extraction besides the truck. i was not involved in that extraction. mainly because i couldn't stomach the viewing of it. it was all entirely too nerve-racking for me. forklift got extracted. win - win.

round 2:

new shop. forklift stuck in the field. me in forklift. darwin in trackhoe. yes trackhoe. darwin behind me in forklift shoving. it was a lot of wheel spinning, mud throwing, but it came unstuck.

round 3:

new shop. forklift stuck in a hole (round 1 style - same hole). trackhoe involvement round 2. lots of mud throwing, wheels spinning, plywood shoving, and ratchet strap maneuvering. ya know the usual. it got unstuck.

now i think i have a degree in forklift extraction.

ahh the joys of working in a lumberyard.

ciao.

picture: http://whomeninja.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/funny-car-pictures-23.jpg

blabbering.

now that darwin is no longer referred to as the invalid (okay, okay maybe i was the only one that actually called him the invalid, but that's neither here nor there...) things have gone back to normal.

by normal i mean, he can talk and is awfully bossy again - i kid, i kid. he was still bossy when he couldn't talk...

i was pretty sure that yesterday he was milking this illness for all that it was worth by making me schlep some more heart pine around. everyone at that millwork shop thought he was faking it by then...but whatever, i like the driving the truck around. it's big and makes me feel important. and besides who doesn't want to drive around a kickass giant truck that is loud and intimidating? because i absolutely do.

i use this blog as my journal for the daily activities that are funny and quirky for me at work. sometimes however, i just fall apart.

lately i've done that. fallen apart. a lot.

my current streak right now is a week and half without melting down. go me...small steps, yea?

i think mainly it's because i have been too busy running the company because darwin had been laid up on a couch unable to talk or function as a contributing member of society (that may be a bit harsh, but whatever, he laid on the couch for a week, lost a bunch of weight, and made me take him to doctor's appointments all across the state....)

i find that if i have things to do then i do much better.

so enough of the sob story. let's move onto something funny.

now if i wasn't too excited - wow - sleepy/exhausted is the word i was looking for, i would tell you all about the forklift extraction that i have become quite good at... yeesh.

tomorrow. i promise. mea culpa. tomorrow. tomorrow. you're only a day away....

ciao.

chauffeuring invalids...

things that are fun: puppies, flowers, more puppies, naps, ya know the usual...

things that don't quite fall into that category: darwin being sick and hopped up on pain meds.

that translates into me taking the reigns. now that he isn't quite so gorked out of his mind things are better. but not fully back to normal because he most certainly can't speak. so sign language and notes are what we are working with now.

monday i drove the truck around making deliveries, picking up lumber, and then get this, unloading the lumber by myself at the shop...that was a fun filled day full of caffeine (yes i broke my no caffeine rule). darwin slept on his couch while intermittently sending me text messages.

tuesday i drove darwin to the doctor. and waited, and waited, and waited some more. eventful. once we were done with that, i hauled tail out to the shop to meet some clients. only about 20 minutes late...

i guess this makes me morgan freeman and darwin miss daisy.

today (wednesday) i drove darwin to yet another doctor's appointment. (i'm beginning to feel like a chauffeur for the invalid). once i dropped him there i drove over to the shop and unloaded the truck (yes again and sans caffeine this time). drove to the pharmacy.  hopped back in the truck to pick up some heart pine - sketchy sketchy drive 300 yards that i would like to never do again. dropped off said heart pine. picked up finished heart pine. drove back to the pharmacy and then finally back to the shop. unloaded. drove back into town. stopped in kennesaw to drop of a contract and then, only then made our way back home....

things i learned today:

1. don't ever drive around your boss for a day while doing your job  (not exactly the most calming thing in the world)

2. if you don't take the exact way your boss thinks you should, he will point it out until you oblige accordingly....that only happened 3 times today

3. i cannot talk on the phone and drive at the same time - absolute can't

talking on the phone and driving, i am physically capable of, but when it comes to talking on the phone and actually paying attention to what the person is saying while trying to determine just exactly where you are is not my strong suit.

i can't make clear decisions when i am distracted by someone on the phone. darwin doesn't seem to quite grasp that concept.

some things i am quite capable doing while talking on the phone, but giving my absolute attention to the phone and the road i just can't do. i've tried. it doesn't end prettily.

i'd prefer to not end up with any more wrinkled vehicles this week. 

ciao.

wide.walnut.boards.

in the land of unknowns there is one thing for certain. if you don't try you will never know.

everyday in a small business is a trial. some you win, and some you lose. we've pared down the losing to a fine art, but there are days that completely blindside you and you have to be on your toes and rethink everything.

this recently hasn't been my best quality. i normally am very good at thinking on my feet and coming up with another option, but as of late i've been a sluggish at best.

i've taken the steps towards mending that and i know it will take some time, but i am feeling better and more alert. which for me is a big step in the right direction.

now enough of the debbie downer and back to the "happiness project," because i definitely took about 18 steps backwards in that department.

sweet praia girl pre-mohawk

on monday darwin and i were in the truck all day. we laughed, we joked, we tried not to kill bad drivers of north georgia, you know the usual.

the funniest part of the whole day was when we were hunting for some wide walnut boards (especially difficult). i am on the phone trying to find the material after the first company who told me they did, completely dropped the ball. we are leaving millwork and i am on hold. praia starts making this horrendous retching noise in the backseat of the truck as we are sitting at a red light. darwin is trying to get her into the floorboards to throw up and i am scrambling to get his bag out of the way while not laughing. praia throws up all over the backseat and darwin is FURIOUS. i.CANNOT.stop.laughing. the person comes back on the other end of the line to tell me they have no wide boards and i am gritting my teeth to not laugh into the phone. as this is all happening the light turns green and we get honked at. darwin completely lost it. luckily i could hang up the phone because i fell into a fit of uncontrollable laughter. i mean picture it:

big black truck
praia trying to vomit
darwin backwards in the driver seat trying to keep her from puking in the seat
me on the phone, while backwards in the passenger seat trying to move his bag
light turns green
praia commences to puking
we get honked at
darwin screaming curse words
me finishing a phone call and laughing for the next 30 minutes

i wish it was on film. it was hysterical. i haven't laughed that hard and that long in a minute.

ciao.

quarter panel crisis...err, i mean life.

lately i have been feeling a bit blue. a cute word for sad, tired, cranky, depressed, and overall a great joy to be around (insert sarcasm).

doesn't that sound like the most awesome ball of fun times ever? yea i didn't think so either. needless to say with that array of awesomeness i am emitting, i haven't been up for much. especially not updating my blog. i can barely update my daily outfit, much less be held to updated my life.

i avoid them by signing up for things like tough mudder...but still failing at the avoidance part

you already know about the dinner party and it's great success. i hear a good time was had by all and judging by the pictures, perhaps "good" isn't the right adjective to describe the time had by all. magnamous may be more appropriate.

you know what makes those tables especially fun?

when they weigh ninetymillionpoundsandyouhavetomovethem. (read: all one breath: ninety million pounds and you have to move them). ::you're welcome for my translation::


i am in a bit of a goofy mood today. i can't seem to focus or sit still for any length of time. no, it's not what you think, i have had no caffeine. side note: i've given it up. unless it comes in the form of chocolate or tea. but sodas are out. and coffee, well it was never really a contender because it's gross.

i feel a bit like a fairy hopped up on life right now. i am going with it's the beautiful weather that i am staring at through this here basement window.

funny work stories? well let me comb my rolodex of hilarity that goes on around here.

mainly they involve blunders. such as the number of times darwin has broken the trucks coming down the interstate. i am sure i have told you about darwin in the black truck and the breaks going out on the downtown connector in 5 o'clock rush hour while pulling a full load and proceeding to break two AAA trucks. if i haven't remind me and i will tell you all about it.

this last one wasn't quite as terrifying, but still not great. the white truck needed new tires. we thought we could squeeze by, but boy were we ever wrong. darwin was coming back from the new shop. my car was at the new shop and i had his land rover. i am leaving to go climbing and he calls me to tell me that he blew the front tire out on dolly (the white truck) and he is waiting on the side of 75-S for AAA. that's always an exciting phone call to field.

no this is not what ours looks like, but it would be pretty sweet if it did. 

candice and i go retrieve darwin from the tire shop and drop the smoldering fumes of madness known as darwin off at his house.

moral of the story: what should have cost us in the amount of two new front tires, cost us in the amount of two new front tires PLUS two new quarter panels PLUS paint. mmmmmm car repair.

glamourous isn't it folks?

ciao.

dinner expo.

i am sure you are all waiting with eager anticipation on the edges of your seats wanting to know if we pulled the tables off in time...

the answer you all have been waiting for is:

http://www.leighgermyphotography.com/

 

they looked stunning. i was unable to attend the dinner expo, but darwin assured me that everything looked amazing and it went off without a hitch.

check out our facebook page for more pictures: Urban Reclaimed

ciao.

so much with so little.

i may not be the most eloquent person (writing, speaking, etc.), but when it comes to pulling something off for a deadline, with very little to work with and very little time, well let's just say i am pretty good at pulling the proverbial rabbit out of the proverbial hat.

so this story i promise has a point and i may get to it by the end, if, and that's a big IF, i can remember where i was going when i started. ---again not one of my best qualities. perhaps i should start outlining my blog posts or maybe even writing down just key points...who am i kidding, that is most certainly never going to happen and takes out the fun "word vomit" approach i am so fond of these days.

back to the rambling - yes i know you can hardly contain your excitement - and on with my story.

it is a long roundabout story, that is further explained here Urban Reclaimed (read the dinner expo bit), so i will spare you all the details and you can go there and read for yourself/selves(?) - whatever. long story short, darwin approached me about 3 weeks ago about doing some tables for an underground dinner club for our friend rob. (UGDC - Push Start Kitchen (yes their latest post pertains to this post as well), Rob - I Love LA Eats - these links are making my brain hurt...)

well those three weeks drifted by quickly and we are approaching said deadline...ahem friday...

let me back-peddle a bit and state for the record that i was not entirely in favor of doing these tables...i send my mea culpas out now, but at the time (and currently) we were juggling a lot of projects that involved micromanaging money...ugh, and i just didn't have it in me to put another thing on the list...

but with enough badgering and coaxing full of backhanded compliments, darwin and rob sold me on the idea. so that meant my last week was sent scrambling to find metal fabricators....that is the easy part...the hard part you ask? finding one that doesn't cost you more than your entire life savings to make one silly little base in the shape of an inverted trapezoid...jesus pete. i fear a purchasing of metal fabricating equipment in our near future....

yes that is me in the background. darwin wanted to use me as a reference point...

well we (read: i) remembered our good friend MC over at Lemay Designs (i know, i know, again with the links) and she has graciously offered to help us under this intense deadline. she is so amazing that she has actually already sent me a picture of one of the bases. WOOOO..

yesterday, i thought was going to be a harmless day of gathering supplies, driving to bumble, and dropping off supplies (along with lunch...life lesson number 2, never let the bossman get hungry), dropping off snacks for later and turning my little red jetta around and fleeing back to atlanta. i was mistaken. horribly, horribly mistaken.

i am getting ready to leave atlanta, when darwin sends me a text about how i am going to be sanding the cedar slabs (that's what the tables are being made from if i didn't already state that) while he goes to a meeting. translation: you will be sanding these because i am tired of doing it.

with supplies in hand, i drive on out to bumble world. i arrive with lunch and snacks as to be expected. i eat my lunch. and then my day ends with a preposterous amount of sawdust up my nose. granted, i rather like sanding things. it's calming - i don't do calm. the sawdust up my nose, i could do without, but it's cedar and it is a scent of the gods. no moths will be living up my nose any time soon. (bad, bad joke. well aware)

as of right now i seem to be making this deadline work. i am not going to jinx anything though, because after all, it's only wednesday and there is a lot of time for things to go horribly awry.

i said i would remember the point of this, but alas, i don't. just another post about the day in the life of working for a small business that has taken on starting another small business under it...

yay small business! (that was a serious yay, not a sarcastic yay)

ciao.

above ground?

this happiness project i have stumbled upon seems to be working.

i feel a bit happier and less tense about meeting new people and doing new things, but i am exhausted. i am just not this entertaining. by any stretch at all. i do really well in small spurts, but then i need to go home and rest. my poor voice is gone from the amount of talking i have done.

i was going to tell you all my funny story that i wrote about earlier, but who am i kidding, i have absolutely no idea as to what it was even vaguely about. with that being said, i guess i should come up with something to tell you.

*tosh.0* this is my mental image of above ground pools.

monday i drove to cairo, georgia. that's 4 hours south of atlanta. SOUTH. i did have a great time entertaining myself, while trying not to die. people in south georgia drive like the apocalypse is coming for them at any minute. 

first game i played: how many above ground pools can one see south of albany? well for the record it was about 6. i am sure there were more, but these were the most prominent ones: i.e. front yards....i was unaware that above ground pools really still existed and that people would put them in their front yards of all places.


second game i played: how many tractors does one have to pass before the share the road with tractors sign is relevant. i passed two, so i am saying that is enough to warrant signs. always entertaining doing 70 down the highway in a giant truck and see a tractor wheel onto the highway like it's not big deal.

south georgia is a very entertaining place to say the very least.

ciao.

cheers to above ground front yard pools. who knew? i thought i was trashy by purchasing a slip and slide for my birthday...go figure.

happiness portfolio...

we've come full circle again folks. it's a new year. which again means, a new you.

everyone makes their own resolutions and this time last year i stated "so cheers to 2011. it most certainly can't be worse than 2010. well at least not for me, because if it is, my poor little brain and soul can't handle it..."  well guess what? 2011, not my most stellar year.

at the risk of completely repeating myself: here's to 2012. because it most decidedly cannot be worse than 2011.

i've already decided to make sure that 2012 beats out 2011. clearly there are things that are out of my control (ahem: car being stolen, economy, etc), but i am going to do my best to make sure that i stay positive. the best anyone can really hope for is to stay positive right? well that's what i am banking on.

this idea mainly came about when i started reading the book: The Happiness Project by: Gretchen Rubin. i haven't really delved that far into the book, because it's fairly straightforward and easy to figure out where it is all going. i will most certainly donate some more time to reading it, but i am going to start from what i know about this book and it's to start realistic goals and do something for yourself. other people don't always understand why you are doing something, and most of the time are not very receptive to the idea of taking an entire year (or whatever time you have allotted) and devoting it to your self. but who cares about what they think anyway right?

sifting through your life and deciding what exactly it is that makes you happy is not exactly the easiest feat to undertake. you have to take time, and time is just not something out there in ample abundance these days. so, the first step in this "happiness project" is to take time. simple. take time. turn off and unplug.

seeing as i don't have internet at my house and i don't have a heck of a lot of interest in the television, this should be fairly easy. well it's not. you find a multitude of other things to occupy your time. and for me, sitting still is like asking a little kid if they never want to eat cake again. just ain't going to happen.

because how can you not say aww to that face?

take today for instance. i am sitting here writing this blog and i am also: proofreading and rewriting said blog, cleaning, phone calling, quickbooksing, multiple 'ings. i've learned after many years that i am not so great at the one task at a time thing. my brain can't focus for that long. the one thing that i am fairly good at doing without distraction is taking naps....not sleeping, oh no, not sleeping. taking naps. the going the bed at night and sleeping thing - ha! - haven't done that in quite a while. but naps....man i can dominate a nap. they are however, few and far between which saddens me, because i LOVE naps.

okay enough rambling. i've made a short list for my happiness project, perhaps i'll change it to my happiness portfolio, this way i can add and subtract as i wish. i will keep you posted as when i finalize the first round.

i haven't got any terribly funny work stories. well i have one, but i'll write it later this week. you know when i have all that free time and am not multitasking.....

ciao.