The Week in Review

So much happens around here in one week that its tough to keep track of it all in just 3 blog posts/week.

On the Homefront: We spent a second Sunday organizing the basement and obliterated the back room pile. Pretty much everything it swept aside and stored on shelves. The treadmill has its own space in the back half of the basement and we rearranged the TV half of the basement so we can still watch tv while running. We also passed the 500 km mark on the treadmill since we got it in November!

On Monday and Wednesday we finalized the mortgage refinacing paperwork with trips to the Lawyers. We got a fantastic new interest rate, freed Lori's parents from the deed, paid off all our student loans and found enough left over money to pay for the deck we want to build this summer. Now all we need to do is find a contractor in this city who'll return our phonecalls.

At the Craft Council: I had a Human Resources meeting on Tuesday morning at the Devon House. My term is up on the executive later this month, but staying on the shop committee, the HR committee, and the board means that I don't have to worry about missing out on anything exciting.

In the Workplace: After delivering the Historic Sites Association order, I've switched gears from working on 1 order for 3 weeks to working on 3 orders due in one week. I have two wholesale gift shop orders and a mock dig program on the West Coast to supply with product before May 15th. In the workshop, I'm working on Dorset Knives and Groswater harpoon heads. In the office, I'm still working out the details with Parks for a very big job that will fill up my schedule for most of the summer.

Life: Lori and I went out on Wednesday night with our neice who turned 10 this week. We left the "G" rated siblings at home and took her out for pasta and a "PG" Zac Efron movie. I don't think "tweens" had been invented yet when Lori and I were that age, so it was new for all of us!

I started training for the Tely10 this week. Which sounds much more impressive than it actually is. Week 1 of the training schedule seems designed to build confidence as much as anything else. I've stuck to the schedule since Monday and so far I've only had to run once, cross train once, and rest two days. So far so good.

Photo Credits: Tim Rast

Photo Captions:
Top: Progress in the Basement!
Middle: Completed Ulus - two of these went out in the HSA order
Bottom: In Progress; Dorset Palaeoeskimo Knives and Groswater Palaeoeskimo harpoon heads.

Storage Solutions: I got none

An opportunity came up to deliver a wholesale order ahead of schedule on Friday, which is a bit of a relief. This week is probably going to be hectic. I have a large Historic Sites Association order due in 9 days, at least one CCNL meeting to attend this week, and who knows how many bank or lawyer meetings to go to for the mortgage re-financing. So getting that order delivered earlier was a good thing -- it takes some pressure off.

I also found a stack of "From Beer Bottle to Arrowhead" booklets that I had printed last fall and forgotten about which will save a bit of time in filling the HSA order. I found the booklets when Lori and I launched a big attack on the basement on Sunday.

We hauled everything out of the back half of the basement into the yard. Lori cleaned the back room and I assembled shelves. Then we brought everything back in. The shelves made a big difference (believe it or not), but we still need at least one more day to compress boxes and purge unwanted crap. We want to get rid of the big pile of junk in the middle of the floor so we can put the treadmill there.

I might post more photos when we're done, but I'm not going to pretend to offer advice on organization. That big rock metaphor is as far as I can get my head wrapped around organizing myself. Here's a friend of a friend who can help you get organized.

Photo Credits:
Tim Rast

Photo Captions:
Top: Half our basement out on the lawn
Middle: Me build shelves, Lori mop floor
Bottom: Basement Progress!