Month: September 2007

It’s been a few days and fun things have been going on.

Friday – Wade and I made a trip to Greenville to pick up the tile for our bathroom. We also met with the McGuirts and Wrights to discuss the future of Boiler Room. We think we’ve got everything planned out through the end of the year.

Saturday – I had a wedding shower for Lindsay. It was great to see girls I haven’t seen in 6 months. Then I was a bum the rest of the day. My one big accomplishment was organizing my linen closet. Part of this is due to the fact that Wade bought me a new book by Janet Evanovich and I read most of the day away. Wade was very productive – he got all the tile off the bathroom floor and all the walls and ceiling down. Now he starts putting it all back together.

Sunday – Wade and I attended Summit once again and still loved it. James was sick so we didn’t get a chance to see Kendall and James. We ran a few errands and then spent the rest of the day at Nate and Michelle’s. They wanted overhead lights in two of their bedrooms and Wade was happy to put them in. I just sat on the couch and ate cookies with Michelle.

Then suddenly it is Sunday night and the week is about to start over again.

I have all kinds of news – big things seem to happen in late September:

The Upshaws had a new baby girl – Emily.

Daniel Chandler, our college friend, is engaged and getting married next March.

Danielle, my friend down the street, had a new baby boy – Brooks.

I already mentioned Kate’s baby, but that was this week and I have a new picture of the entire family:

I didn’t have time for breakfast this morning so about 10 am I was starving. Debra, the paralegal I work with, had to run some errands and came into the office late. She had stopped by Panera Bread and picked us both up a treat. She knows I love their Pumpkin Muffins and has brought me one on several occasions. How awesome is that!!

My best friend from high school, Kate, just had her second baby girl. Anna Grace joins big sister Taylor. Now I just have to wait till Thanksgiving to meet her.

While Wade spent the weekend working on the bathroom, I decided to paint the kitchen. We still have plans to redo the kitchen at some point, but we decided to do a quick fix now. The walls are now the same color as our hallway and we replaced all of the hardware and hinges.

It’s amazing how much better the room looks. Once again, if I had known what a difference $40 in paint would have made, I would have painted the kitchen a year ago. Oh well – live and learn.
Wade’s Update – the bathroom at the end of day 2:

Wade attacked our pink and blue bathroom today. We have finally decided to get started on the hideous bathroom (the contractor was taking too long). Wade spent the day pulling down walls and hauling loads of rubble to the dump. He has a pretty short time line to get this done so we’ll see how it goes. We have ordered all the hardware and the new vanity. Now we just have to finalize the tile.

Wade also hung a new light in our dining room. We have just had a small spotlight (leftover from our star at Christmas). It’s nice to be able to finally turn on a light after dark even if we don’t have any furniture in the room.

My car was due for an oil change so I took it to the dealership. I had a couple of random items estimated (broken air vent, slash shield, CD player, etc) and was appalled at the price to fix them all. I will either wait or do the work myself. The guy who is supposed to be pulling my car around walks back in the building. He tells me that my battery is dead. The head guy references the receipt in my hand which shows that they tested the battery and it was “good”. They try to jump it and come to tell me that it is dead and must be replaced. (Seems a little fishy because I have had no problems but what do I know.) Because I am at a Honda Dealership they aren’t sure they will have the battery I need for my Acura. The man returns to tell me that they do have the battery but it will cost $120. I asked him how much labor is and he told me $40. I asked him to jump my car and sell me the battery and I would install it at home. He left and returns with my car 15 minutes later. He told me he couldn’t let me go home with a dead battery and a new one sitting in the car – he went ahead and had it replaced for no charge. I thanked him but I was thinking to myself “I really could have put it in myself. I have done it before.”

Wade sent me this blog article. I found it interesting and wanted to pass it on.
Read the article here.

My office is housed in the North American headquarters, but our company is Hong Kong based. Much of what I do has to be approved by the Hong Kong IP Department. That means two problems often come up – the time difference in trying to communicate and the language barrier. Everyone in the Hong Kong office speaks English, but not always very well.

All of the US IP decisions are made by the North American group, but the legal bills are paid by Hong Kong. Below is an email discussion I am having with a Hong Kong employee over an invoice. The conversation has now spread over four days.

1st email (with attachment) – From Hong Kong to me:
“We have received some invoices from Law Firm A, but we do not know what they are for. Could you please help to check and advise.”

2nd email – From me to Hong Kong:
“Law Firm A is our Canadian law firm that handles all Canadian matters. They have referenced our legal file number on the invoices and given a summary of their services. What kind of information are you looking for and I will provide it.”

3rd email (with attachment) – From Hong Kong to me:
“Sorry for the missing attachment. Please find enclosed for your reference.” (at this point I laugh because I am not sure why she thought I didn’t get the invoices)

4th email – From me to Hong Kong:
“What kind of information do you need? Law Firm A does all of our IP work in Canada and those invoices relate to our files.”

5th email – From Hong Kong to me:
“As Law Firm A is asking for the payment schedule, and I would like to know that did these invoices settle yet.” (I think “aha” she is making sure we have not already paid the bills locally)

6th email – From me to Hong Kong:
“These invoices have not been paid by us here, but they do need to be paid”

7th email – From Hong Kong to me:
“So will these invoices be paid by your office, or paid by us in Hong Kong.” (I thought I had been clear that Hong Kong should pay, but maybe not)

8th email – From me to Hong Kong:
“Please pay them in your Hong Kong office.”

9th email – From Hong Kong to me:
“Since I need to get approval from a director for payment of all invoices, and I need a clear picture to show a director to get the approval. Is there anyone I can contact in Hong Kong Office whom will know the details of these invoices for. Otherwise, I cannot get the approval from a director.”

10th email – From me to Hong Kong:
“I am still not sure what kind of information you are looking for. What do you need explained or answered exactly?” Depending on what kind of information you need, someone in the IP department in Hong Kong might be able to answer” (I am back to being confused)

I have never been a huge ice cream fan. My teeth are very sensitive to cold and ice cream is not always fun to eat. Then I married Wade and he loves ice cream so we tend to have it in the house a lot more often. Last week I discovered Ben & Jerry’s makes yogurt. Yogurt is softer (easier to eat) and healthier (or should I say not as bad) than normal ice cream. They only make a few flavors right now, but that includes both Wade’s favorite and mine! I’ve had a pint a week since I discovered this – maybe not a good thing.

Wade and I finally hired some work done. We hired someone to clean twice a month. I spent a lot of time looking for someone and found a nice lady that is a friend of a friend. We got home from work yesterday and were both amazed. Our house isn’t usually dirty and we do clean, but it never sparkles. The lady did a great job. I can tell I am going to like this!

Wade and I tried another new church today – and it was AWESOME. Kendall and James had called and invited us to church and lunch. The church is Summit. The leader, Jason, gave a live sermon to a small crowd and we were blown away. It’s the closest to Andy Stanley that we have found. Two staff members invited us to lunch, but we took a rain check and promised to be back next week.

I decided Madison and I both could use a run this afternoon. We rounded the corner of our house, ran by our mailbox, and stopped. Water was gushing out of the ground (the picture to the left is a slight exaggeration) and pouring onto the street at our connection to the main water line. We had received a notice for high water usage on Friday and had left messages with plumbers, but we hadn’t thought it needed immediate attention. Obviously we were wrong. Wade finally found a plumber that worked on Sundays and we got it all fixed, but wow we paid for it.

Wade and I got up early this morning (7 am – on a Saturday!) to meet with the contractor for our bathroom. After he left, we decided to be productive until time for our football game with the Edwards. I had decided to tackle the piles in my office that are longingly waiting for the work table Wade is going to build and my gift closet. It turns out there is a place for all my stuff. If I had known that, I would have cleaned up the piles six months ago.

Now for a stop by Goodwill and then I am going to tackle the few boxes in the dining room. The tickets never arrived so no football game. I guess that means more time for work.

Our company is sponsoring a blood drive today. Wade and I planned to be good employees and donate blood. We get to the final questions on the questionnaire (after the finger stick and all the check up) and are told that as of 9/1/07 a trip to Exuma, Bahamas makes you ineligible to give blood for a full year. We got back on 9/4/07. Oh well, Wade isn’t very fond of needles anyway.

Out of curiosity, I did a little research and found that there has been a malaria outbreak on the island and has caused the change in rules.

Wade woke up before me this morning. If you don’t know us this might not be shocking, but this is the first time it has happened in three years of marriage and I was a little startled to wake up and find myself alone in the bed this morning. Wade also woke up in a good mood and wanted to get something accomplished. He decided we should put lights up in the hallway (this has been on the list for a long time). This hallway has always been very dark at one end. The part near the stairs has a pendant light, but there is nothing at the other end of the hall. The project actually went pretty smoothly. (Don’t look too close in the picture, I haven’t cleaned up the floor yet from all of the dust and drywall.)

We had to clean out a lot of the attic to pull up the carpet and then the planks so that we could run some wiring. In the end, I got new lights and a cleaned out attic. As you can see, Simon hasn’t survived in the attic very well and is now destined for a different life:

Now I just have to make a run to Goodwill tomorrow.

A few weeks ago, Wade and I brought a lot of stuff back from KY. I have gone through most of the boxes and finished the last few this weekend. In one of the boxes, I found the Heath Post from December 1961 (Heath is a local high school in Paducah that my parents attended). The front page has the below picture of my mother and the caption, “Second Honors go to Reva Jenkins at State Farm Bureau Convention. Personality, character, and beauty were the most sought after qualities. Reva, the leaders’ leader, reveiled her possession of these and others be bringing home runner-up position, a check for $15, and a wardrobe bag.” (Original quote, including spelling.)

I realize I have neglected to post about some exciting news around our house. Wade got a new job! The job he was initially hired for was done away with early this year. He has been working as a product manager for the last six months, but has not enjoyed it. A few weeks ago he was offered a new position. He is still waiting for more details, but he knows it will deal with new products, research, design, and innovation. The fun should start in earnest next week.

It’s amazing but our flight out of Exuma wasn’t till late this afternoon. We were able to enjoy the beach and pool for a few last hours before packing up and driving to the airport. Dad and Laura had rented a minivan, but putting 8 people and luggage into a minivan is a stretch. We did all fit and arrive at the airport on time. We boarded the small plane and took off for Miami. Wade got a little bored and made a “friend”

The layover in Miami was supposed to be four hours long. However, the runways were closed for a storm and we sat in baggage claim waiting for our bags for an hour. Then we walked the bags through customs and sat down to wait. Then our flight to Atlanta got delayed by an hour so we waited some more. We arrived in Atlanta at 11:30 pm. We didn’t get in to Anderson until 2:30 am. Work tomorrow is not going to be fun.

I woke up insanely early this morning (7:30 am seems early for a vacation). I went for a run and worked out before joining Dad and Laura for breakfast. I couldn’t understand why no one else wanted to eat at 9. Wade and I then decided to start the day out at the beach. This is the view from my lounge chair:

Melissa and Chris arrived after lunch and just in time for a great rain storm. Wade watched the GaTech football game (he was very worried he wouldn’t be able to get the channel) and the rest of us read in the rooms. Dad and Laura had been to the island before and discovered a great local restaurant called Cheater’s. We had dinner at the small restaurant where we met Cheater. His motto – what happens at Cheater’s never happened. The food was delicious! Here’s a picture of Melissa and Chris: