The Time Sink

I forced myself into downtime again yesterday. I picked two projects to handle (in addition to the usual Sunday routine) and decided that was all I was going for. Well, other than some posting. No computer work, no working on site design (mine or anyone else's), no yardwork (okay, I took a picture), no outside anything except a walk with Brad and one of his friends. ...and it worked. Last night went well, with just a stuffy nose and a sore throat left to contend with. Yeah, these things get into my lungs and it takes a while...

Hmmm... Things may be a little on the sparse side here this week; I have a full load at work and there are simply some things that Need To Be Done with the domains... Yep, things have been growing a little more like airborne weeds than a well-tended garden and it's time to start rearranging the basic layout and transplanting things to where they can complement each other. Yeah, I do want to get outdoors and work in the physical garden; but until I get some stamina back and the rain holds off (again this weekend???), I'l work on my virtual one <g>...

I think the main change will be to somehow make the galleries easier to reach for readers and to work with for me. That may mean a data-based driven system for the blog (or here) and certainly means a realignment of navigation beyond the first page(s). Yep, I'm not sure which way I want to go with either of those ideas, but I figure I'll try a couple and see what people have to say about how things look (suggestions welcome). ...and then there's a site redesign I want to tackle. I have all the pieces in place for that, so that is just a matter of finding time.

Okay! Inventory went well yesterday. Now all we have to do is collate the information. ...and build a totally new spreadsheet. Yeah. Ah, well; I wouldn't want to be bored at work now, would I <g>?

Hmmmm... They're guessing about the weather once again. It may rain some more or it may not. We can use all we can get, so I guess we'll just wait and see...

...and then there are evenings that don't turn out quite as intended. I was hoping for a bit of a quiet evening on the computer while Shelley was out with the girls (no, we didn't have pizza <g>); but Daniel didn't have any homework and asked if he could spend some time looking up the value of his sports cards on the net (big sale/show this Saturday). ...and since Brad wanted to help (Daniel delegates well enough to claim the Tom Sawyer Fence Award), I ended up in close proximity to them and the workstation for most of the evening. ...both to minimize the negative interactions "Hey, that's my card!", and to be able to handle the inevitable mis-click. ...and hoping that click wouldn't be off to any place non-kid safe!

...but my downfall was picking up that Tom Clancy novel I'd started. Yeah, I got sucked right into things and ended up coming back to it and finishing it off after the kids and Shelley were in bed. Sheesh.

Hmmm... In retrospect, Friday was a way longer day than I'd thought...

...so I ended up going to bed before even posting last night <g>! That doesn't happen very often. ...but I'm finding out I'm even more tired than I thought I was: After falling asleep way the heck before midnight (and how strange is that?), I ended up waking up in time to go to a pancake breakfast at the boys' school. ...but after coming back home, I fell asleep in a recliner for a while and then still took a nap later in the afternoon. Sheesh. I'm thinking I'm more beat than I should be. ...and tonight we lose an hour with Daylight Savings Time. Arrgghh...

Oh, yeah, after the naps! Believe it or not, Shelley and I actually managed to pull off one of our 'date nights'! Yeah, how about that? Usually things seem to fall apart due to scheduling around four kids' (our own and the other couple's) health and sports schedule. Heck the last time it was our turn out, Shelley was sick and we still used the trade just to buy some quiet time at home. ...but last night, we managed a few hours together at a local steakhouse, relaxing and talking without the phone ringing or a kid in crisis or homework looming. Yeah, very nice...

...also nice is that I'm feeling much better over the last few days, enough so that I'll probably try blading later. Oh, not the full run, just a short 'tuning' run. ...and then back inside for some heads down planning. At this point, I have to line out the next week's worth of work: I have some site work of my own to do, plus a redesign for one friend and a site launch for another. ...and then there are the computers for the boys (and one for work) to get started/finished/started. ...to say nothing of some serious weeding that needs to happen somewhere in there.

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"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
Arthur C. Clarke, "Technology and the Future"

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