Strange . . . . .but true

This was taken at a family reunion in Gatlinburg last fall. I'm getting better at the picture download thing- but I just lost a couple of images that were originally chosen for this post. Oh well, I'll find them again sometime.

Christmas was fun this year. Especially for the cats. Jonesy is above, Jay below. This was one big cat toy.

So, here is the really strange turn of events. I had a really really good week. Well, everything except work. Anyway, Katy, Josh and little Will are all doing well. They are healthy and happy. Their refrigerator is full of food, and their closets are filled with clean diapers. What more could you ask for?
Joey and Jillian are staying with us right now. I have to say, it has really worked out well so far. On Thursday I came home from a very stress full day to find my living room swept and cleaned. All the kids shoes, bags (dance bags) and stuff- were all put away. I was amazed. Joey had cleaned during the day when we were all working. I washed the dishes and then went to my room for a while because I wasn't feeling well. While I was laying down, Joey put all of the clean dishes away. He kept after the kids when they got home from school to put their things in their own rooms, so the living room stayed clean. Then after supper, he and Jillian cleaned the family room downstairs. You should have seen Bari's face. He couldn't believe it. Keep in mind that Bari and Joey were still staying away from each other a little. There was quite a lot of bad blood between them after we got married, and Bari hasn't approved of how Joey would disrespect me at times. Now, here Joey is, cleaning Bari's house. Bari likes a clean house- keeps trying to have a clean house. Sometimes we are more successfull than others. Now, here is Joey, that without being asked, is not only cleaning and vacuuming, but insisting his little brother and sister keep it picked up too. Like I said, you should have seen the look on Bari's face when he realized that Joey is on the same side in this battle. They are fighting the same war -TOGETHER! who would have thought it. So, not only that, but Joey has been back to work at Kohl's at the warehouse working 6am to 6pm Friday, Saturday and Sunday. 36 hours in 3 days. I am really proud of him. I think he may finally be coming around. He goes to court on Friday and wants to convince the judge that he would be better off living in Allen Co (Lima, Oh) with his dad, and away from all the junk in Clermont Co. We'll see what the judge says, but if he says no, I think it wouldn't be too bad to keep him here for a while.
Tonight everyone was here, all those that still live here, plus Joey and Jillian, and Katy, Josh and Will came by. It was fun to have everyone here. It was really nice to see Joey have conversations with Josh and Bari. Wow.
Is there a difference between Venting, and Complaining? Because, I really want to vent, but not complain. I feel compelled to explain why my job is so hard right now. I mean, I just frame pictures, I don't design rocket engines, or save lives. I frame. But this project is really a bear. One of our designers is commissioned to put artwork on the walls of the Humana office building downtown somewhere. It is 6 floors of artwork. Probably around 150-160 pieces. If the mear number isn't daunting enough, the pieces have to be kept organized by floor and location. It would be very time consuming, if not impossible for the designer to hang each of these pieces in the correct location, if they weren't numbered by floor and specific site. So, on the back we have to remember to put 6- #5 or 3- #2 (sixth floor-piece #5, or third floor -#2). Now, not all the pieces are just framed art posters, some a original artwork created for the space, some are photographs of local scenes and buildings, and about 40-50 are already framed, but we have to put wire on the back for hanging. Non of this would be so hard, except we never have all the artwork we need. The original pieces haven't been delivered yet. Some of the photography was brought by the studio last Thursday by the artist. (and for those, he was signing the mats, so they had to be cut early, and organized so I would know which photo went on which mat in WHICH DIRECTION). The upside there, was that I got to meet J. Miles Wolfe the local photographer who has made a living from photographing iconic Cincinnati images. Nice guy.
ANYWAY- back to the artwork- to top it off, many images are just HUGE!- 32x63- or 45x45. Even with plexi on these instead of glass, they are very heavy because the frames are very heavy at this size.
OK- I've vented enough. But- just to let you know, - - - last Thursday I also got an order from the University of Phoenix to frame 14 pieces for this coming Wednesday (!!!!) I don't have any idea how all of this is going to get done. The big order for Humana is due all this week. Some being delivered on Monday, then on Wednesday and then (hopefully) the rest on Friday (but I doubt it). I still have to figure out how to splice mats for the oversized prints. I've done bunches of them on a regular mat cutter, but ours stinks- and it isn't setup right to cut 60"mats. And I have no idea how to set something up like that on the Wizard Computerized mat cutter.
Well, besides that ----all is well in the world. Oh!! and the best news I got this week, my big sis is coming to visit my Mom for her (Mom's birthday) in early June. Can't wait to see her!