Better Late Than Never...

I cannot believe how long it takes to finish a basement! Honesty! Of course, it's going to take longer when you do all the work yourself (ie-Bryan) with absolutely no help and...you still have to work your regular job to pay the bills. Amazing any progress is made at all. We are getting closer, though. Lately, Bryan has completed the finish coat on absolutely all the walls and trim. A very big job. He had to give another coat of the 'old violin' ( a drk brwn) on the 2 feature walls due to a shedding roller leaving lint in the paint. Urgh! Tomorrow is painting the storage room floor. I know,...I know. Does that really need to be done? Answer: "yes" Especially when the only person willing to do the work is a perfectionist. Gotta love him. This next week will be about seating the new toilet and vanity. He's also going to install all the light fixtures. Carpet will be ordered as well as cupboards. These last two items won't arrive until after Christmas, but that's ok. I think Bryan could do with a bit of a break.

Bryan is taking time to have a bit of fun, I'm happy to report. He's contacted Blake and they got together to jam this past Friday afternoon. He was so happy when he came home. I am thrilled he's found an outlet for his musical creativity. They are going to put something together and start doing some gigs. It will be very good for him.

Sadly, I did not finish my novel during the NaNoWriMo. I got to a little over 15,000 words. That's not even half way! Oh, well... it is far more than I had a month ago. Why didn't I finish? I was on such a roll, after all. Elsie found herself facing amputation of her leg due to gangrene and needed rides to dr's, etc. She's had the surgery, thankfully. Everything went well and they are now looking to send her to a rehab facility until she learns to get along without her limb. She's doing very well, though. She hops farther and farther every day, she can no sleep without constant pain/spasms waking her and without the pain, she is a different person. There were many other real-life interruptions along the way that can duly serve as legitimate excuses but the bottom line is, I became overwhelmed by everything piling up and allowed myself to be distracted. I am making progress is getting things sorted out and back on track.

Pack Rules Inc. has seen some progress as well (one of the real-life distractions from my novel). The ad came out in the Sherwood Park yellow pages and I was very happy with it. I got in touch with Lynn (the website lady who owns "On Course Solutions") as Linda informed me that she was getting ever more frustrated with her little dog, Springer and suggested we may be able to work a contra deal. We did and Springer is already a very different dog and we've only completed the assessment and session 1. The solution to his barking at the door was the quickest yet and I am actually very fond of Springer. I am looking forward to Lynn accepting my offer to take him home with me to board him when she takes her girls for holiday.

Yesterday was my meeting with Lynn to move forward on the development of my website. WOW! There is sooooooo much to do! EEEEKKK! It will be all I can do to get all the articles and forms written for it. And I don't want it to go on for ages, just sitting because I can't find time to write my articles. Oh, well....ever onward.

I completed the boxer puppy, George and am working with Phil and Katie (old Packleader clients that got ripped off by Jody). Their shepherd, Alexie, is extremely anxious but making phenomenal progress. Katie and Phil are completely devoted to her rehabilitation. Their little sheltie, Sasha, is picking things up very quickly and having her behavior tweaked along the way, successfully.

Sharayah went for her allergy tests which, at the very least, got us the answers to what she is actually allergic to. No more guessing. Pollen - big time. Soy, house dust, cats, dogs, and a few others that I can't remember off hand. Now she knows what her options are for treatment, she can feel like she's got a handle on the situation. "No more lying in the grass" as she put it.

All in all....a good month, productive...even though not in all the areas I would have chosen. Tomorrow is another day with so much potential for progress. I am ever thankful for today. Each is a precious gift of time and I plan to respect that gift more than I have lately.