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Finally starting work on the island. Kitchen island, that is. Tom will make it for us. It shoud be a great addition to our kitchen. And it should enhance our social life here in glen rock.

We are so happy in this hour that is it unreal. My wife went from constant complaints to praising. We stayed at our Garfield apartment for too long. Way too long. What is it, like 8 years. But I waited. Waited. Waited for the right moment. And then, after looking at a lot of houses, we found this gem in Glen Rock. And it changed our lives! I’m into gardening, improving our lawn. We have a fire pit outside. We have a basement for kids. Things are at a different level. And that’s why we love it here!

I love maintaining a garden. I really do. There is something satisfying in doing so. Love it, love it, love it!

Yesterday, I planted tomato seeds. I bought a seed-starting system and will see if tomatos sprout. I hope they do. If they don’t, then I”m going to have a problem and the $50 or $60 investment will go to waste. So I hope it does not. We’ll see.

Fabian is into soccer. More so this year than last. So I ordered a rebounding net. I am curious to see if he’s going to get into it more. I want him to play outside. More outside, less inside. That’s how he can benefit and get some good old-fashioned exercise!

I am continuing my exercise… in  house. I do 50 push ups every morning. And I monitor my weight, I am currently at 186.5. Very close to my ideal weight of 185!

We are finally done with our renovation! Yes, yes, yes! It was easier than I thought. Plus, it is actually looking better than I thought! Love our kitchen now!

My wife is amazing. She organizes things really well. She makes it look just awesome. Love it. And I love her for that. She keeps things clean. She loves everything clean. I love her for that.

She does not always keep her cool. Sometimes she erupts. For little things that don’t matter. I really have to stay away from her when she gets into that state. And it happens. It happens more than I’d like. 

Just have to be mindful of that. 

I am tired. My wife is tired. At least she’s doing a great job renovating our house. She is really doing an amazing job. I don’t know what I would do without her. Really. No joking! It’s also great that she’s has a very good eye. I almost always like what she does. It’s really cool.

But she brought something up yesteday…

I don’t think she feels rewarded.

What should I do? Where should I take her? What should I buy her?

I want to take her to a good restaurant, first of all. Since I want to go to Houston, I’ll take here there. I’ll see if she wants to go and whether we find the time this Sunday, or maybe next. In either case, I want her to know that I care for her. And that I love what she’s doing!

In fact, I need to do more of that throughout the year. I make good money. What better way to spend it than to make somebody else feel better? Great idea.

Should I start looking for a new job? No. Not yet. Not in 2012. And we’ll see where things go in 2013, and perhaps later this year. But so far, I’ve been enjoying my ride. Not all pretty and perfect, but am I foolish enough to believe that there is such a place? No, and I shouldn’t fool myself to believe that there is. If it is, well, so what, I like what I have.

Things could go either way. If advertisers start opening their pockets, then our company should benefit. That should improve the bottom line and make our company profitable. If that happens, I think things will or can start getting interesting. I’m sure there would be more interest in our company from investors if that happens. 

But why do I want to stay? I want to stay because I feel that I’m important. Yes, it’s actually an important feeling. I feel like I’m contributing a lot. I can do that. I am able to do that.

I hope that it continues. 2 year anniversay will be in September. If things turn in a different direction, I might start exploring around that date.

I have too many distractions at work. When that happens, I feel overwhelmed and not very productive. But I got a few things done yesterday. Few things are remaining before this Friday. Things are looking good.

We had day #4 of our renovation yesterday. Only Rafal was here. Now we have the cabinets put in. But we’re still missing water. Plus, we need to paint. We have some cleanup to do. We’re not as agressive as we need to. BUt you know what, we can take the time. No rush.

Sometimes I wonder if there is something wrong with my memory. I generally have a problem remembering a lot. With age, I feel things are getting worse. Perhaps I need to think about ways to improve it, sort of workarounds. We’ll see. For now, it’s still OK and manageable.

3 days into our renovation. Tiles are done. Radiant heat is in. Most of the cabinets are in. New dishwasher is coming today. We’re moving along! Yes, making great progress. But each day with 2 workers is costing me around 500 dollars. So… it’s not cheap. But my wife is impressed with W’s work, so she doesn’t really care. Well, she does, but she wants to have it done the proper way. And I agree.

This time around, everything went smoother. Much smoother. Things are being put in at a good rate. Things are moving along quite nicely.

So when are we going to be done? Looks like we might finish everything next saturday, or maybe a week after that. But we should have things “usable” today or this upcoming Saturday. That’s a great pace, actually. Being able to use things after a week, even less, of work.

Our kitchen renovation is in full force! We purchased a new dishwasher yesterday. We have new tiles installed. We have new lighing installed. We have radiant heat under tiles. We are on a roll! So far 2 guys worked a full day on Friday for the most part, though they split time, 2 guys working full day on Saturday. So 12 hous on Friday and 13 hours on Sat. I did a small tally of the number, and so far it’s already costing us $2700 or so for work and material. There is probably another $1k or so for work, could be more. But it should be a nice upgrade. I’m already liking it!

I am also playing more and more outside with my son. He likes basketball, well shooting the basket. He also likes soccer. He gets discouraged when he loses, but he needs to learn that losing is part of the game. Losing is really what shapes people. Losing will define his character.

Being a plorific worker is a goal for me. I want to do as much as I possibly can. I want to be of value to the company. Any company, for that sake.

What does it mean to be a plorific worker? Good question. Most of all, trying to give all. I think that’s the most important thing. Not only that. What else can I do? If I give all, consistently, then really that’s all I can. But that means filling gaps. Gaps in domain knowledge. Filling gaps in the technology that we use. In fact, I should be deepening the knowledge, making my skills better, so I can contribute more.

It’s an ongoing thing, but most important thing of all, is give the effort. All the time.

I decided to try that for m6d. Right from the getgo, I decided that I”m going to spend 100% of the time on work and work related items. That and roughly 10% on improving myself as a developer. This strategy is working for me. I am able to deliver stuff. I am able to innovate. It’s really working well for me and I will continue doing that. I need to expand on that…

The day before yesterday, clouds were forming for me, yesterday I got a shout out and things are more or less back to normal. There is hope for m6d, though the thought of new regulations scares me a bit. But things are holding steady and I’m making improvements, and that’s what’s important.

I struggled to put together a spring project that would have mapping in place. I have to perfect that. I have to read up on that. In fact, that’s what I should do now. I need to brush up on my jpa, rest, and others, so I can make a great project.

Victor is sick. I think this is a 2nd time he is sick this winter. It’s sad. Really sad to see him struggle. So last night he was crying a lot. He wanted to go downstairs. Just cried and was calling it over and over again. So I, knowing that kids forget things very quickly. took him aside to the big living room and started to show him things. After a while, we layed down. After another while he wanted to go to mommy. So that’s how I solved it.

When mommy calls me about food when I am on my way from work… I never remember it. Same thing happened yesterday. So I come home for pierogies, remembering that I have to leave 1 for mommy. I eat most of them, cabbage and potato cheese. Mommy comes back and inquires about the pierogis. I tell her my story and she starts screaming and out of control. Kids are still in the room. So I tell her. She does not stop. She gets out of control. All because I ate pierogis she made for kids. Out of control! Unacceptable!