utahmike

I took one of my daughters bowling tonight! It was very nice. She and I got along very well. I was patient and friendly. It was totally laid back and I exibited no tension or impatience – this is rare for me.

I think part of it had to do with the fact that it was only one daughter. Both of my kids tend to irritate each other when they are together, which in turn irritates me.

My girlfriend told me that my daughter told her how excited she was to have me to herself this weekend (my other daughter is out of town with her mother). Normally, on the weekends that I have the kids, they are together. Maybe I should work in an alternating schedule with time alone with each.

While I was bowling, my daughter and girlfriend planned a surprise breakfast for me tomorrow, and while my daughter bowled, my girlfriend gave me instructions on how to be maximally surprised.

Tonight, life is good.

It was a 3-year process from inception to reality. A lot of hard work and a LOT of communication between the people involved.

You should hire good people, tell them what you want and stand back. Don’t micro-manage. Before the process began, I hired the builder, the designer, the architect and the landscape architect before a single thing was done. I specified “feel” and “function” and left the design to the experts.

The end results were wonderful. Right now, you can see the house on the cover of myHouse Magazine of the West (http://myhouse.construction.com/TOC/0509.asp).

I have made an offer on a small place in the mountains. It’s about 900 square feet. It needs a bit of interior – shall we say – asthetic work? It is not to my tastes and must be changed. I’m beginning to price out the remodel – should come in for under $20K – this is a total gutting of the flooring, repainting of the walls and installation of hardwood floors throughout. I’m thinking of dark oak…