Israeli singers

Believe it or not, but they don't sing only in Hebrew.

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Today is "Dec. 14, 2007"

Nine months after starting my new job and being told that the project I was put in charge of is due for completion on Dec. 14th, 2007 - the project is complete!

Well, okay, not entirely. Just Phase II. But this is the phase that everyone has been asking about for an entire YEAR!!! It's the part where a population of several hundreds has asked - "When do we get to eat proper food and not a bag of chips?"!

After a week of waking up at 4:30am, including this past Saturday and Sunday - the dining facility opened up this morning.

Only problem was that we honestly did NOT plan to open a huge building with only one air conditioner on the hottest day of the year at 98 degrees. We planned on opening it on June 9th. Who knew?! Needless to say that my success was slightly trodden over by the excessive heat in the building and the constant barrage of complaints.

But, on the plus side - it's DONE! I finished the most critical phase of the project, and I pushed the contractor to get it done to MY level of perfection (poor soul!).

Admittedly, none of it was without a tremendous amount of frustration and phone calls to higher ups along the management chain, but I'm just happy it's over with. For now.

If I could write here all my frustrations from this past week, it'd fill an entire blog. It would also get my blood pressure back up on a really hot day in a very hot computer room. So instead I'll focus on the good things.

You know how they always show sexy construction workers on TV? The muscled toned guys, with the one million dollar smile? Yeah, well, that's in Hollywood. Out here, in the DC metropolitan area, you get the short and wide Latino guys who are shorter than me. I swear I have nothing against Latinos other than the fact that the ones on my jobsite are short and nothing to look at. But anyway, I digress. Last week, in an effort to get my project done to my satisfaction, the contractor company sent a new guy in. A drop dead gorgeous guy! I've been finding excuses to drop by the jobsite and take a Fanta break.



I wouldn't have mentioned this guy if it was just his looks, but he turned out to be the absolutely best construction worker I've ever come across as far as quality of work, communications, professionalism, you name it! The guy is absolutely outstanding. He moved in to the area two months ago from Detroit because of lack of work and got shafted by joining this dud of a construction company and was made superintendent overnight, probably because they noticed right away that this millwork guy also has brains.

At least my last few days on this project have been a little more enjoyable in having to deal with not only a competent construction worker, but with someone who is easy on the eyes.

I actually reached a point where I was going to text my husband and ask for his permission to flirt with the guy. But then thought better of it, because I knew my husband was busy playing Indiana Jones Lego on PlayStation and would very likely complain about me asking a stupid question since I should already know his answer.

So I flirted. Or..hmmm...I suppose it's MY version of flirting. I bought him three bottles of water today because I felt bad for him working out in this horrendously unforgiving sun in 98 degrees as he fixed a gazebo.

In my next phase of flirting, I gave him my business card and told him to call me. I had a good and innocent reason for it. I swear.

Then I saved him the call, by simply introducing him to my boss and asking my boss to use his contacts with other construction companies and get him the fuck out of this freaking construction company he fell into and to a better company that will appreciate what they got!

I think tomorrow instead of a Fanta break, I'll offer him a diet coke.

Where does the time fly?

I think it was a week ago when I celebrated New Year's, and then a day later it was Passover, and now summer is almost over. I have no clue where time if flying, or what on earth I'm doing with my time.

My life is consumed by...life. It's as simple as that. All of a sudden I have a ton of things to do with my free time. Ranging from visiting friends, through cleaning my house. Of course it helps that my health recently has been outstanding. Needless to say, I live every day to its fullest and try to do everything possible in one day. I have a lot to make up for.

In the last tally of friends who had kids or are pregnant, this is where I am:

My best friend in Baltimore had twins on April 2nd. Boy and Girl. Adorable!

My former boss/friend in Maryland had twins on May 8th. Two girls. Too tiny to give an opinion.

My friend's wife is five months pregnant and at home.

My best friend's wife is due next month.

My best friend's wife in Israel had her baby two months ago.

My friend from my support group had her baby three months ago.

My cousin's wife is three months pregnant.

With all the above, I had one odd week with: a birthday, a wedding and a funeral. The cycle of life all condensed into one week of my life. The emotions run amock when that happens. You just don't know when to be happy or sad. It's all intertwined.

Then there's my job. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my job. My contractor, on the other hand? Oh, we're getting closer. Yesterday morning he came beaming to me and said, "I got that bench stained for you. I wanted you to be proud of me!" Yes, we're into that type of relationship now. I've learned a lot about how to motivate a young superintendent.

My project is about to reach a major milestone on Monday, June 9th. I'm buying breakfast. Hopefully, I'll find the time to post here a couple of photos to show everyone what I've accomplished.

My house - I'm proud to say, it's not a mess! I've made major progress on the computer room, and I think with three more weekends of intensive work, I should be able to take a good photo of it and post here the results. My living room is presentable. My kitchen is awesome. Can't complain.

This past weekend we celebrated our neighbour's 50th birthday. It was a great opportunity for my husband and I to get aqcuainted with the Party Store. Our neighbour returned from the party, to a bunch of blown up flamingoes up in trees, and inside her mailbox, plus a few balloons, and some other old people's decorations. I think her laughter woke up the entire neighbourhood. Her flamingo looks a bit anemic now. But still very much pink.

I honestly don't know where time flies, but I'm beginning to think that American Idol stole quite a few hours of my week lately. I'm rapidly gaining them back. So I may be able to write more on my blog. That's if my husband ever does something to the insulation in the attic, because right now I'm sweating from the heat in the computer room.