OFF THE DEEP END

With all the illness going around, and the because all my pants seem to be shrinking, I decided to eat healthier.  I will try to eat grilled chicken at the fast food places and avoid fries as much as possible.  Robyn said she would try to cook dinners that were better for us.  Canyon isn't thrilled but it will be better for all of us in the long run.  I call it a "diet" but really healthier food and smaller portions are my goal.
Robyn and I went grocery shopping to find some good food.  For work I got several boxes of Hot Pockets... I mean Lean Pockets.  I can keep them in the freezer at work.  We also got some cottage cheese and some yogurts.  We picked up some fresh fruit to eat around the house as snacks instead of chips.

The "diet" begins

Monday at work I had two hot pockets... I mean lean pockets for lunch.  They weren't bad.  Then we poured the other two pieces of the office desk for work.  Here's an action shot...

all hands on deck

That night Robyn made chicken in her new favorite cooking device.  It keeps the food up out of the grease and it will cook anything.  So far I got the healthier food thing going good, the bad news is it was so good my smaller portions plan isn't working.

space age technology

Tuesday at work all the cabinets for the first office desk went in for the finish coat.

The finish makes the grain more colorful

For lunch I had two lean pockets. They are kinda bland.  Then I finished up the form to go around the pond I talked about in an earlier post.  It will have a rock face edge, a stainless steel inlay and fiber optic lights.

a lot going on in this piece

Tuesday night I had to bar tend.  One of the customers was celebrating her birthday.  This prooved to be a bad thing for me, because there was birthday cake.  Maybe it was low calorie cake.

Party H.Q.

7am Wednesday morning I meet the floor crew at the Coke plant.  We are doing a couple of floors there and they wanted me to help install the base.   By the way, pop was only 25 cents in their machines, I wonder if you can get a car in Detroit for a quarter.  Anyway, I was told it would take less than two hours to finish the base which was good because I was trying to get the cabinets set in the office.  It was close.   

time flies when you're having fun

For lunch I had..  you know what I had, and they weren't very tastey.  Then I was asked to go over to the bar that was being remodeled and help put on a final coat of sealer.  Their grand opening was the next day.

awesome!

Wednesday night I found Robyn at home in the office beginning preperations for our annual filing week-end.  All year long any important paperwork gets put in a large basket and we sort everything just before tax time. (It's more fun this way)  We had taco pizza, because it's like a salad on a pizza crust, at least that's what I'm telling myself.

No, seriously, there's a system here

Thursday I got the first desk put together and the tops in place.

Looking pretty cool

For lunch I choked down a couple lean pockets.  I don't care for lean pockets anymore.  

After lunch I started putting in the second desk while my boss set up his desk.  He asked me to build cabinets for the main office next week.  I love it!

very functional

My sister Debbie called and asked if Chris and I would stop by her house and check the plumbing.  Chris is a plumber by trade and he helped me put together her bathroom.  She said whenever she flushed the toilet, she can hear water running past her shower drain.  Chris said it sounded like a blockage in the vent stack causing a vacuum to draw the water out of her shower p-trap.

We checked everything out, but just like when you take your car to the mechanic, it wouldn't make any noise when we were there.

the rare roof top plumber

Friday we poured the pond wall cap.  We used a four color process that should be very interesting.  Then we installed a beautiful and giant island for a client. 

they are filming the next 'Survivor' on this island

For lunch..  I couldn't take it anymore, we went to Dahl's and I had hot wings with ranch dressing, for a side dish I had tuna casserole and for my other side I had mac-n-cheese (Dahl's mac-n-cheese is the best) and I got a small helping of apple crunch for dessert.  I feel much better now that I've confessed that.

After lunch I continued putting in cabinets and we demolded the pond cap.

You can see the marble effect

I was feeling bad about falling off the "diet" wagon and thought BLTs would be good for supper, until I saw this bill board..

What are they doing with the bacon?

I don't remember but I think we skipped supper.

Saturday morning I woke up and said a quick prayer just thanking God for another day.  Then I asked Him to give me someone to pray for that day.  After my prayer, I got up and began my day.  

Robyn and I went into the office and sorted some paper work.  After about an hour of that we took a break and returned a movie, grabbed some lunch (A market fresh sandwich from Arby's, no fries) and took a load to the Goodwill.

Happy to take my donation, I think

Then it was bak to the annual filing fun.  I took up my usual position by the shredder.  There was so much paper work that I set up our old shredder too.

you've heard of dueling pianos, well..

The amount of shredding made me feel like a dirty politician, 

If I ever run for president this may come back to haunt me.

We actually filed some stuff too

Here it is 10:30 Saturday night, and I still haven't found someone to pray for.  Maybe it was the guy at Goodwill but I didn't feel it.  Maybe it's Robyn, Canyon or myself but I pray for us all the time.  My only guess is that I should pray for someone reading this blog right now.

Father, I ask you to bless those who find themselves reading this.  May you open the eyes of those who are not sure who you are and let them see, with your eyes, the true beauty of the world you created.  Lord, if it is in your will, turn that one person's life upside down and show them life abuntly.  Prove to them that there is hope, and that hope lies in you.  Thank you Jesus.  Amen.

I have to be up very early Sunday to help some friends serve the coffee and donuts at church in the morning so I will draw this blog to a close but before I do I want to give you some food for thought, (no, not 'diet' food)

I can't swim so I only go in the shallow end of the pool or stay close to shore when we are at the beach.  One day when I was young I was doing what is called the dead man's float at a local lake.  I plugged my nose and placed my face and upper torso down in the water.  Then I slowly raised my feet off the lake bottom and I would float.  As long as I held my breath I would continue floating.  On about my third attempt as I ran out of air I tried to put my feet back down but the lake bottom wasn't there.  I had drifted out to deeper water.  Panic struck me and I floundered around, splashing and struggling to get back to shore.  Although the lake and beach were packed, no one noticed.  I thought I was going to die.  Then suddenly I felt the muddy bottom on my toe.  I was able to somehow make it back to shore and there I stayed, afraid to go back in. 

In the same way I have grown in my relationship with God.  At first I was afraid to go in too deep.  But after several times holding my breath I found myself in the deep end.  The difference is that I am not floundering, I'm swimming.  With Jesus as my life guard, I have no fear.

Come on in, the water's fine.

Peace

Dan