Long winded update....

No exotic trips for me, but there is a lot going on in my life. Many things I wasn't happy with culminated into one big meltdown and now I am rebuilding it all and going back to things that made me happier than I currently am.

I gradutaed about 2 months ago and have been working on revamping my portfolio. I would like some opinions on the changes I have made so far, so I am hoping Dave and Lauren are coming over tomorrow night for the Spike TV UFC event. My original portfolio was very basic since I did not have an editor program to work with and Word kinda sucks for this type of thing. But, now I have PrintShop, which is still basic, but works much better. The one thing I am worried about though is dividing my larger layouts on 2 pages like a magazine - I want to keep my portfolio oriented in the same direction, but the larger pieces get so small on one portrait page alone.

The reason I am working so hard on my portfolio is because although I like designing kitchens, I want to design commercial spaces. I want people to walk into a building I have helped create - a restaurant, hotel, or even office - and be inspired by their surroundings. That and I can't deal with retail hours and corporate crap any more. All the Expos in MI are closing and Home Depot wants their specialists, like my department, to try to fill in that gap. Maybe I am pessimistic, but that will never happen as long as they keep specialists out on the regular sales floor with everyone else. A little elitist I know, but how do you expect us to design $30,000 projects when half the designers are cutting pipe or down stocking shelves because they have no one else to do it? I had actually turned in my 2 weeks notice, but amazingly enough my HR and store managers offered to just drop me down to part time for a few weeks while I "sort out my personal issues." At least this way I still make enough money to pay bills and still have health insurance. And, I was able to talk them into giving me set days to work - Sunday, Monday and Wednesday.

It has been almost 8 months since my surgeries. While they have helped, I have had a major problem losing the rest of the weight I want to lose, so Chris arranged for me to meet with the dietitian and Lifetime and develop a meal plan for me. I never ever thought I would be doing this, but I am measuring out my portions on a food scale and all that fun stuff. It has already helped though, lost almost 5 pounds in about 4 weeks. I am also expecting a call from my personal trainer to arrange for us to start working out again and finish my MAP testing. The MAP testing is cool, it measures your resting and active metabolic rates as well as your target heart rate zones so you are burning fat rather than muscle or carbs while working out.

Also, for those of you that did not see me last weekend, I am now a brunette again. Everything else was changing, so why not. I had dark hair before, so I guess this is just one more return to the life I had and want back. I hope to have sexy new icons soon, once I talk someone into taking the pictures for them. I am also going out more, no more of this anti-social crap!!! I will be going out tonight, so I hope to see people at CC!