Jakestapleton.com

Greetings and Salutations Faithful Stapleton Blog Readers

This is a “crap I have let the blog go stale again entry”. I must admit since I am online everyday and I communicate with most of you using Facebook and Twitter that updating the blog has become a back burner issue for me. But none the less I still have some troglodyte relatives and friends who need to be updated via the blog. So let’s see what has been going on since the last meaty entry.

I have been working and on the road quite a bit as usual. This is shaping up to be a busy travel year again so far this year; I have had 24 overnights. This pace should put me well below the 77 nights that I had last year (with any luck). Work continues to go well and I am blessed to have a job that I enjoy and a company that appreciates my work. (I am not going to say that every day is filled with roses but overall CSI is a great place to work, and my customers do seem to appreciate me) Most of March and April were very quiet more or less.

In April we had a birthday party for mom she was 206. (Ok 76)

But that was about it.

As the weather started getting nicer I started work on the outside of the house. (It’s the only thing we have left from the remodel to complete) I am already deep into my first round of freaking poison ivy for the year. That would not bother me so much if I could figure out where I was getting it in the back yard. I thought last year I had eradicated it all.

The house has been pressure washed, vents have been painted, and the brick wall has been repaired.

I took about an hour last Sunday afternoon and painted both ends of the house only to determine that the color Jess and I picked out does not work. Her mission this week is to pick out a new color and have a new gallon of paint ready for me when I get home. Besides my outdoor projects and helping out mom and Sandy on their houses it has been pretty much work and sleep for me. Jess and I are still planning a vacation/10th anniversary trip of some sort this year in August.  Probably the week of my birthday.

I will have to say that 35 snuck up on me a little (According to some life expectancy charts I am getting ready to finish the first half of my life). I can say that I really do not feel old; tired sometimes but never old.

However there are some conundrums that I have observed:

• I still ride the grocery cart across the lot at the grocery store.  The older I get the more strange looks I receive.

• I find myself going to the grocery store with a geographically organized spreadsheet grocery list and yet I am listening to P!nks new album while driving there.

• I find myself telling the neighborhood kids to get out of my tree and to be quiet but I have no trouble blasting the stereo as I drive down the street.

But enough about me I could talk about myself all night and I sure you could too. How about an update on Jess?

As some of you may have heard Jess graduated in May with a perfect 4.0 in her Master’s program. (Can’t remember if I have told everyone how proud I am of her!) She continues to do well after the wreck although she is still experiencing intense sets of migraines that we are trying to get addressed. Jess continues to look for work now that she is out of school (she only has 1 more Praxis test to take). In fact she has already had an interview for a teaching position in Cabell County. But with the school system it may be August before we know if she has a position. So she continues to explore all of her options. It is my only wish that she finds a job that will use the gifts that she has been given to work with the special needs population. She can do things that I never will be able to do and she does it while helping others that cannot help themselves. To say I am proud would be an understatement.

That brings up to here (No really right here.  Both in a typographical and metaphorical way.) we are at the beginning of June 2009 with a busy summer ahead of work projects, exterior house projects, a wedding, a milestone anniversary, and whatever else life throws at us.  I hope this entry finds everyone doing well.

Take Care.

That’s the news and I am outta here!