As I figured… I didn’t even make it a full week before skipping a day of posting (3 actually… last post was on Thursday). With that, I have decided that I am going forget about trying to post every day. I think that it was a bit overkill, anyway. While I am sure that there is nothing anyone would rather do than read my amazing and adventure filled life of cleaning, coding, and working… with some song and dance thrown in just to keep it exciting, I am going back to my old ways: Update whenever I can, when sometime monumental or otherwise “noteworthy” occurs. So… here I am:
Carolyn –
Carolyn is getting better, which is good news indeed. But it is different this time because Dad actually called us all to tell us that she was there. It is, of course, not her first stint in the hospital. She has been there many times before with various “smoking-related” health problems. She is a smoker and over the last few years, it has all caught up with her. Usually, Dad just takes her to the hospital, they stay for a bit, she gets better, and they come home. Dad usually doesn’t even call us (my siblings and I), as I suppose he feels like it is not that serious (Although, I would prefer he call, regardless of severity, but that is another entry). This time, though, he did call, which leads me to believe that these visits are becoming more serious… and I don’t handle loss and death very well. I will not remark on fortune thus far in life, for good luck’s sake… I will just leave it at my dislike for loss. Anywho… back to now: She is doing better, after a scary Saturday night… Dad told me this morning that she may be able to come home on Thursday. 
He asked me to help get the house ready for her, and to get some things together to occupy her time and mind because this time, coming home also means no more smoking. He is settled and convicted to making sure that Carolyn actually QUITS smoking. NOW. To this effort, I pledge my support unconditionally. And for all those that read this, and have any direct interaction to Carolyn’s life, I am asking for your commitment as well. There are several smokers in the family, and it may be very easy to say “Okay” if Carolyn asks for a cigarette, or even just a puff. Please honor Dad’s wishes and say no, and accept my sincerest gratitude in advance. For the other smokers in the family… I am asking you to reconsider the choice to continue. I am SO grateful that my Mom decided to quit year ago. There is no way of knowing how things would have turned out had she not, but my belief is that things are better. I do not want to see another person for whom I care suffer they way Carolyn is now, and I can probably safely bet that everyone else feels the same way. I feel myself getting close to my “Stop-Smoking” soap-box, so I digress. We all know the outcome. I just pray that informed decisions are made.
Moving onto other things:
Sharp-Blogger: Is WELL underway. I created the database over the weekend and began the creation of the Stored Procedures to retrieve and send data to the Database. For those reading this with limited knowledge of Database Design, think of a Stored Procedure as a “door” and the database as a building with many rooms. To get into a building’s room, you have to use a door. Data is stored in the various “rooms” and “doors” must be built to every room in order to enter or exit. Once this is done, I will be able to build the actual content code to accept and display data from the Website. My goal is to complete the stored procedure creation by the week’s end. Then, I will take the weekend to build the code layers and content logic. Once that is done, I will begin the website design. I am SUPER-EXCITED about this site, although I am detecting more complexity than I anticipated. Luckily, the world today has a wealth of information on the Internet… and I am able to look up how people solve their problems and incorporate their solutions. Of course, the plan is to also document my methods as well, so I can afford the next developer the same privilege as my predecessors.
The Audition: for “Nashville in Harmony” is tomorrow at 7:40 P.M. and I am REALLY excited about that too. Of course, with Sharp-Blogger, I doubted if I should continue with the plans to join this musical group. I juggled it in my mind, and I decided that I should. There is something dangerous about having a hobby, Sharp-Blogger, that consumes too much time. I could potentially burn-out and/or lose interest… which puts the project at risk. This group will give me the time away from Sharp-Blogger that I anticipate I will need. Plus, I like to sing, and am very rewarded by that, as well as writing programs… so it is a win-win!
Balance: Like I said in the last paragraph, I just have to really make sure that I am keeping my ADHD-like mind hopping. So bouncing between movies with friend, Sharp-Blogger, Work, and Singing, I should be OK to NOT burn out. Just gotta keep the cycle going… and get BACK to the Gym!!
And, that is about all that is on my mind. Work continues to be a wash, so I keep learning and doing what I can. Maybe soon, I will be given more to do here, not that I am complaining.
-=brett=-
Weekend At Last :: And where am I now?
Posted by bretthperkins on January 22, 2010
Gosh, even though this week was one day shorter, MLK day, it was STILL such a LONG week!!! I am looking forward to this weekend, but it is going to be a busy one. I start Nashville in Harmony tomorrow, there is a breakfast planned for the morning followed by a long rehearsal. Then there is another rehearsal on Sunday. This is the only weekend that we will have rehearsals on both days. It is this season’s kickoff, so it should be fun. I am looking forward to meeting the new people, and I am looking forward to singing again in a more “official” capacity.
I am sure that I will have lots to post about after this weekend, so look for that!
To prepare for the season, I have been recording myself on my phone while driving, then listening to it and picking out when I don’t sound right and working on my trouble spots. I have not actually paid attention to my voice, in terms of proper sounds, in a long time. I love to sing, and I do that quite frequently, but I never really analyzed anything after I stopped singing in Choir at MTSU. I am hopeful that once I get back in practice, and get around other singers, I will start remembering all those tricks and techniques and begin working with Eric on his voice. It will just be a challenge for both of us to find the time to rehearse. We’ll get there, though.
I have kinda stalled on Sharp-blogger… I still think that I have done a LOT and I am pleased with my progress, just really need to find time to focus on it. I think that buying the new desk will help. I am going to develop the program on my desktop at home, and while I loved my old desk, I had never REALLY worked on it, or spent a lot of time actually coding, writing, or otherwise attempting to focus using that desk. What was wrong with the old desk is that it was not designed for more than one monitor. I was able to make it work, though… and make it look nice, but in the end, it just was not right. The monitors were too high, I couldn’t sit with my legs under the desk, I was really far away from the monitors, and the desk surface was too high. I was always re-adjusting the monitors, removing and adding the keyboard drawer, and otherwise fidgeting with the desk, and I spent more time doing that then actually working. I am reminded of Ellen when she sits at her desk to work. She will say that she should write, then she will sit at the desk and look around and say, “Wow, that’s dusty. I can’t work when my desk is that dusty.” So she will go get a rag to dust, then on the way to get the rag, she will pass the cat on the stairs, pet the cat, then get a call from a friend… and never actually work. Ok… so maybe my real problem is procrastination. lol. *shrugs* whatev. I still like my new desk.
It may seem trivial, but a good work space is necessary to do good work, and now I have that, and there is less to fidget with, so I should be set. In theory. lol I am still on track to have a beta ready to test by late spring. 
My diet is still coming along… have lost close to 30 lbs now… and going to the gym more will hopefully yield faster results. I have also started traversing the staircase at work 5 times after lunch every day. It is not much, but I think that it helps in fueling my metabolism, which helps me burn more fat in my idle time. However, I am growing more and more impatient with myself, so I must take this opportunity to remind myself that it took YEARS to get as big as I was, so it is not going to all fall off overnight! To myself: “Get over yourself! You are doing GREAT!!”
And with that, I suppose I should get to work. I am building an Active Directory Test Query app at work so we can troubleshoot Active Directory bugs and communication problems. It is coming along fast and I am learning a TON about Active Directory. Forests and nodes and principals oh my!!
-=brett=-
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