The laminate flooring is down in the studio and it looks really good!  Unfortunately, I cannot get a photo on my Iphone that represents the actual color of the floor.  The photos make it appear more brown than gray for some reason.  Anyway, we are very pleased with how the entire project ahs turned out.  I have some final touchup painting to do and then we have to put all of the furniture back and get things up on the walls, then we will be ready for a busy year.

We recently decided to do a rebranding of our business and are changing our logo to something a bit more trendy and appealing to our target clients.  We will be using it for apparel, packaging and marketing.  I'll be working on the website to reflect the new branding and because you are a faithful reader of my blog, here's a sneak peek of the new logo before it goes public.

 

We are scheduled to shoot our television commercial on March 8th.  I will post the video here when it is completed.  It will be airing on MTV and possibly some other channels here in the KC metro.  We're expecting some good results from our marketing plan.  

A paint job turns into a total studio makeover, including rearrangement of the furniture, relocation of all the portraits hanging on the walls, etc....I think ultimately it's the right decision but it's adding to the time required to complete the project and I have until Saturday afternoon before the flooring installation takes place.  Looks like some late nights this week.

JD threw with no tricep pain yesterday so that's welcome news.  Hopefully the cortisone shot combined with a month of rest will help him get through the season.

Saturday morning, I met a guy who was selling a quad rail for an AR over at Cabelas.  I picked it up for about $60 off the new price and I put it on my Colt along with a GPS grip pod that I also purchased from a local seller.  I got it for about $100 off retail.  Here's what my Colt looks like after the modifications.

Since I'm a glutton for punishment, I've decided to repaint our studio, again.  I decided on a neutral gray while leaving the one wall purple (pictured above) for an accent color.  Since I was off yesterday, I was able to get three walls completely done but still have quite a bit to go.  It needs to be done by Saturday afternoon as that is when our new laminate flooring is going down.  I was at Nebraska Furniture Mart on Saturday and they had some I liked on clearance for 69 cents a sq ft.  I went home and got Jodi and brought her back to get her approval on the color choice.  We bought 800 square feet along with the under layment for about $900 with tax and I have an installer coming on Saturday who is doing the job for $200.  What a bargain this whole deal is. 

I'm ready for a 3 day weekend!  Monday is MLK Day so I'm off and will have an extra day to accomplish some of the things I whined about in yesterday's post. 

Tonight we have a sales session with a client who's schedule has been too busy to come see their photos from their session in late October. 

We had Jayson last night for a few hours.  He recently had his first haircut and he's a handsome little guy.  We plan on bringing him to St. Louis the weekend of March 14th to see JD and we'll get to see a home baseball series while there.

My "To Do" list is so long, I don't even know where to start.  One of the items is a bit overwhelming but I feel it's a must do.  I need to shoot a television commercial to be aired on our local cable network.  I can probably do some of it myself but I feel I need a person with some experience to assist with some of the shooting and editing.  I usually find a way to get things done and I guess that will be the case here.
 

The new strength and conditioning facility was unveiled yesterday at SIUE.  JD got his first workout in it this morning.

http://www.siuecougars.com/sports/genrel/2013-14/cougarweightroom

I've worked a lot of overtime the last couple weeks and I'm looking forward to a full weekend off so I can accomplish some things on my "To Do" list.  It's suppose to be in the 50's this weekend, albeit with rain, but at least the temps will be more comfortable than they have been.

If it isn;t raining too much this weekend, I'm suppose to go to a friend's palce and do some shooting.  It's been awhile since I've done so and I'm looking forward to it.  My friend just re-configured his Remington 870 so we are going to do some combat shotgunning and then I want to shoot my 1911 and AR.  I'm also going to be sending my 590A1 off to have the action worked on so it is super smooth. 

JD heads back to college on Sunday and it will probably be some time before we see him again as he won't have weekends free to return home in the 2nd semester.  We intend to come to St. Louis the weekend of March 15th and bring Jayson with us so JD can see him.  The team has a home weekend series agaisnt Jacksonville State that weekend so we'll go to the Friday and Saturday game if the weather is comfortable enough.

His season opens mid-February at Wichita State.  I cannot see how that's going to be a very fun trip as the weather is not going to be very warm on the Kansas Plains 5 weeks from now.  The following weekend, they are heading to New Mexico State which should be a more enjoyable experience.  For that trip, the team will be flying and it will be JD's first time in the air, well, at least that he can remember, as the only other time he's been on an airplane was when he was 1 1/2 years old.

I'll leave you today with a picture of Angus.  He gets pretty riled up over cameras and reflections so getting a decen tpicture of him is very hard to do.  He attacks the camera if he sees you pointing it at him so I caught him a bit off guard to get this.  I added the black and white effect and I think it turned out really well.



Check out the new blog for Photo Friday and more of my thoughts.

https://keepyourkoolaid.wordpress.com

I've decided to keep this blog and use it as my personal blog and use the other for the things that motivate me.  Bookmark both and you'll have twice the reading/entertainment value for the price of one.

The holidays are behind us and the new year is a busy one already.  I've been working most of the holiday period taking advantage of the double time plus holiday pay.  I'll also be working both days this weekend so I'm starting off the year with some healthy paychecks. 

JD is home for another 9 days before he heads back to college.  He's been working a lot of hours and making some good money.  He finished the first semester with a 3.8 GPA and he is bigger and stronger than ever.  Unfortunately, he is back to having tendonitis issues again and he's going to see the orthopedic surgeon Monday.  There really isn't anything they can do for him but we're going to see if some cortisone shots might help him get through the season.  Rest and therapy help but it comes back as his throwing increases throughout the fall.  I'll provide an update after we he sees the doctor on Monday.