Two clients amid your finals – good going, Ashley! Take your vitamins, caffeinate, and conquer the world!

Devon, I'm glad you're in a good place with work and life. It shows in your writing just how little stress you're having to deal with these days. Amen.

Damaria, I envy your impending summer. 🙂 Sounds like things are starting to shine. Nano's a challenge this year, and I've been told I've been a bit curt ever since it started. I don't see it, but they do. 🙂

Jodi, Ashley, Gabriella, and Cathy – happy birthdays!!!!

Cut yourself some slack, Gabriella. It's okay to be too tired to work, especially given the post-surgery situation and the family in town. Relax. Watch a little HGTV. 🙂

Paula, I hate when people do that to old homes. You can't buy that kind of detail, and they're too lazy to find ways to incorporate their own style with some of that beauty.

Happy birthday, fellow Novemberites.

My weekend was great, with six out-of-town relatives here in the city for my niece's baby shower. I hate a baby shower, but I love my relatives. Good times!

Work's going well, but I'm still struggling to get the stamina to work a full day. I don't know if I'm expecting too much, but I'm a little disappointed that I'm more tired than I thought I'd be a month after my surgery. I'm still crashing every night at 8:30!

I've been working pretty diligently today, but I do declare that I might be too tired to work any more and it's only 2:41. Not cool!

Sunday a friend and I toured a huge 1910 Prairie Style house a couple blocks from me. I know the next door neighbor and had been watching the renovations of the past year or so. Last time it was on the market – less than 2 years ago, a foreclosure – the on-line "tour" clearly showed it had most of the old original art glass fixtures. The current owners replaced them all with gaudy chandeliers. (Didn't they know how coveted and valuable original fixtures are?) They also set some large ceramic tiles over part of the original narrow-slat hardwood floors (odd, since the floors were nicely refinished), running from the kitchen to the front door, like a hall, but without walls. If not for those two bizarre things, the house would be outstanding – beautiful built-ins, untouched woodwork, two sets of gorgeous original French Doors… Of course, I dread to think what people would say about some of the stupid things past owners did to "update" my house!

This week I start two new articles, and will send in an article I finished last week as soon as my check arrives for the article I sent the same editor in mid-August (it ran in their September issue)…

@Ashley, happy birthday! My birthday's on Thursday too. 🙂