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The job came out great!!!

Well I got there at 8 am and was totally finished by 5 pm.  Now all that’s left to do is go back tomorrow and grout the floor.  The people are totally satisfied so far.  I had enough of the under board to do the whole floor so all I had to buy for the job was the stuff to stick the tile down with and the grout.  I will make about $350 profit from the job. Not too shabby, huh?

My boss did let me use the tile cutter from work.  I told him what I was doing and he told me he was actually proud of me for my grit to try and make something for myself.  He’s totally behind me doing these side jobs as long as it doesn’t interfere with my work through the week.  He did tell me that if he catches me taking anything other than what is thrown away, that I was fired.  I won’t ever do that because I love my job and need it more than the side jobs.

I told him that I have no intentions of leaving his company because of all I’m learning and this is just something to make extra money and not a way to try and make it without my job.  He was glad to hear that.  I’m not an idiot, a steady pay check is almost guaranteed, side jobs aren’t.  They’re just icing on the cake when I can get them.

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I got the side job!

The bathroom they wanted ceramic tile put into was small and they loved the tile I have so the materials are what I got out of the dumpster and won’t cost me a dime.  I quoted them a price and they want me to do it this coming weekend.  How awesome is that?  I wouldn’t have gotten this side job without Breanna putting up those flyer’s she made for me.

If I do a good job for these people then they just might get me even more work.  The business card Breanna ordered for e came in yesterday and they look very professional.  I’ll be sure to leave a few with the people when I complete the job if they’re happy with it that is.  I’ll make enough money on this job to buy my own tile cutter and even have some left over.  That way, the next job will gross me even more money since I won’t have to rent or borrow a tile cutter.  I’m going to ask my boss if I can borrow the one we use at work.  I don’t know if he’ll let me or not but it’s not that much to rent one if he won’t.  I’m on my way to having my own side business.

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I got another raise

I was totally blown away when I got my check today.  I thought they made a mistake but my boss told me it was no mistake.  He said I have been working really hard and he wanted to reward my hard work and I got a 75 cent an hour raise.  It’s not much but it sure helped.  It nice to know that your hard work is appreciated.  He wanted to give me a bigger raise but work has slowed down he said.  Once we finish this big job, there’s not another one lines up yet.

The economy is getting tighter and tighter here just like everywhere else.  I have been stock piling the left over materials they throw away hoping to get side jobs on the weekend for extra money.  Breanna even made up some business cards for me on her computer.  I have no idea how to do that but she does. She even found a site online that will print the cards she made up really cheap.  They’re cheaper than her doing them herself.  I hope it works too.

She even made up some flyers to put up here and there.  I got a call from one person so far wanting tile put in their bathroom.  I’m going out this weekend to show them the tile I have and see if I have enough to do the job.  Wish me luck but as lucky as I have been lately, I’m afraid it’s all going to end.  I sure hope not.

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Well the surprise was on me!!!

I honestly think I’m falling love with Breanna!  This is the most amazing woman I have ever met.  The surprise for Valentines Day was on me, not her.  She came over and told me that she was going to fix us a nice dinner and we were going to celebrate Valentines Day right here.  Okay I thought, there goes my surprise for her but she’s a much better cook than I ever dreamed of being so I sure didn’t complain.  She fixed us some of the best steak I have ever eaten with a baked potatoes and a great salad.  We had a candle light dinner and I put the single rose that I had gotten her on the table while she wasn’t looking.  She loved it.  You would have thought it was a dozen the way she acted.

After dinner, we sat and talked for hours about her life and my life, our dreams for the future and anything else that came to mind.  She had a bit of a hard time at home too and I didn’t know that at all.  We found out just how much we have in common and how much our dreams of the future were the same.  I have to admit, this was the best Valentines Day I have ever had or could have ever imagined.  She is a very special woman.

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Trying to plan something special for this weekend

I’m new to all of this.  Living on my own, having a sweet girl for a girlfriend, and everything else that has happened since I moved out here.  I have to admit that my life has never been better.  I’m learning a lot on the job about construction, home improvements, electrical work and everything else involved in the construction of apartments, houses, and businesses.

I’m learning a lot about what a wonderful addition a good woman to be to your life too.  Breanna has been one of many blessings to my life since getting away from the problems back home.  I feel so very blessed and I want to do something very special for her for Valentines Day.  The problem is money.  I have to be creative in order to show her what she means to me.

What I have in mind is a nice picnic at the local park since it’s supposed to be a nice day.  I can afford some of the flowers you can get in the grocery store but I can’t afford a dozen roses.  I have heard that one single rose is just as good as a dozen to some women.  Breanna is that type of woman I think.  I’ll check and see how much a single rose will cost me from a florist because those that you get other places just don’t live very long.

I need some suggestions of what to fix for the picnic.  Got any suggestions??  Help!!!!!

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Breanna brought me a house warming gift

Since I didn’t have anything but mini-blinds on my windows, Breanna went out and bought some curtain toppers (I think is what she called them) to top the windows off with.  Man did that really make the rooms look great too.  They’re a hunter green color and they really make the room look better.  I don’t know anything about stuff like that but I’m glad she does.

When I lived at home, we were lucky to have mini-blinds on our windows.  In fact, there were blankets or sheets on most of our windows.  I have never lived in as nice a place as this before.  It feels good too.  Especially when I can sit back and see what I have done to make it look the way it does.  I’m rather proud of what I have done.  Now I just have to get the nasty carpet out of the bedroom and put down the wood floors in it too.  If I can find a big enough piece of carpet that’s a decent color, I might put carpet in it.  I don’t know.  I kind of like the wood floors.  They look cleaner and I have found out I like a clean house since I never had one before.

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The floors look great if I do say so myself

What a difference the laminate wood floors have made in the living room and dining area.  The floors look great if I do say so myself.  The whole area looks twice as big and smells ten times better too.  It’s really starting to look like someone actually lives here instead of just staying here.  Do you know what I mean?

I just need to go to some of the thrift shops and find some pictures to put on the walls and it will look nice.  Breanna came over and helped me to finish the floors.  She’s a hard worker too.  She was a lot of help I must say.  She even fixed us dinner while I was putting down the quarter round around the baseboards.  That just topped everything off.  After we ate, she helped me to get the furniture back in and helped me place it better than I had it.  Leave it to a woman to know how to make things look better.

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Almost finished with the floor

The worst part of this job was getting the old carpet out.  What a mess.  There had obviously been a dog in here that had used the carpet as it’s potty.  I had to scrub the floor really good and make sure there was no odor from the dog before I put the other flooring down.  Have you ever tried OdoBan?  That stuff works great.  It smells good too.  Go to cleancontrol.com if you haven’t heard of it or are interested in where to get it.

My landlord took the old carpet away for me.  I had no idea what to do with it other than to take it to work with me and put it in one of the dumpsters but luckily, they took care of it.  The rest of the day was spent putting down the under pad and the laminate floor.  They even let me borrow some of the tools I would need from work to do the job.  That sure helped a great deal.  I didn’t have the right kind of saw.  I needed one that would sort of lay down on the wood when it cut it and would also be able to cut angles.  It made the job go a lot quicker to have the right tools.  They even let me borrow a small air compressor (I have got to get one for myself because they sure are handy) and an air hammer to put down the molding.

I started at the end where the ceramic tile is in the kitchen.  It matched height wise perfectly.  I was afraid it wouldn’t but it does and now there’s no lip going into the kitchen.  The color of the wood is perfect too.  It’s a light color and really makes the room look a lot bigger.  The carpet was a dark green.  I didn’t like it at all.  It was stained, and now I know what some of the stains were, it was ripped in one corner and it was ugly.  Well it won’t be ugly much longer.  I’ll have it totally finished tomorrow.

Oh, this is what a gallon bottle of OdoBan looks like and you can get it at Wal-Mart.  Trust me, it really works at getting rid of any odor you have. I haven’t found one it won’t get rid of yet anyway.

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Got a new fridge and now for the floors

Well I have great landlords.  They had a new refrigerator for me the very next day.  It’s a lot better than the other one because it has an ice maker in it too.  I hate to have to empty ice trays.  I usually just grab a couple pieces out of the tray and when they’re all gone, I’ll refill them, usually.  I have just sat them off to the side and started on the next tray.  Before I know it, I’m all out of ice.

I have been getting pieces of laminate flooring out of the dumpster at work, remember they told me I could have what ever I find?  Anyway, this has been going on for several weeks while they were building several houses.  I finally have enough to put down in my living room, dining room area.  It’s going to look so much better than that dirty old carpet that’s in there now.  All I have to do is go to my favorite store, Lowe’s and buy the under pad and 1/4 round molding and I’m good to go.  Sounds like a good project for this weekend.

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Came home to a mess

I didn’t pay any attention before I left work to the refrigerator.  I mean, why would I?  I got my sandwich out of the refrigerator I had made last night for lunch today and grabbed a Coke and everything seemed cold so I didn’t notice anything different.  Well it was a totally different story when I got home.  In fact, it was rather easy to tell something just wasn’t quite right.

I went to get a Coke and a snack and the refrigerator was almost warm inside.  Man the darn refrigerator had gone out sometime and I”m not sure when either.  It could have been last night or else after I went to work but I’m thinking it was last night for it to be as warm or ‘uncold’ as it was inside when I got home.  I called my landlord and they said they would get a new one.  Well tonight I have a cooler with ice in it to keep my food from spoiling.  Thank goodness I didn’t have the freezer full.  What was in there I went ahead and cooked, invited Breanna over and we ate most of it.  The rest I put in the cooler.  Hopefully there will be a new refrigerator in my apartment when I get home from work tomorrow.