9:28 p.m.

I’ve almost forgotten what it’s like to be a journalist.

I mean, I haven’t been a traditional journalist for five years. But my job is pretty much a journalist job. I seek out stories, write them, take pictures and throw in the occasional video. These days it feels more like a traditional journalist’s job than usual. But I’m not complaining.

In the past week, I sought out the same location of a historic photo so I could take a “Today” shot, stood in a river taking pictures of biologists taking fish egg samples from gravel, watched 160,000 juvenile fish be transferred from one hatchery to another, took pictures of biologists count thousands of slippery shiny silvery perch, counted fish from a smolt trap, and learned how SONAR is being used to count fish.

Huh. There’s a lot of fish counting in Indian Country.

The rest of the week will be way more diverse – finding otters and river dippers, testing the dissolved oxygen levels of a major creek and planting kelp in Puget Sound.

For feeling extremely sedentary this winter (which, unfortunately has been grayer than usual and has pushed most of the Puget Sound population to the edge of insanity, more so than the annual Spring Depression. Even the LOCALs have agreed it’s been an extremely hard winter), the busyness of recent weeks has been refreshing. It’s kept me on my toes, kept my brain fresh. It’s even helped me focus getting back to the gym on a regular basis, oddly enough. It goes back to high school, I think – when I’m at my busiest, I’m at my best. When my mind is engaged on a regular basis, good things happen.

what else (hey, the prompt on the “full-toggle” mode says “just write.” I like that).

The first 3 months of 2011 pretty much sucked. For some reason, there just didn’t seem to be anything to look forward to. I knew why I was feeling that way but it was hard to address. Then vacation came and went. While that vacation wasn’t deserving, I am absolutely convinced it was required. Ever since I got back, I have been the most productive, the most happy, the most energized I’ve been in a very very very long time. It’s weird because I haven’t really done anything different. Maybe coming out of hibernation helped too. The sun has been coming out more. I can still see light in the sky from my dining room table right now.

The shoulder/rib issue is getting better though. The doctor told me – “at your age, it takes 18 months for things to fully recover. In six months, if it’s still bothering you, come back.” In six months it will be 18 months and I’m feeling way better than I did a year ago when all this nonesense started. But what got me was, “At your age…”! What, am I 80, in need of a hip replacement?!

One last note – I was so sad to hear that The Best Ambiance on KEXP was going away, but tonight, its replacement is focusing on Latin music. Totally digging it. Adds a nice kick to Monday evenings.

BAM. 9:43 p.m.

11:34 p.m. Jan. 15, 2011

It is the end of a VERY long Saturday during Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend. Instead of going out skiing with friends for the 3-day weekend, and because it’s that time of year when tenants tend to pick up and leave, I decided to engage in Remodel Mode. With the help of a couple friends, I’ve decided to finish that bathroom remodel that I started in November 2008.

The apartment bathroom was a disaster when I first bought the house. Flooring was linoleum, baseboards were plastic and warped from the condensation from the toilet caused by the humidity from the awful non-ventilating gas heater, caulk in bathtub was icky and the vanity just plain ugly. I started with just wanting to replace the baseboards and the caulk; it turned into a brand new tile floor, new toilet seal, baseboards, paint and a new lesson in homeownership.

With a few weeks to spare before the next tenant moves in, I bit the bullet this month and purchased a vanity,  sink, medicine cabinet and new light fixture, all of which needed desperate updating – the vanity the most.  I asked the guy at Lowes if that was a bit ambitious for a 3-day weekend. He raised his eyebrows and said, well, yeah.

Well, yeah, you don’t know me and my friends.

It’s three days later and the intentions haven’t changed much. Clayton and I ripped out everything Thursday evening. Friday Candace spent painting. Today, we got the vanity and faucet in. I got the new light installed (I actually really do love doing electrical work) and at 9:30 p.m., started putting back together the plumbing under the sink, after my 2nd trip to Lowes today. And, of course, there are leaks. I think I just need new supply lines, even though these look fine. But as is the case with this house, looks are incredibly deceiving.

Candace is doing a fabulous job of bringing some color to the apartment and I may steal some of those ideas for when I finally do my upstairs bathroom remodel. She knows how to use my heavy duty compound miter saw that I purchased last spring from a friend and is going to teach me how to use it. “Next,” she says, “We’re taking care of that trim in your kitchen! You’ll be kicking yourself for not doing it sooner after you learn how to use the table saw.”

I probably will.

You know what, I’m so tired, I can’t even make it to 15 minutes. I have visions of PVC and chrome piping in my head, with lurking nightmares about baseboard projects.  I don’t know why. We figured out how we’re going to fix that problem. Thankfully, tomorrow, I get a break with a brunch with a new friend, and then I’m REALLY taking a break and charging up Mt. Walker on Monday to crank some fresh air into these lungs.

Thanks for reading. I promise, pictures are coming of the remodel. I’ve been documenting. Incarnations include bare walls, then bright yellow, then bright orange, then dayglo yellow….

Passing out …

11:49.

(hey, look at that, 15 minutes.)