Major Yawnitude and the Temple of Zen-like Acceptance

Faded recently posted a comment about how I should enjoy the silence (to quote Depeche Mode) and bask in how still things should be this summer. After giving this some thought, I've realized what a good point he had/has. All these little projects I have going for this gal in the office (whom I suppose I should name if I'm going to be working with her all summer) should keep me just at 40 hours for a few months and even some into the fall, depending on the schedule. Again, I should thank my lucky stars. Guy was bored out of his perfect-haired skull this afternoon, whereupon he sent me an email only titled, "You can come rescue me at any time." (I drop him off and pick him up from work each day. He's a brave man to tolerate my granny-like driving to and fro.)

Here's the thing about architecture the business: it varies. It's tidal, seasonal, cyclical, call it what you like. But it ebbs and flows. This time last year, I was working about 60 hours a week and had been doing so since November of 2005. Howie was crazy busy with all his projects and needed help like a mofo. Meanwhile, a couple of Alex's other project managers had very little going on.

A year later, the tides have turned. Pomme de Terre's deadlines got pushed back a couple of months, buying everyone the time needed to do a good job and not have to work much if any overtime. Wheatlands is pretty much done, except for this landscaping brouhaha in which we've recently become enmeshed. Derek's and Elliot's MOB (medical office building) projects are slowing down or coming to a close. Jimmy Ray and his wife/sugar mama moved back east last week. Things...are...quiet. So bosses scramble (well, a good boss will, that is) to find work to keep people occupied until things pick up, and we all know that things are gonna pick up. They just do.

So, I'm going to enjoy this Zen-like state of just being busy for a few months. It's become clear both implicitly and explicitly that this is going to last for a bit, so I'm going to quit fighting it and just do it, do a good job, and move along. Guy and I have some small cleaning/remodeling projects that need completing, so this lull in our schedules should allow us time to finish them. It should also leave us the time and energy to do some fun stuff--a baseball game here, a comedy concert there, a camping trip a little later. That'll be nice for once. Last year while working on Wheatlands, I was also taking the ARE (which I'm sure I've bragged about a lot already) with Guy, which means that we only went to the mountains twice in the entire ski season. Then, Guy tweaked his back and we missed camping and hiking for the summer. Not this year. We're gonna actually do stuff for once. Yay!

Oh, Guy's actually cleaning in the other room. I guess I should go help....