Busy, but good times coming

It should be a busy weekend. We will have guests next weekend, so house-cleaning is on the list of things to do.

Carpentry is on the list as well. When we re-did the kitchen we had the oak floors in the front of the house refinished as well. There are new baseboards to be installed to finish up that work. We have bought the lumber and pre-finished it. Now it's ready to be installed.

Grandparenthood hasn't been a tough adjustment so far. Sue has spent a small amount of time helping out, and perhaps Amanda's mom has been over, but I get the sense that new parents and child are beginning to adapt to each other pretty well. All were over here for a little while on Father's Day. Nathan slept most of the time, but Sue and Laura disturbed him for a short time of that.

Wednesday of this week was the day that we share with Rob...he turned 28 and we celebrated our 31st anniversary. A dinner out on Sunday evening for the whole mob is planned.

There was a get-together recently of folks from my past job. I'm so glad to be away. There's a lot of uncertainty and worry among those still there. The future is very much unknown. There's a lot of fear. It was a bittersweet evening. I enjoyed seeing old friends, but then felt bad that I couldn't just make everything all better for them. I also suffered a bit from survivors remorse. I have landed in a fun and satisfying position without suffering greatly in any substantive way. Things were uncertain for us too, but only for a very short time.

The new gig is going really well. We are making a lot of progress putting in the new system for forecasting. We conducted training for a bunch of folks this week, and while there was at least one dissenter, I expected many more. Overall, the response was really positive. I have huge amounts of things to learn about this business, but I am now a qualified super-user in the new system. Many nuances to learn, but I am growing more and more comfortable with the tool set.
This is powerful stuff and we'll be able to advance the business significantly.

That all said, I've begun to carve out my niche in the new job and I'm beginning to develop my own reputation and credibility. My boss, his boss, and our whole team are learning that they can count on me and that the decision to bring me aboard was a good one. These are solid hard-working folks who also respect that family and balance of life outside work are truly important. The VP of our division called me into a discussion that kept me around for an hour and a half longer than I desired on one Friday afternoon when we had some issues that needed resolving. She's also kicked me out of the office at 2:30 three Fridays that I can recall.

Having another stupid insomniac experience

Here I am awake at midnight with a very full day behind me and another in front of me. All reason says I should be in bed sawing logs, but my head is still in being vertical mode.

New job is good. Lots of stuff to sink my teeth into, and these folks really have a need for the kind of skills I have. We are chest deep into bringing up new software to forecast the business. Supposed to be live in a couple weeks, but some humps to get over that may push that back a month. I'm frustrated that I still don't have intimate knowledge of the business, but then it's not realistic of me to expect in depth knowledge after just 5 weeks with the company.....nobody there is frustrated with my newness, so why should I be?

Rob and Amanda are turning into fine parents. It's very gratifying to see your son become an honest-to-goodness sensible, reasoning, caring adult after all the crud the kid went through during adolescence. Amanda and Nathan are still trying to work out a decent wake/sleep cycle, and I suspect Amanda is having some trouble adjusting to just having the dog and baby for company all day when she's been used to working with people who can carry on conversations. Still, the kids seem to be happy in their new roles as parents, even for all the adjustments that come with the package.

I've been remembering family stories a lot the last few days (with Edna's funeral tomorrow and all). When Mom was failing a couple years back, two of Edna's daughters brought her up to visit Mom at the same time we were there. Edna told me a story about my Dad that had been a secret for umpteen decades. Back in the days when I first started smoking (and actually admitted it to my folks) Dad would caution me about smoking in bed over and over again. I never knew why the obsession until Edna told me that she had come home from work one afternoon to find that Dad had laid down in his bed and lit a cigarette and proceeded to doze off. He burned a hole in the mattress which was smoldering when Edna arrived and she doused it with a glass of water, then patched up the mattress for him and neither let on to their parents who would have given Dad a real licking for nearly killing himself, burning down the house, etc., etc. Edna said she came home to find a new sweater lying on her bed one day soon after.

We're supposed to get some actual summer weather tomorrow.....about time. We've had the heat on so far in June, but not run the AC since last year. Weather here has be like early May for weeks and weeks. Cool and rain, rain, rain. It has only reached 80 degrees twice this year...today was the second time. It's been hotter in the Twin Cities than it's been here in Chicagoland.

Don't know the details yet, but we're expecting company here the 4th of July weekend. Meg, Jon and son Eli are coming along with Meg's cousin Rebecca. (Meg and Rebecca are daughters of two of my brothers). Looking forward to the visit. I tease them that they plotted a visit last summer that never came to pass, but this year there's a new 'cousin' named Nathan to come see.

Lost my aunt last week

My Dad's sister Edna died on June 12, 4 years to the day after my brother Bruce died four years earlier.

Edna was one of my favorite relatives. We frequently went to what Mom called "down home" where we nearly always stayed either at her brother's or her mother's place, but the visit almost always included a Sunday dinner at Aunt Edna's and Uncle Al's and the cousins Larry, Janet, Norma, Joyce and Scott (as the years passed the cousin group got smaller at dinners as they went off to school, married and moved away.) Still, I stay in close touch with Norma and Joyce to whom I am closest in age (sandwiched firmly in the middle).

Uncle Al has been gone for years now. Edna has gone to join him after what sounds like a very peaceful passing at just about a month short of her 89th birthday. She will be buried with Al, at Badger Hill Cemetery in Gladbrook, Iowa, just a few steps from my Dad and Mom.

On being a grandparent

Too busy to notice the difference, really. We did spend a few hours with Nathan, Amanda and Rob last weekend, and Sue was over to help out yesterday.


So not much news from me, but here are a couple more pictures to share.