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.