Football, school, work and travels

Oh blog, how I have neglected you. I’m so sorry. I think with the advent of Facebook it’s just quicker and easier to post updates and photos there. But when this is done, details get left out and creativity is limited. On the other hand, I hate duplicating work, so I think my blog suffers for it.

We’re deep into the throes of football – yesterday was Justin’s 3rd game of the season. I have been collecting photos and videos to do another team video like last year, and hopefully even better. Terry is doing a great job of coaching the offense. It’s hard work – like a part time job. He takes it seriously and it shows in the results – the team is far better than last year at this time. It also helps that many of the players have been playing together for a couple years, and the several inches each player grew doesn’t hurt either. Justin himself grew 3″ from the end of last season to the beginning of this one!

The kids are also about 5 weeks into school. Eric is struggling as usual, but the other night he and I went to a college information presentation at the school and it was encouraging. He decided that he wants to go to a nearby community college for the first 2 years and get his Associates Degree in Aviation Electrical Mechanics or Airplane Mechanics, then continue to a state school for 2 more years and his Bachelor’s. We are thrilled that he has a plan, and also think this is a good one for him.

Justin continues to do well in school, maintaining a 3.3 GPA. He is loving 7th grade/Junior High and the world of “girls” is beginning to open up for him. The other night he went to the mall and got two phone numbers – one was for a girl in high school! Apparently he told her he was in 8th grade. Yes, looks like the fun is just beginning…

I have been very busy at work lately. I hired a new assistant who is doing well, but a lot of my time is spent training – of course I still need to get my own work done which is touch, especially since I’ve been traveling quite a bit. I was in Orlando for a site visit a few weeks ago, then last weekend was in Hollywood for a planning meeting followed immediately by a trip to Las Vegas for a trade show. Next month I will be going to the Caribbean – probably the Bahamas – for another site visit. Yes, it all sounds fun and glamorous – which I guess it kind of is – but it’s work all the same. Long days with clients, lots of walking hotel hallways and meeting space, ending with long fancy dinners, then doing it all again the next day. At least I’m raking in the frequent flyer miles and hopefully will get back to my preferred status soon – flying coach really sucks, especially when you fly as much as I do!

Of course we are very much looking forward to our vacation to Hawaii in December. That will be no work and all play and I’m even considering leaving my computer at home believe it or not. We’ll be spending 5 days on Maui (with a possible day trip to Lana’i) and then 3 days on the Big Island. I can’t wait to share a Hawaiian experience with Terry – as you may remember, when I was there last year (for work) was when he broke his elbow.

Well time to get ready for the football game – GO DAWGS!

Chillin’, working, playing and crazy hat day

 It’s been a while since I posted an “AZ Update” for friends & family so thought I’d give it a shot this morning. Terry’s parents have been here for about three weeks now, with one more to go. They’ve been enjoying the sun and making the most of their days by reading (Sue) and crosswords/sudoku (Ray). They’ve also been walking daily which is wonderful exercise for them, and something they couldn’t easily do in Rochester this time of year where their high temps are lower than our low temps!

Sue soaks up a little sun!

Ray, pen in hand, is primed and ready for the next crossword or sudoku that comes his way.

Our wireless setup gives Terry the option to work poolside on nice days like this.

Today at Justin’s school it is “Crazy Hat Day”.

Terry took the day off to golf with some friends, then later Ray will join them for a spring training game in Tempe. After that, Eric has a lacrosse game in the faraway land of North Scottsdale which means we won’t be home til the late hours. Fortunately we can sleep in tomorrow – yay! Tomorrow night we’re getting together with some good friends at a restaurant to celebrate our friend Matt’s 50th birthday. After what promises to be a busy beginning to the weekend, we’re looking forward to just ‘laxing out at home on Sunday.

Eric’s been playing a lot of lacrosse in both the JV and Varsity games so that has kept us quite busy. Except for the first two, all the games have been at night and since my camera doesn’t take good night shots from the sidelines, I haven’t had any new photos to post.

A few weeks ago I had a garage sale and made a whopping $500 which I promptly used to purchase a new sofa and coffee table for our family room, delivered yesterday. We also got a new dinette to replace the air hockey table in our dining room, which we are transforming into somewhat of an Irish Pub theme (and no, not just for St. Patrick’s Day).

Well I think that’s about it for this catch-up post. Everyone stay warm!

Peer mediator article in the East Valley Tribune!

As a follow-up to my post about Justin’s new position as a peer mediator, I wanted to post a link to this article which appeared in today’s newspaper. The kid in the picture (Rhiley) is one of Justin’s friends.

• Peers settle Gilbert school squabbles

Headaches, 6 reasons it’s a happy Friday, other news

Wow what a wierd day. I can’t possibly be productive at work right now because I am smack dab in the midst of a migraine – my 2nd in a month, although previous to that I hadn’t had one for over a year! They seem to be getting worse too, as along with the pain, irritability and sight impairments, this one is also accompanied by severe dizzyness/vertigo. Blech.

Other that that, the day has actually been pretty good! Here’s why:

1. My group was not called for jury duty today so I was able to forego the 90 minute drive each way!
2. I finished a massive invoice report (after 3 straight workdays of analyzing numbers and budget codes!)
3. I got a signed contract back from my SVP (30 days in the works!)
4. I got some excellent news on another meeting which will save me and my colleagues tons of work!
5. I am looking forward to dinner with friends this evening at some sort of Korean place where they cook your food at the table. You know I’m not an adventurous eater, but even if I just have a salad, it should be a fun time with the group.
6. It’s only about 2-1/2 hours til the weekend officially begins!

In other news from the past week – some good, some not:

1. Terry’s dad was in a wreck – drove into a ditch with their RV but his guardian angel was with him as he walked away with nothing more than a wrist injury. Terry’s mom was not in the camper at the time.
2. Justin was elected by his classmates to be a “peer mediator” which basically means he’ll get to settle disputes between kids. It’s a pretty cool program which will teach him some valuable life skills – Terry and I are very proud. Of course, the highlight for Justin was “at the end of the year, we get to have a really big pool party!”
3. Eric’s football coaches have been smiling upon him, and he should get plenty of play time at next week’s game. (His back is much better too)
4. I went to a client appreciation event put on by the Scottdsale CVB. I was able to bottle my own wine, however it needs to sit for 3 months before it is at optimum drinking age. That means by my calculations, if anyone comes to visit over Thanksgiving they might just have the chance to enjoy it with me – that is, if I decide to share.

Tomorrow we have Justin’s parent meeting for football. He is really excited about this year. On Sunday, Terry’s going to the Dbacks game, Justin has a birthday party to go to, and I have a baby shower to attend. I’m sure this one will fly by like all the others, but hopefully I’ll get sufficient downtime. I’d better enjoy it now, before we get knee-deep into Convention planning stuff.

My migraine is starting to subside thank God, so I’d better get back to work.

Back to school, work updates, pictures

Another “first day of school” come and gone. Eric only has three left now, how depressing. His bus picks him up really early. He was close enough to walk to school last year and hasn’t been on a bus in a while. Fortunately I know the bus driver as he has been Justin’s driver since we moved here two years ago. Some of you may recall me talking about “Dan” when relating one of Justin’s “lost boy” stories from 2005 when he got off at the wrong stop.

Speaking of Justin, his teacher is really nice. We met her on Monday night and she’s not your average conventional educator to say the least. He said today was his best ever first day of school and I hope the rest of the year is as good for him. She preferred to forego the traditional fluorescent lighting her classroom for softer Ikea milk bottle lamps. She also had some aromatherapy and I think I might have heard a mini fountain going, though it could have been my imagination.

Eric was pretty excited about starting high school, though his 11am lunch period has none of his friends in it (according to him). This year his electives include Spanish and Business Technology which I think will be good foundations for him. He’s enjoying football practice too – Terry and I will be ceremoniously presenting him with his jersey next Friday night. Hopefully he’ll make the A team as the B team only has 5 games. His first one will be on Wednesday, August 29th (regardless of which squad he is on) so mark your calendars!

Work has been “ok” for me but I’ve been spending too much time in my boss’ office going through budgeting and financial stuff that should have been done months ago, and in fact we have gone over it all ad nauseum. Terry is enjoying work a lot more since his deadbeat former boss is gone. He reports, “we’re actually getting a lot of stuff done in our department.” I’m jealous – not that my boss is a deadbeat or anything, he just requires me to sit in his guest chair way too much, and often unnecessarily, which makes for a very unproductive and frustrating day for me.

Friday is BUNCO night which I usually look forward to, but we seem to be having trouble getting enough players this month – we need 3 subs! I hope we find some, since it’s just not possible to play with only 9 people. I really hope our group doesn’t dissolve but when it’s so hard to find players it hardly seems worth the effort. I guess the least we can do is just hang out, which will still be fun, just not the same.

I finally got around to downloading the photos from my camera so I’ll leave you with some miscellaneous shots – some recent, some not so much.

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8th grade graduation – last day of school

Look how happy Justin is!

To Lady, it’s just an ordinary day…

The high school gym was packed with future Wildcats…

After the ceremony, Eric says, “Get me the heck outta here!”

I’m so proud!

Eric with his buddies Daniel and Troy.

Daniel with his mom Dawn.