Oh here I am!

Since the last update, we packed the kids and Zinsser into the car and sped down to Chicagoland for a long Thanksgiving holiday. You'd think that a long holiday weekend I might be able to update the blog or something, but no... I was actually a bit more unplugged than usual this time. Maybe it was because every time I turned around, my niece Lilli had absconded with my laptop and was working her arcane horse configuration and trading network game. But I'm ahead of myself.

I started the week working from home: My Jersey Client has finally knocked loose some decisions so I've been spending time wrangling cats: My project is to redesign the ID badge (for aesthetics AND to add a new id barcode for their patient care systems), and to do this I need to coordinate across HR, IT, Security, Facilities, Marketing, and of course Senior Leadership. There are a lot of technical moving parts to consider as well... so I'm actually pretty busy with them.

My work in Philly is winding down: I've been refining my final deliverables and will likely be completely done before Christmas. It's a bit disappointing to me: They're a hugely dysfunctional organization and I could provide value, but they're overcoming a pretty major "consulting hangover" from overspending the past 5 years, and they need some "personal space" while they get their house in order. What this means is I had hoped to help them outside of the carefully proscribed "box" they had put me into, but my attempts to break out have been stymied. So we're ending it, and I'm feeling good about the deliverables...

A similar organization exists in Minneapolis: I had done a lot of great work over 3 years for them, and they're currently in a complete "consulting shunning" mode, due to overspending a few years back. So it'll be a few years before they're ready to accept help again. I just ran into a few people from there last week, and had that view confirmed. Which means that places like Jersey and Cleveland are going to be my places of work for a while.

Back to Home: We packed into the car and drove to Schaumburg on Wednesday. My traveling life at least affords me the perks of points, and I was able to get two suites at the Residence Inn for us and PapaBam for 3 days away from the allergicness of Papabam's sweet cat. The hotel was also able to accommodate Zinsser, who was a GOOD BOY. Naturally, Portillos was the first meal of the day down there. We swam in the pool and had a general great time.

Thanksgiving was with the German side of the family, and Zinsser was invited! It was a starch fest - Sweet Potatoes with Apricots were my favorite. Bella ate a pound of mashed potatoes. Pamela went to town on the rutabagas. Isaac.... Isaac ate crackers. Crazy kid. They had a fenced in yard too, so we had some great running and chasing of Zinnie.

Alas, I think Zinsser got ahold of some rich table scraps, because at 2 in the morning, we awoke to a whimpering dog who had soiled his kennel and got it all over himself. He was so embarrassed. And we were so horrified.

Friday was a relaxing day - we went for a long walk in Elk Grove, got baked goods from Jarosch, and had a classic Johnnie's Beef. Bella and Lilli went to the stables and rode horses (well, Bella rode a Pony), and they were both beaming when they got back. Bella chilled out to the new Santa Buddies movie (where they "make" golden retriever puppies talk all hip like, and get this, THEY SAVE CHRISTMAS). Bella was all smiles, and Lilli was all rolling eyes at the cheesiness, but Bella let Lilli know SHE was enjoying it, and please don't ruin it. I thought that was pretty bold.

Saturday we packed the kids and Zinsser off to Bailey and Ty's house: We were going downtown for a wedding, and Kari volunteered to watch the little ones. With not a shed tear, the kids barely noticed us leaving (the humans were playing Wii upstairs, and Zinsser was wrestling with Dakota, an old 80 pound chocolate lab who became a good friend). Downtown we stayed on the Magnificent Mile (thanks again, Marriott Rewards points!) and ran off to the ceremony.

This was an Irish Catholic girl marrying an East Indian Catholic boy, and both families were well represented. The Mass was long, as they did both western and eastern traditions - I think they spoke 3 sets of vows! The reception was at a hip latin food nightspot, and they shoehorned all 680 of us in. The mojitos were flowing, the food was amazing, and the dancing was crazy. By 11, we were tuckered out and ready for bed.

Sunday we slept in, got some breakfast, drove back to Palatine, and got the kids: Bella, Isaac, and Zinsser were happy to see us, and according to Kari, they were perfect angels, all of them. Isaac didn't want to go! We were all tired, and I think we all could have gone to another hotel and napped, but no, I insisted that it was TIME TO GO HOME, so we drove home.

We got home around 9pm, and the kids zonked pretty quickly. Bella is sleeping on Isaac's floor, by the way, AND Isaac has his big boy bed, so you KNOW it's hard for them to stay focused and wind down.

Oh - why is Bella in Isaac's room? Well, for the past year, as Bella has been going to sleep, she's had a dry cough. We assumed it was some allergy that being horizontal sort of exacerbated. Maybe we just didn't want to think too hard abouut it, but a couple of weekends ago, we had Jenny staying over, and came to the conclusion that SOMETHING is in Bella's carpet, because Jenny was on an inflate-a-bed and had a runny nose every night. So we decided the carpet must go. We pulled a little up before we went on vacation, and were horrified by the stains and dust that were in there: We steam clean this carpet twice a year, and it was still completely filthy. So once we confirmed it, Bella moved to Isaac's room.

Now, Monday I left as a possible open day - you know how weather can get around the holidays. So I had it as a work from home day instead of a travel day (which was REALLY GOOD because Jersey, Philly, AND Cleveland had major things I needed to manage with them in the day). And in the evening, Pamela and I decided to finish the job of ripping up Bella's carpet.

Remind me to NEVER put carpeting in to a house. It is nasty. Also, those carpet tack boards are evil and I not only scratched my hand on them, but I also have sore palms and forearms from working the crowbar to pry them up. Just don't do it.

So now Bella has unfinished wood floors, which actually look pretty cool. We'll probably have them sanded in the spring, and will drop a rug on there in the meantime.

Today I'm back in Philly, and will be in Jersey Thursday. Cleveland next week for a day, then Jersey and Philly - I'll be a traveling fool. But things REALLY are slowing down on the travel: Philly will be done by Christmas, and the trips I make up to then will be 2 days max - it's all transition now. My trip to Cleveland next week will be the only one until January, and even then, they only want to see me out there 25% of the time - they trust I can do most of my work remotely. So I'll be up on the 3rd floor quite a bit in the months to come, and I couldn't be happier!

One final note before I close out this epic update: The Jimmy Tech Curse continues unabated: A poor decision on my part as to what pocket to store a power adaptor in has led to the crunching of the screen on my Kindle. It is Kaput, and the repair cost is the same as a new one (especially with the lower prices they go for nowadays). So I'm currently Kindle-less, and trying to decide what to do: Part of me wants to upgrade to the larger format edition they came out with. Part of me wants to wait forever for the new Apple Thing that nobody actually knows what it is or when it may come out. And part of me is saying "Jimmy, you're semi-off-the-road for a little while - maybe you don't need a Kindle".

I'll let you know what happens.... if the three people living in my head can come to consensus.

And now it's off to bed.