Yep, it was good

It was a wonderful week at home, and I got a lot of stuff done. Of course, we had a few political flare-ups that I had to tamp down remotely, but nothing I couldn't handle, and having the family around was wonderful to help decompress. I'm starting to arrange things so that I am extremely "replaceable" out in Cleveland, and have started the work of finding my next gig locally...

Only looking for a week, and I've already had a couple of compelling opportunities, which is just wonderful. One interview, one request for a resume, and one impromptu meeting with a CIO that resulted in a few "possibilities". So if all goes as planned (ha!) I'll be off of airplanes for a few months, in time for summer.

YES.

In other news: Had a visit last night from Rick and Kari who were passing through town back from a funeral. We had dinner, late night laughter, and a great morning together. Rick and Isaac bonded well, and Isaac spent most of the AM chasing or climbing on top of him. After they left, Isaac was a bit of a zombie with exhaustion, and he was asleep tonight at 5 min before 7. Bella was her usual "sort of shy" self, but warmed up by today...

A Kari visit always means a trip to Wild Rumpus: The kids' bookstore that won't let me (or isaac) linger, what with all of the animals they have laying around there. If encourages decisiveness and fast action, before the lungs seize up. We left with a handful of Magic Tree House books and a Captain Underpants (which Bella was reading to herself and giggling).

A highlight of their visit: Ty (a senior now, going to college next year??? I met him when he was 3 months old when Pamela and I were dating) decided to join the Show Choir - Palatine's "Forte". We watched a 20 min video of their performance at the Show Choir invitational, and watching Ty sing and dance was just amazing. I don't recall there being things like this when I was in school - Choirs were sort of straightforward, and Theater and Dance kept to their own areas. But with Glee and whatnot, I guess Show Choir is a hip thing, and these kids were amazing. Plus, they did a DuranDuran song!

Not content to let Ty take up something completely unexpected in his final days of high school, Bailey (the PomPom dancer girl) decided to take up Lacrosse and has picked up the nickname "The BEAST" by her teammates by being such an incredible goalie. It just makes me smile to think that so many kids would look at spring in High School as their time to coast to the end, and these amazing kids have decided to try something new and make the most out of their time. I'm so proud!

Well, it's back to Cleveland next week (Japanese Steakhouse, here I come!), and for the next 6 weeks... I've got work to do to feather the nest locally, to transition things out there, and oh yeah, probably also do another "part time" project for a client in Detroit. Good times!