Things to report...

Sorry for going quiet on the blog these past weeks - there have been things afoot that I have been afraid to announce prematurely or jinx, but I'm ready now.

Part One: I made the decision that I needed to get off the road no matter what, and started the process with Cleveland. I didn't have anything else lined up, but we set an end-date, which is next Friday, Nov 19. Of course Cleveland was shocked and unhappy, but I feel that my reason is really unassailable: Traveling has been too hard on my family (and on me), and it's not what I want to do. If I was leaving to go to another traveling gig, I think they would be right to be peeved. But I'm getting OFF the airplane thing.

So in that light, Cleveland has shown some good colors, and everyone has been wonderfully supportive. I'm still feeling a bit conflicted - like somehow I'm supposed to have been able to "tough this out", but it was just too hard. On everyone.

Part Two: Having made that decision, I finally decided to find a local gig: I did this back in May when I thought I was leaving the first time, and had several good gigs lined up, and had to back away from them. So until I really knew I was leaving, I didn't want to get anyone started.

Fortunately, it was only a few days into looking that I found something: A big health system in the Twin Cities is going Epic, and they FIRED a key project manager, and the team is somewhat dispirited, and there's an immoveable deadline. I would point you to the blog postings surrounding summer 2006 for a similar engagement in North Minneapolis, and how I was able to deliver on that.

So I did a phone screen 2 weeks ago, went in for an in-person interview on Monday, got the job and was asked to start Wednesday (I'm working from Mpls this week). On Tuesday they called and said there was one more person I needed to interview, so could I come in on Thursday instead? SURE. I interviewed Thursday, and got an email asking me to come in at 1pm for the rest of the day.

And so I am officially "on the job". And happily, it's a clinically-focused project, instead of Revenue Cycle, so I actually will have more fun with it. At the same time, I'm wrapping up Cleveland this next week (my final trip out!), so I have two jobs - always a good time... And I start my birthday week fresh with just the one job, and no airplanes needed.

Two other advantages to this gig: When I've needed to do little one-day trips to New Orleans or Allentown, it has always been tough arranging travel to Cleveland, then to these places (and always via Detroit), then back. My one-shots will be a lot easier from this Delta Hub. Plus the place I'm starting uses the ROWE (Results Oriented Work Environment) philosophy, which means "we don't care where you are as long as the work is getting done". So conference calls won't be a problem.

And I don't think that planning around a 1 night trip every 2-3 weeks to one of my little strategic gigs is inconsistent with "getting off the road" - the ROAD I'm trying to get off is the one where I'm away 3 nights and 4 days from my family every dang week.

With the decision made and the safe landing spot found, I must say that my stress level is just plummeting. And I'm having a lot more fun with the kids - I can step outside myself and see that for months, my Fri-Sat-Sun time with them was tinged with a sadness of trying to "fit this in" before heading away again. This week, the fun has been less "pressured" - like "we're just hanging out like we always do, and always will". It's a subtle difference, but it feels wonderful.

I'll make it through this week in Cleveland. Things are getting better. They ARE better.