Been a While

I haven’t blogged in a while…I have a few different reasons why.

Part One

Where to Begin…

First of all I have just been extremely busy. The end of August included a trip back to New Jersey to see some of my family and some old friends, my oldest daughter’s birthday party, the beginning of school and also the start of soccer season. It also marked one year since Jen’s passing. The good news is that everything seemed to work out well. Sometimes the crazier things are…the easier things get…if that makes any sense.

The trip back to NJ was great. We spent a day at the beach, went into historical Philadelphia to see Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, the US Mint, the Second Bank, Betsy Ross’s House, Christ Church and took a horse drawn carriage ride through Society Hill, everyone really enjoyed the day. Abbie’s birthday party was really nice and luckily for us the weather cooperated and it was a beautiful sunny day. It was a busy, busy summer and a very good summer.


On a Different Note

A couple of months ago I threw my hat in the ring for the position of Software Director of Core Products at the company that I have worked for the past 7.5 years. I submitted my resume, interviewed, gave a presentation to upper management and was then offered the job. This is a crowning moment in my professional career.

It’s something that I wanted to accomplish by the time I was 45, so I exceeded my goal. It’s something that yes, I planned for in my early 30’s and did it! It’s no big secret that Jen and I were big “planners” and always discussed things, made lists and planned for the future…or at least the best we could. I think it’s important to have goals and a plan on how to accomplish them.

I do NOT intend for this to sound arrogant or cocky at all but considering my very humble upbringing I am very proud of myself for accomplishing this goal. The only thing is that it sort of feels…empty.

I can still vividly remember the conversation that I had with Jen when I set my goal to become a director by the time I was 45. It was on the roof of Six Penn Kitchen, a restaurant in downtown Pittsburgh. We were enjoying a kid-free night out on the town and sat at a table on the roof on roof of this restaurant and we were discussing the next 5-10 years of our lives...it’s funny how much things have changed.


School Starts

As good as the summer was, I was looking forward to the start of school. I like the routine…well; actually, I NEED the routine! Go to bed at a certain time, wake up at a certain time, I like and crave structure...big surprise I know. I still find it hard to believe at times that I have a daughter in first grade and a daughter in third grade. They both enjoy school which makes it all that much better. They are awesome kids!



Part Two

I will write Part Two tomorrow or over the weekend…since I have a worse attention span then my kids I don’t want to write paragraph after paragraph and go on and on. I will say that earlier this week I retuned from a trip to California, to see San Francisco. It was a great trip…more on that later.

I appreciate the emails that I received from people asking me how I was doing and why I wasn’t blogging. I didn’t realize how many people actually read this blog so that was pretty cool. We (the girls and I) are doing okay and I will make every attempt to not let weeks go by without writing an entry.