Saturday, August 16, 2008
All kinds of fun
We had a great time on our vacation. I say "we" in reference to me and the boys. Heather got sick and so we sent her and Taryn home early to rest while we had fun without them. That is just our life. I just wanted to share a few pictures (and a video I think!) of our trip. 
Monday, August 11, 2008
The Disney Syndrome
Well, it has been around 10 months since I went to Disneyland last, but it feels like 10 years. Now that some time has past, I thought I would try to make sense of my... hrmm... preocupation with it.
I have decided that it is largely attitude. I have been playing around with Windows Movie Maker, and made a video of our first Disney trip. We took a lot of video that first time, and it is interesting in those videos how many times we mention that we need to go on vacation more. Prior to that we hadn't really done a family vacation. There were trips as well as the odd adventure here and there, but there weren't really any planned out vacations where we could go and spend time as a family and yet relax.
Disneyland gave us a vacation in the unique way that only Disney can, and I think that that is irreplaceable in many ways, but I have finally found that I can go on other vacations. Of course, if I had the option it would be Disney every time, but I think that I have come to the point where I can go on "vacation" without the Mouse. We are currently planning a 3-day trip within an hour of our house, and I am really looking forward to it. Here are the keys to a great family vacation (for me--no guarantees for anyone else):
1. Location--It can't be at home. Home is where the heart is, but it is also where the computer is, the phone is, the TV is, the boys' friends are, etc, etc, etc. We have to leave all that behind.
2. Activities--I still haven't figured out how to enjoy going somewhere, say the beach, and just sit there. I need a plan, an activity, an itinerary !! (Yeah for itineraries!) Not to mention the boys need to be active or else they are unbearable and the vacation is a failure.
3. Life's details taken care of. Growing up, all of our vacations involved camping. I like camping ok, and it can be a lot of fun sometimes, but more and more as a parent camping is a lot of work, and that extra overhead pushes camping out of the vacation category for me. It can have its own category, but until the boys are older and can help more, it is out. As you can imagine this gets expensive, but I don't know that it can be helped at this point. I prefer that someone else makes my meals and my bed, and I prefer not to have to clean up the messy room when we are done. We just pack up the stuff and leave. That is nice.
Well, those are my thoughts on vacations. I need to post some pictures again, but that wil be for another time.
I have decided that it is largely attitude. I have been playing around with Windows Movie Maker, and made a video of our first Disney trip. We took a lot of video that first time, and it is interesting in those videos how many times we mention that we need to go on vacation more. Prior to that we hadn't really done a family vacation. There were trips as well as the odd adventure here and there, but there weren't really any planned out vacations where we could go and spend time as a family and yet relax.
Disneyland gave us a vacation in the unique way that only Disney can, and I think that that is irreplaceable in many ways, but I have finally found that I can go on other vacations. Of course, if I had the option it would be Disney every time, but I think that I have come to the point where I can go on "vacation" without the Mouse. We are currently planning a 3-day trip within an hour of our house, and I am really looking forward to it. Here are the keys to a great family vacation (for me--no guarantees for anyone else):
1. Location--It can't be at home. Home is where the heart is, but it is also where the computer is, the phone is, the TV is, the boys' friends are, etc, etc, etc. We have to leave all that behind.
2. Activities--I still haven't figured out how to enjoy going somewhere, say the beach, and just sit there. I need a plan, an activity, an itinerary !! (Yeah for itineraries!) Not to mention the boys need to be active or else they are unbearable and the vacation is a failure.
3. Life's details taken care of. Growing up, all of our vacations involved camping. I like camping ok, and it can be a lot of fun sometimes, but more and more as a parent camping is a lot of work, and that extra overhead pushes camping out of the vacation category for me. It can have its own category, but until the boys are older and can help more, it is out. As you can imagine this gets expensive, but I don't know that it can be helped at this point. I prefer that someone else makes my meals and my bed, and I prefer not to have to clean up the messy room when we are done. We just pack up the stuff and leave. That is nice.
Well, those are my thoughts on vacations. I need to post some pictures again, but that wil be for another time.
Saturday, August 9, 2008
An Unexpected Graduation Day
In the past I have told people how lucky I am that I get to work with my friends. I am not an emotional kind of guy, so this doesn't equate to any sort of HR concern; for me it is simply caring about people as individuals. Some of you are already laughing at me, thinking that that is a given, but I should point out that this does not come naturally to me, rather it is something I learned from a previous boss, and I think it is missing in a lot of cases. I guess the main difference is that when I am away from the office, and a story or something comes up with someone from work in it, even if they report to me, in the story they aren't my coworker, they are just a friend. And I like that.
I don't know if I am explaining this well. Anyway, the reason I bring this up is because this week I had to say goodbye to 3 friends who are changing jobs all at once. They aren't leaving together, since they are going all different directions, but the timing was incredible. One at a time would be bad enough, but all at once... And they weren't just any random three people, we are talking years of experience working closely together from building cubicles to pulling all-nighters to get projects done, etc. They represent the last of the "old team" and now I am about the only one from the good ol' days.
Anyway, although I understand the situation, which I am cool with BTW, it has still been sad. This is a first for me, professionally speaking, but I was trying to put my finger on why it felt familiar, and then I realized what it was like.
It is like graduation. Most of your friends will still be around for a while, but after graduation day, the guaranteed day-in, day-out interactions will be gone. Sure, there is the stuff you do for fun, but now everyone is going to get jobs and sooner or later they are going to move away for work or school or whatever. So from a practical standpoint, graduation is when it is over.
Yeah, so I felt like blogging about it. And I just did. If you three are reading this, I wish you well, and I fully expect you all to keep in touch.
I thought I swore off of the journal-type postings, but apparently not so much. I will just have to blog more for the next couple of weeks to bury this one down in the history;)
I don't know if I am explaining this well. Anyway, the reason I bring this up is because this week I had to say goodbye to 3 friends who are changing jobs all at once. They aren't leaving together, since they are going all different directions, but the timing was incredible. One at a time would be bad enough, but all at once... And they weren't just any random three people, we are talking years of experience working closely together from building cubicles to pulling all-nighters to get projects done, etc. They represent the last of the "old team" and now I am about the only one from the good ol' days.
Anyway, although I understand the situation, which I am cool with BTW, it has still been sad. This is a first for me, professionally speaking, but I was trying to put my finger on why it felt familiar, and then I realized what it was like.
It is like graduation. Most of your friends will still be around for a while, but after graduation day, the guaranteed day-in, day-out interactions will be gone. Sure, there is the stuff you do for fun, but now everyone is going to get jobs and sooner or later they are going to move away for work or school or whatever. So from a practical standpoint, graduation is when it is over.
Yeah, so I felt like blogging about it. And I just did. If you three are reading this, I wish you well, and I fully expect you all to keep in touch.
I thought I swore off of the journal-type postings, but apparently not so much. I will just have to blog more for the next couple of weeks to bury this one down in the history;)
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