The Big Gas (Big Ass) Move

Drove to FL, with all of our worldly belongings, Wednesday... arrived Thursday, drove back Friday, back in VA Saturday, cleaned the house Saturday, slept all day Sunday.

 

 



I'm hanging out with my friend, Mary, for the next month, in VA, while I finish work with Presidio. 
Fourth of July in the Big Apple, and then State Department - reporting for duty - July 15th.

The Value of a Blog

The two years we spent in Thailand were the best years of my life, and to be able to go back and relive some of those memories through the words, pictures and videos of this blog, is priceless.  One of my favorites is the Ban Kruit Family Vacation video... I remember it like it was yesterday.  I would give anything to have that life back.  I just watched one of the earlier videos, where Mary is teaching a drawing class; Mike took that short video, asking her questions and capturing the magic of make believe... just to hear his voice triggers a calming reaction that was commonplace for a pretty significant period of time in my life.  To say that I miss him is an understatement.

My life is so different now; the family dynamic has been totally reconstructed from the Brady Bunch merge, to housing the “village” to raise the child.  I took in my ex-brother-in-law in a mutually beneficial arrangement, about a year and a half ago, and he has come to play a very important role in Mary’s life, as her dominating father figure.  The ex-mother-in-law followed, shortly thereafter.  The results… Mary is a happy, healthy, aspiring ballerina, and straight-A student.  She’s also one of the coolest people I know and I love spending time with her.

I started a new job last summer, working for an IT services company, managing a team of Cisco VoIP engineers.  I have never worked so hard in all my life!  I love it, and I hate it… I miss the laid back atmosphere of a cushy government job, and every day I find myself fantasizing about living in some docile communist country, half way around the world, with no one depending on me at work.  Would I miss the challenge and sense of accomplishment?  Would my new found skills atrophy and diminish my sense of worth?  Would that really matter if I had a life?  Definitely NOT!  Who knows what the future holds, and who really cares if I’m just living in the moment, right?