#84 – Every work night, be in bed by 11 PM (1 month).

Of all the things on my list, this is the one that I almost crossed off because I just knew that it would never ever really actually happen.  Well, I was wrong, it did happen.  And it didn’t even take any discipline on my part, it just coincided exactly with the first month of my new job!  I assume that parenthood has a similar effect.

The job is going well!  Keeping me busy.  I have some really good projects to work on.  I’m starting to do a couple days a week downtown, which makes work/life balance a lot easier.  The idea is that I will have a permanent office downtown by the first of the year, making the commute to the burbs the exception, not the daily routine.

In addition to the new job, October has been a great month for fun weekends.  I have lots of pictures to share of recent events, and have a whole free weekend to do whatever I want.  Updates to come.

#85 – Get a facial at a spa.

Before I started my new job last Monday, I used up some of my credit at the fitness studio (which also has a spa)  for a facial.  Well worth it, but I have to confess that I was so nervous about starting the new job that I never fully relaxed at all that previous week.  The facial did help though.

So, one week into the new job.  Things are good.  The job itself is great.  I’m learning the new systems and new processes.  I like the people, and they seem to tolerate me.  Most importantly, however, I seem to be properly navigating office politics and have already been assigned two big projects.  Turns out they want me to earn my paycheck.  Crazy!

One thing that we knew would be required when I took this job, however, is that I commute to the burbs for a while.  Dave and I carefully discussed this, and agreed that it was well worth the sacrifice.  Once I start to fully grasp the business and establish rapport with the partners, I can work remotely in the office downtown.  But until that time,  I now wake up at 5:30 AM every morning and sit in construction traffic for 2 – 3 hours every day.

I know, millions of Americans do this every single day.  I have a good job.  I have absolutely no room to complain.  So I won’t.  I will just lovingly reminisce about my old commute.   Oh, for the alarm to go off at the purely civilized hour of 7 AM.  Oh, to hit snooze a bunch.  Oh, to walk a mile and then ride the train for exactly 7 minutes.  Oh, for my coworkers to not notice, let alone care, when I finally walked through the door.  Those were the days!

Oh right, but the company didn’t have any business.  Now I remember!

With the new schedule comes new discipline in our daily lives.  This has actually been good for us this last week, and I hope it will continue to be.  I do, however, need to find new and creative ways of getting chores done.  I’ve noted especially this first week that I can’t afford a trip to the grocery store every night before dinner.  I need to start planning ahead a bit better.

And I have had absolutely no trouble falling asleep at our new target 10 PM bedtime.  I told you we’re getting old!

Check out the Sears Willis Tower.

When Dave first came to Chicago to visit me in 2006…you know, back when we were “just friend”…we played tourists and visited the then Sears Tower.  We bought this awesome puzzle and stayed up all night finishing it.  I know, old and boring.  I get it.

We recently revisited the puzzle, but didn’t stay up all night this time.  We’re too old for that now.

Scroll over the image.  Dave gets the technology credit.

Moxie spent some time on vacation this summer too.  She came home with fleas.

The lesson I have learned is to forget about home remedies.   Giving the cat a bath is no one’s favorite chore.

Just go to the vet!

#44 – Start dressing more professionally at work (i.e. all suits and no hair bands).

#45 – Organize all of my contacts at work.

#46 – Completely organize my files and desk at work.

#47 – Start bringing in clients at work.

#48 – Redecorate my office.

While I did on some level accomplish all of these things, I’ll blog about the thing that was easy to document in pictures.  Plus, you don’t really want to real about my files, do you?

When we moved office space this summer, I had a great opportunity to redecorate and shed some really crappy art.

Old office.

Old office art.  Note that the “art” is not hung evenly.  Staring at this for 4+ years could explain some of my mental health issues.

But then there was the old office view.

Not bad.

Business changed, however, and the company downsized.

When the move happened, my office changed as well.

I got a bigger office.

Better art, which I insisted on hanging myself.

More space.

But the view did suffer.  Seriously, I could not contort my head in any way to see blue sky through this window.  It was good fun to people watch though.

Where am I going with this post?  Well, all of this no longer matters.  I quit my job this week.

Don’t let my lighthearted tone lead you to think that this was an easy thing to do.  It was not.  But it was the right thing to do both personally and professionally.  My job had its quirks, no question, but it was at one time very good for me.  And I accomplished some great things there.

Times change, however, and I thank God that I have a new opportunity.

Next chapter.

#78 – Travel to visit Brian and Katrina.

No, I haven’t disappeared from the blog world.  Things have just been happening outside of the blog world, that’s all.  I should probably blog about them.

We recently took a trip to Wisconsin and Minnesota for the long Labor Day weekend to visit my brother Brian and his lovely wife Katrina.

We got to see their new house.  Please note, and give Brian credit for, the meticulously cared for lawn.

Of course a trip to the Minnesota State Fair was in order.  A few other people showed up.

We got to see the famed butter sculptures…

Eat lots of things on sticks…

And enjoy a classic haunted house.  Good times.

We also spent some time hiking, and thoroughly enjoyed being out of the city.

Thanks for a great time!

As I write, I can hear the planes over Chicago practicing for the Air & Water Show this weekend.

While I’m not able to see anything from my window, I do have pictures that we took from the show two years ago.  I can definitely identify one of these, maybe two.

This 1,000 piece M.C. Escher puzzle has consumed many of our waking hours over the last week, and has got Dave a bit flustered talking about relativity.

Note to self…color in jigsaw puzzles is horribly useful.

#35 – Go on a day long bike ride with Dave.

Maybe I should have more clearly defined the metric of “day long”, but I’m going to go ahead and declare this one as ”done”, mostly because my butt tells me that there is no way in which it would be pleasant to bike any further than we did on Saturday.  Dave, Michael and I took a tour of the Lake Shore Bike Trail, and clocked a full 24 miles for the day. 

Tour de France, no.  My definition of “day long”, yes.

During our recent trip to Virginia, we took a family field trip to the Smithsonian Natural History Museum.  I would have previously only asked to go the Smithsonian, but my public school education did not inform me that there are quite a few museums in the collection of Smithsonian Museums in Washington DC.

And on our field trip, we got to see the Hope Diamond.  Pretty, sure.  But the experience reminded me of the time I visited the Louvre in Paris and saw the Mona Lisa.  Did you know that the Mona Lisa is only 30″ x 21″?  I didn’t know this fact until I was standing in front of the painting in Paris, shocked not to see a mammoth work of art in front of me, but a swarm of tourist huddling around a small portrait.

I am not writing this to minimize great works of art or natural wonders.  Quite possibly, I am simply further revealing my public school education by saying that I was expecting a bigger diamond.

The Hope Diamond is cool.  And with its current 45.52 carat cut, it is actually less than half of its original size.  But I was surprised that wasn’t the size of a small melon…or at least an orange.

What can I say?  I had envisioned a bigger diamond.