time travel

well my semifreelife is kind of on hold this week as I round out my Board service to the PIAA (Physician Insurers Association of America)  after eight years I am completing my service to the Board having served on several committees before this most recent assignment.

yesterday when we left for the airport and then got in the security line and then found out the flight was delayed - all that usual stuff of business travel - I turned to Phil and said "I SOOOO don't miss this!"

I used to be something like the George Clooney guy in Up in the Air,  for more than a decade I traveled over a 100,000 flight miles a year.  there are advantages and disadvantages of the lifestyle.  the first cold I had in over two years was a month ago after traveling with two people with colds,  chalk one up for limiting time on planes and trains and buses.  but I have booked Phil and I a trip for his birthday to NYC and paid for our hotel room with points from a frequent guest program.  so there is one in the column of good stuff.

anyway I remember my boss COB (Chairman of the Board) of my own company saying to me several years ago that the time will come when the ties to the old life (in his case a surgery practice) will be in the past and the move away from that life becomes clear and easier than expected.  I guess that is some of what is going on here.  as we drove to the resort where the meetings are being held this week I recounted for Phil at least 20 hotels I had stayed at in Phoenix and Scottsdale over the last two decades. 

I am in my twentieth year with my company and I am amazed at how quickly the time has gone by and how great these last 20 years have been but on the other hand I am ready to move on.  never before have I spent that much time in one place.  my father always called it "itchy feet"  when my mother and I were planning our next trip or they were planning their next move...

I went to seven schools before I graduated from high school and I went to four before I graduated from college.  LOL I suppose this indicates some level of commitment phobia... but I have stayed at my current company so long because I loved the work and I loved the people I worked with so I like to think of it as finding the right place.  the spot on the porch from the Carlos Castaneda approach.  I found my spot.  but now I am finding a new one because this one doesn't fit as well anymore.  going through the past couple of years with my mom and sister being sick has given me a different perspective and priorities - so I am moving on.

but first things first and this means finishing the things I have been doing and "running across the finish line"

between now and the end of September that is what I am going to be doing.  and because I am semi free I will also be heading into the next part as well. 

so I thought a picture of a new start would be really appropriate here and this is perfect - a photo of our ten day old friend Alix Vienot-Tronche.  the newest addition to the wine group!

she and her parents came to visit on Sunday and we had a lovely time looking at the baby - which is what you do when you are in the presence of new life you watch how amazing it is and marvel at the fact that she is here

endings and beginnings.......

made it

through my first mother's day with my mother and my sister being gone.  I had written to my brother in law earlier in the week and didn't want to disturb him on such a tough day- in case he had a few minutes respite from thinking about Janna.  they say (whoever they are) that the first year is the most difficult because you face all those days of note without your loved one there. so on the one year anniversary of Janna's death (June 14) do I think I will feel better than on June 13th- I seriously doubt it. 

I have a photo of my mom and me in 1955 and one of Janna and her oldest Nick in 1988.  I post these in celebration of their loving hearts as mothers. 

here is a photo that was always among our favorites - we just found it funny because of the "label"

 it was taken at my brother's wedding reception in November 1984 - I am laughing because for some reason my mother's hair seems to be dyed to match her dress - LOL

and here is one of my favorite photos of Janna- she LOVED to garden and this was taken in her front yard sometime around 1994 or so

my brother in law Tom said he had been to OSU to see Sarah (my niece) in a dance recital and how tough it was because she reminded him so much of Janna. 

here  are two photos of Janna in her own days of dance recitals

missing both my mom and my sister this mother's day