Exponential Times

This presentation was shown at a recent Technical Forum I attended. It's pretty cool, and pretty staggeringly scary, data. We live in an amazing technical time, and I luckily get to have my hands in it first hand every day at work. But, even I, whose company is a large beneficiary of this explosion, often wonders...when is enough, too much?

Enjoy!

Exhale, Inhale, Repeat

Donna and I spent last weekend on an absolutely amazing cruise. Now, the cruise wasn't amazing because of where we went, or the amenities we discovered on board, but because of what it allowed us to do. We could breathe. Sounds simple, huh? It is, until you try and find time to actually do it in your daily life. We had an amazing time sitting, talking, relaxing, and most importantly, breathing. All things we had not done in quite a long time. I was able to re-introduce myself to Donna, and in turn learn that she is still a woman I enjoy spending time with and talking to for hours on end. Over the last five years of life, kids, families, careers this one on one knowledge seemed to get shuffled to the back of our minds, and just taken for granted for a while. It was priceless to be able to dust it off, and learn that even after all this time, we are still the two people who started this journey together almost 10 years ago.

We booked the cruise to coincide with Donna's 40th birthday. Donna is a sun and beach girl, and her wish was to get out of town, and spend her birthday relaxing in the sun and sand.Did I say she wanted to relax for her 40th birthday??

Mother nature cooperated, and we enjoyed amazing weather as we spent time enjoying the ship, the local shops of Nassau, Bahamas, and of course....the beach. I have to say, living in upstate New York, there is something very cleansing about swimming in clear blue ocean water in early March. It really gets rid of winter and sets the mind for spring.Relaxing...island style.
Beach feet.

Did I mention blue water??

Although the trip was only three days, we filled it with as much sun, music, and relaxation as we could and left the ship Monday morning ready to come home to Gavin, Isabelle, and reality. Now, only four days later, the trip seems like it was a year ago as life, priorities, and stress have flooded back in. But, it was an amazing time, and we are very thankful that our wonderful families gave us the opportunity to enjoy those three days together and take some much needed breaths.

And Bubbles makes 5

Gavin has been asking to have a pet for quite some time now. He has wanted a cat, a dog, a fish, a parrot, a lizard, a snake, and a hamster at one time or another. This past weekend, we finally gave him permission to get his first pet. Allow me to introduce Bubbles, the newest member of our family.

Gavin is very excited. Bubbles lives in his tank, on Gavin's bedroom dresser. Gavin is using Bubbles to learn responsibility in the hopes that he can one day graduate up to a more "difficult" pet to own. He has his "difficulty" scale all figured out. He plans to stay with fish for a while, and maybe get a couple more to keep Bubbles company. Then, he will move onto a hamster. Then will come a rabbit, soon followed by a bird. Next he will own a cat, and ultimately a dog. So, the way I see it, we will have a few dead fish, then a cat to scare, chase, and eat the hamster and bird, and finally a dog to keep the cat away.

Actually, Gavin is doing a great job with Bubbles so far. He has marked the calendar in his room for each of the days that Bubbles needs to be fed, and he is very careful not to do anything that will scare him. It is so cute to watch Gavin sit on the end of his bed and watch Bubbles swim, and he gets so excited when it is time for feeding. Who knows, he just may work himself up to a hamster yet. Maybe when he is 12.....