Turns out Lady really likes the snow. She'll take a running leap into the deepest pile of snow she can find. Far cry from Chee who shivers when I take him out at 5 in the morning.
The photo above is an amateur hack job of two photos we took while walking Puget Sound over Thanksgiving. I couldn't resist trying to piece together a family photo. Of course the kids look like mutants since they're so much smaller than us, but it was a cool idea anway. Not bad for a blind person (snicker)!
The kids actually got let out of school two hours early today because we have an ice storm warning. Fun, fun, fun. I hope the power and the internet survive!
Anyway, Xbox time has become quite the family thing lately. It used to be Chris's deal mostly, but now Sam and I fight for time to play Lips or American Idol (singing/rhythm games), and Sam can often be found taking study breaks by playing the guitar with Rockband. Serious fun! Wayne likes Lego Star Wars and Lego Indiana Jones as well as various puzzle games. But because he works there, he's attempted to broaden his horizons. He played Halo 3 at a Microsoft team Christmas get together, has been following the storyline in Fable II, and even joined the kids and I for a little Lips karaoke action over Thanksgiving! CJ still likes the shooting and driving games but is also branching out thanks to recomendations from the guys Wayne works with.
It's safe to say a few Xbox games will find their way under the tree. May your Christmas be merry and bright and filled with fun!
The other bonus was Wayne did the cooking this year. It was kinda nice having the holiday off this time around, but funny watching him rotate everything through the microwave. We missed the pumpkin bars (Sam and I made a batch before we left home just to get our pumpkin fix), but boy was the cake yummy! I know where we'll be getting all our birthday cakes from now on!
Any Halo video game fans out there? Chris and Sam got to visit a statue of the lead character, Master Chief, at Xbox headquarters. Believe it or not, the guns point right at Wayne when he's sitting at his desk (laughs)!It was fun to see where Wayne works, but we couldn't see much because of all the top-secret stuff going on there. Microsoft really takes good care of the gang with its pop coolers, Starbucks, bottled water, and huge cafeteria. Things'll be even nicer when they get to their new digs this spring.
We just secured Wayne's ticket home for Christmas. He gets in around 7 Christmas Eve night and leaves New Year's Day. That gave us the best fare AND the least amount of time away from work. And so as not to have our family in two states over the holidays, Lades will have her first in-cabin plane ride. It'll cost less than boarding her, and I'm sure Chee will love seeing his girlfriend again.
Plane bodies from the Boeing factory in Mukilteo make their way south by train. It was pretty weird seeing the planes roll by at first, but it was neat to see.
We arrived in Seattle Saturday night after all kinds of plane nightmares. The Minneapolis Airport is INSANE. Our Seattle flight was boarding while we were still deplaning the flight from Memphis. We had to run three miles to the next gate, wait in a crazy line, and then sit on the tarmack for an hour while they disgnosed an engine problem. (Admittedly I'm glad they discovered it on the ground rather than in the air!) We ended up swapping planes, which meant another 8 mile journey. With flights like that, who needs Jenny Craig, LOL?Anyway, we got to Seattle two hours late and couldn't wait to see Wayne. That required taking a train from the island-like terminal over to the mail building, but it was worth every bit of it. We've never been so happy to see him in our lives! It wasn't even raining when we landed either, though the ground was wet. Wayne took us to a diner in Redmond Town Centre for some yummy burgers and onion rings, then off to his apartment where Lady greeted us with puppy kisses.
Sunday morning, we headed for our home-to-be, Mukilteo. One of the pictures above is of the snowcapped mountains from a mall parking lot. The little town sits on Puget Sound about 20 miles north of Microsoft's main campus in Redmond. You'll also find a picture of the Mukilteo Lighthouse. The kids really enjoyed walking along the beach and gathering shells. They even found a big Dungenese Crab shell. There's also a ferry that takes passengers to Whidbey and other nearby islands. I believe that's Whidbey Island in the background of the picture of the kids.
We saw some interesting houses, but they're so much smaller and more expensive than the house we have now. It'll take a lot of adjusting, but we love the area.
When my tech writing job with TruGreen ended on Halloween, I was talking with the Microsoft Windows group about a writing job with their User Assistance and Education group. It sounded like a perfect fit for me. They actually contacted me less than two weeks after the announcement came out which is pretty quick for Microsoft. I passed the recruiter screening pretty quickly, then had a one hour conversation with the hiring manager. While I had a great deal of writing experience, I had no MICROSOFT experience. The job turned out to be very different from the one they discribed when I applied, but I still did well enough to get moved ahead to the third level--a phone interview with a team member. If that went well, they'd fly me out for the day-long face-to-face interview.
I really enjoyed talking to the team member and learned a lot about how the Windows writing team works. In fact I was pretty convinced I was in good shape. I sent out some magazine article samples and had Wayne inter office mail some copies of my books to the group only to be told they were going to focus on other candidates.
Yeah, I was pretty grumpy. I really thought I had a chance. But I was also pretty nervous. The next version of Windows is shipping earlier than originally anticipated (this is all public knowledge, so no secrets spilled here, LOL), so the person needed to hit the ground running like mad. They never really said why they decided to look elsewhere, but when I thought back to the conversations, the clues were all there that they really wanted someone with Microsoft experience for the role. It would have been an awesome opportunity, but I feel lucky to have made it as far in the process as I did.
Shortly after all that transpired, a contract technical writing opportunity with Zune, Microsoft's iPod counterpart, opened up. The recruiter was hopeful, but the position was filled before my stuff reached the hiring manager. The manager did supposedly like my background and wanted to keep me in mind for future openings though. Again, close but no cigar. (Where did that phrase come from anyway?)
Then one of my best friends' mom passed away suddenly just before Thanksgiving. Tracy and I exchanged emails/text messages as she and her family rushed back to Sioux Falls from Duluth to be by her mother's side. It caught them so off-guard I'm sure they're still trying to recover from the shock.
While we're far away from Wayne, we saved our pennies and flew out to Seattle for Thanksgiving. More about that in posts to come.
I hope you all enjoyed your holiday, and Tracy, my thoughts and prayers are with you and your family...
Tonight the kids march the show for the last time at a home football game, in costume no less! Something tells me Sam and I will be choking up at the thought of leaving the group behind.
First place large division band, first place colorguard, first place percussion, first place field commanders, and three-peat winners of the Chancellor's Cup!!!!
The kids were all so excited, they spent an hour and a half in the Vandy parking lot playing tunes, dancing, jamming, and celebrating. We got home around 3 am. Long day, but ohhhh so much fun.
The Houston Band places FIRST at the Wolf River Classic!!!! The colorguard also took first which is HUGE because they've got a very tough routine. Sam called me on the cell right after awards shedding all sorts of happy tears.I'm not saying this band is cool, but how many marching bands have you seen with a guitarist hanging from a radio tower complete with red blinking light at the top and a SMOKE MACHINE?!? When the last of five songs, "Freebird", started, the band parents cracked their red glow sticks and swayed to the vibe. A MUCH better idea than waving cell phones like we did the other week (laughs)!
Sam, Chris, your dad and I are soooo proud of you! And Sam, just over four months ago you were at Cleveland Clinic in severe pain. Look how far you've come!!!! Now you're practicing 12 hours a week and catching killer flag tosses! And CJ, wow, Mr. Smith can actually hear you play this year! Nice work, guys!
After a week in Redmond, Wayne's starting to get to know the area. He's checked out the Ikea, a huge electronics superstore, and several neat food places we don't have here. He's also been getting settled in his apartment, which is only a mile and a half from the Xbox buildings. (Yep, there are multiples.)
He really seems to like his coworkers. They're a work hard, play hard group which should keep things challenging and fun.
In Tennessee, the kids are just beginning the most active part of their competitive marching season. They're show is awesome, so the season should be great fun. Transportation to and from work has been a battle, but my boss found me a carpool buddy in another division of TruGreen which should help. And on the weekends, I may be hiring a lady from work's son to help with errands and other odd jobs around the house.
I miss Wayne even more than I expected to (and I honestly expected it to be pretty bad). The kids are pretty off-balance too. I'm trying to get out there as quickly as I can, but the economy will delay things on the housing front. I'm applying for Microsoft jobs as well as working with a recruiter that does contract positions for them. Our hope is to make this time apart as short as possible.
I really hope we won't be apart long (I've only commited to have the kids here through marching season which ends October 31), but something tells me things won't happen that quickly.
This experience has shown me once again how lucky I am to be married to my best friend. I missed him before he even left the house Okay, would the smart alec out there who's sticking their finger in their mouth in a gagging motion kindly KNOCK IT OFF?!?
Since his start date is soon, the kids and I will stay behond. They'll finish their competitive marching season with the band and colorguard, and I'll finish documenting a major software release for TruGreen. We don't have all the details worked out yet, but wanted our friends and family to know the big news.
Of course the logo above belongs to Microsoft. Just want to stay out of trouble. But we're so excited about the future...
More later...
It was good the dance was tonight since Wayne's out of town. It distracted us from missing him as much, at least a little. It's top secret where he's gone or why, but watch here for details to come.
I'd also like to take this opportunity to wish mom and dad a Happy 44th Anniversay!!!
It's been a rough couple weeks as we attempted to get our body clocks back on school time. We're all having trouble getting going in the morning, and now that I'm working, I find myself ready for bed at ridiculously early hours.
But things are getting more interesting on the work front for me. I'm auditing and revising a couple of process guides for the company's call center software and have enjoyed working with the developers, testers, etc. It's neat to see how real technical writing is done at the corporate level.
Things are insane as always on Wayne's job hunt. While the first semi-serious local prospects appeared this week, they really wanted less senior programmers. Our best hope continues to be out of state.
Today was my first day as a Technical Writer for ServiceMaster's TruGreen IT Implementation Team. Their corporate headquarters is here in Memphis. I'll be writing help files, manuals, and other corporate documents as part of a small team of writers. I was nervous about having such a structured schedule again, but the first day went well. The people are terrific, too.
Wayne's job search continues, but this way, if we do end up having to leave the area, I'll have proven myself as a well-paid technical writer. Yeah, the books help, but my most recent one was over seven years ago. It was high time for me to get current again.
In the top picture, Chris poses with the trombone section. Below is Sam with the color guard.
Years later, Nemo was all but forgotten until I saw the cake book at the store. My eyes lit up like a kid's at all the bright colors. They even had cool, clear gel bubbles on the cake! It especially goes well with the beautiful roses from Wayne and the Chihuahua's who dearly wanted to eat some of the cake.
Don't tell Wayne, but I think both Lady and Chee got licks of frosting!
