Homegrown Texan

My Personality

My dad is going home today. He's been here for the last 2 weeks, and it has been great. The problem is, I don't think I'd ever get tired of having him here. I've loved my dad fiercely ever since I can remember, and I'm so sad for him to go. I wish I could spend more time with him on a regular basis, since it's not exactly realistic for one of us to live with the other one.

One fun thing we got to do while he was here was geocaching.   Basically it's a treasure hunt for grownups, although kids can play, too.  The short of it is people set up caches in various places and then post the coordinates along with applicable directions and clues to the website.  You download the coordinates into your GPS (or in my case, your dad's GPS :) ) and look for the cache.  You sign the log in the cache, and you can take a treasure and leave a treasure (or not).  "treasures" can be anything.  Proper etiquette dictates that you leave something of comparable value to what you take, but there is nothing to enforce that.  I just like the fun of the hunt (and the fact that we were doing this around the forests of the Mogollon Rim in northern Arizona), but the kids got a kick out of "hunting for treasure".  This is something I hope to be doing for a long time.  It's fun, cheap (after the initial cost of the GPS, that is), and you get to see places you probably wouldn't have otherwise seen.  It did take Dad and I a while to get the hang of using the GPS (note: sometimes it will tell you to drive straight off into the forest, even if you have the "follow road" feature turned on.  Must read map and draw your own conclusions).  But, we have great memories of the "roads" we tried to follow (some of them little more than rough hiking trails).

What's yours?

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I still can't used to the idea that I'm an adult.  No matter that I have a husband, 2 kids, a house, and a real job.  Every once in a while I'll think about the place I am in life and it just surprises the hell out of me.  I still feel like a young, inexperienced kid.  Which, to some people, I guess I probably still am.

I was talking to a coworker today.  I've worked with him since 1997.  He hired me into my first real software engineering job at Motorola that I worked in from 1997-2000 and was my team lead, essentially my boss, from the time he hired me until he left in 1999.  Then in 2000 he hired me into the company that I work for now, and was (is) still kind of my boss (the word "boss" is used very loosely in the small company I work for now).  I have a ton of respect for this man on so many different levels.  He's a good engineer, a good boss, and is a fun person, too.  I couldn't ask for a better mentor.

This spring I led the developers for a project that he was a developer on, which put me in the position of delegating work to him.  It felt so weird, but he (of course) handled it professionally, and I like to think I did a good job (he got our project manager to give Jim and I a free dinner out at a nice restaurant for the work I did, so he must think so, too).  In our job no one is really "above" anyone else, but there always has to be someone to lead a project, and this time that person was me.  So it wasn't like he was demoted, it was just the way that particular job was structured.  But it still felt weird to be telling him what to do.

This morning he called me to discuss some software he's working on with me.  We ended up chatting about "the old days" of software development (how weird to realize that I was involved when this field was in it's infancy, or at least it's young childhood).  But the thing that struck me was that he was calling to ask what I thought about a certain approach he was taking in his software, and to see "if it was ok" with me.  Which is really weird, because in the past it has always been more of him letting me know what he was doing.  Never asking if it was ok (not that he never sought my opinion...he often did, but his word was still the final say).  It made me realize that he sees me now as an equal.  Which, in a way feels strange.  And a bit scary, because it implies more responsiblity.  But it also makes me feel really good.  Like I've grown up, professionally.

So Jim and I have been talking lately about moving.  I've been wanting to move for some time, but I think he's finally with me.  The primary reason, is just that it's too damn hot here.  Sometimes I think it's silly to choose where I live based on the weather, but the reality is, I *hate* the heat, and since I spend a great deal of time where I live (duh), why should I spend my life some place that I don't like?  Not to mention the fact that I've just never been able to see the beauty of the desert.  I know a lot of people do, and that's great.  But all the dirt and rocks just don't do it for me.  I was struck with this when we went to MN last month and I was struck by the fact that the side of the highway looked pretty to me (because it had grass, instead of rocks).

Speaking of rocks, I can appreciate why people don't grow grass in their yards here...we live in the desert, grass requires water, water is a precious resource, etc., etc.  Yeah, I get that.  But why *rocks*???  In a locale where temps routinely exceed 100, or even 100 110, let's surround ourselves with materials that retain heat.  Yeah, that makes sense.  End rant.

So Jim and I have discussed several different places.  Minnesota (he has family there, and we like it there and are both interested in living someplace with seasons, which neither of us have done).  Texas (my parents are there).  Oregon (nice climate, and lots of hippies, which I must admit I am turning into; Jim's brother lives there, but I don't expect him to stay there).  Colorado (nice climate, lots of trees, and not as far of a move from our parents).  Then we both think about how we hate to leave our friends.  I'd love to live near my parents, but I'm not crazy about the Texas climate (although I like it far better than the one here).  Do we move where we want to live, or near people we  want to be around?  I hate to move based on where certain people live, because anyone can move.  On the other hand, I can't imagine moving somewhere where I don't know anyone (I know people do it all the time, but I never have).  I've always felt that who you're with is more important than where you're at, but obviously other factors affect how I feel.  I know that theoretically I could make friends anywhere, but in reality, I'm not the best at meeting people.

I haven't posted for a while, so here are some random thoughts about what is going on with me.

- I just finished work for today.  My eyes feel like I have been poking them with rusty forks (from staring at the computer monitor).  I don't think people were meant to spend their lives as computer programmers.  I'm also a bit behind at work, so I may be spending the weekend working.  The *holiday* weekend.  Bleh.

- Michael has his last day of preschool tomorrow.  I can't believe he's going to be in kindergarten next year!  I'm kind of sad for him, because he loves school so much and I know he's going to be sad not to go all summer.  I'm also sad for me, because he's growing up and I'd love for him to stay little forever (ok, not really, but in that fantastical mommy-world where it is actually *normal* for your babies to remain babies).  Nathan will be starting preschool next year (provided potty training continues to progress; he's not quite "school-ready" in that regard yet).  I'm a little nervous about how he'll do...he's not the best with crowds and noise, and the classroom acoustics are such that it gets quite loud in there.  I think if he can deal with this, he'll really love the class (it's a Waldorf-inspired school.  I love it.  See http://www.arizonawaldorf.org)

- I recently took up knitting.  I've been crocheting since my dear Granny taught me when I was 5 or 6.  I've always wanted to learn to knit, but never had anyone to teach me how.  I finally decided to teach myself (with the help of the internet and some awesome teaching videos I found there).  I am the proud owner of a handmade washcloth (it works really well, too).  Next I'm going to make a bag for Michael to carry his Viewmaster reels in.

- Jim is building a *huge* patio cover for me as a Mother's Day gift.  For those who are familiar with my house, it basically completes the square that the back of our bedroom forms with the Arizona room (that's an enclosed porch to you non-Zonies).  I love to grill, but hate standing in the hot sun to do it, so I'm very excited about this!

- Summer is officially here.  Bleh.  I hate summer in Arizona.  Heh.  I'm not even that wild about winter in Arizona.  But I'll refrain from sinking any further into that vortex of bitchin' and moanin'.

- Now it's time for dinner.  Leftover hamburgers (but they were very good hamburgers, so I'm looking forward to them).

Back in March the family went on our first ever trip to Canada. It was nothing short of spectacular.

Earlier this week (incidentally, about the time day temps started hitting the 100s here...coincidence?), Nathan started talking about wanting to go to Canada.

Ok, "talking about" is a bit of an understatement. Jim said he spent about 4 hours on Thursday *crying* because he wants to go to Canada. Four hours!!!! For the last few days, he's been pointing at his little Canadian flag luggage tag that we put on his backpack and saying, "We want to go back there, right?" and "Everything's red in Canada!" (?!?!?!?!)

Oh, and I never realized how many Canadian products are available here in the States. The kids notice that little maple leaf on *everything*. :)