Pff... X

Forget X!!

I was going to post X for XKCD since that comic is awesome.  I started making a list of my favorite posts when I realized...  

I don't want to give X the satisfaction.

W is for Weston

How could W not be for Weston?  Our baby boy is growing up.  I can’t believe I am the father of a 14 month old.  Time has gone by so fast, but at the same time, it is weird to remember him not being able to hold his head up, or just lying on the floor like a lump.  I decided to pick one of my favorite pictures of him from each month of his life, leaving out the present month due to my last post.  It has been wonderful to look back at the pictures and remember the different stages.  I tried to pick pictures that were really good, but at the same time, not on our walls or sent out to many other people.  You will most likely recognize some of the pictures because they were just too cute not to put on this post.  It was incredibly hard to narrow down each month to one picture since we have well over 6000 pictures of Wes so far, but I just picked one and went with it before I drove myself mad.  I think Liz took most of these, but Becky contributed quite a few, as well as a couple lucky shots I happened on.  It’s possible there is another photographer in there as well, so I apologize if I didn’t give you mention.  

Enjoy.

V is for Vindicated

You may remember this post from January of last year where I went on for a significant period of time complaining about the crappy weather and lack of snow.  Now that we got 2 back to back large snow storms I look back at that post and realize….. I was completely right!!  This snow is FANTASTIC!! 

Look at it in all of its glory!

This was the biggest snow event that I have ever experienced.  There was so much wonderful snow that I felt I owed it to my childhood self to build a snow tunnel to play in. 

I even tried to coax Weston into going in. 

He was reluctant at first, but I finally got him to join me.  I’m sure he will look back at this picture when he is older and dream about such levels of snow.

Thanks for reading.  

U is for Utterly Unimportant

Do you find the word “utterly” weird?  I immediately picture a cow and think “oh yes, completely.”  But perhaps that is just me.  I have been sitting at my desk for the past couple work days occasionally thinking about what my U post should be.  I haven’t really had very much to write about and therefore decided to write about the reason I have nothing much to write about.  I have been unfortunately slipping back to that guy that started this blog.  That fraction of a man that for lack of a better term, sleep walks through life. 

There are a multitude of factors that add up to a state such as this, but the biggest is of course the job.  I have enjoyed this job for the most part.  I worked hard and my company really took care of me for the good work that I did.  But times have sadly changed.  With our restructuring and new management, I’m not nearly as involved as I used to be.  There were times where I would spend 60% of my day in meetings having meaningful discussion.  Now I just spend the vast majority of my day staring at my computer with little human contact.  I’m not saying all of this to complain at the world for my job.  I am very thankful that I have a job, but deep within me is a yearning for something more.  Something that greatly challenges me, and something that I care about.  I want this company to be successful and fight for it not to be taken advantage of by insurance companies, but I ultimately do not care for the product that we make or the long term goals of the company.  I don't feel that that work I am doing here is valuable or important.  I have therefore determined that I need to find something more suited for me.  I just have no idea what that is. 

I would appreciate feedback from my readers for any suggestions.  The bottom line is that I’m very good in finance.  That is where my experience lies, and I have a good financial mind and the capacity to build powerful models to forecast the financial future of a company.  I can’t totally change careers and expect to find a good job.  I have interests in recreation, but will doubtfully be hired for a recreation management position with no experience.  My primary thought is to find a job where my skills can be used for something that matches my interests.  That is proving to be somewhat challenging as I ultimately do not want a position where the majority of my time is spent crunching numbers on a computer.  I also really enjoy discussion, making decisions, and activities.  I recently applied for a director of finance position for a resort.  That is certainly along the right track, but I’m still a little under qualified for that position.  What else can I do? When I look back over the recent years and the things I get passionate about, the list is not very big.  I enjoy religious discussion where I have to do a lot of research and write a position paper with many references.  I thrive on activities where I organize a great weekend or play a sport or game.  I’ve also got addicted to many weird hobbies such as forging, building a cannon, parkour, and many other very sad ones that shouldn’t be mentioned.  I don’t know how that can be applicable to a job, but if it is, sign me up.

There have been a couple people recently suggest going to seminary and being a pastor.  There is a part of me interested, but I honestly do not know if that is where God is calling me.  I plan to spend the next 2 months thinking and praying about what I should do next, then going application crazy right after our China trip.  At this point in time I am fairly open to anywhere in the country that isn’t central PA or a major city.  If you have any thoughts, please share. 

Thank you.