It appears I might set a record for worlds least frequent blogger.... but it is interesting to see what has changed from the last long ago post to now.

Ironically my last post was when taking on a new job and I was still full of hope and optimism for that change. Silly, silly me. The new job in Hamilton was not good - not really on any level other than living through it and I guess being stronger (eventually) because of it. The job turned into a 13 hour a day 6 day a week plus commute job - not good when you have a young family at home. The job was stressful, unrewarding, and and downright depressing. The money was good but the money fades in importance really really quickly. Before you know it you dont care how much you make because you cant enjoy any of it anyway.  After a couple of years of that I decided I had had enough and it was time to regroup and rebuild. I was ready to move on from Maple Leaf. I resigned to accept a new job in Saskatoon (closer to home, back in the west, new challenges, etc), but at the last minute Maple Leaf offered me a role back in Winnipeg - back where it all started. I of course turned them down because we had made up our mind that we were looking for a change. When I told Sharon she started to cry - apparently we werent as comitted to change as I thought :) Onward to Winnipeg we went!

The kids were NOT happy with the news. They had grown roots in KW and did not want to leave. Jayme took it the hardest - she was 15, had just started high school and by nature shy. Moving and making new friends was not something she wanted to do. It tore my heart out to upset her the way we did, but it was the right thing to do for the family. Off we went to Winnipeg, on to new challenges and new friends. We ended up living in Sharons parents basement for a few months while we lined up a house. I couldnt ask for a better extended family than the one I lucked into. They welcomed 5 people and a shedding 100lb dog into their house with open arms and a smile. Im sure there were days when they wished they had never offered, but they never said so. Gotta love family like that! I convinced Sharon it was a good idea to buy a motorcycle during those months - well not so much convinced her as wore her down. She hates the bike, but I love it. And she loves me, so she puts up with it. We bought a beautiful house that had everything we had ever wanted, and moved out of her parents basement in June.

The new job at the Winnipeg plant was ok. I enjoyed the work, the people were ok, and it was comfortable. I was able to start letting go of my baggage from Hamilton, although that proved harder than I would have thought. My time in Hamilton was not good. The step up to the "next big thing" as I alluded to in my last post was more like a step into a pot hole that resulted in a shattered ankle. I ended up stepping my career and my self confidence back a few steps instead of advancing. It was a painful lesson, especially since I had been mildly to largely successful with every other Maple Leaf challenge before hand. About a year and a half into the new job I got a call from a recruiter that a local health food manufacturer was looking for a Supply Chain Director, and they thought I would be a good candidate. I tried to resist, after all I had just moved, but I ended up going to the interview out of curiosity. As they say, the rest is history. I left Maple Leaf and took the role with Manitoba Harvest in November of 2016. I have to say I have been loving the change ever since. The people are great, the culture is good, and the challenges are definitely there to keep me interested for the next while. Lord knows I never know what the future holds so who knows what will come of this but for now I am loving life.

Jayme has still had a hard time adjusting to the move, and her relationship with us (especially me) has suffered because of it. My heart breaks seeing her unhappy, I just want to reach out and squeeze her make her feel good. We are working on it - lots of ups and downs, and life is always an adventure. She is graduating high school this year, and had applied to the UofM. She isnt sure what exactly she wants to do, but she does actually seem excited about getting out of high school and making a new start in University.

Sharon is back at Cambrian, back in the same department she left when we moved to ON. She seems happy in her job, although I think the switch between stay at home mom and full time working mom has been a bit harder than she had anticipated. She of course has nailed it though - as she does with everything in her life she somehow manages to make it all look easy and make everyone around her happy. I wish she could have taught me a little bit of that during my Hamilton days!

The boys are.... the boys. Carter is much like his mom - he makes everything seem easy. He adjusted to the move in seemingly no time. He continues to play soccer, spends a ton of time (too much probably) on his computer and has shown a bit of a flair for cooking interestingly enough. He is such a great kid, it is always a good time having him around.  Thomas is and will always be Sharons Baby. He is such a sweet kid, and he is as always very close to his mom.

I appear to be in a regular (but slooooow) pattern

I just noticed that it has been almost a year since I posted on here - AGAIN. Maybe I will just use this as my yearly recap :)

Another year, more changes. Moved on to a new job that luckily will keep me from traveling anymore (Nice to be home everynight, but some days I miss some aspects of the travel), but unfortunately have me driving 2 hours a day to get to and from work. I guess its payback for my 6 years of a 10 minute drive and being able to pop home at lunch if I needed to.

We are building a new plant in Hamilton which is an hour south east of Kitchener. Even though I managed to negotiate a relocation package into my new job Jayme has informed us that we are not moving. She is starting high school next year, and the poor girl has already been to three different schools and lived in 4 different houses in her life. I don't mind the drive as long as it keeps her happy. Looks like we will staying in KW for a while more...

The job is.... interesting. Constant change, constant conflicting priorities, and more than anything constant stress. I love the challenge, but some days I wonder where my head was at taking this job on. It is good development for me and hopefully will lead to "the next big thing" for me in the next couple three years. I'm sure it will all be worth it, although it is getting pretty tough to make it to softball / soccer / blast ball / swimming etc with the long drive and the long hours.

Kids are getting bigger everyday, and even my little guy is growing up so fast. Hopefully I get another one of these things pushed out before Jayme starts driving........

Its 8:30 at night, so its back to work for me :)

And the year slides onward.....

I realized yesterday that the days were getting shorter, the tans getting deeper, the grass deader (baking sin + no rain = dead grass) and the summer was slipping away. Its almost the end of July , and since I spend all my work life working feverishly at planning next week next month next year I seem to always be missing now. Vacation looks to be slim thus year with too much work at the wrong time so it looks like I will be spending the majority of my summer commuting and traveling for work.

Life's too short to let it slip by. Time to try to focus on the family and having a little fun before its 20 below again :)

Time to slip into summer mode, even if I am a month too late.......

Wow, THAT was a long time

Three years and three months since my last blog post - I might set the record for the worlds worst blogger! Times have changed a lot since my last post, job changes for me and SWMBO, kids growing up, me getting older (and balder). Spending all my time zipping back and forth across the country these days, and it is starting to get old. Thank God I travel with a couple of collegues that I really like, otherwise this would be too much to handle. Hopefully it is all worth it in the end - the last personal sacrifice I made for the better of the career/family long term (moving to Ontario) ended up being a bit of a bust. Some would say it spawned this next bigger - better role, but my glass half empty mood today tells me otherwise. 6 years of design, implement, and improve have ended up reduced to exactly where they were in 2006 in one swoop of fate. Hopefully everything works out in the end and some of my hard work is not forgotten.

I miss my kids, I miss my wife, I miss my own crappy little house with all its required repairs.

Off to the gym to try to run away some of my blahs. Hopefully it works!

I need a vacation. Everyone I work with is either going on, or has been on (twice in the case of my admin assistant) a winter vacation. I am tired, I am worn out, and unfortunately I am also poor. So I am stuck here. I guess it could be worse, I could be back home in the -30 nasty weather. But I still need a vacation.

I need to win a lottery.

Why do I do this?

Cleaned up my desk drawer at work today. Came across on old Biovail envelope clipped closed. Inside was the reminder of the worst days of my life. not sure why I do this stuff to myself, but instead of holding onto happy reminders I have kept the unused return portion of my airport shuttle that I never ended up needing. I kept my full coffee punch card that is good for a free coffee at Stollery that I will never get to use. I kept the East Side Mario's receipt for the dinner that Sharon and I had the night Kaity died. I kept the last cash advance paperwork we got from the social worker.

My day was going fine, now it's not. For a perfect life I am very sad.

It beginning to look a lot like Christmas......................

Well not really, but we are getting close. Only another 37 days till we head back home for our annual cross country "griswald run" (I might be dating myself with the '80's movie reference). I hear there is snow back home, but here it is just a pissing rain that has made me sick and makes me think I REALLY shouldnt have ridden my bike in today.

I just started the Christmas shopping today - well OK, it was stuff for the MapleLeaf Christmas party this weekend that I am dreading, but it was still shopping. Not much else to say except that work continues to be the same old same old, and I am pretty sure that the $$ they spent to move me here 2 years ago was wasted but maybe next year right?

Another night of Mr. Mom awaits (Sharon is at work) so I can look forward to a crying baby, two fighting tweens (or whatever they are called now) and a headache the size of a bus.

Oy.