It’s been a while since I’ve posted. Not much else to say except raising a kid, two dogs and continuing to grow my relationship with my wife has consumed most of my waking moments. I felt that I should put my writing hat back on for a few minutes so here we go…

Figuring it would be easiest to update my blog with a few of the things I do most. I’ll choose one image and write a few words.

Work

I recently hit my 5 year mark at the big G (woo!) It’s been a tremendous ride and I’m infinitely grateful for the flexibility of working at such a large company that still allows so much mobility. I’m also very thankful for the opportunity to travel and explore new places while building my professional and personal skills. The photo below is the New Orleans skyline at night from a rooftop bar in August.

I’ve only ever worked at 3 companies in my 13 year career. Being at Google for 5, matches the longest I’ve been at any other company. I’m at a bit of a junction where I need to figure out what I want to do to continue to grow. With having a child, it brings a lot into the equation in terms of what I’m seeking and being here checks a lot of the boxes. More and more, it seems that I need to find the motivation within myself to figure out what’s next. There is one thing that’s certain, it’s about time to push myself outside of my comfort zone again. Change is good and the thing that’s certain at Google is change.

Hobbies

Cycling has long been out the door. I’d like to believe it’s because of the kiddo’s schedule preventing me from commuting, but in reality, it’s just hard to get out of bed a little earlier or ride my trainer a little later at night. But health is still important, and I’ve gotten back on the bike (once) a few weeks ago. Time to keep pedaling and keep up the fitness.

One thing that did pop up while our baby was still months old was learning how to basically disassemble and reassemble large portions of watches. It turned into a fun little hobby that requires a little bit of skill, a lot of patience, some creativity and a small workplace. All-in-all, it’s been quite fun learning a new skill that can take a few minutes or a few hours depending on what I want to do… and I can customize it to fit my taste.

Life

There are many things I love about that picture below – We made it out of the house, FInley’s outfit is completely mismatched, my In-n-Out t-shirt and  it’s one of the rare moments where we decided to stop and get a family photo.

Lift with a child is complicated…. and it really makes me appreciate how our parents were able to raise pretty decent (I think) children. It’s tough to balance what’s new with what’s old. For example, new information and studies vs old school parenting styles. The availability of more information than ever at our fingertips and the excessive worrying and fear that comes with it. Every day there’s something new and we’ve had hospital visits, numerous calls to the advice line, potential allergic scares, actual allergic reactions, bumps, scrapes, bruises, and many more things.

On the flip side, it feels nearly infinitely rewarding. Him saying “dada” or finally saying “mama”… and of course now only saying “mama”. These little things learn so quickly and absorb like a sponge. Part of me feels like kids just grow up and we’re just nudging them in a certain direction here and there. Yet, we’re told to feel and think that we need to control so many aspects of their lives – from the everything organic and fresh that we need to feed them, to the amount of music and reading they need to get… and finally the whole debate about when to show them a screen and for how long?

While all these bear weight on us, sometimes the simple choices like what is Finn having for dinner or what should we do this weekend to entertain him are seemingly impossible some weeks after hours of work and other plans. The saying still holds true – the days are long, the years are short. However, as he is starting to grow so fast, it seems like life’s too short and I find myself wanting to soak up all of the passed moments of when he used to [fill in the blank].