Tonight we went to a surprise party for a friend of ours at the church. We then went to 5 Guys, an OUTSTANDING burger and fry joint! I would recommend it highly! http://www.fiveguys.com/. They just put a new location in just south of us and I had never been there before. We will be going back very soon, however!
Today, Angela flew home and we are so excited to have her here with us! We missed her so much! Her flight went well, although she didn’t get bumped up to get more leg room. 🙁 Her flight from LA was a little delayed so she got back home a little late! A sister from our Ward went and picked her up, which we were very happy for!
I couldn’t go pick her up because I had our Art Speaks meeting tonight. This is a pretty neat group that is dedicated to helping the community become more acquainted with the arts in school, especially right now when the big federal push is all around Science, Math, Engineering, and Technology (STEM). We like to refer to our group as the A that makes STEM “STEAM” and gives education momentum.
Angela was totally worn out when I got home from my meeting. She’s going to put off unpacking until tomorrow so we’ll have our debrief then. 🙂
Good to have you home, beautiful! 🙂
Ever so quiet here in Illinois! The kids are doing great and being pretty obedient! I have been working from home since Monday and have had Ben with me. He went over to play with one of his friends on Monday and this morning from 9-12 each day. This was GREAT, especially today when I had a VERY busy day on phone calls. It has been great being at home with Ben during the day. We have had a LOT of fun whenever I could take a break, and we have laughed a lot! 🙂 It’s great to see the kids come home from school and to hear about their day first, rather than a rehash when I get home from work at 5! 🙂
Meanwhile, over in Japan… Angela will have to help fill in the details of today, so this post will be updated soon…
Still quiet here. Nothing new to report.
Meanwhile, over in Japan… Angela will have to help fill in the details of today, so this post will be updated soon…
Still quiet on the home front! Tokyo is bustling with activity however.
Angela will have to help fill in the details of today, so this post will be updated soon…
Nothing major happened today on this side of mother earth. Angela is still enjoying being over there and is having a blast with her mom and dad.
Angela will have to help fill in the details of today, so this post will be updated soon…
Today, I took Kirstyn to her Engineering Program activities at Northern Illinois University (NIU) Naperville Campus. She had a GREAT time building electronic boards and such! For the rest of the day, we just relaxed, played games, watched movies, and did all the things that Mom would probably not let us do on a Saturday! 🙂 Sorry Angela! We were pretty tired and the kids did well with keeping the house clean during the week, so we took a break! 🙂
Meanwhile, over in Japan… Angela will have to help fill in the details of today, so this post will be updated soon…
Today the kids had no school as well so I was able to go to work again! I’m saving the days for Christmas and for this summer when we’re going to be running around like crazy with mission returns, college drop-off, possible wedding, etc. 😐 Again, the kids did a great job getting along and only had a very minimal amount of disagreement today while I was gone. It made me feel a LOT more comfortable at work, knowing that things were OK at home. It made Angela more comfortable as well!
Over in Tokyo, Angela had a great time today! We’re going to keep these blog pages consistent with our day of the week and time since for her, she is almost a day ahead of us, and when we are going to bed, she is getting up! 🙂
Angela will have to help fill in the details of today, so this post will be updated soon…
Angela arrived in Japan safely and happy today! She’s pretty worn out from the flight and is trying to make sure she sticks to the daytime/nighttime schedule over there so she can minimize the jet lag she’ll feel. With a 15 hour difference and loss of time, it will be tough, but we know she’ll have a GREAT time! We “Skyped” with her and had a great chat! Technology is so wonderful! It’s amazing at how far it has come even in the last 10 years! 🙂 She was excited to see mom and dad (obviously they felt the same way about her).
Back at home, today the kids were off school, so I was able to go to work and they stayed at home. They did a great job taking care of each other, and Sarah was very responsible in taking people where they needed to go. When I got back from work, I had to go to Parent/Teacher Conferences for Sarah and then took Kirstyn with me to hers. It’s great to know that other people think our kids are great as well! 🙂
Today, I took Angela to the airport and she started on her LONG journey to Japan! She is really excited to go, although not totally excited about the long trip. She said she wouldn’t know what to do with herself traveling for 17+ hours with no children! 🙂 She flew to LA and then jumped on a plane for Tokyo from there. We can’t wait to talk to her when she arrives!
That said, I am playing Mr. Mom for the next week! 😐 I’m really excited, but there is much to do, and I will still be working from home some of those days as well. We’ll see how it works out! Tonight, for example, I had Parent/Teacher Conferences to go to for both Brittany and Zach. They went very well and I had great discussions with their teachers. They were all jealous that Angela was on her way to Japan, and they were stuck here! 🙂
Tonight, I went and hung out with all the St. Raphael’s coaches for an evening of pizza, beer, and chat. Every year, the football league has a coaches party to thank everyone who helped out during the season. The pizza and wings were great, but unfortunately, they just assumed that everyone drank beer, so they didn’t even have any bottled water or pop. I was pretty thirsty when I left, but I had a good time, and met some of the other coaches and chatted with them. 🙂
Today, Brittany started driver’s ed! Yikes! She’s really excited, but we are pretty nervous! 😐
We know she’ll do great, but the issue is that she tends to be a little more distracted in driving than Sarah is. Her big issue is that she’s addicted to music and thinks that she has to have it on all the time. I have a feeling that we’ll have to disconnect the radio in the their car so that Brittany will concentrate on the roads. 🙂 I’m sure she’ll be fine. I think we were the same way when Sarah got her permit and started driving! 🙂
Also, today, I took off to Napa California for an executive briefing and technology discussion with Autonomy, one of our vendors we work with. I’ve never been to the Napa Valley before and it is beautiful! The weather is great too (upper 60s, low 70s)! The hotel (the Auberge du Soleil) is absolutely incredible! It is more of a resort than anything else! When I got there, they checked me in, took took me on a golf cart tour of the property, and then dropped me off at my villa which is stunning! 🙂
There are a ton of perks and amenities here. Everything in the room (snacks, food, etc.) is included free of charge, the pool area is absolutely gorgeous, there is a walking trail around a sculpture garden, a spa, jacuzzis, a relaxation pagoda with a Japanese garden, and much more. I even have access to “borrow” 1 of 3 convertable Mercedes Benz vehicles to take a spin around the countryside with! I wish I had more time than just this afternoon and tomorrow, or I would take them up on it!
How’s that for cool! I guess everything is not “really” free, as the price of the room is around $900 per night! 😐 The service is impeccable and everyone really goes out of their way to make you feel important. Far cry from a Motel 6, eh? 🙂 I heard that just 2 days ago, Julia Roberts was staying there for a getaway. Just missed her! 🙂
I wandered around the property, enjoying the weather for the afternoon, and taking a ton of pictures. The main house in itself with the pool area below is breathtaking!
Obviously you can tell I don’t stay in places like this too often, right? 🙂 After my stroll and relaxing afternoon, I went to a reception and dinner and met everyone that had come to the briefing. It turns out that there were only 6 other companies represented, so it was quite the small gathering. Dinner was absolutely outstanding! We had poached main lobster with brown butter, orange, apple, and hibiscus for starters, then we had our choice of Fairytale Pumpkin Soup or Hopper Shrimp Risotto. For the main course, we had Lock Duart Salmon and Spiced Local Lamb Loin, and for the dessert, we had Toasted Vanilla Angel Food Cake with strawberries and vanilla ice cream and Crisp Filo Wrapped Chocolate Dumplings with tarragon ice cream and arbequina olive oil! Yum!
I met some great people and am looking forward to the meetings tomorrow. It will be interesting to find out how these companies use the technology that we use and how we can better use it ourselves. Well, I guess I’ll close for now and go to bed while eating the dark chocolate-dipped and dusted almonds they gave me for my “turn-down” snack. 🙂
