Hello World

I have been a bad, bad blogger. I could list a million excuses, but I won't. :)

Work has been crazy busy as usual. I was reflecting on all of the acquitions recently. It really is very interesting to watch different cultures join and to watch how different people handle it. I took a behavioral interviewing class recently, and I think acquisitions could make some great interview questions to see how people reacted to diffrent things. I think it takes a year to even start to have the cultures blend together. We are coming up on a year. :)

I also recently was around several of the "Bond" crew. I really do enjoy the company of that group of people and miss the ones I don't get to see or talk to as much these days.

As for Morgan, we went to the Cure JM conference in Seattle in June. We learned a lot and met a lot of families who are also struggling with these Juvenile Dermatomyositis monster. It was great to see Morgan bond with a few of the kids - there was one even from Abu Dhabi! I hate that our family was thrust into this JM world, but I am so very thankful to have such a fabulous support group!

Morgan is at horse camp this week, and she gets to call home every night between 8 and 9. It is so great to hear her voice. She is really having a fantastic time. Unfortunately, her joints are really giving her fits, but she is not letting it ruin her time. I am so proud of the way she has grown over the last year. She is riding horses once a week. She is still on 16 pills and two infusion sessions a month, but she is doing much better than this time last year. It was hard to even think about her going to camp last year compared to this year. We had NO idea what this whole thing was about, and she hadn't gone tot the specialist or anything. Her head hurt so badly that she couldn't even enjoy camp and she just wanted to lie down all day. :( What a difference a year makes. I can't believe she will be in eighth grade! She is doing 2 classes of virtual school and 4 of in school this year.

Chris is starting college in less than a month! OMG where did the time go? Hard to believe the 7 year old I met when Mike and I were dating is now going to college. I know that the other three will be there before I know it. I am thankful that we have such a good time hanging out as a family, and it is so fun to watch them grow up. Can't wait to hear about his dorm experiences! :) His dorm has 8 guys in two person suites and they share a bathroom and study area. Seems like a neat set up.

Michael has become quite the orchestra guy and is doing great. He has been in a two week program the last few weeks and has really seemed to enjoy it. He has actually started asking more for a viola than for video games. Michael is reading all the Harry Potter books again. Speaking of, we all went to the midnight showing of hte last Harry Potter movie. I am not really a HP fan, but the kids wanted to go. Michael, Katie, and I held 11 seats for over 2 hours before everyone else got there. Mark came to the movie too, and he kept making me giggle as he related the characters to people we know.

Katie is really looking forward to her first year of high school. Sometimes I see her out of the corner of my eye and it is hard to register that it is really Katie. She is a delight to talk and is really coming into her own. She is quite the shopper and loves to go shopping any chance she gets. She and Chris got into a debate the other day about whether Obama's policies were right or wrong because the dollar is weaker than the euro. It was so odd to hear them talking about it. :)

Mike is traveling less than he used to which is nice. I am still traveling quite a bit, so our schedules are rather complicated to decipher. Thankfully, Outlook helps us keep the overlaps straight. I have really enjoyed the summer and I am dreading school starting back. :( It goes way too quickly. We do have our big London and Paris trip coming up. I am so excited and will definitely post updates here.

Well, that pretty much catches me up for a bit. I did the half marathon in Seattle (I jolked it), but I have been pretty mucha slacker in the weight and exercise category. I am in the process of changing that and will be back stronger than ever soon. :)