Pat's Journal

Better late than never

I haven't been feeling the urge to blog lately, but I feel I must, now that we've entered a new year. Here is a summary of what happened in 2009:

January - After some well-deserved time off for the holidays, I returned to China to continue the chemical plant startup. Due to the project schedule, I got to return to the U.S. a week earlier than planned. I stayed home from Jan. 17th until Feb. 6th, until Chinese New Year celebrations were over.

February - My final trip to China. I had two new colleagues join me on this trip who came to help with specific aspects of the project. It was fun having Mike and Mark helping me out and being able to show them around Shanghai. I returned to the U.S. on Feb. 28th, which was also my 51st birthday.

March - Still helping out China from home. Began college visits with son S with first campus visit to UW-Eau Claire. Later in the month Mom thought she was having heart problems and had herself admitted to the hospital in Milwaukee. I went to Milwaukee Mar. 27th-29th to see what I could do to help. S and Sharon visit UW-Stout in Menomonie.

April - More college visits with S during spring break. During the first week of the month we visited MSU-St. Cloud and U of M-Duluth. Mom's found to have low sodium levels. S takes ACT test, and decides to retake test in June. S starts working at Arby's, his first job. We celebrate Sharon's birthday.

May - I do more in-town project work. We buy airline tickets to visit Sharon's brother and his family in southern CA in July. I spent a bit of time scanning old negatives. I was called for and reported for jury duty, but was dismissed after one-half day. We celebrate S's 17th birthday.

June - I travel to Guin, Alabama for work for the first time. The family also made a trip to Milwaukee to help Mom remove some appliances from her house. We also took K to a Japanese language camp in northern Minnesota. She had a great time.

July - The family flies to San Diego to visit Sharon's brother Brian in Orange County. We went to Hollywood, Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, Catalina Island, and back to San Diego. I took more vacation at home after returning from California and worked on home projects.

August - Overloaded at work. I filled in for several people who were on vacation. Spent second half of the month on checkout in Guin, Alabama and worked 16 days in a row. Sharon had to replace broken sump pump at home while I was away due to heavy rains. The family celebrated K's 12th birthday while I was away.

September - School begins for the kids. Sharon spends a weekend in northern MN with her college friends. Work continues to be overwhelming. I bought a new printer for home.

October - My planned one-week vacation shrinks to one day because of heavy workload. Sharon has a medical procedure done (on my one day off). Son S applies to three colleges. We go see "Little House On The Prairie, the Musical" at the Ordway.

November - Purchased furniture for the home theater room in the basement, in addition to the audio equipment we've been adding piece-by-piece. Sharon and I go to see Steely Dan at Northrup Auditorium - excellent concert! Son S has a minor medical procedure. Thanksgiving is at Sharon's parents, but daughter K and I go to Milwaukee over Thanksgiving weekend. Sharon's brother B has a medical procedure and ends up staying because of complications.

December - Still overloaded at work, I spend two weeks in Decatur, Alabama on another checkout. This trip, however, puts me over 50,000 air miles for 2009, meaning I will be Gold Elite on Delta in 2010. A couple of my projects are cancelled, easing the workload. I get home on two weekends in order to play with the orchestra and a local church. Mom and my brother drive up from Milwaukee to spend Christmas with us. Sharon's brother is still in hospital at the end of the month. We go to see Avatar in 3-D at the MN Zoo's IMAX theater on New Year's Eve.

I started this post on 1/1/10, and finished it today (2/1/10), so I'm still not posting as frequently as I'd like. Work has slowed down considerably so maybe I'll do better in 2010. Tomorrow, a recap of January.

posted by pat @ 11:11 PM