Sunday, July 25, 2010

July 25, 2010 - Happy Belated Birthday Ma!

Hey there, hi there and hello there with a special happy birthday to my mom. Been saying that for 25 years now, that's crazy ... not all on a blog I suppose, but many renditions of the birthday song have occurred:) Also, a big congrats to cousin Chad and his wife Kristal on finding out they have a little one on the way. O yes, then another congratulations to Jenny's sister Kim and her husband Ryan on their first born ... what a busy week!!
It's been a couple weeks since the last blog, it's been one of those crazy times in life where work is full of craziness, school is gearing up for finals, soccer started up and volunteer work is in full swing. If I were to complain though, I don't think anyone would listen ... and heck, that's the way I like it anyways!! I think this picture of Caden somewhat represents how crazy it has been lately;)
Work has been full of 2011 business planning for the last few weeks and it came to a climax this last week with our final deliverable being turned in Thursday ... yahoo! O wait, now all the revisions are coming down the pipe. We turned in a couple project profiles that combines would save the company nearly $1,000,000 in their first year!!! My team did the competitor analysis, captured the customer desires, analyzed all of the cost benefits and put together a pretty compelling story in my eyes ... but my eyes don't make the decisions I guess, so keep your fingers crossed that they get accepted. Had some wonderful 1v1 sessions again this past week too,which is always the most rewarding part of the job. Just spending time with my team members to give them some feedback, listen to their thoughts and figure out ways we can improve ... lovin' some leadership!
School has been crazy busy as well with finals starting tomorrow eve. Bring on some Strategery ... yes, that's Strategery:) Wednesday I'm going to need some help as Finance has been kickin' my hiney over the last few weeks, but I'm confident I can at least pass. My favorite course though is this Social Enterprise gig. I've learned quite a bit in the hundreds of pages of casework I've read and already been able to apply it to my work with the not-for-profits I am a part of. I've got a big analysis due in a couple weeks, so after finals the work will continue on. In a few weeks I'll put an end to year number one at Emory and Entrepreneurship will start my final year of studies for the fall. Class on Tuesday and Thursday nights wouldn't be bad, but then add a full Saturday curriculum and this August could get a bit crazy!
Time outside of work and school has been great too! I had my first United Way Board of Directors meeting a week and a half ago where I was the youngest by about 10 or more years, but an enthusiastic bunch there was indeed. Truly the movers/shakers of the community, I just hope I'm able to make some sort of impact. It may have been accomplished as they asked me to take over the reigns of the volunteer outreach committee. My first meeting as chair was this past week and we shook things up a bit with a strategy session. Great ideas were had and more involvement from committee members is on the horizon, it's exciting indeed! Then we had our quarterly Literacy Alliance board meeting. Although not as well attended as I had hoped, we accomplished a good bit. It's always reassuring to hear the founders say how far we've come in the last couple of years, but hard work is on the road ahead with limited funding and board members being able to give less and less time. We'll keep on truckin' though!
Been spending some quality time with the lady and the pooch as well. Had a couple dates over the last couple weeks, one was to the Meritage where a wonderful meal was almost spoiled by me spilling/throwing water right in Jenny's lap. Fortunately, she's awesome and it didn't phase her too much ... I'm sure my face was a bit of a cherry shade. We've been playing some soccer together and even played the field at a softball tourney to benefit Easter Seals this past weekend. Today we dominated the yard and the 110 degree weather helped us lose about 5 pounds a piece, this weather is crazy.
Sounds like folks back home are having a bit more difficulty with Mother Nature, wishing everyone back home and especially in Manchester the best in their recovery from the torrential downpours. Also wishing Steph the best on her inaugural RAGBRAI ride across Iowa, what a studette! I need to get on calling some people back home, but until then ... I wish you all the best of weekends and weeks ahead!!
Alwayz,
Nate

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