Hey there, hi there and hello there to one and all. I have to first apologize, it's been well over two weeks since my last post so I really haven't had a chance to say hello:)
So, I hope all is well and instead of having a huge blog, I decided this would be a picture blog of the last few weeks ... so, here it goes.As you may have read, I moved in to the new pad a couple of weeks ago and after getting all the new flooring in, it was time for the next addition ... Jenny:)
So she and her mom mad the voyage down to Georgia from Iowa, all in one day for a 3am arrival, holy schnikes! But, there was one problem ... there wasn't enough room for Jenny because I already had a roommate, a friendly family of barn swallows in the front entrance. Let me paint you a picture and be warned, this story could be a bit over-the-top for you bird lovers out there ... imagine walking out of your front door to these cute little birdies and giving the ahhhh face which was quickly followed by the, o crap here come the parents to dive bomb your head face!
These little birds were relentless in protecting their kin and nobody was safe. It didn't matter if you were mowing around their pad or just standing on the inside of the front door, each encounter was met with a snarl and stare down. We had a contractor come in to fix the hot water heater and when I heard the doorbell, I knew he was in trouble. I sprinted to the front door only to find a fully grown man almost curled up in a ball after being physically abused by the mama and papa birds. Later that night I go to check on the buzzards but after I shut the door, I quickly heard a loud thud. An hour later, let's just say papa bird had laid down his life with such a great impact against the door that he flew back five feet from the impact!!
So, I decided to take matters into my own hands ... literally, with a hose and a stick. I mosey on outside with the hose, ready to fire and make it to about five feet from the lair when all of the sudden, the bombers come back and I had to lay down water cover all over the front lawn! This would be the point when the older folks in the neighborhood comment, "there goes the neighborhood."
I had to sprint inside and call for my backup, so Jenny joined me outside to lay down some water cover, but before that I had to prepare myself with protective head-gear which consisted of my cheesehead and a ski mask to protect my face. Let's just say the teamwork worked out like a charm and the family of birds has recently been seen setting up shop at the neighbor's house:)
It was great to have my folks, Blake, Jenny's parents and her little sister Boo here for a wondermous weekend of work, mostly painting though since the whole light pink home just wasn't flyin'! We pretty much knocked out the entire house in two days with some paint action, as you can see we went with a Diverse/Practical Beige with the Sable accent ... basically, imagine a Snack Pack with milk and dark chocolate, that was our inspiration:) We organized and re-organized nine times at least, including setting up the in-wall install for the home theatre system. It's still a bit of a mess with all the cords, but when I get that receiver back ... wow!
Jenny's dad and little sister arrived on Sunday afternoon where we unpacked Jenny's 1/4 of a cow into our new deep freezer which is inside of our freshly painted garage.
She definitely has a lot of stuff, but after Blake and I put our minds together on how to assemble her desk, more organization ensued! There were many breaks for delicious meals, time to play games on the new PS3 (love the BluRay) and chillaxin' with the family. It was absolutely amazing for all of them to take the time out to come and flip the house ... Dad and Barb, you'll be amazed to see the transformation from when you were down here about a month ago!As far as Aflac goes, it has just been amazing. We're right in the middle of new leadership training, Precision Leadership, and it has been quite interesting to put a new spin on how we lead our teams with various books and training modules all focused on behaviors. Our social community initiative is up and running and we're in the midst of naming it ... I think my suggestions might fly, get it, fly:)?
The team is workin' hard to make sure everything is prepped for business planning season, but in the midst of all the work they somehow decided that they would punk me, and punk me they did. Here's the setup: so the my boss' boss' admin set up a meeting for myself, my boss' boss and his boss (lots of s's I know) to go over a future state plan I created last Friday. I pleaded to get it moved, which looking back on it was an interesting career move, since everyone was going to be in town. But, no dice on moving the time. So, as I'm getting ready for the meeting Friday morning I put the finishing touches on our presentation when Haleigh emails in sick, which she had been feeling perfectly fine the day before ... should've been clue #1. Then, both Adam and Connie submitted their weekly updates about 3 hours before they normally do, clue #2. Then, I walk back to find the only person on the 6 man team working that morning was Jaime, which he informed me John and Alicia and the rest of the gang must be gettin' work done in meetings, solid excuse, but still a lie.
So, I head off to my meeting with Mike and Virgil thinking we're going to his office, but instead Mike veers me to a huge conference room, clue #37 I think, where when I open the door the lights are dimmed and for some reason, Eddie is prepped to take a picture. I think, "is he here to take pictures on how effectively I give a presentation, or am I in the wrong room?" Then I noticed all the other smiling faces and I back away from the door because it is then that I realize that Haleigh was indeed not out sick, but had organized a huge house warming party with some of the SIFErs and the team. Many people will say it is a myth, but it is true, for once I was speechless and had not one thing to say because I've never been that surprised! Even better, they all chipped in for an amazingly wondermous grill, of which I have used already! On top of that, John and Adam went out and grilled lunch, we had two cakes and Jenny and I even got matching aprons with our names on them ... ahhh. Needless to say, not much work was done the rest of the day, but it just goes to show you again that I have the best team at Aflac, hands down! Thanks all.
Well, to wrap up for this morning, we also had our final soccer game of the season. The first time I've made it to the playoffs with a co-ed team and we played great.
It was tied 2-2 at the end of regulation and then we had OT which was followed by a shootout that we lost, dissapointing, yet great to be a part of that awesome team! A few of which will join our summer kickball team, yes, kickball team:)And to top it all off, yesterday I received a call that I had been accepted into my dream MBA program at Emory University! So, if all the cards fall right at Aflac, I will be working and going to school this fall at the #2 evening MBA program in the country. Let's just say I think my "yahoo" carried throughout the building and I definitely did two heel clicks in mid-air.
Well, that's about it, but I just want to say thank you ... to everyone that helped me get back to school, to my workmates that keep me on my toes and then also to my family and friends for helping Jenny and I turn this corner to have one of the coolest pads to call our home:)
Thanks again, and until next time, have a fantacular Father's Day weekend Dad, Dan and the Grandpas!
Alwayz,
Nate
We've had a pretty amazing week leading up to the trip, including the Miss Georgia Pageant. We both got pretty dolled up with my new haircut, I call it the summer buzz:) The girls did absolutely fantastic and we crowned two very deserving ladies for the Outstanding Teen and Miss competition, I even got to present some of the awards!
In addition, I decided that it was time to trade in the ol' Honda Phantom for a vehicle that gets a bit better gas mileage ... the Honda Civic ... ok, I'm still thinking of a name for him. Next time I will unveil the picture which will also show me standing by our lawn mower, of which I used for the first time ... ever ... and didn't even kill myself:)
Aflac again went by pretty quick this week with a big focus on the naming of the social community. It's gone round and round from our PIC team to marketing back to IT and then back to marketing. We pulled in a couple of outside vendors to help out, and I think the name I picked is going to be the winner:) It has been an interesting lesson in corporate bureaucracy though, oh the red tape.
I know I briefly mentioned it last time, but again this weekend I did a heel click knowing I was fortunate enough to be accepted to such a great evening MBA program at Emory. Although I am still awaiting the nod from Aflac to be a part of their Tuition Assistance Program, I am excited about the possibilities. Next Sunday there is a brunch for all of the accepted students that Jenny and I are going to attend before flying off down to South America. Monday and Wednesday nights coming this fall are going to be pretty hairy, but the experience will be fantacular!
It was also a very productive Sunday around the house. We had to go get different blinds because our IKEA deal just didn't quite fit, but the new ones were custom cut and go in like a charm ... ok, it's more like ripping your shoulder out of place to screw them in, but they look good:) We also picked up some garage storage materials which finally afforded us the room to fit both vehicles in the garage, quite a sight I must say ... knowing that half of our curb is filled with trash too! We finalized the painting and I even hid all the cords to the TV before hanging up our big mirror in the living room. We still have a few things to get squared away, but it's all coming together.