Gimme Five!

If you followed the news this past week, you couldn't help but pick up on stories that suggested the added importance -- or perhaps luck -- associated with the arrival of this particular date: 07-07-07. For reasons I still haven't really understood, July 7th became one of the most sought after dates in recent memory for people planning weddings. ESPN had a lot of fun suggesting that there was some additional importance with the date, finding strange and wonderful links to fate and/or luck (Something about a player with the uniform number 7 getting a clutch hit in the 7th inning to drive in a run that made the score 4-3... yes, totalling 7 combined runs!). I could probably spend a huge amount of time dismissing this need to hand over an element of luck to ballgames, marriages, and whatever other life events occur.

For OUR family, however, this date took on added importance in a very REAL way: the 5th birthday of our daughter. For us, July 7th meant that Su has completed 5 calendar years of living, loving, and learning on this planet. No more kiddie parties watching a toddler smear cake and drool. This is a young lady we're now watching grow up right before our eyes. Beautiful, funny, intelligent, and continuing on toward greatness: in the form of whatever she chooses to be in life.

And July 7th also meant another blistering hot day for a party. Family and a few friends came by to celebrate with Su and share in a day of food, beverages, music, and chatter. Pizza from Taylor Street was a huge hit. And the near-90 degree temperatures assured that coolers filled with water, soda, and brews would not go to waste.

Su had so much fun. Between the heat and the activities, this little girl was tuckered out beyond belief and went to bed with a smile that spelled out the obvious: She had a wonderful time. A very REAL birthday celebrated on a very REAL day. No luck. No hocus-pocus.

Happy Birthday, Su!

The Swedish Thing

This past week brought the return of the annual Swedish Days in Geneva. For reasons I have not quite entirely figured out, there seems to be a lot of hype surrounding this event in the downtown area. The typical selection of food vendors, tents with wares being displayed, info booths, people walking dogs, and the carnival madness, blaring the latest kid-friendly rap hits.

I certainly don't have anything against festivals that bring out the community spirit. It's a great opportunity to walk around and get to know your neighbors. Well, at least that was the case when we lived in Winfied. Their annual Good Old Days celebration was a smaller, sweatier version of Swedish Days, but more home spirit. You never knew who you might run into at the beer tent. But Geneva is an entirely different animal.

Don't get me wrong -- Geneva is a beautiful city. The river location makes it especially quaint. Yes, it's high priced. And yes, the almost-famous shopping along Third is for those with a lot more money, a stonger need for purchasing baskets, fashion, or trendy dining. But you can almost push that all aside and enjoy the picture-perfect setting -- if you have enough cash in your wallet to stay long.

But unlike Winfield and other smaller local festivals, you don't usually run into people you know. For some reason, people will travel a long way to come to this event -- as well as others in Geneva (Festival of the Vine and the Christmas Holiday Walk). What this means is that you tend to be more alone in the crowd. Unless you are a neighbor to one of the $800K homes nearby, you're not likely to be sharing any home-grown spirit here.

So what's left? A little pizza, some soda, some walking around, face painting (inset shown--Su with ladybug) and a chance to play on the fire engine.

Employment comes knocking (or Winds of change)

So why the photo of the windmill? No real reason. Actually, this is just a nearby landmark that I've had the pleasure of observing almost every weekend when I go out for my Saturday morning long run. And I really just thought that this was a very cool picture I managed to take on an overcast day. My runs along the Fox River will take me through some beautiful sections of St. Charles, Geneva, and Batavia -- the site of this windmill. The scenery is peaceful and sometimes inspirational. And there were many weekends were I would spend the better part of a run pondering the next move in my career.

In some ways, I felt like I had exhausted almost all energy and hope in the recent months. Since the move to Iowa in early 2004, the career path has been somewhat rocky. While there have been good moments, most of the results have been very short of fulfilling. My 13-month stay at Allsteel (Muscatine, IA) was both educating and frustrating. With physical and mental health failing fast, we decided to return to Illinois and regroup. I reestablished my self-employment structure, picked up most of my old clients and worked at home for the next year. The early months were profitable, but a slowdown was to be coming. And the next move sort of dropped into my lap -- a position as Creative Director at Creative Graphic Solutions, in Aurora. After just a few short months, I was soon aware of financial issues with the parent company and the design studio. While I wasn't out of a job, efforts by ownership and sales to turn things around didn't produce the desired results and I was soon having to think ahead to my next move.

The end of 2006 brought about a whirlwind set of circumstances. I interviewed out in Des Moines for a position as Creative Director for one of the top companies in the area (as mentioned in earlier postings). I was offered the position before the Christmas holiday season. But we ended up walking away from that offer at the start of January. As the 2007 year progressed, I was often left wondering if I had made the right decision in passing up on that position. The studio was failing and I didn't know what would come next.

I wasn't even sure I wanted to remain in this field. Years of churning out design work, branding, billing, estimates, in addition to the worry and the frustration over the lack of a career progression (no "ladder"), no raises, no paid vacation or holidays (for the self-employment years), and just wondering if perhaps I needed to look into something entirely new to inspire me. I was contemplating possibly a career coach. Maybe a mid-life school effort to change careers. But where would I find the time or money? Ugh.

I took a chance and threw a few resumes out to the world. There were not many opportunities out there that seemed worth pursuing. And the best descriptions were quite a distance away. Some out of state (again). Some just an unreasonable distance to drive (about 1.5 hours each way). Did I really want to spend 3-4 hours a day in a car for some unsatisfying corporate gig just to make a decent salary?

The answer arrived about 1 month ago in the form of a phone call from Coventry Health Care in Downers Grove. I had sent a resume out on a Friday afternoon for the position of Manager of Communications. On Monday morning, they came knocking. The first interview was a great success and I was really impressed with the company and the expectations of the role. But more important, I was extremely excited about the people. This was not an ordinary corporate setting. Some sort of intangible quality set them apart early. This was evident in my face-to-face with the Director of Communications. I was pretty sure things went well. And a couple of days later, I was called back for the 2nd round of interviews. I was no less impressed after that exchange. And just as excited about the possibilities. A day later, I received a call that an offer was being constructed and to let them know if anything were to change in my job situation. That afternoon, the verbal offer was in, followed by the actual offer package in the mail the next day. I was very happy with all of the components being offered and accepted a day later.

I started my new position 2 full weeks ago. I have never been more happy with a career decision. In my new role, I achieve an almost perfect balance of design and management. I oversee branding and design, handle the communications needs (presentations, print, advertising, events, marketing, etc.), and also benefit from one aspect not found in most of the positions I've pursued -- an actual balance of work and family. No kidding. You mean we actually get treated as professionals? We can do our job and then go home at a reasonable hour? I can still catch my running club on Wednesday nights?

I have a long drive now. Not terrible, but not like the last several years. But I drive home with a very fulfilling feeling of accomplishment and a strong suspicion that just maybe this might be "home" for me.

Stay tuned.

Let's play two!

Wow. Has it really been 1 whole month since my last posting? Apparently. There have been so many changes over the last weeks and I never really knew where to start with the updates. New employment for starters. But that's a story for another posting. For now, I just wanted to concentrate on Su's recent accomplishment -- finishing up her 2-month instructional t-ball classes.

Even last summer, it was very evident to me that Su could hit. Last July, we purchased a t-ball set, complete with small wooden bat. And with just a little guidance on the correct batting stance, Su was pounding the ball. But would she want to participate in an actual class to learn about the game of baseball? We signed her up to see what she would think.

She loved it. The class was part of the Geneva Park District and was carried out by an outstanding organization called All Star Sports Instruction. Coach Derek created this instructional company and was also Su's coach for t-ball (Coach Derek shown below, with Su's famous glasses). He was amazing. Great skills as a teacher and made the class fun for both kids and parents. Su had a blast. She learned about elephants and alligators (part of the teaching method), who's in the dugout (you-you-you... rapped to "Who Let the Dogs Out"), running to the right bases, scoring a run, and even the jargon -- telling the parents before the kids/parents game that they are "going down!"

The last week of class was indeed the game against the parents, where the kids could show off their skills. And it was so much fun. Su crushed the ball in her only at-bat and later scored a run. And Grandma and Grandpa Peltier were on hand to watch her play. Mom and Dad even got a chance to participate in the coaching drills (middle picture, above). Whee!

And after a fun day of running around in the sun, we capped the afternoon off with a lunch at the Geneva Diner, a walk along the Fox River, and a yummy chocolate brownie courtesy of Grandma and Grandpa.

Will there be more t-ball in the future? Maybe. But next up is soccer, also organized by the same great sports league. We'll see if Su wants to be the next Paul Konerko (her favorite White Sox player) or the next Pele (hmmm... maybe I'm showing my age with this pick).

Watch that pickle!

Take me to the river

The past weekend was my first experience running the Illinois River to River Relay in downstate Illinois (VERY downstate). The event is an 80-mile journey across the lower portion of the state, starting near the Mississippi River and winding through highways, hills, towns, and amazing, tree-filled beauty -- all the way to the Ohio River. Our team ("Anybody Seen the Start Line?") was assembled from members of the Fox River Trail Runners. There are 8 runners on a team and a total of 240 teams participating. Each runner ends up with 3 legs of this 24-section race. Team vans filled with runners shuttle through the course, dropping off the next runner into the transition area and picking up their weary companion just completing their section. (Team L to R: Mary, Joe, Cara, Mark, Jennifer, Mike, Greg, Kipp)

If you have an opportunity to browse through the actual website of the R2R race, you can view information describing the various sections and see elavation views detailing the hardships encountered. As RUNNER 6, I had the distinction of taking on the hardest elements of the this course (which by no means undermines the difficulty of the other sections). But RUNNER 6 gets presented with the 2 hardest hill-filled sections of the course, sandwiched around a flat, easy stretch. "Hills" doesn't quite describe it accurately. A quick look at my last leg (Section 22) shows very much a MOUNTAIN. At one point, it was over 1.5 miles of the steepest grade I have ever traveled by foot.

The provided graphic (taken from the R2R website) breaks out the 3 legs of my journey. Section 6 was a mix of steep hills and rolling highways, a long downward stretch, and an uphill finish -- 3.3 miles in all. The next leg, Section 14, was the "relief" in this day -- a 2.5 mile sprint to the finish (15:19). And just when the legs are telling you that there isn't much left in the tank, the final 3.8 mile portion of Section 22 just devastates the psyche. You climb and climb... and climb. And then you climb some more.

Fortunately, I was greeted by an excited and supporting team when pushing into the transition area for the baton handoff. And a nice, cold one soon followed. All that was left were 2 more sections being handled by my teammates, a team run to the finish line, and a walk uphill to the Ohio River for a photo opportunity.

Today, my quads still hurt. Going down the stairs is a struggle. My ribcage is seriously bruised (longer story -- and nothing to do with the actual "running" of the race), and I couldn't be happier about my experiences.

I can't wait until next year!

Alone again, naturally

I apologize to the very few of you who actually view this blog and probably wonder what happened after the last post. I hinted that employment change was coming 'round the bend and promised details to come.

The short of it is that the small design studio I was directing had a few too many financial problems to overcome. While I was keeping busy -- mostly with my own client work from previous self-employment -- there was not enough going on to sustain the overhead needed to keep the doors open. Had I realized just how bleak the view looked, I would have seriously reconsidered joining up last June. But, alas, I went into the change optimistic and enjoyed several months of solid and creative work.

Anyhow, I'm back to where I was a year ago -- sitting at home performing work for clients I've had for quite some time. A bad thing? Not entirely. I appreciate the relationships with my clients. I enjoy most of the work. And I truly need the income. Not many other ideal choices have been presented to me over recent months (okay, disregard the Des Moines experience earlier in the year...). Long commutes. Low pay. Wrong job descriptions.

My office is now back in full production mode, only I've moved up from the basement and ended up on the 2nd floor with an actual window. A new mac (shown), updated software, and the arrival of spring hopefully present a sign of things to come.

Scary? Hell, yes. Unlike when I first set up my business at the start of 2000, the circumstances are very different. Tighter financial picture. Uncertain work flow. It will be an interesting ride.

Where's that confounded bridge?

So just why does this Thursday morning feel like the last few Thursday mornings? Probably because I still have the same cough as I did almost 4 weeks ago. Ugh! Time to get healthy.

A lot to report on, but most will wait until probably the next blog. More changes in the employment picture. More uncertain circumstances. Is it too late to change career paths? At my ripe "old" age, can I entirely reinvent myself?

Onward. We were fortunate to have a nice break in the weather. After what seemed like ages of freezing cold temperatures and high winds, spring has shown itself and given a nice teaser on what's to come more regularly. We even reached the 70 degree mark 2 days ago. This splendid release of springtime air allowed us to finally get out of the house for a while and do a walkabout last weekend. A fun trip to the Fox River (see photo) was the result. Su enjoyed the hike and the playground. Anita and I were just happy to be outside for a while.

Stay tuned. More detail to come on the employment picture. Creative Graphic Solutions is dead. The doors are closing soon. Long live the prospect of self-employment. (Sigh...)