I am the 80's

Alright, I didn't get as high a score as I should have due to rushing through, as well as a few spelling mistakes that the test creater dinged me for.

I fully expect Shell to get a perfect score.

Tis the season?

....for being really busy at work. You'd think I was in retail trying to handle holiday shoppers with the hours I've been working. But no, I'm just working a really big, really out of whack project, leading a team with seven guys local and four more in India. One problem with a booming market is that, not only is the labor pool drying up, but the overall quality of labor is dropping. Listen to me, I sound like some kind of economist. Basically, companies are figuring out they need to pay well to hold on to their strong people - which has certainly been good for me this year. Problem is, there's too much work for just the good people. So, companies are now competing for people that no one would consider hiring a couple of years ago. It's tough because it is effecting all the technical disciplines. Which means, that guys like me are working extra to recover from some of the damage that others are inflicting. But, at least it's paying me more than I ever thought I'd be making, so I'll make due.

It's been busy on the home front as well. Tis also the season for Christmas parties and the kids have also had birthday parties scattered along as well. The tornado was supposed to have a Christmas program on Thursday night and I was hoping to have a video link to share. But, after having everything set up and ready to record, the boy got scared and Momma had to get him from the stage. We think Momma probably should have stayed longer with him back stage before they went on. The show got started late and, even though his class was first, he was away for a while. He'd already been at school all day and doesn't like to be away from Momma after he's had a full day at school. Better luck next year.
Finally, we did manage to get our annual Christmas card and letter sent out to friends and family this week and the response has been favorable. For anyone who's missed it, here is our Christmas greeting for the rest of the web. I hope everyone else is having a good holiday season.

Middle of the Week

Well, it's the middle of the week. I just checked in to see how Shell is doing and figured I'd put up a quickie, myself.
Work continues to be busy and I've finally succumbed and started working OT. I'm still going home from work at the end to the day farther behind than when I arrived in the morning. That's not going to change soon. I'll probably be working extra at least through the end of the year.
And, more bad news - well, relatively anyway. I took the Princess to her Karate tournament where she had the potential to win a trophy if she won two rounds. She managed to win her first with a come from behind victory. In the second round, it was pretty evenly matched, but she lost to the other girl by one point.
The princess does not like to loose. She cried most of the way back home and I could not come up with anything to console her. She finally managed to settle down on her own and we continued to talk the rest of the way. I think she's pretty well over it, but it was still a tough thing for her.

Two posts in one week?

Well, I managed to find a few quiet moments this evening, so I figured I'd post and update. The holiday season is in full swing at our household, even though things don't officially kick off until tomorrow as the first Sunday of Advent. But, the shopping is finished, most of the gifts are wrapped, the tree is decorated and the lights are up outside (I'll try to get a picture in the next few days). We even managed to get the picture for our Christmas cards. Now all I need is to write the letter, get the cards ordered, and get this year's Christmas missive out to the friends and family.
Other than that, today's big adventure was taking all eight (yes, EIGHT) of my kids plus nieces and nephews for the annual Cousins Christmas Picture. Things were looking good until we tried to put the Tornado into the picture. Momma and I figured out too late that he hadn't had enough to eat in the morning and we didn't bring any milk for him on the way. He pretty much had a meltdown and it was a massive struggle to even get him to stay in the frame. I think the final shot has my arm in it or some such. But, at least it is done.