It has been 60 days since I left Sonos for iRobot and the last day on which I can exercise my vested stock options. Despite my reasons for leaving, I am still a huge fan of the company and of the people there. This investment in Sonos stock will either cost us the equivalent of a summer vacation home or produce enough proceeds to send the next three generations of Calabria children to college.
Despite the power outage, Jeanine was able to prepare a nice meal which we enjoyed by candlelight. The absence of TV, video games, and on-line computers throughout the evening, represented a nice departure from our usual routine. The next time I feel like the family is getting too disconnected by all our electronic distractions (I am as guilty as anyone in this regard), I must remember that our circuit breaker box has a single switch that offers a solution and the ability to reproduce the conditions we enjoyed this evening.
The final leg of my evening commute was delayed while crews removed a fallen tree from the road leading to our neighborhood. In addition to blocking the road, the tree took down electricity, telephone, and cable/internet services to our home for the entire evening. High winds accompanying a brief but intense thunderstorm no doubt caused the incident.
While parked at a soccer field where I was watching Maya play over the weekend, my car was side swiped by another car. Both doors and the rear quarter panel are going to need metal and paint work. Fortunately, the guilty party left a note, was very apologetic and intends to make things right. Still the hassle of getting this work done could not come at a more inconvenient time. I choose, however, to look at the bright side; far better to sustain car damage in this fashion rather than in a collision with precious cargo on board.
Nicolai returned from his Coming of Age vision quest which took place in New Hampshire over the weekend. Youth in our church our encouraged to develop their own understanding of spirituality and to create a personal credo reflecting their personal religious beliefs. Nicolai chose to spend a portion of his 6 hour solo adventure perched in a tree looking out across a beautiful lake. When he decided to climb even higher the branch he was standing on gave way and he fell 20 feet to the ground. Miraculously he walked away from what could have been a life ending fall with nothing more than minor abrasions. He informs me that his credo will start with the sentence; There is nothing like a brush with death to help you appreciate life. I believe that things happen for a reason and I hope Nicolai will learn a powerful lesson from this experience that will inform wiser choices in the future.
On a less dramatic note my soccer team produced a 2-1 win over the first place team in our division. I put several shots on net but each seemed to find the goalie and one powerful blast that rattled the cross bar but did not go in. It was a very physical game and I was fortunate to get the better end of several hard collisions and finished the game with no injuries.
Each week for almost two years Jeanine has met with this group of writers to hone her skills and share feedback and encouragement. This evening husbands were invited to join their wives at a delightful dinner party (which may, hint, hint, become an annual event). Concord has a long tradition of producing influential writers and this group may well contain the next famous author from our area. I have never thought of myself as a writer, but it occurs to me on the five year anniversary of this blog, that I have made some 3,832 posts which would roughly translate to a 300,000 word book. Hmmm.
Maya overcame her reluctance to head the ball and did so several times in her soccer match this morning. This in addition to scoring a goal which contributed to her team’s 4-3 victory. In the second photo she charges past an opponent and clears the ball with a powerful kick.
It has been some time since I have posted a photo of Kyle. Although he is running, lifting and most recently swimming, he has not fully recovered from his snow boarding injury and is not quite ready to play soccer full bore. His recent tour of colleges is a painful reminder that he will be leaving us next year and I must admit that I am already starting to dread that day. Meanwhile, Nicolai is off to the woods somewhere in Hew Hampshire with his church youth group on a vision quest. He is reaching the end of a year long Coming of Age program during which he explores his spirituality and develops a personal credo which he will share in front of the entire congregation in two weeks time.
The women of Mattison Dr. gathered at our home before leaving for Ladies Night Out. I have become good at being a little pushy when in pursuit of a photographic opportunity that will not soon present itself again.
On Wednesday mornings at iRobot we have a brief stand up meeting for the whole division called a huddle. It is a time we use to give brief presentations and introduce new employees. Today we honored Oscar, our VP of Operations, who last week became a US citizen. Born is Colombia, he is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet and has been instrumental in the recent success of the company.
As I left work today, I caught the tail end of a lovely sunset. I am averaging about 12 hours a day still and making good progress. The first 100 days are always the most insane in any new job, and I feel like I have really good traction now and am making good progress toward my goals.
Maya will graduate from the Willard School this year and each student is encouraged to submit a personal page that they create for inclusion in the yearbook. Maya spent hours going through 1000s of photos selecting those which she wanted to include in a photo collage. She chose images representing her family, friends, pets, and favorite activities including dance, soccer and music. Our little girl is growing up so fast and projects like this only serve to remind me how precious these years are.
Playing with only one sub, Nico’s team gave up an early 1-0 lead as Dorchester’s 6 man bench made the difference later in the game scoring three unanswered goals. My game this morning resulted in a 2-2 tie against Wayland. I made a nice run in the final minutes beating four defenders but my shot was just high and wide. I did deliver a nice cross in the first half which set up our opening goal.
I may have to add bronco riding to the list of Nicolai’s activities I published yesterday for I don’t believe jumping onto your opponent’s shoulder is a sanctioned part of playing soccer. I wish I could have nailed the focus but am glad to have the shot. Nicolai is now playing with the Concord Carlisle Division 1 Travel team and he remains very competitive on the field.