Hibernation

It is time for this bear that has overslept to wake up for the summer.  After four months since my last post, I am overdue for getting back to writing my blog.  With a subtitle of “seeking balance in the adventure of life”, it is ironic that the reason this blog has gone silent is I lost my balance.

As one of my co-workers jokingly said, “Work-Life Balance? Work is our life!”  And for the past four months it has been with an average workweek of 58 hours a week, two weeks of 80 plus hours, and a period of 19 straight days without a day off.  Building a replacement for the Space Shuttle is hard work and we have had the perfect storm of completing key milestones for the current phase of the program while proposing for the next phase. If you want to see the latest news we have finally made it on to Facebook where we have some good videos posted (https://www.facebook.com/SNCspacesystems).

The only thing that has kept me sane during that period is I still have managed to keep exercising.  I will share more on that in later posts because I believe that has been a key to staying healthy in the face of long work hours and stress so maintaining a balance in that aspect of life has been critical.

One area I have not done as well, has been at home.  When your kids ask seriously every weekend if you are going to have to work and saying good night or good morning to them becomes a special treat, then you have fallen way out of balance.  Fortunately my wife has used this period as her canonization and now is known as Saint Sally for her patience with my Dream Chasing.

Finally, the last area that has suffered is my work with the community.  There was no Lavaman Triathlon to raise funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society this year (and seeing all of the notes from my friends who did participate was torture).  Involvement in my church, my mentoring of college students through the Sigma Chi Horizons program, and this blog all suffered as further examples.

A few years ago, Sally and I bought a whimsical piece of art that literally was supposed to remind us that life is a balance.  Sadly when I went to find it in the house, it had been moved so I had not only lost my balance, but my reminder to not do that as well.  With Sally’s help I found it (literally and figuratively) and took a photo of it below.  I also moved it to the front hallway of the house to remind me to not lose my balance again.  I hope everyone had a great Friday!