It was a long week, a marathon week of marathon days. A good week, and a sad week. New boss who seems so far to be made of awesome, and the death of my uncle unexpectedly. I think it’s the nature of my job now that I don’t feel like I can say much about it. A funny effect management has had on me. The things I’m learning are just not best shared in the moment, perhaps better saved for later recollections some other time, maybe. That said, the growth continues unabated. Some days I feel I’ve learned more than others, most of the time I think I’m doing alright, sometimes I think I have a long, long ways to go. Both are, of course, true.

My uncle’s passing was a surprise. He was looking a little more fragile this summer, but not that fragile. He had a stroke, the clot caught in the back of his brain, paralyzing him except for his eyes & brain — he was cognizant, and could blink in recognition, but was otherwise immobile. He was hooked up to a respirator that breathed for him. He asked to have it removed after he’d had a chance to say his good-byes, it was removed, and the inevitable took it’s course. No one wants to have anyone they love die, but between this and living on for another ten years having stroke after stroke after heart attack after stroke… I think perhaps there is one option that’s more pleasant than the other.

He was a tremendously funny man. A professor of criminology, I remember him explaining to my parents how college students play the game ‘Quarters’ and being horrified when he asked me if I knew of the game. I did, of course, and was terrible at it and usually just watched, wondering why anyone needed to create a game to drink. He also introduced my parents to some drink made with peach schnapps (or was it peppermint?), and when his son-in-law mentioned something about a drink with peach schnapps and vodka, my mother said, “Wodka? Wodka makes me womit!” in a funny voice. I suspect she knows more than she’s letting on, sometimes. :) My uncle loved more than anything, it seemed, to learn and share what he’d learned. He was always telling us stories of conversations he’d had with students and things he learned from them, as well as generally from anywhere. He frequently started out discussions with, “So tell me what do you think of this? …” Sometimes he’d get around to, “Well, I’ll tell you what *I* think of it…” and sometimes it was enough to have the discussion taking place and he’d be happy. He was the first of many people I knew who shared my birthday (or rather, I guess I shared his). RIP, Uncle Leroy.

Obituatry in the The New Haven Register on March 25, 2012.

I got home, brought in the hummingbird feeders to wash and refill with fresh food. Upon returning the feeders to the deck, my little hummingbird friend flew up to me, told me in no uncertain terms to put his food down, then zoomed off to a distant tree to watch me go back inside. I didn’t seem him the rest of the day, but admittedly, I wasn’t sitting and looking out for him either, as there were things to be taken care of upon the return from our trip.

Sitting at the ocean this morning, I realized, we could have used another day or two there. Perhaps next time. It’s further away now than when I was in Olympia, and by the time we’ve stopped for lunch, it’s a respectable four to four and a half hours to get there. It used to be close enough for a day trip out (or night, as the case occasionally was) or a weekend away. There’s just enough time now spent traveling that it isn’t just a weekend trip… at least not as infrequently as we do it.

Perhaps we will get better at taking time. As Paul was noting, we work hard, and because we’re just doing what we need to do to do what we do, we don’t always realize that we need the break. But we do. Do-do-doo-doit-doo-doo.

So anyway, just because I don’t see Mr. Hummingbird every week, apparently doesn’t mean he doesn’t notice when I clean the feeder & provide fresh food. Dude’s a character, that one is…

Big week done. Another big week coming up, packed into four days. Naturally, I seem to have come down with a cold. Meh. Going to try to get all my sleep (for real!) and take it very easy today, at least. Took today off from level 2 gyro. First one I’ve missed & I’m kinda sad about that, but this also doesn’t feel like something to just push through. Sometimes you can push through a cold, sometimes you should just not. This feels like one of those latter times.

Paul just came down all dressed up to go out for a ride. He looks good all dressed up like a bicycle rider.

Time to go check on the last time the cat litter got changed — someone peed in the downstairs bathroom & I suspect it’s because a.) we have a kind of senile, confused old lady cat & b.) the litter boxes are not in the best condition… Bleck.

M2′s 9th birthday is Friday. I don’t know how that happened so fast.

I came downstairs for something, and saw out the window, a little chickadee, and then a lot of chickadees. I came into the rec room and there were a Whole Lot More Chickadeeees! And sparrows! Eating bugs in the leaf layer that we haven’t raked up yet from the maples. In our yard! I was afraid we didn’t have any little critters, but we do! and then there was this brilliant red streak flashing past and landing on a log — I didn’t realized pileated woodpeckers were that big! And at the very same time as the flock of chickadees, sparrows, and Woody, in swoops a flicker!

Best part of my day.

Back to the office for the first time in a week tomorrow. Ugh. My hours & sleep schedule ended up a little feral again. Monday morning will be not all that much fun, but is an excuse to get around to trying to reign in the creeping late nights.

We’re officially out of the storage unit now though. All our stuff, for the first time since around April of 2007, is out. All our stuff is in our new house. I don’t know how we fit all that stuff in that tiny house. I think a lot of what has come home should probably be donated. Discardia, baby, oh yeah. Actually, I’ve been pretty good with getting rid of a bunch of stuff. Now it’s just down to the hard stuff. Except for what will really, really not be hard.

Out front I saw a fat varied thrush and a smallish looking robin.

I may have bit off more than I can chew on something at work, but I think… It’s not that I can’t do it, I’ve just never done it and it’s a fairly ginormous recommendation for someone in my position to be making. The VP and Sr. Product manager leading the project are working together to figure out the other recommendation coming out of this initiative. I wish I had a buddy too. I think I have good resources that will be able to provide me with some guidance so I’m going to see what I can do and if i can’t get where I need to go because I don’t have visibility, I’ll have to (gah!) ask for help. Learning opportunity.

Watching Man, Woman, Wild. Missing half of it, so distracted by what’s on my mind and the cabin fever setting in with the snow. Oh. And it’s over. Time for the babies to go to bed, and then me to putter about a bit longer.

With the snow the last few days, I put out bird food on the deck. No one. This afternoon as I was shoveling our walk, I noticed two tiny footprints at the edge of the front step so I put another little bowl of food and warm water on the front step. I peeked out the window a while later and had two robins. I think they’ll be back tomorrow. I hung the seed bird feeder in front of the kitchen window instead of out the back window. The food is also still on the deck, and the front step.

I think until the little hummingbird, the only bird I’d seen in our yard since we moved was a dead varied thrush that we buried out in the only small bush in the back yard. I’m glad to see some birds. There have been a few squirrels too, but not many. I think better landscaping will help. The fellow that was the landlord here before we bought the house let the ivy go kinda crazy and then round-upped the place. There is almost no underbrush. I think we might want to have someone come out and help us with what to do with the yard. It’s big and has awesome potential.

Up too late. Again. Listening to Mark Lanegan. Again. So beautiful. If I lived alone, I’d play along, but I don’t and everyone is asleep & that’s ok because I would probably more think about it and not quite get around to doing it. Maybe. But it sounds like a good idea, like so many things this time of night. Gardening, going for a bike ride, candle lit bath, playing one of my guitars, singing…

Time to suck it up and go to bed though.

If you need more information before contacting your critter, http://sopastrike.com/strike/.

Thanks.