Feb
14
TRAVEL UPDATE: my plane did not crash, I did not have to gnaw on my fellow passengers, and I had a fantastic time in DC. It was an amazing experience to walk the Mall and see the some of the sights firsthand, especially the Vietnam Memorial.
Also, my god, will you look at those blue skies? I left Seattle and it was snowing, I arrived in DC and it was like 70 degrees. Crazy.
The Boca Spa Night was super fun and I got to meet a bunch of really wonderful people and I don’t even think I gleeked on anyone or accidentally used the term “Dirty Sanchez” too much. (Aim low, that’s MY motto.) All in all, a great trip.
In my absence Dylan did not, sadly, manage to start sleeping through the night, but he did learn how to hold his bottle. He could sort of messily do it before but now he’s a milk-swigging pro — you just hand him the bottle and he takes care of the rest. I remember when we hit that stage with Riley and it was like, WHOO HOO! Best milestone ever! Plus, we’re officially off the break-the-bank, smelly-ass, pain-in-the-butt-to-mix formula and giving Dylan regular whole milk now, so clearly these are good times for lazy parents like myself.
Also, Dylan’s walking skills greatly improved from “Drunken Crippled Hobo” to “Drunken Yet Mostly Conscious Fraternity Student”. He can now stagger several feet at a time, mouth agape at the HOLY SHITTEDNESS of it all:
Speaking of momentous first steps, JB gave notice at Microsoft yesterday. He’s now working full time at a company he helped found with three other partners, developing a hardware product targeted towards healthcare facilities. They’ve been successful in gaining financing and their product has real potential, and while it’s a scary time to unhinge the golden handcuffs of the Borg, I couldn’t be more proud of him for pursuing his dream. Risk is a hard thing to manage, and he’s gone about this in the smartest way possible; I know he’ll be successful no matter what. On this Valentine’s Day, let it be known I love JB so very much for the amazing husband, father, and man he is. Congratulations, babe.
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Those are awesome photos of Dylan. He seems pretty amazed with himself. Way to go, little guy!
And I love him for his snow writing skills. Good luck with the business, I’m sure it will be a big success!
Happy V Day, and glad your home!
My husband quit his good paying job (with fantastic benefits) a couple of years ago to follow his bliss for less money and pretty much no benefits. We’ve had our scary moments (including this month), but he’s so much happier it’s ridiculous. This change has made our life together so much more rich, even if financially we’re less well off. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for his (and your) success.
Good luck to JB and y’all. Big step, big rewards.
Wow, this is an all-round impressive post what with all the walking and the quiting of Microsoft and the blue skies. Blue skies, must be a sign of good things to come! Congratulations to JB on his new adventure!
That is very exciting stuff.
Look at Dylan go!
Also congrats to JB!!
Happy V-day to you guys!
Glad you got back safely–so great to meet you at the Spa night! Good luck and congrats to JB!
OMG, he did it! Linda, this is so awesome. I want to know more! Everything! The whole story!
I’m proud of him, too. That is *fantastic*.
We moved to VT to a sort of scary situation so that Adam could pursue his dream, and though we’ve had our moments of unmitigated oh-fuck-what-have-we-done, he is SO much happier, and even when he’s not, he’s doing something he believes in and getting experience that will ensure his success anywhere.
The best part of marriage is sharing each other’s successes. JB is lucky to have you.
Big steps for everyone! Congrats and good luck.
The week before last it was 20 degrees and snowing mad. DC is quirky this time of year, but the nice days make it worthwhile. And spring? Oh, spring in DC is a rose that blooms slowly. I love it.
Dylan is such a little man now. And as for the new job sitch–way to go JB and I hope the giant scary step reaps all kinds of rewards for you. Congrats!
Congratulations to JB and to you. It’s hard to be brave but amazing when you can make things happen for yourself.
Good on JB! Hubby is stuck at a job he hates, with hours that we both hate, with benefits that we’re stuck with. He misses so much time with the kids it isn’t funny. This year he only has to work every 6th weekend instead of every other so he doesn’t miss as many games but still, a nine-to-fiver would be so nice.
Congrats JB! Congrats Dylan on the mad walking skills! Yea for babies who hold their own cups, husbands following their dreams and a few days away. So glad you had a great trip.
Plus he wears really shiny pants! How can he not succeed?
What lovely news for everyone! Good luck to your family and especially JB!
So cheesy … but I couldn’t help thinking of the parallels between Dylan walking and JB being so brave. I am rooting for you that both will be off and running in no time!
Congratulations to your sweet, brave boys! Huzzah!
Hey, big congratulations to JB! And best of wishes to your whole household with all your exciting transitions (baby to toddler, toddler to pre-K, you and JB’s career successes). It’s your year.
This is really gay but I am so proud of JB. So many people whine about how unhappy they are and don’t have the balls to get off their asses and change their situation. Dude has big balls. Awesome.
Delurking after a lonnng hiatus to say hooray for so many important, exciting milestones!!
The photo sequence of Dylan’s walk from JB to you was an incredible feat of toddler-to-baby documentation! He will feel so lucky to have a mom who took those shots in a couple decades (when he’s a real-life, hopefully only occasionally hammered college boy)!
The Vietnam memorial grabbed at my throat when I first saw it. Only Hiroshima (in the flesh) was more arresting of my involuntary muscle control…
Anyway, humongous congrats to JB for making the leap. It’s measured risks like his and his colleagues that will bring our economy out of the manure. J_Bravo, indeed!
Smirking from the rain-battered island of Alameda, CA –
RiseyP
When I was a kid, my dad and a handful of his colleagues left their plushy jobs at HP and started their own company. I spent about a decade barely seeing him ever, but when he was around, he was perpetually STOKED and that company eventually became one of the largest hard-drive manufacturers in the world. His decision changed a lot of lives forever, including mine.
So give JB a hearty FUCK YEAH! from me and tell him I fired off a couple AK rounds in honor today (which I actually did! even if I couldn’t even hit the paper).
Yeah for first steps! I swear I’ve seen JB on the Microsoft Campus! Any chance he worked in or around building 117? But no more… YOU GO, JB!! Everyone’s freaked out there anyway, so I’d say your timing is GOOD!
Carol
You’re home. I hate when I do that!
You didn’t say Dirty Sanchez, as I recall, you might have referenced “….owning a sex wedge/pillow….” a time or two, but I also loudly declared in the mani/pedi room that I have not been blessed with the return of my period since giving birth 13 months ago. So, you know … I clearly need to AIM EVEN LOWER. And possible start asking strangers on the street about that, since I’ve already started asking people who are strangers to me except for the fact that I READ THEIR BLOG, therefore we are total BFFs. (Sorry.)
GAH. I need a life outside of the keyboard.
Glad you got home with no more than halitosis to complain about. Great meeting you!!!
Congrats and Congrats! Sounds like cause for a celebration. And by celebration, I mean more cupcakes!
Such a great post with so very cool pictures of that lad. Love your description of him.
Congrats and good luck to JB! Dylan is too cute at the walking thing.
Wow, milestones all around! Best of luck to JB!!
JB will be much better off outside of Microsoft. It’s hard to say goodbye to the benefits, but you can make 2-3x the salary elsewhere in the area and anyway, the sheer joy will be its own reward.
Where did the last year go?! Dylan’s expression while taking those steps is priceless, he’s so stoked. :)
Congratulations to you and JB!! I’m in awe of anyone who strikes out on a new path. I hear there are big rewards for taking big risks, but am a big chicken myself. I think that anything geared toward the medical industry is a good place to be….. people will continue to get sick, even during scary economic times. That’s kinda morbid…. Anyway! Congratulations!!!
Congrats to JB! Good luck on the new venture. (and no longer being one of the “wage slaves.”) Now Microsoft will only “lay-off” 4,999 people, ’cause JB left for freer, greener, more rewarding pastures. Let’s face it, MS has at least 5000 people who need to lose their jobs. I can name several! Let’s hope MS comes to JB in a while and begs him to come back, and he can say with a smile on his face…..”thanks, but no thanks. I love what I’m doing now!”
The second picture looks like Dylan’s doing on hell of a baby Godzilla impression. RAWR!
I also love Riley’s complete and total “whev” ‘tude toward Dylan’s trek across the room.
Congrats to JB, I hope he’s nothing but successful!
“unhinge the golden handcuffs of the Borg” – I know *exactly* what this means. My hubby, too, started working for a smaller company and it was scary financially but things are good now- nowhere near the money as before but stresslevel is down and happiness up so it was a good thing.
Props to your guy for a bold move! And to you for being supportive!
yay JB and Dylan!!!!! Congrats to both for huge milestones.
WOW, congratulations and good luck to JB!
Dylan is gorgeous! What an awesome milestone…
It was so great meeting you! And Dylan is freaking ADORABLE. I want to nom those cheeks!
The testosterone is RIPE at the Sundry Home.
JB, you’re a rock star.
The kid-almost-walking is great!
And I’ll pile on to the JB-congrats. I was totally enslaved by the Golden Handcuffs (salary but especially benefits) and it took me 3 years to figure out a way to quit, but I finally did and I feel like a weight has been lifted. So many more options open now.
p.s. Riley’s not even the least bit impressed at his brother’s newfound near-walking skills, Ha!!
it was awesome meeting you at the BOCA event!
and seriously, i want to eat dylan’s cheeks. sooooooo cute!
Congrats to JB and Dylan, you must be so proud! I admire you and your husband for all of your accomplishments, and appreciate the fact that you share your lives so willingly with all of us voyeurs out here :)
My husband left a very comfy situation to start a business, and then the economy shit the bed. It wasn’t supposed to happen that way. I hope you and JB always are glad he made the leap. I have even more respect for entrepreneurs now, because I’m starting to think we’re just not cut out for the risk.
Congrats to all of you on the calculated risk decision. I’m glad for you and hope it will turn out wonderfully. But even more, I am happy to see two more people turn away from the collective hysteria and financial terror that is being sold to us all. There are people struggling–I don’t wish to minimize that at all. But I think the hyping of it is almost worse than the reality of it. It’s self-perpetuating. So YAY for you guys. Go forth and prosper, and spread some of that confidence and positive thinking around.
Holy shit! That is so fucking awesome! JB totally deserves a wicked sloppy hummer for this one. (from you, not me, because after rereading this it kind of sounds a little like I’m felating him) Tell him that he rocks, and I wish him the best, and I totally got his back if Microsoft tries to pull any evil corporation shit. (I gots the ninja skills yo)
Wow! Congratulations JB (and you)! Exciting stuff – way to break from the Borg – resistance was NOT futile. Oh god, I’ve exposed my total geekiness again.
My mom was here all weekend and I regret to say that the term “Dirty Sanchez” DID come up. Oy.
Happy (belated) Valentine’s and good luck to JB on his new enterprise. As well, congratulations to the both of you on all of Dylan’s new milestones. The pictures are awesome!