March was hard

Did you enter a time warp zone during March? I did. The month started off with a business trip to San Diego which coincided with the first week of a class I am teaching online. And then our grandson was born a month early, which was great for my daughter-in-law since he weighed a couple of pounds less than he would have at term. But it meant changing plans (several times) in order to be able to see him in his first week out in the big bright world. I was just getting back into the routine of work when there were all these important meetings at which I had to make a presentation and answer questions. I had to do this knowing that my colleague at work will be leaving soon and her position is critical to the success of the programs I was discussing at the important meetings. And now the second-highest ranked administrator of our university just died in a plane crash, so it's turmoil at work. I am just not used to the maelstrom of emotions. March away, March. I am ready for April. (But thank you, blog buddies, who wrote comments even while I was MIA.)

I'm back

Made a trip to California last weekend and saw our grandson. He's very strong, especially for a three-week-old under 8 pounds. The featured photo is a little fuzzy, but was one of the few taken with his eyes open. We saw a lot more of his mouth open. He is beginning to sleep through the night pretty well, but he is hungry in the mornings. We went out to eat a couple of times and he behaved very well indeed. I guess you don't really expect a granddad to say anything negative about his new grandson, do you?

To my blog buddies

Maybe it's my reaction to stress. I find myself closing up. I haven't posted a blog entry in a week because I didn't know what to say. I quit going to the music theory class; I really do not have the time to do the increasingly complex homework. I started teaching a biblical interpretation class in which one of the students is a successful engineer who is my age. I feel the pressure to do my best with that class.

At work, there are some positive opportunities on the horizon and I have major responsibilities in bringing about success. Am I up to the challenge? One of my co-workers may be leaving soon and I am already anxious about finding a replacement.

At church, I continue to teach Sunday school. We are sponsoring a team in the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life, and I am the team captain. I am chair of the Missions Committee and a member of the Worship Committee and the Sunday School Task Force and the adult handbell choir and the offering bearers team. And today I observed the person running the audio-visual controls during worship service because the two staff members who have been doing this have left the church and someone is going to have to do it.

This weekend Cat and I will go visit our new grandson. At my work, this trip will have been preceded by a major upgrade to the computer system that my office absolutely relies on. Cat works for accountants, so you know her office is busy. And here we go to California for a few days and try not to worry what is going on back at the office.

Well, I will bring back photos, of course. But I may be somewhat taciturn for a while. At least until I can reduce the stress.

Grandson

Our grandson is named for his uncle Hunter (killed in a car crash as a teenager). In Greek mythology, Orion was a famous hunter. So this boy has the name Orion Hunter. I call him Mr. OH. He has his mother's family's chin and his father's family's mouth, features which are hidden in this photo. (You'll just have to take my word for it.) We will see how the rest turns out. Although four weeks early, he weighed over 6 pounds at birth. I am told that he went a whole eight hours sleeping last night. Must be a rapid achiever.

New grandfather

I just got news that my oldest son and daughter-in-law had their first child two weeks early. That makes me a first-time grandpa. In another couple of hours, I will be leaving to spend a few days with them. As it turns out, I have been at a conference held about a three-hour drive south of where they live. So all the things I was supposed to do this weekend will just have to be done by someone else. That's grandpa logic, apparently.