Checking In

A catch-all, catch-up post

There are 1,133 posts filed in Checking In (this is page 32 of 114).

Sniffling

Been a busy, fun weekend but I’m beat. I’ve had a cold for the past few weeks and it’s really starting to become a drag.

I spent some time Saturday working on my satellite dish. I also helped host a playdate for my son and his friend. Then I leaf-blowed the leaves in the back yard.

Later, we went to Raleigh’s Winterfest celebrations last evening. We had fun, even the kids. Today we went for a hike at Falls Lake. It was a short-ish hike but Kelly and I felt worn out afterwards. It seemed much more vigorous than we expected.

I’m on my way to bed soon in the hopes that tonight’s sleep refreshes me. It’s going to be a busy week with the city council swearing-in ceremony, a dentist appointment, a planning meeting, a park dedication, and a Raleigh CAC holiday party – all this week. Oh, and I have some work mixed in there as well!

In Pittsburgh

I’m in Pittsburgh this morning for two days of meet-and-greets and training with my new employer. Looking forward to it.

The travel wasn’t bad at all, either, considering it was the last day of the Thanksgiving holiday. My fellow travelers were all in good spirits and the planes arrived on time.

I hope I get a chance to look around this evening to explore a bit more. It’s rainy this morning so that isn’t ideal but I’ll sneak in a little tourist time if I can.

Thanksgiving, ice skating, symphony

The Turner/Hunter clan

Wow. What an action-packed few days we’ve had here.

Wednesday the kids were out of school so I had to figure out something fun to do with them. The weather was still warm (near 70, if I recall) and Travis wanted to go to the store to look at Legos. Rather than get in a car and drive there, I decided the family would bike there instead. The North Hills Target is about 6 miles from here via the greenway, so we hopped on our bikes and pedaled our way there and back, enjoying a smoothie after our window-shopping. That’s 12 miles of biking and a whole lot of fun!

Thursday was Thanksgiving, of course. Travis and I had started dismantling our garden Wednesday evening, so Thursday morning we finished the job. All the dying or dead plants were pulled up, the wire fencing that supported them was rolled up, the ground raked, and a weed-blocking cover placed over the garden. It was some work to clear it out but it was so satisfying to get it done!
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Parade and Pullen

Posing after the parade


Wow, what a day! As a volunteer and boardmember with Mordecai Historic Park, I was offered the opportunity to march in today’s Raleigh Christmas Parade. This is the second year I was offered this opportunity but through a scheduling snafu Mordecai missed out on the parade. I had gotten the whole family excited about it then only to be disappointed. We were determined not to miss our parade chance this year and fortunately we were not disappointed.

We got to Mordecai around 8 AM, about 30 minutes before we were due to line up for the parade. Having gotten our costumes a week before, we were all decked out in 19th century clothes (though the timeframes varied considerably). We met the park staff and other volunteers who were participating and boarded the Raleigh Trolley for the parade.
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Downtown wildlife

Early Monday morning, Kelly and I were awakened by the sound of a critter squealing outside our bedroom. This was followed by two excited hoots from a barred owl that apparently just scooped up a late night snack (a rabbit, in my guess).

That same morning my neighbor told me of being awakened by his dog barking wildly at something behind his home. My neighbor looked to find three deer (a doe and two fawns) standing in Lions Park.

It’s still amazing to me to live so close to downtown Raleigh and still be so close to wildlife.

Landed!

I accepted a contracting offer with a local firm today. I’m excited about the work, the people, and the schedule seems perfect!

I’m angling to begin work on Wednesday but that might be a bit optimistic with the paperwork and other stuff. Regardless of exactly when my new job begins, I’m happy to be rejoining the workforce and looking forward to solving my new challenges!

Job offer!

I got a job offer today and it’s a good one! The work is interesting, I like the people I’d be working with, and the company seems to be truly supportive of its employees.

The only reason I didn’t jump right on it today and accept it is that there are three other interesting opportunities that I’m also pursuing, some of which still have interviews pending. Each offers something unique from the others. Each has its advantages. The two I’ve interviewed with so far seem to be very interested in what I can do, and I expect a good talk tomorrow with the third firm.
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The family’s back together

It had been a challenging week for me, with the uncertainty of being unemployed and having Kelly gone all week for her work. I was feeling pretty lonely. I was happy to see Kelly again Thursday night, though, and by Friday we were our usual happy selves (with the exception of Travis, who left school early with a mild fever).

Saturday morning, Kelly took Travis to his piano lesson while I got ready for the Strickland Road Park Dedication at noon. Kelly took the kids to Hallie’s haircut while I was at the park. Afterward we went to Conn’s fall carnival.
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Off the caffeine again

Remember my love-hate relationship with coffee? I decided to become a caffeine underachiever again and stick with decaf after I read how caffeine greatly inhibits REM sleep stages. Being a lucid dreamer (or at least, trying to be), I value REM sleep because thats where lucid dreaming takes place.

It’s not as if I’ve had lots of caffeine lately. About 1/3 of the coffee beans I had been grinding have been caffeinated. Even that little amount provided a strong addiction, enough so that when I cut it down to about 1/10th this week I had a few days of unpleasant headaches. By the third morning, though, I was fine without it.
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Drama-filled day

What a day filled with many events! On my dog walk this morning, I found a neighbor’s wallet where it was lying in the street and reunited it with its owner. I found out later that it fortunately had only been lost, not stolen.

Then at 11 I went over to an elderly neighbor’s home to discuss ways of making her home safer from some trespassing teenagers who have been harassing her lately. Together with her sons, other concerned neighbors, and our community officer, we brainstormed ways to keep this from happening again. She is a very sweet woman and expressed tremendous gratitude for my offering to help. To me it’s nothing. That’s what neighbors are for.
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