My Son at the Office

My son has been asking me ever since we returned when I was going to take him to work with me. This was a very critical thing for him and he wouldn’t stop asking. In previous years I had taken both my son and daughter to work with me on several occasions. Most of those occasions were on the weekend and I was always amazed how the two of them stay occupied. I have never had the most “glamorous” job in fact the offices where I have worked have been very ordinary.

The offices may have been ordinary but my children made the most of the “ordinary” environment. They took great pleasure in drawing on the whiteboard I had in one of my previous offices and this must have stayed with them as they asked if I had a whiteboard in my current office. I don’t have a whiteboard in my current office but this didn’t stop both my children from wanting to go to work with me.

This morning I was extremely tired and decided I was better served taking an hour extra of sleep instead of making my way to the gym. Yesterday I discovered that there is a marathon in October located in the city of Long Beach, California. The National Council’s Conference was in Long Beach at the end of June and ever since that Conference I realized Long Beach is a very “neat” city.

Running a marathon in this city would be very much like San Diego in terms of weather and according to the course description there isn’t much of an elevation change during the 26.2 miles. The only issue is the marathon will be held on our anniversary weekend and I don’t know how keen my wife would be with me running a marathon on this particular marathon. I did ask my wife and sought her permission but I didn’t get the warm and “fuzzys”. This wasn’t due to the fact that the marathon is held on our anniversary but a cost issue. This is a very real concern because money is certainly an issue. It would be great to run the marathon and I will start training for it next week; however; if I don’t get to run in it so be it. I like having a goal and I do know what is will be no matter what.

Now that I had a goal in mind I started training a little harder yesterday which was a direct result of my being tired. I contemplated staying in bed much longer than usual but when my son entered the room I knew right then and there that I would be taking him to work with me. I asked my son and his eyes lit up. He got dressed so quickly and kept asking me when we were leaving.

After we ate breakfast we did depart for the office and my son had seemingly a “million” questions as we made the short drive to the office. He was concerned with the color of the building and when we pulled up he remarked, “oh your building is that color?” Yes, the building is a drab white which looks like many other office buildings. This office was a bit different from my previous offices since it wasn’t attached to a hotel/casino. I certainly have lost any “glitz” but this didn’t seem to matter to my son.

We entered the office and since it is a Friday there was only one other person in the office. My son who isn’t shy quickly introduced himself and moved toward my office. We entered my office and he was a bit under whelmed. I showed him a few things and then started what I needed to do. At first my son remarked he was bored but then his imagination started to take hold. He created his own golf, bowling, and baseball and basketball game in the hallway. I was once again amazed how he could make the very best of the situation. My son even tried his hand at a very old fishing video game. He was so happy to be there and kept himself occupied the entire time. Other than in the first few minutes my son was not bored at all and wanted to come back next Friday.

It truly was so cool to have my son at the office with me and witness his creativity. In the past I wasn’t genuine when I took my children to the office but now in recovery and knowing how fleeting life can be I love these moments. We stayed at the office much longer than I anticipated and that time did go by so quickly. It was such a great half day of work and a day I would take any day of the year.

Last night we had our first guests come over for dinner in our new residence. We still have many boxes to empty but my wife wanted our dear friends to come over for dinner. The kitchen area is just about complete so having our dear friends over for dinner was a possibility. We did have them over and we had a great time. Our families get along so well and these are very dear friends.

I have written about my complete lack of having artistic ability especially when it comes to drawing. Our dear friend has always joked about my inept Pictionary playing and brought the game over last night. I am a terrible player because I cannot draw. I have the picture in my head but something happens when I start moving my hands. Anyhow a remarkable turn of events happened when the team I was on won the game. I usually lose because I am a handicap to anyone on my team but for some reason the stars must have been all aligned last night. We not only won but won by a large margin. There were so many laughs (most at my ineptitude) but I was happy to provide the entertainment!!! It was a wonderful day from beginning to end.