Huskers RULE!!!

So Keegan and I went to the Nebraska-Minnesota football game over the weekend, thanks to a friend of mine who was willing to sell me a couple of tickets :). Really we both had a pretty good time, though Keegan still doesn't really understand football, he was able to enjoy himself.

So here is the rundown. First parking sucks down there for a football game, it took us probably half an hour to find a place to park, and that was after asking a police man who was directing traffic where you could actually find parking. From the parking spot, it was a long walk to the stadium, but there was lots to see because there were a lot of tailgating people for both teams. It also happened to be homecoming for Minnesota (what the heck where they thinking?). So after the long walk to the stadium, and finally hooking up with the ticket supplier. So while the other guy and I are talking, Keegan is rolling down a small hill in front of Williams arena. We talked for 10-15 mins and Keegan just kept running up the hill and then rolling down and laughing hysterically, everyone else around us also got a pretty good laugh too.

After saying good buy to our supplier, who was sitting next to us during the game, Keegan and I went into the stadium, and then walked around for a little while to take a look around. The TCF Bank Stadium is pretty nice for watching a game, but for the most part, I wasn't all that impressed. They did have plenty of bathrooms, so I guess I should be happy about that part, but the whole stadium just kind of felt cheap, like the fact that the bleachers overhead are pretty much exposed to the concourse, and it just wasn't all that exciting along the line of decorations.

We finally went to our seats, and watched the marching band for a while before the game was starting, and that was kind of fun. I was pointing out to him on the big screen that we were close to that the band was making the block M, but you couldn't really tell from where we were sitting. Finally it got to kick off time, and we were able to make it half way through the first quarter (Nebraksa was already up by 10) when Keegan had to have a bathroom break. So we went and did that and got some snacks, and annoyed everyone in our row with the leaving and coming back etc, but hey... he is 4, give him a break ;).

From Keegan Nebraska game

We sat through the rest of the first half, and then went to go get water and stuff during half time, and by then Nebraska was already up 34-0, so it wasn't much of a game. Every time someone had a big play though Keegan would get excited and clap and stuff, so that was fun. We watch more of the marching band, and part of the third quarter before the Keester needed another bathroom break, so we did that and came back, but by then I could tell Keegan was ready to leave. So we finished off the third quarter and took off. I let Keegan ride on my shoulders the whole way back, and he was pretty much wiped out at that point, so it was no surprise that he actually fell asleep in the car on the way back up with Meema and Gpa's house.

We did carve pumpkins after I woke him up and we went in. We had a good time doing that too, and I think mine is the best :). We don't have pictures of them up yet, but probably some time after the halloween party.

Changes....

So, things are a-changing in our house lately.  The result of this is that we've been super-busy...even busier than normal.

We took a trip to Yellowstone the beginning of September which was fabulous!  We had a wonderful time, then the next weekend we went out camping...so we had basically three weekends in a row where we were gone.  You can see all of the awesome Yellowstone pictures here.  Start with day one and work your way out from there :-)

The second to last day at Yellowstone I got a call from 3M.  They wanted me to come in for an interview!  Most of the people who know me know that I had been very unhappy at my job for the last year or so.  My job hit an all time low in July where I had a horrible manufacturing run that ended with much emotional upset; I almost quite my job on the spot.

I had to step back and take a few deep breaths (like a million of them) and I decided to try and hold out until I had another job.  But it was definitely time to start looking for a new job.  When you dread going to work every morning something is not right.

Things actually were getting better in August/September.  My manager was removed from the project and the team lead left; the people that replaced them were doing an excellent job of trying to straighten out the whole mess.

Still the call from 3M was like a god-send for me.  I meet with the people at 3M the Wednesday after I got back from Yellowstone.  I had a great time at the interview, I liked the people and they were looking for someone to do exactly the type of work I love to do.  About five hours after the interview they called to offer me the job, a few hours later I had a formal offer.  They meet my pay and vacation requirements no problem.  It was a bit of a whirlwind but I was sooo excited.

Needless to say I was incredibly busy trying to get things finished up at my old work and get all the legal/drug check stuff done for 3M.  I just finished my first week there and it was wonderful.  The people are easy to work with, they love what they are working on, and they all seem to truly love the company.  The stuff I am working on is incredibly interesting (although a bit overwhelming...there is so much I need to learn) and the resources to do that work are amazing.

The first thing the lab manager told me was that the company is structured so that we can all succeed and do our jobs well....I was like what?  Coming from a company that does forced ranking and seems to set its employees up for failure this is a big deal.  Getting support from your company and having it make your life easier is a foreign concept to me at this point.  The benefits 3M offer are fantastic and definitely set up to make your life easier.

So I've been pretty excited.  Then things got even more exciting.  Lyle got a job offer for a permanent full time position at SureScripts; he will make nearly as much as he did contracting and he gets full benefits and 4 weeks of vacation!  So, needless to say he accepted the position.  He starts on the 31st of this month.

A lot of changes.  All of them have been good ones.  Still it's been tumultuous, it's hard to leave your old work and jump into something completely new...I think it will really pay off in the end though.  Keegan has heard more about benefits and pay then any four year old should ever have to deal with in the last couple weeks but he's been sweet about it all.

My first day Keegan was worried that I wouldn't know anybody and that I would be sad.  I explained that I would meet new people and make new friends and that it was great to get a chance to do that.  Then when I saw him that night the first thing he did was ask me how everything went.  He is such a thoughtful boy at times :-)

I never thought things could get even better for us.  We have been so lucky to have steady jobs and a healthy family.  Then suddenly things are getting even better.  It is so wonderful to be working on something exciting again...of course this is the Honeymoon period of my job...so we will see how I feel about it in a few months :-)

Hope all is well with you guys too!