The toughest challenge yet!

What a year ... I started 2008 with great expectations. My new product was heading in the right direction and ended 2007 very strong (Good). My ex-wife was continuing to cause problems even though we divorced six years earlier (Anything to do with my ex is always Bad). My 3 kids were going to be turning 16, 16(my stepson) and 14 (Good bits and less good bits, but no Bad bits). My wife was going to be starting her interior design degree (Good).

How has it turned out? The economic crisis has claimed many victims including me - I'm unemployed. I haven't screamed at my ex-wife since December 19th. That turned out good - she picked up our eldest child from the airport instead of her just catching a cab and going to an unknown destination. Oh yeah, that is the daughter that decided to move back to England to live with me, my wife and my stepson. She has said that living with us is the happiest she has ever been. My stepson has navigated the very treacherous waters of being a teenage boy in London amazingly well. I wouldn't want to be a 16 year old in these times and I'm proud of him. My wife is doing really well on her degree, but it is consuming huge amounts of her time and energy. My youngest daughter has taken a mechanics course at school which she didn't choose - it was assigned to her. I'm trying to get her to change the oil in the car while she is visiting with us over Christmas.

We had my wife's family around for Christmas and had a great time, but you don't want to read about that.

But now ... today ... the biggest challenge I have faced all year ... Bigger the Credit Crisis ... more challenging than 2 young adults starting A Levels and a wife taking a degree ... Scarier than global warming/climate change (take your pick of description).

We are returning unwanted/wrong sized/damaged gifts into the post-Christmas sales! Oh my gawd! Who thought this was a good idea? Taking three teenagers into the melee! This might be my last post! What if I am trampled by the hordes that are chasing down bargain prices? What if I kill myself because I can't stand the crowds?

Wish me luck - it's not an assignment I have chosen, but rather one that I have been volunteered for. I will do my best for my people, that's all I can promise. (I will be taking my ice hockey elbow pads with me.)

19 Days to Christmas

Image via WikipediaAnd what is left in the cupboards?
There was a story carried by Reuters a few days ago that said 50,000 job losses have been announced in the financial services sector around the world - THIS WEEK! I always wonder where all these people go when there is such massive dislocation. They can't all sit it out and wait. I met one guy last week who is training for his electricians' qualifications. People have to find work somewhere and there are very few jobs going anywhere.
Well, I finally got my first assignment in my new consultancy company. It was part of my regular mailings out to my contacts and one of them hit home. This coming week I am also doing some training of a publisher's sales team. They are apparently very good sales people but they are trying to penetrate a new industry. It's only a couple of hours at the most, but it gives me some revenue to set off against my expenses! It will pay for the commuting charges over the past few weeks, so that's a bit of a bonus. Hurray!
My wife has been knocking herself out this week working on a project for her interior design degree. 11, 12, 13 hours a day all week long. It's Saturday morning and she is at it again.
Who knows what joys the children will bring us this weekend? The boss and I are off to get a Christmas tree later today, with a view to the kids decorating it tomorrow. Will they still enjoy it as much as they used to, or is it a ritual that means most to my wife? Hmmmm ....

Kids are a joy

Whenever friends tell me about how stressful it is having a new baby, I generally laugh and shake my head. It's only stressful because their kids aren't older yet. I am the proud "owner" of a sixteen year old daughter and a stepson of a similar age. I also have a fourteen year old, but she lives with her mother in Canada.
Great kids, work hard at school - which they love, and they are very kind and decent people.

Unfortunately they don't want to be locked in the house when they aren't in school. Apparently they think they are entitled to a social life. Last Friday night they went to a party at a social centre in South London. They took the train and we agreed we would order a taxi for them to come home.

First there was the negotiation via text message about the "closing time" when the taxi was to pick them up. Back and forth ... What logic is there in setting a leaving time other than the opinion and judgement of the parent? It's not like there is scientific measurment or anything. So finally I told them it was 1.30 and to get back to the party, enjoy themselves and stop trying to negotiate! What an exercise in time wasting. Arghh!

Anyway, my wife has a bit of sixth sense and although she is always worried when the kids are out, sometimes she has an extra bad feeling. Friday was one of those nights, but they got the taxi on schedule and were on the way home as expected. I guess she was wrong then.

They came to the door a little after two a.m. I opened the door and that's when I saw his face.

Three different bumps and bruises and some scrapes. He bumped into a guy at the club, spilling some of his drink and the guy gave him a few quick shots to the face. My son's friends and the crowd in general grabbed the guy and he got thrown out. Turns out the injuries were very superficial and today are almost all gone. While we were sorry that he got hurt, we were glad he didn't get into a fight with the guy because that is how things escalate with knives, broken glass, etc. and things can turn nasty.

Saturday night we looked after our 2 year old niece. The biggest issue we faced was reading her extra bedtime stories and listening to the Iggle Piggle theme song about a thousand times.

Yeah, those babies can be a real worry!