Summer

The summer is flying by, with lots of work to keep us busy around here. Joe is managing personnel changes and the impact of the declining economy at his job, as well as preparing to begin grad school at Northwestern next month (yay!). He is enrolled in a two-year program (one day a week) called Master of Product Development, which is in the McCormick School of Technology. The program is basically an MBA combined with a design degree, so it is perfect for him and will, hopefully, allow him to manage new product design and implementation for just about any company imaginable. He will also be a real asset to B & O, of course! :)

I'm gearing up for the final Harvest event of the year next weekend in Southern California, which is also the largest--especially since this is the 20th anniversary. I've been busy booking a lot of interviews and preparing for the three-day event at Angel Stadium. I love going out for this event every year to witness the spiritual impact on so many, and I also look forward to the usual routine of staying at the Doubletree, visiting the Block at Orange for some shopping, sushi with dear friends and El Torito for Mexican food with others, and time with one of my best pals, Lisa. This year I'll also get to stay a night with my friends Karen and Shawn, who transplanted to L.A. from Chicago last year (sniff! sniff!). The only downside is being away from my hubby and baby boy for six days since they usually come with. But YOU try writing press releases with a 16-month-old crying and running around. No, thank you.

So you can see that I have managed to successfully merge my business trips into mini-vacations. :)

The rest of the summer has been pretty chill...days at the beach, grilling out, lunch with friends, chatting in the courtyard with our neighbors each day, spending hours on Facebook (I just threw that one in there for Joe. Facebook is a mama's best friend when she can't see her best friends). I'm bummed to even think about it coming to an end, but I will be glad to have less work for a season so I can hang out with the Gavinator.

Speaking of Gavin, he called me "honey" yesterday. Sweet.