Leaving Lawrenceville

So the mysterious phone call I keep referring to was a job offer. After careful consideration and an ongoing battle of pros and cons, I decided to accept it.

Just after Labor Day I'll be heading north a little bit to work as a Principal Gifts Officer at the Rutgers University Foundation. This is a great opportunity for me professionally, and it will be a great new challenge.

While I will miss Lawrenceville immensely, I am looking forward to the next chapter.

All the love and support we've received from our friends at Lville since Molly's diagnosis has been incredible. I hope everyone there knows how much it's meant to us, and how much we'll miss seeing them on a daily basis.

But I am an alumnus; it's not like I am going away.

I Prefer My Own Bed

So it's been a while since anything was posted and for a change it is not a reflection of what's been going on. Well it is, but not the way it normally is. Usually I say I haven't written anything because nothing has been happening. In this case it's because so much has been happening. Molly is still healthy, and thankfully none of what's been keeping us busy has been bad.

First we got to spend Fourth of July with the Browns from Hilton Head and some of Margot's family. They were up here in between a wedding in MD and another in upstate NY. It was nice to see them even though it was quite brief.

Then the following weekend we went to a wedding in which Erin was the matron of honor and Gavin was the ring bearer. We had a great time; really nice wedding and a lot of fun. Erin and I got a little mini-vacation out of it in that we brought Aunt Monica with us to watch the kids during all the wedding-related festivities. So we got to stay out late on Friday night and then enjoy the reception on Saturday night - solo.

Sunday we got home in the early afternoon and just hung out for a while. I had to get to bed early because I was catching a flight to Chicago really early Monday morning.

Boy do I wish I had slept through that alarm!

My plan was to fly to Chicago for the day to play in a golf outing. It would be my third year doing so. Great event; a lot of fun. Typically I fly out Monday morning and home Tuesday morning. But I saw no reason to spend the night if I could catch a late flight home Monday night.

The day started out beautiful. A little hot, but sunny and clear. After about five holes it got pretty dark. After seven holes it was downright scary and as the thuderstorms began they sounded the horn to clear the course. Within an hour it was decided the event would be cancelled. Within two hours I was on ym way to the airport to see if I could catch an earlier flight home.

Not only could I not catch an earlier flight, mine was cancelled.

So I called and got a hotel room and booked a flight for the following day at noon. The only real issue was since I was only going for the day I only had the clothes on my back. I had one change of clothes so I could wear something other than what I played golf in for the floght home, but that was it. The hotel gave me some toiletries. Annoying but not terrible.

Then on Tuesday the flight I was rescheduled for was delayed two hours. When we finally boarded and were about the push back from the gate, the captain came on to tell us about a ground stop in Newark and warn us we'd likely push back from the gate and sit on the tarmac for two hours before returning to the gate. I watch the news. I saw JetBlue leave people on the tarmac for 21 hours. He gave me the option to get off the plane and I took it. I figured I could get home faster on another airline.

I was wrong.

So another hotel room was reserved and another flight was booked. I still had no other clothes, and now my golf clubs and the few things I brought were headed back to NJ as well. I bought a Cubs tee shirt in the airport and waited for another airport shuttle.

Wednesday morning I headed back to O'Hare to see if I could get on an earlier flight. Since I couldn't I had to hang out at the airport until my flight departed just after noon. The highlight of the morning was a phone call I received, the topic of which will come up later. Flight took off pretty much on time. We landed in Newark around 2pm.

After quickly locating my golf bag I headed out for the short drive home. It felt great to finally be home. Of course, with Erin and Gavin flying to Houston that evening I wasn't going to be there long. Within the hour I was back out on the Turnpike heading to Newark.

We arrived in a torrential downpour and I got soaked running from the car to the terminal. After waiting in a few lines we finally got Erin and Gavin through security and not one minute later the monitor displayed their flight as "delayed". Since they were already through security Molly and I headed home. Then I got to sit in rush hour traffic on the Turnpike for a while, soaking wet, in the clothes I'd been wearing since Monday.

Of course since Erin and Gavin's flight didn't take off until after 10 pm, I shouldn't complain too much.

Then Friday morning I dropped Molly off with my mother-in-law and headed back to Newark yet again to catch a flight to Houston. We spent a nice weekend down there with our new nephew Ethan. He's a cute little fella, and he likes boats and doesn't seem to mind Tex-Mex. I think the highlight for Gavin was the NASA museum? You'd have to ask him though.

We returned home late Sunday night/early Monday morning in time to catch a few hours of sleep in my own bed before heading to work Monday morning. Of course, since I was basically MIA all the previous week I had plenty to do once I arrived.

Including ponder the content of the aforementioned phone call I received in O'Hare airport. More to come on that in the next post.

Semantics

Tomorrow. A week from tomorrow. Who is really keeping track? Besides, you guys are the ones who told me to post when the mood strikes.

So last week we took Molly to an ENT. The doctor was perfectly nice, but she didn't tell us much of anything. She said the tests Molly had for her hearing may not have been accurate (which we already knew) because the sensors may not have been able to measure things like fluid in the ear, or a narrow ear canal prohibiting the probes from getting down as far as they needed to. She said there are a whole series of tests we should do to gradually determine the extent, if any, of her hearing loss.

See there was no reason to rush for that post.

Since then things have been pretty normal.

This past weekend was nice: we went to the pool on Saturday and the beach on Sunday. The weather was awesome and we all had a good time. Molly and Gavin both seem to like the pool, but neither cares for the freezing, cold Atlantic.

Gavin and I went for a run on the boardwalk. He wanted to run with me, but I brought the jogger stroller just in case. He probably ran about 3/4 mile before asking to get in the stroller and rest. Then after a mile or so he decided to run again. That time he only last about 1/4 mile, but his form was much better. After that I pushed him in the stroller the rest of the way.

Speaking of the stroller, I am going to start running with Molly (or Gavin) as often as possible. I'd love to get to the point where I can do some races with Molly. Some of you may recall my desire to compete in triathlon intensified when we received Molly's diagnosis last March. Then this summer we decided to recruit athletes and supporters for Team Molly Bear to help raise money for the Trisomy 18 Foundation. So one could suggest that Molly has been the motivation behind my entry into the world of "recreational" triathlon.

Well if you're not familiar with Team Hoyt, take a look. I saw Dick and Rick Hoyt on Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel a couple weekends ago and was blubbering like an idiot by the end of the segment. Incredible. Not to sell our team short, but I have a long way to go before I can even ask for a spot on the Team Hoyt practice squad. Yet another "something to aspire to".

Finally, we're approaching the 2nd Annual Emma Marie McCabe Golf Classic. So far there are four foursomes playing in our group. If you're interested in coming out please let me know so I can send you the details. It'll be a great time.