HD’s Musings

Holy cow, where did the time go?  I can’t quite believe that Elliott has already hit the six month mark and that it has been two months since I’ve updated my page.  Talk about a slacker…So what has been going on with me?  Well, first and foremost I love being a Dad.  As mentioned ad naseaum on this site, Elliott is just a joy and brings all sorts of fun and excitement to our lives.  My time with her is primarily divided between the morning hours before I go to work and the evenings after work.  In the morning, Elle is a spitfire.  She wakes up babbling with a smile on her face and once we get that first bottle in her, she’s ready to go!  The jumperoo is a common stop for her in the morning, or we can just put her on the floor and she’ll squeal and talk with us while spinning and crawling around our living room.

At night, she’s starting to wind down and Kari is usually ready for a break.  Her night routine is pretty well established.  After Kari and I eat dinner, there is some play time with Dad and then she gets cereal (or more recently, vegetables).  Bath time follows, with a bit more play time and one last bottle before heading to bed around 8:00.  Bedtime can be hit or miss.  Some nights, she’ll go right down with just a bit of rocking and cuddling, other nights she’s, shall we say, more difficult.  Dad can handle it until it gets to about a seven - then we call in Kari and her magic Mom touch to put her to sleep.  Now, I’m capable of getting her to go to sleep on those more raucous nights - don’t want you to think I’m some helpless Dad - but for everyone’s sanity, Kari’s touch can soothe much quicker on that rare night that Elle is a challenge.

Her development rate is still staggering and I have fun watching her crack the code on whatever her newest challenge is.  I’m of course convinced that she’s a budding genius, but that just might be fatherly pride talking…

It has been fascinating to look back at pictures of her from those first few months and see how much she has changed and how much we’ve been through.  Kari is still looking for work, but is staying on top of the job search and I’m confident that someone is going to give her a chance soon.  She’s so good at what she does that whoever finally snatches her up is going to get a superstar.

Work for me has been hectic.  Our scope of services with MillerCoors has caused some changes on our team at GMR, some good and some bad.  Fortunately, the good has been on the NASCAR team.  We’re now handling all things NASCAR so that means I get to work on Coors Light and its official sponsorship with NASCAR, along with Miller Lite’s sponsorship of the #2 car.  In the process of our team changes, I’ve been promoted to Account Supervisor, managing the day-to-day activation for both brands and working closely with Penske, NASCAR and the MillerCoors brand teams.  It’s a nice recognition of the work I’ve done and refreshing to be working on multiple brands after spending 2+ years focused solely on Miller Lite.

I’ve got a few other blog posts in the hopper so it won’t be another two months before the next one…