I was out of the office all of last week. Two days were spent on a business trip and the other three days I spent at home decluttering and decompressing all by myself while Jennifer and the girls were away. I didn’t get around do doing much of the top-secret projects which will have to wait until another day, but it was a productive break nonetheless. I got some valuable things accomplished around the house, and I reminded myself of what it’s like to close down more than one bar in the same evening. As a bonus, I can’t imagine that there is much better in life than the rock-star greeting one gets as a husband and father reunited with his family. The girls were just giddy with excitement when I picked them up at the airport, and they came home and saw what I did with their rooms, they just about went out of their minds. Frigging awesome.

For a couple years I had “Bitslinger Extraordinaire” on my business cards, mostly for my own entertainment, but partly because I felt like I was at the top of my game; that is, until I switched disciplines from I.T. to firmware. Suddenly I was trying to remember the stuff I hadn’t done since college, cast among a handpicked crew of experienced engineers. Over the last couple months, I worked nights and weekends and times when I would otherwise be blogging and sleeping and parenting to find my way out of the weeds, and recently, I’m starting to feel like there’s a light at the end of the mixed metaphor. Today was one of those days when I was swamped from the minute I showed up to the minute I left, but during the course of the day, I used every tool, old and new, to solve every problem presented to me. It was the best and worst of times. I was very stressed for the whole day, I missed one of my few chances for exercise during the week, I skipped lunch, flaked on a personal appointment, and blew off more than one person seeking help, and drank a decidedly unhealthy amount of caffeine, but holy crap did I get a lot of engineering done.

Growing up, I remember my mother being very focused on advancing her career, and her motivation always seemed to provide a better life for my brothers and I. I hope she feels like she succeeded. As a parent, I want my girls to have a life at least as happy as mine, but I still don’t quite know what that is going to mean. I’m almost positive that making more money ceases to be helpful beyond a certain point. One thing that I think I can convey to them what it feels like to succeed, whether it’s at home or at work. I want my girls to know what a day like today feels like. I want my girls to grow up feeling like rock stars.

*Apologies to Jonna for borrowing her bit of naming posts after song titles. AC/DC.