Men's Fraternity Comes to a Close

For the past 24 weeks, I've been a part of a great men's group. Men's Fraternity has been meeting each Wednesday morning at 6:00am, and I gotta say that I've learned a lot about authentic manhood. Today was the graduation ceremony for those men that created a manhood plan. The process provided great insight to my own past, present, and what I hope to make my future. I've learned that my biggest struggle as a man is that I do not reject passivity in all situations. I know that I need to step up and be a responsible leader of my home, and this is something I'm glad I heard before children come into our family. Men's Fraternity is something I highly recommend to ANY man. Period. If you have the opportunity to participate in this group, do it! You won't be disappointed.

One bummer from this week is that I did not get an offer for the other job position. It ended up going to someone internal to the department. However, the hiring manager wants to meet with me again to discuss other/future opportunities, so maybe something will work out in the end. For now, it looks like God has plans for me right where I am (I get to practice "being all here"). Continuing in my systems engineering role includes a trip to Singapore this July, about which I have mixed feelings. It will be fun, but I don't like the idea of travelling to the other side of the world when Heather is eight months pregnant! I just pray that Junior doesn't decide to show up a month early. Robocop, if you have internet access in there, listen up! I know you've been growing for over 17 weeks now, but please keep hanging out until August, mmkay? Yes, it's probably pretty boring just sitting around for so long, but you have the rest of your life to be out here!

To wrap things up, the obligatory end-of-my-MBA countdown: 33 days 'til my last class!

Midterms: Done! Interviews: Ongoing.

My midterm Finance exam grade was posted, and I'm VERY relieved to see that I got an A!. This will take some of the pressure off of the final exam (meaning I won't have to ace it to get a good grade in this class)! I'm now down to 39 days until that last exam. That's less than six weeks!

In other news, I found out that I didn't get an offer for the first job opportunity. It was a long and drawn-out process (I first applied on December 5, 2006). I went seven weeks without any contact from the department, only to receive an auto-generated email from HR saying I wasn't selected. But, I came across another job opening and applied for it. This other department really seems to have their act together, because I had an interview scheduled within 24 hours of inquiring about the position. And, to top it off, I was selected for the second round of interviews less than one day after the first interview! The follow-up interview was yesterday morning, and it went great. Supposedly I'll know whether or not I was chosen for the job by sometime next week! If you're one of the two people that actually reads my blog, please pray for this opportunity. It would be a major shift in my career path toward something I am much more passionate about. I'll share the details if everything works out. :)

Midterms - Gotta Love 'Em.

Tonight, I have my last midterm exam EVER! I'm kind of dreading it, but I always tend to think exams are going to be worse than they are. At least I can look forward to only one more week of tests after this (finals)! In just 49 more days, I'll be taking my last exam of my MBA career.

After this last exam, Heather and I have been planning an awesome getaway. It will be kind of a post-MBA, pre-baby trip for the two of us. We'll be heading up to the Portland/Seattle area for 11 days! We haven't been on a vacation since our first anniversary in May 2004, so we are VERY excited about this trip! We'll fly out two days after my final exam, and I'll attend my graduation commencement the Friday after we return home. :)

Speaking of midterms (how's THIS for a segue?), Heather is quickly approaching the mid-term of her pregnancy. She is now over 15 weeks along and in the second trimester! Time sure has been flying by. We have our next baby appointment this Wednesday, for which I am really excited. I'll close by sharing where our baby is in the development stage:

"At around 4 inches long, crown to rump, your baby now weighs about 2 1/2 ounces. He's busy inhaling and exhaling amniotic fluid, which will help develop the air sacs in his lungs. His legs are growing longer than his arms now, and he can move all his joints and limbs. That means his hands are more functional, too. Sweat glands are appearing, and although his eyelids are fused shut, he can sense light. If you shine a flashlight at your tummy, he's likely to move away from the beam. There's not much for your baby to taste at this point, but his taste buds are beginning to form."

:)