U2 3D

I just have to say that this was an experience...

This has been an extremely busy and stressful week for me. On top of the travel I am getting ready for Summit next week and I've had to make some major revisions to my presentations. On top of all this, my work laptop fell off the desk on Tuesday night, knocking it out and putting me that much farther behind. It has since been repaired to the point of use, but will likely need a new hard drive (I think they put a temporary one in).

Well, tonight I worked extra hard and got my work done in time to have some free time. There is an IMAX theater pretty close and I found out that U2 3D was playing there. In case you didn't already know, U2 is one of my favorite bands and I couldn't pass up the chance to see this. It is the first concert ever recorded and presented in 3D. Since it's a school night I didn't expect many in the theater and I was right - there was me and two other people in the showing I went to. Talk about cool!

Words can't describe how cool it was to see this band perform in 3D. There are scenes were you can see Bono's eyes through the sunglasses he sometimes wears. The Edge's fretwork was seen in amazing detail on a number of songs (Where the Streets Have No Name was a highlight). Seeing the drummer through the drum set and the different styles of bass guitar - aahhhh the bliss!

If you enjoy U2 and have a chance to see this - don't miss it!

Busy times ahead

I wanted to take a second to let you know that we're still here - just extremely busy (at least I am). travel to/from San Diego has been fine, but it's starting to get to me. I've been putting in 60+ hour weeks and it doesn't show signs of stopping until after next week.

Next week is Omniture's annual user conference where we present sessions on using our product, the product road map, and other useful tidbits for people in the industry. Last year I was involved in two presentations and won an internal contest (and $$) for one of the best rated presentations. This year I am involved in 3 different presentations and on a panel related to the migration work I'm doing in San Diego. Needless to say, this is the primary reason I'm not sleeping well recently. There's just too much going on. I expect things to slow down significantly after next week.

The home life is still happening. Bryant has been a pill, testing his bounds and not listening very well. He's been on a kick of pulling the chair around, getting into things, and wanting to do it himself. Getting into the games is another favorite. It's been a little frustrating. He tries to make up ground by being funny, which honestly makes me laugh, but he still gets his punishment when he deserves it.

Heather still hasn't been 100%, but I guess that's not too uncommon for the early stages of pregnancy. Yes Kirsta - we know that we can't even compare to what you've experienced - but still, this is uncharacteristic for Heather. Thanks to those that have stopped by and helped out.

Until next time, here's a fun tidbit for those that might need a refresher on baby care. A good friend of mine has this and a number of other baby instructions posted on his blog...

Kaylee's prediction is...

A Boy!

Kaylee said today that she thinks our new baby will be a boy. Kaylee has correctly predicted her cousins (Mason and Donovan). We will see if she's still on track when Nate and Kirsta find out about theirs. If she's right, we can probably start going through Bryant's old stuff and planning on it. Heather will probably schedule an appointment with the doctor to see how far along she is within the next couple weeks. Stay tuned.

Rachel spilled the beans...

A quick post for now since Rachel spilled the beans... WE'RE EXPECTING!!!

Before this whole San Diego thing started, Heather and I were planning on another kid. Little did we know that it would happen so quickly. It was a few days after the travel decisions were made that Heather started feeling, um, let's say, not like herself. A few days later came a not completely conclusive pregnancy test. Then a few days later another with a more definitive line. We're guessing at this point possibly 5 weeks along, so it's still pretty early.

So it turns out that Heather had mentioned this to Rachel while I was gone because she had been laying down a lot. Rachel was sworn to secrecy but apparently couldn't resist telling granny, who in turn was sworn to secrecy. Who knows what happened from there. I suspect that Mom told Dad. It all came out when we were over on Sunday for Dad's birthday dinner and FHE. Rachel made the announcement - how fitting.

We're excited and will share more details as this new story unfolds. Sorry for the delay in getting this info to the Iowa clan. I've been too busy to post until now.

History: Putting in the Yard

Well, it's Sunday afternoon and I'm waiting for my iPod to finish syncing before we head over to Mom and Dad's to celebrate Dad's 53rd birthday. I actually wiped my iPod clean and started over, so it's taking a while to fill up again. So I thought I'd take a few minutes to post a few before and after pics of our house as we put in the yard this past fall (October). Those that were here over Christmas never saw the grass and therefore cannot fully appreciate the work we've put into the house already.

First, I need to give props to Dad and little Scotty for helping get this project underway. Scott really helped out by helping me prep and cover the sprinkler trenches. He rightfully earned the nickname "teaspoon" because it took him 2 or 3 passes to get the same amount of dirt in the shovel that Dad or I could get in one. As the project went on he earned his way to "tablespoon" as he increased his output. But, joking aside, we sincerely thank both him and Dad for their help with the sprinklers. (PS - Scott - as you know, we still need to install the heads - more work this spring!)

Here's a couple of front views of the house the Friday evening before the project:

Notice the huge mounds of dirt - actually a mixture of dirt and steer manure which left a pleasant odor for the neighbors for a about a week or two. I was a little nervous that the guy we hired to do the grading wasn't going to show before the sod was delivered. He came early on Saturday morning and pushed the dirt around, leveling out the grade and moving the excess to the back for a garden (which we hope to plant for the first time this year). As the grading was being finished the sod was delivered. By this time it was between 8 and 9 AM and we weren't expecting people to come help until early afternoon. Fortunately we have great neighbors - several people were called on short notice and we had a crew of 6 people within the hour. We started throwing the sod by about 9:30 or 10 and we had the yard done by about noon.

Now for the "after" pics:


We were the only ones on our street to get grass in before the snow came. We're really glad because we've seen the muddy messes that our neighbors have had. That alone was worth the extra effort to get the yard put in.

We have a number of other projects in the queue, but waiting for the time and $ to get them done. I think our next mini project will be painting/decorating the downstairs 1/2 bath. That should only take part of a Saturday...

Switchbacks

Okay, so I don't have pictures on the road except for the one that I've put together of the kids that's currently my desktop, so here's what you get to start out...


Here's my old desktop photo too - this was taken at Newport Beach in December 2006 when the family went to Disneyland...



I don't have access to the photos except on the weekends and that time is currently going to the sanity checks - helping Heather out and spending time with the fam. We'll get Heather posting soon and she'll have access to the more recent pics.

Okay - it's a deep thought moment.
So it's not very often when we're able to sit back and reflect on just how far we've come. I had a discussion with a coworker last night about how far we've come with Omniture. We both reflected on where the organization was back when we started and where it's headed, and quite frankly, it's really exciting. We're currently the fastest growing public software company in the US and possibly the world! I work with some really amazing and smart people - hopefully I'm one of them.

In reflecting on this a little more this morning I remembered some hikes I've taken up into the mountains. You may recall that to get to the top of a mountain there are switchbacks - places where the trail cuts back against the way that you were walking before to ease the climb upward. It's a zig-zag path and not always the easiest climb, but the view only gets better as you go up. When you're intensely focused on the path you don't always get the view to see where you are. Sometimes you have to stop and evaluate the progress you've made and just take in the view.

Take a few minutes to take in the view of where you are - family, career, school, or other goals and activities you have going on. You're probably farther along the trail than you imagined.