NHL in London

Jen and I enjoyed- of all things- an NHL hockey game in London last night. What a great way to kick off the season. The Anaheim Ducks playing the Los Angeles Kings in the O2 Arena. We enjoyed the game with our friend Peter Newton from Canada. The game made us realize the things we miss from home. The game was somewhat one sided as the Kings ran away 4-0. Oh, and it was a little bit embarrassing but the national anthem had a few funny word substitutions. All in all, as much fun as you can have while sipping a draft beer that costs the equivalent of $7.00

Snack, Crapple, Plop into your morning.

One of the joys of our current routine is that I am able to have breakfast with the kids almost every day. Very often, when we enjoy our morning ritual together, the girls will sit and read the back of the cereal box. Abby loves Rice Crispies and Hannah is a Special K girl. Abby gets a real kick out of the three elves on the box named (according to her), Snack, Crapple, and Plop. Of course, Hannah being the older sister tries to correct her but it is just too funny. Regardless of how hard she tries, she keeps saying the names the same way.

So lets begin here

It seems cliché to say it this way but the death of my father has inspired me to do many things. One of the most important is to evaluate my priorities and remember the important things in life. Friends and family come first. This international assignment has made it incredibly difficult to keep up with all of you. And being the technology guy that I am, I’d like to try this as a method of keeping up with all of you. I apologize to those of you that find this a little impersonal. The personal phone calls and e-mails won’t stop, I promise. This is just a convenient way for me to keep you all up to date on what has been happening…

It’s been just about a month now since my father died and we have resumed normal operations here in London. The girls are fully back at school and Jen has resumed her class schedule. For me, my happiness lies in the order of the world. And as any father can attest to, when the kids are happy, mom is happy. When mom is happy the family is happy and when my family is happy, I am happy.

Life goes on with a void. TR Knight’s character on Gray’s Anatomy said, upon loosing his father, ‘I don’t know how to exist in this world without him’. That message speaks volumes to me. For those of you confused- I think we are a full season behind in watching this show in the UK. Despite going through this process with a fictional TV character, it is the best way I can describe this experience that I am going through. He’s dad, dependable dad. He’s always there for me until the day he is not. Honestly, I feel him here with me, each day, watching over me.

When he passed away, my mom explained to Abigail that Pop-pop is in the stars now. And frequently before bed, she says I can see Pop-pop’s star. How right you are Abigail, and he can see you too… Every day and he is so proud.

For me, life has resumed at BT. I work hard to find the balance between working, getting enough time to exercise and enough time to sleep. And those that are aware know that the Finance Systems Programme at BT is a very intense place. The people at BT have been phenomenally supportive around taking the time needed to deal with this.

So welcome to my blog. I hope you will visit often and please, please, please- leave comments. This has to be a two way street for it to work. Also, please explore the links on the page to find some other interesting stuff. I have included a recent picture of the girls for you to enjoy. Speak soon.

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