Steinbox

That’s right, we went back!

Well, we got home from our awesome Columbus Day get-away, and Ben promptly got a new job!

He worked for almost a year for IBI, the one where he was working from home and supposed to go to NYC one week a month.  As it turned out, he only went to NY maybe 5 times, the last time being the first week of April…so we were blessed to have him home full-time since then.

However, the company was very shortly going to be putting him on projects where he would most likely be traveling full time…as in, get on a plane at 6 AM Monday, and return home at 10 PM Friday (for weekends, you can either mow your lawn or see your family…).  Neither of us thought that would be a good situation for our family, so he had been looking for something else.

He accepted a job at Excellus (through a contract company) and through an interesting series of events, ending up having almost two weeks off between jobs (that’s also two weeks off from a paycheck, but it was so worth it!!).  So…we contacted the people who own the cabin and asked if we could come back.

It was available the dates we wanted and so, less than a week after leaving, we found ourselves right back there for another three nights!  It was great.  It was also about 30 degrees colder than it was the week before, so we didn’t play in the creek all day this time!  We did, however, return to Stony Brook.

Miniature Waterfall:

Stony Brook has the most incredible playground I’ve ever seen!  Maybe I just don’t get out much, but I was impressed.

So, Ben has been at his new job for two weeks now, and he’s sort of settled in, if having to work in a conference room is settled.  Do you bring your reference books and family pictures and spread them out on the conference table, or what?

In any case, we are blessed with his new job, and I think he likes getting out of the house after being here for 14 months.  I thought it would be a big adjustment for Amelia and I, but so far we’re fine.

Right before we went to the cabin the first time, we went to the funeral for Ben’s grandfather (his mom’s dad).  He was 77 and had been in poor health for some time.  It was great to catch up with some of Ben’s cousins and it was an absolutely gorgeous drive down there.

Speaking of funerals, this summer I attended the funeral for Vickie Sluga, who, among many other fine qualities, may have been the most frequent commenter on this web site!  It’s been very quiet around here without her!  Vickie was from my hometown…I grew up with her son Lee (with whom I frequently exchanged heated, debate-filled notes during church and argued good naturedly with during youth group, on the bus to Christian school together, and so forth).  Vickie loved to anonymously give gifts, of which I was often the recipient (at least I think all those gifts were from her!!).  We often emailed back and forth and she had a genuine interest in my life.  Many at the funeral commented how often she emailed them and how empty their inboxes now seem.  I know what they mean.  She had a long battle with cancer and left us at the age of 56.  She will be missed by many!