Monday, June 29, 2009

What do we Do?

Greyson is now at the age where he frequently asks us a) "are you going to work?" and b) "do you have to go to work?". I remember my neighbor, Dawn, telling me that time would come and she was right...it's not easy when your child asks you not to go.

What we've explained to Grey is that we work so that he can eat his favorite foods, sleep in a warm bed and get an occasional Matchbox car from Target. Internally, Mike is thinking about childcare, sports equipment, tuition, and any other investment that might reap benefits for us sometime down the road. Anyway, it's a conversation that any family with one or more working parents has to have with their children at some point. What I can tell you is that we're working to do all of the above but also because we get some satisfaction (most of the time) out of it as well. Many of you have asked what exactly it is that we do so this post is a high-level attempt to explain it.

Mike works for Salient Surgical Technologies, a medical device company based in New Hampshire that manufactures the Aquamantys, a device that controls blood loss during hip, knee, spine and organ surgeries. The other question he frequently gets is "how did you get into med device?", which can be difficult if you don't have a background in biology and/or an ancillary industry. When Mike graduated from Ripon, he was hired by Sysco Foods. In a nutshell, he sold food to restaurants and he did pretty well at it and in his 2nd year, won a trip to St. Lucia. On that trip, we met John Lauer and his girlfriend Maria. John was a Regional Manager for Stryker Medical. We made fast friends with them and when we got home, John called Mike and asked if he'd be interested in interviewing for a position with Stryker, selling capital equipment to hospitals. It goes to show you that the old adage is true, "it's who you know". 8 or so years later, John left Stryker and then called Mike and asked him to come and work for him again, at Salient. So, Mike sells the Aquamantys to orthopedic surgeons. He's often in scrubs, in the OR, observing and assisting with his device (yes, sales guys really do assist). He's usually out of the house really early in the morning and back in his home office in the afternoon. When we transferred to Seattle, Salient had a position for him too. I'm thankful for his schedule because it allows him to relieve our nanny and spend some time with Greyson before I get home.

So, what do I do? And why the heck did we move to Seattle for it? Most of you know that I've worked for the same company, Allegis Group, since I graduated. I started out as a Technical Recruiter for Aerotek, the Engineering division. I've held a number of different roles with Aerotek- recruiting, sales, training and management and in 2004, was asked to transition to Allegis Group Services (AGS), a new division at the time, to manage a new client. AGS has grown into an entity that is much larger than when I transitioned so I won't bore you with the specifics but our core business is workforce management which basically means that Fortune 1000+ companies that spend a lot of money on contingent labor will outsource the end-to-end functions to us. We manage everything from the suppliers who do the recruiting to the process of getting them paid. AGS was awarded the Microsoft account in early 2008 and I was offered the opportunity to run the program. I manage a large team, most of them as fresh-faced as I was when I first came out of college. I spend most of the week in my office with the team but when I'm not there, I'm at Microsoft which is what you might picture- HUGE, very environmentally friendly, very casual and pretty cool. The main campus has 12 restaurants, a state-of-the-art soccer field, an art gallery and retail stores. It literally looks like a mall.

So, that's what we do when we're not at home laughing at Greyson who puts a baseball shaped Easter basket on his head and calls it a Babushka. Last night at bedtime, he had a 30 minute conversation with an imaginary friend named "Tyson". Who needs to watch TV when you can turn on the baby monitor and listen to the comedy channel?

Happy 4th of July to all of our friends and family. We're on a plane bright and early tomorrow morning with no responsibility to surgeons or Microsoft for a week. Before I sign off, I just wanted to share a pic of Mike & Grey from this past weekend. Grey is wearing a Green Bay Packer sweatshirt that was Mike's when we was a boy. I love that Mike's mom saved it. The sleeves are a little long but it's adorable on him. Enjoy!

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Northwoods Here We Come!

We love Minocqua!

The pics above are from July 4th 2008 on lakes Tomahawk and Mincoqua. On behalf of Mike and Greyson, I just want to say that we can't wait to get on a plane next Wednesday for our first return to Wisconsin since the holidays. Grandma Janet and Papa Lee pull out all the stops for the 4th of July week every year including pontoon boat rides, tubing (Big Mable, anyone?), jet skis, roasted marshmallows and to-die-for meals that you can't get at the best restaurants. We're also really looking forward to seeing the "new" house; a full scale Extreme Home Makeover, from what I hear (I think we should call it a retreat). Greyson has been talking about the fireworks- some days he can't wait, others he insists he doesn't want them- we'll see how it goes. We're going to spend a day with my family as well so there's no doubt it will be a busy week. We're looking forward to posting pictures of our trip and sharing some fun stories. Uncle Brian, if we pack a Superman cape, will you...?

Dear God, if you're reading this, please make the sun shine and keep the rain away. We know it's been hot and humid back home and although we aren't missing the humidity, we are selfishly hoping it sticks around until July 6th. Amen.

We're coming off of a very enjoyable Father's Day weekend. Happy Father's Day to our awesome dads! Grey & I sent Mike to the spa for a much needed massage, we did a little more house hunting (we may have found something) and watched the US Open. Somehow it captures Greyson's attention (those of you who know him well know that very little keeps his attention!) When I was a kid, I would literally cry when my dad and Grandpa turned golf on. I'm an addict now.
Guenthers, Letarskis, Koflers and Archbolds...get ready. The Greyson-invasion is coming to a theater near you! See you soon!

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Thrilling Changes!

It's a Boy!

Our growing addition says hello! (How cute is this hand?)

I'll be honest...I was shocked. For years, I've pictured myself as the mom of 2 boys but for some reason, after getting pregnant, I was convinced we were having a girl. I mean, really convinced. So, when the tech told us (showed us, more like it!) we were having a boy, I didn't know what to say; and even if I had, I would have been drowned out by Mike's excitement literally reverbrating off the walls. To say he's ecstatic is an understatement. Now that my head has wrapped around it, I'm joining in the excitement and especially enjoying Greyson's anticipation.




A 3rd house in less than a year...are you kidding me?

On another less exciting note, the Guenther family is moving once again! (Sigh) I'm actually quite calm about the whole thing and will spare you every last detail but the gist of it is that the guy who owns the house we're renting (see former posts for references and photos of the house) is defaulting on his loan. Seems the stimulus package hasn't trickled down to his bank so he's been unable to convert his construction loan into a traditional mortgage. We offered to put a short-sale offer in to prevent him from foreclosing but it turns out that he'd prefer to let the bank take it so he can gut it first (I'm told this is illegal, and therefore plan to document our move out with video so there's no mistaking who took the built in espresso machine, custom light fixtures and commercial refrigerator). We are not ready to buy out here just yet but are keeping our eye out for a deal. We're hoping to find something in the next few weeks and then move in early-mid August. Stay tuned for an updated address.

Here's a couple of photos from last week. A little bit of trouble and a little bit of fun. Enjoy.

Greyson "buttering" the toaster


On the shores of Lake Washington with his friend, Ryder

Ryder and his daddy with Mike & Grey before dinner - Houghton Beach, Kirkland WA