I’ve worked at Thomson Reuters for over 10 years now which some people say makes me a Lifer, I say maybe. I see no reason to jump ship at this point in my life or career so there is a distinct possibility this is true.
That being the case, even prior to my current tenure I had a strange history with Lawyers Co-op which was eventually bought by WestGroup which eventually became Thomson West which is now Thomson Reuters. Unbeknownst to me, my mother worked at Lawyers Co-op before me as did my namesake who happens to be a woman.
My mother wanted to name me Zack but my father didn’t like it & so my mother decided to let my father pick the name. Around the time I was born my Mother was working with a woman named Randi B and my father grew fond of the name and thus… Randy.
When I began working at (then) Thomson West, my mother figured out that it was the old Lawyer’s Co-op and we figured out that some of her old coworkers still worked there. I’ll leave you with this picture of a woman named Joanne T holding me as a child but who still worked there when I started.
She was born at 8:19 weighing in at 9lbs 12.3oz and measuring 23 1/4″ (although there are some conflicting numbers between the hospital and the first doctor visit).
Her first name is something we’ve liked for a long time (although spelled a bit different than originally) but her middle name comes from Rachel’s mother’s middle name.
For those of you that aren’t aware, we just got back from a family trip to Portland and if you’ve been keeping track we’ve been there once before. This time was a completely different experience. That’s what happens when your family doubles in size and you don’t put 4,000 miles on a rental in a single trip.
This time, the greatest part of the trip wasn’t a great party with dancing and celebration or the phenomenal scenery at every turn or the chance to see huge parts of the country for the first time. It might be cliche but the greatest part of the trip this time was experiencing everything through the eyes of our kids and spending lots of time with family.
Recently Reece has been ecstatic about anything that moves (planes, trains, helicopters, tractors, boats etc.) so we try to expose him to what we can. I cannot properly express the size of my sons eyes as he looked out the airport windows at the plane we were about to get on, turns to us and shouts AIRPLANE! He quieted down on the plane but he was insanely excited about the whole process. One of the places we visited in Oregon was the Airplane Museum and I swear that when he walked into the place he thought it was holy ground.
Delilah wouldn’t stop talking about the entire trip. With all of this, remember that she’s three and she’s totally serious. While sitting on the tarmac for the first flight out she yelled “why aren’t we flying yet!?” Much to the amusement of everyone around us. One evening while out in Oregon with family we saw “the first star at night” and we asked her what she wished for. She thought for a minute and then whispered quietly “that we can come to Oregon again.” After arriving back in Rochester, the first thing she said in the airport? “I want to go back to Oregon.”
These are just a few examples but we could tell just watching them that they were thoroughly enjoying their time in a new and interesting place. What made it really special for them and us was the time they got to spend with family whom they only rarely see and to build the beginnings of their relationship with their cousins. By the end of the trip there seemed to be a real bond forming and we wished we could stay longer.
We can’t wait for the next family adventure whether it takes us to Portland with family or Peru with just the kids.
Bermuda wasn’t the original plan, Hawaii (again) was the original plan but… kids. Maybe for 10 years!
Bermuda was a great trip. Our first time on a cruise ship. It was a good experience; lots of alcohol, lots of fun & adventure, new friends and some very nice beaches.
I made it to the 27th RIT Big Shot last night. The venue would have been perfect for the whole family this time but we felt everybody is still a little young to be out that late during the week since so they had to sit this one out.
This is hands down the most people I’ve seen at a Big Shot yet. I’ve heard it was somewhere around 1500 but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was more than that. The entire SeaBreeze park was packed, It seemed like there were hundreds of people assigned to each of the lighting areas.
As always, the picture was online before I had a chance to check (ya gotta love Digital Photography). I thought it came out beautifully but check it out for yourselves below:
RIT Big Shot No 27
I managed to sneak my own picture (handheld as they didn’t allow tripods in) with one hand while lighting things up with my other:
My Vantage Point of the RIT Big Shot
Sorry it’s a little shaky 😦 I still thought it came out pretty neat.
A few days ago I experienced the scariest moment of being a parent (so far).
D was ‘helping’ me reinstall some speaker wire connectors and a phone jack. I turned to my right and leaned over to screw in the last screw that holds the speaker wire wall plate on. I finish and turn back to grab the last screw for the phone jack wall plate. Only it’s not there. I look around for a second then look up at D who is smiling at me and between her little lips is a tiny shiny something. I tell her to stop and to spit it out but instead she starts to make a swallowing motion, i envision the tiny screw lodged sidewas in her throat and daddy mode kicks in. I can’t tell you exactly what happened because I honestly don’t know, but I can tell you it ends with my finger buried halfway down her throat holding her, face down, half choking about to puke.
I got it. A few terrified tears and a long hug later and everything was A-OK.
Not everyone can say they live within two hours of a natural wonder of the world. Fewer still get the chance to visit it on a regular basis. We’ve spent a lot of time at Niagara Falls over the years but there’s a lot we haven’t done there. For our 4th anniversary we went back to spend the day. We went on a journey behind the falls experienced maid of the mist and rode the giant ferris wheel on Clifton Hill for the first time despite having been there probably a hundred times before.
Randy Aldrich 