I'm back now in Phoenix, 13 days ago. My wife has been here a week longer. There was a big storm that hit the Siskiyou pass in southern Oregon the day we were supposed to leave, so my wife took Rocco and Zara and caught a last minute light home. She was pretty freaked out by the whole situation. My wife is amazing and fearless except for a couple of things: snakes and driving in adverse conditions. I'm not even remotely joking. Put her in those situations and she becomes an MMA Fighter and a whimpering little girl. Sometimes you get one of those personalities, and other times you get both....and I didn't want to take a chance traveling 72 hours with any of those people. When she left for PHX, it was just me and the dogs driving home to Phoenix in the ultimate snow machine, our 2013 Honda Odyssey. I timed it perfectly through the pass and had no problems getting down. I wasn't ready to leave the city that I love. The last few days I was in Portland, I kept looking for excuses to stay another day there, and I found them. I ended up leaving 3 days after I was supposed to. I was a little melancholy leaving the metro area, but once I got free of familiar landmarks, my mood turned. I made it home in two days, just because I no longer wanted to savor the drive, to be on a trip...I wanted to get home, fast. It's funny how the mind works. I think Portland was truly a vacation for me, I just loved it. I immersed myself in the lifestyle and culture and the food scene...it was glorious! Like all vacations, they must end, and for me that's where real life resumes, here in Phoenix. I know PHX is an amazing town, and people come here for fun and food in the sun. The problem is, I don't have that relationship with the Valley...my interaction with this city is all about work, handling responsibilities and making money. My mindset is very much changed since I came back. It's not back to where I was before the move, but it's more business minded than I was in Portland. I didn't exactly neglect my businesses when I was gone, but I could have been a little more attentive, a mistake I won't repeat again. I didn't come back to a firestorm, but there are lots of things to do. After much thought, I've decided to add an additional person in the office. My assistant Kristen has done a great job, but its simply too much for her to handle...and with Abby not doing as much in the office, it's created a bottleneck and things aren't getting done like they should be. Also, we have gotten very busy in my contracting business, and the guy I hired to take pressure off of me in my businesses, is buried in work. My #2 needs a #2, it seems. Since I am hiring another person, that means I have to get a proper office, instead of working out of our homes...and when you get an office, you need new furniture, new computers, and all the accessories that come with it. I'm also in the middle of upgrading and/or buying new vehicles for my companies, and to top it off, I have a ton of decisions to make regarding the house I am renovating...its all adding up to a tidal wave of things I hate to do. I really don't like making myopic decisions in business, I am mostly a big picture guy, so to do all these things is driving me crazy. The one good thing I get to do is plan our trip to the south, and then from there, to Europe. Booking 5 months of continuous travel, with guests coming, my eldest daughter, booking flights and rental cars and stays, and all the research that goes along with is an incredible effort. Since I use my miles and points(2 different things) for lots of the travel, it can take a lot more time, researching planes and trains and cars and things to do....its a monumental undertaking, one that I am very excited to do.
