Letting the Reality Set In

I did really well yesterday at Mayo Clinic and felt pretty good about everything last night, but today I really struggled with Doug’s diagnosis.  Although, it doesn’t change anything about our life right now it does alter the plans that we had made for the future.  It makes everything very unpredictable as we don’t know how Doug will respond to the medication and what treatments will or will not work.  Chronic stress makes his situation a lot worse, so I am trying not to worry him about anything.  It would really help us if his dad let him have part of his inheritance now so that we could get our finances in order in case any changes to Doug’s health unexpectedly.

Thankfully, I had made plans to meet Robin and Robbi for lunch today.  They asked about Doug’s visit to Mayo Clinic but didn’t dwell on it.  They were both very positive and agreed to put us on their prayer list, but mostly we talked about CCW, the books we were reading and our summer plans which I really appreciated. Once I got home, I texted Jim which really helped as well.  He is definitely on the page that Doug should have access to his inheritance early so that he can retire or at least pay off our mortgage.  By the time Doug got home from work, I felt a lot better.  I don’t know what will happen, but it is very nice to know that we have the support of friends, our children and my family.  

Mayo Clinic

Doug and I left this morning for Jacksonville.  After a year of trying, he had finally gotten an appointment at Mayo Clinic.  I rode along for moral support and to take down any information that we were given.  I was nervous, but Doug felt very good about it as he said that this was just the next step in his health journey.  The campus for the clinic was large and I was thankful for the signs that directed us to the correct building.  It was very beautiful with white buildings, open spaces and cypress trees everywhere.  

We didn’t have to wait long to get in to see Dr. Dewey.  He was very nice and extremely knowledgeable.  He spent an hour and a half going over all the information that we had to give him, performing a physical test on Doug and answering any of our questions.  The diagnosis he came up with didn’t surprise us - Early Onset, Tremor Dominant Parkinson.  It was scary to think about Doug having a neurological degenerative disorder, but the doctor gave us hope.  Although there wasn’t a cure, there were medications for us to try and other procedures that could calm the tremors.  Dr. Dewey said that of all of the types of Parkinson’s, this was the best one to have.  As I looked at Lou Gehrig’s picture hanging on the wall, I realized that we were lucky.  There were a lot of worse diagnosis that we could receive.  I will have to remember that as I digest today’s news.  

Nick's New Job

At the end of April, Nick called to say that he had interviewed with a different company and they had made him an offer.  We were very excited to hear that as he had been thinking about switching jobs since his schedule of traveling to California every other week was long, and the pay was lower than market rate at his current position.  He asked Doug if he would look through the contract to see if it seemed reasonable and once Doug confirmed that it was a nice offer, Nick accepted the position.

Nick left this past week to start training with his new company.  His new position was also with a private carrier, but the company was a lot bigger than his other one.  The pay was better, but the best part was that it was based out of Ohio which would drastically cut down on his travel time.  He asked me to go over the insurance benefits with him, and I was impressed with how good they were.  I like Doug's benefits package at SI Goldman a lot and this was even better.  Nick's new position would change his schedule as he would now be two weeks on and two weeks off.  I was worried about that, but he and Meg liked it a lot better than eight days on and 6 days off from his last job.  One thing that we were all happy about.  Nick received this offer before Spirit Airlines shut down flooding the market with pilots looking for jobs.  Overall, it was a very positive move for him.

Toy Story 5

It was so nice just to have a weekend at home especially after being gone for the last three in the Midwest. Doug and I caught up on some work around the house and then went for a walk at Sholom Park. This afternoon, Doug and I went to see Toy Story 5. I thought the movie was fantastic. It reminded me a lot of Toy Story 2 which was Meg‘s favorite movie growing up. It also brought back a flood of memories of taking my children to the movies. Somehow eating popcorn for lunch made the experience even better.

The rest of our day was pretty relaxing. Doug worked on a large Star Wars Lego set and I helped him look for missing pieces. We had dinner at home and enjoyed sitting outside tonight with the tikis' lit. Thankfully, while we were gone, the rain had finally come, and the burn order was lifted.  It was the perfect way to celebrate the start of summer in the Sunshine Sate.

SI Goldman and Gainesville

When Doug first applied for his current position with SI Goldman, I was the one who found the listing for him on Indeed.  He had been searching for a few months without much luck, and I decided one day to help if I could.  I knew nothing about the business world or looking for a job online, but thankfully my cousin Jeannette was able to get me started.  My very first search led me to a controller position in Gainesville.  It was a little further than we had talked about him driving, but the job sounded perfect for him.  I saved the listing for him, and he applied later that day.  

Within a very short time from applying, Doug heard from the recruiter about the position.  His first question to Doug was why he would want to take a lesser role than he currently had as a CFO.  If I would have been answering it, I would have said, "We don't care what it is, just get him out of Champion."  Thankfully, Doug had a professional response ready, and he spent the next half hour talking to the recruiter about the position.  I was excited to hear all about it when Doug got off the phone, until he said that it was in Longwood.  That was an hour and a half from our home and I really didn't want to move.  Doug planned to go through the interview and see if they would let him work in Gainesville instead.

Fast forward a year and a half later to today and Doug finally got to see why it never made sense for him to work for SI Goldman in Gainesville.  Before his appointment with the neurologist at the University of Florida, he spent several hours working in their office.  He appreciated the tour and was glad to have visited the space, but the office only had a staff of three and there was no one in accounting there. If he would have worked in SI Goldman's office in Gainesville, he might as well have been working from home as he would have still had to contact his staff remotely.  

Even though the position wasn't in Gainesville as Doug and I originally thought, we are still happy that he found SI Goldman.  The job has been a nice mix of learning something new and less stress.  Doug likes his co-workers and has really come to appreciate the role.  I wish that his dad would have come through on his promise when he took the job to pay for Doug to stay in Longwood through the week as necessary, but having Meg nearby has really helped.  He has not only appreciated staying closer to work, but it has given him time with Meg that he has really enjoyed. 

The Pink Panther

When Cameron first started working at Owens Corning, he told us about the company's long-standing history of having The Pink Panther as their mascot.  I hadn't thought about that when he took the internship, but once he said it, I remembered all of the advertisements showing The Pink Panther with rolls of fiberglass insulation.  I found it amazing that Owens Corning had even trademarked the color pink because of their tie to the famed character.

Today, Cameron sent the above picture of his new headcover.   He had found it in the company store and knew that it would fit perfectly beside Yoda in his bag. The Pink Panther cartoons were a childhood staple in my home. Later the Peter Sellers' Pink Panther movies became a big hit as well.  I was glad to see that Cameron found the character as much fun as I did. I don't think that he is quite ready to volunteer to be the mascot at company events yet, but who knows maybe one day he will.  At least for now he can represent Owens Corning on the golf course.  I am pretty sure that he prefers it that way.  

Intern Case Study Competition

Cameron had his intern case study competition today and sent out a text message to our group with this picture.  I was super excited to see it as I knew that it was a really big deal to the supply chain interns.  Cameron called me after work to give me all of the details about the competition.  I found out that they were first presented with a specific problem that had occurred at Owens Corning recently and then asked to come up with a solution for it.  Cameron was paired randomly paired with one of his friends which he appreciated greatly.  They worked all morning studying the issue, coming up with a plan of action and writing a proposal that they presented to their managers and several other higher-ups.  Cameron's group was concerned that they would run out of time before they finished the project but thankfully pulled it together before time ran out.  Their group was announced the winners this afternoon and Cameron was thrilled with the results.  Although winning was a nice reward, the biggest positive was learning to work under pressure with a group to solve a real-world problem. Although Cameron will not be able to take the trophy with him when he leaves Owens Corning, he will be able to take that skill with him when he leaves his internship for sure.