So October goes

I'm sitting in a Caribou Coffee in DeKalb, Illinois.

No exotic locale, no far-away place, just a few miles from home.

I've been back home for a few weeks now.  It's been wonderful, waking up every morning next to Julie, in the same bed, not having to make travel plans or hear about things that happen over the phone.  I'm there in the morning when Hailey heads to school and Travis goes to work.  I'm there at night when they get home (or when I have to go get Hailey after school).

It's a good thing being back home in more ways than one.  The car battery died Monday morning after an early morning grocery run.  Thankfully, it was only a mile from home and Travis had the day off.  He came over, jumped the car and we got home to check and make sure it was just the battery.

14 years.  165,000 miles.  My baby's not so much a baby anymore.  The old girl shows signs of age, of wear and each one of those miles.  I've been there for every one of them, and I hope she can hold out another six months until after the wedding before she gives out on me.

Like I said, I'm glad it happened Monday.  This past weekend, we took a couple trips.  Friday, we took the train into Chicago for a day of work-week sightseeing.  Visited the Federal Reserve, the Illinois State Building and wandered through busy city streets.

Saturday after Julie got off work, we left for an overnight getaway. Spent the night in Freeport before headed off to Galena.  We could've left early Sunday morning, but I knew Julie needed a night away from home, some rest, where there's no barking dog or people walking upstairs or noise in general.  We had a nice quiet night's sleep.

Galena is a gorgeous little town about 15 miles from the border with Iowa.  To say it's beautiful is an understatement: It has a small town charm and plenty of tourists on the weekend wandering up and down the quaint shops on Main Street.  The Galena Country Fair was this weekend as well, and the park was alive with vendors, sights, sounds and scents.

Julie and I hadn't had a weekend getaway in awhile, and we sorely needed one.

I'm not working right now.  The Marriott gig ended two weeks ago, and I was waiting to hear about a new project.  During that time, I had a job interview close to home.  I'd applied there several times before, but didn't get so much as a call.  This time, however, they wanted to see me.  Having been burnt so many times, I just went in there and explained that I'd been on the road for too long.  I wanted to be close to home, to my family.

It went well, but I left there not expecting anything.  Later that afternoon, I got calls from Tim and Amy.  Both of them are references on my resume.  They'd been called.

Both of them apparently told them all wonderful, glowing things about me.  It was a glimmer of hope I hadn't had for a very long time, but as the week progressed, that glimmer faded out.  By Friday, I'd heard nothing about the job and resigned myself to just wait for the next project to start, and forget my dreams of actually working in the same zip code I lived in.

Monday morning, after the battery had been replaced in the car, we were just about ready to leave for a day trip down to the zoo.  Julie, Cory, Travis and I were headed down to take Curtis to Brookfield.  I was already depressed over the battery in the car when my cell phone rang.

It was NIU.  They selected me for the job and were calling with a conditional offer.

I accepted on the spot.

Right now I'm waiting again while they do a mandatory background check on me.  They shouldn't find anything, other than a large credit card debt and my firing from CMU a few years ago, but it's been two days since I filled out the form for the check.  God knows what they'll find.  The longer it takes for the phone to ring, the more I worry.   Needless worry, Julie tells me, but I worry nonetheless.

The thought of being able to drive five minutes...or ever walk, if the weather is nice and I feel energetic...is one I never thought I'd have again.  Full time employment, benefits.  After the last two and a half years, I wondered if I'd ever have such a thing again.

You've heard the question, no doubt, "If you could change anything in your past, would you?"  I admit, I have made more than my fair share of mistakes, both to myself and to others.  Would I change anything?

I might use different words.  I might handle things differently, but I wouldn't change a thing.   Everything in my past had made me who I am today.  I have few regrets, and the things I do regret...I hope the ones I've offended will someday forgive me.  But all those events, all the things that have come before...I wouldn't change.

So for now I wait for the phone to ring, one more time.

UPDATE: They called. I start Monday.