What is a normal day?

I thought I would title tonight's blog "a sense of normalcy" but when I thought about it I am not sure what is normal. Is a standard day at my desk, sleeping in my bed, eating dinner at my kitchen table, tucking my kids in normal? Or does our life require other schedules frequently, like working from two locations today, having a work dinner, Arnie arriving back home normal? Certainly the former is what I would prefer, but I think the thing I realize most in life is "you need to go with the flow." That I can have it all in life, just maybe not at the same time. That sacrifices have to be made each and every day.

I am sure tomorrow will seem more normal. We will both wake up in our bed after Arnie being away for 5 days. We will both be home tomorrow night. I still have to be at two different sites tomorrow, but that is more the norm than the exception lately, so for now it will feel normal. The good news is we will cherish the normal things, that get rushed...our family dinner conversation, reading to the kids, my prayer with each of them when I put them to bed. Those things are normal to me, and while sometimes dinner only has one parent, or I only read 2 books each instead of more, to my children every day is normal because they are loved, cared for and in the loving care of one of their parents.

My advise is be flexible and don't set too high of standards for a routine. When you choose to work and have a career, there are certain commitments that come with them. Be clear up front with your manager what you can and can't do and then go with it. Tonight I had a wonderful dinner with my colleagues, one of whom was in from Europe for a training class, another who is an expat from Bulgaria and my R&D partner. We talked about our children and other non-work topics and it was a terrific evening, one capped off by getting home to spend some time with my kids, put them to bed and say our prayer...just perfect.