Team Effort

The almost EMT

My husband is home today for president's day, and so is my son, a lovely mid-week respite. My son passed his state EMT certification practical on Monday night, so now it's just the written exam to take and he'll be fully fledged. The men just went downstairs to scrape the snow and ice off the car and break up the ice locking it into its parking spot, this despite the fact that 10 more inches of snow are expected tomorrow. They want to get ahead of it, they say. They don't want the new snowfall on top of the old. I love their manly camaraderie. Watching them together is one of my true joys.

Manly men

This camaraderie is not in any way new. When my son was an infant, as soon as his dad came through the door from work come evening, his volume would increase signifying his excitement to see his play buddy. Yesterday my husband (Instagram master!) posted that image of three generations of men. He was struck by the similarities in pictures of him with his dad, and in pictures of him with our son. These men all have the same name, too, which makes the second and third generations walk tall, because the first one set the bar very high in terms of character and goodness.

On the train

As for me, I went to D.C. and back yesterday for a project. I sat in a swanky conference room with nine other people and hammered out a survey instrument. Once the data is in, I will have to write the story in a way that does not make you want to go to sleep. I haven't figured out that part yet, but I loved being around that table with so many smart, opinionated people with an agenda that matches my own. I do love working in solitude at home, but I also love a team effort, especially one that forces me to think bigger, stretch myself, grow.

Ice floes outside Baltimore