Work

A room with a view.

The most exciting -- an event at the former Versace mansion.

You know, a place like Miami isn't normally my style. It's dressy in an odd way, caters to over (and under) dressed people and is all about show. Yet after spending four days there for work, I kind of dug it. Hanging out in South Beach in a fancy hotel with a great view certainly makes it better. I just appreciated the flair of it being different than just the regular nice enough work hotel with a nice enough restaurant in a big city.

So?

Apologies, Internets. I've been busy. I'm taking a graduate level class that is so far way above my head. It's a math class. I know, what was I thinking? It's a required course in the master's in public health program so if I decide to pursue a master's, I've got to take it. Plus, it related to my job so I'm actually leaning a lot and putting into context some things I've picked up along the way. I just hate having to take tests and quizzes again. After my sophomore year in college, I successfully managed to only take classes with papers so 20 years later, it's a challenge. Sigh.

I've also gone back to work full-time for the first time since Andy was born. Granted, 40+ hours a week from home isn't quite the same as a full-time job in an office where I have to give up 10 hours a week to a commute and actually getting out of my shorts, but still. More responsibility, more stress.

Plus, when that new People magazine comes in with Toddlers and Tiaras on the cover, I have to read it immediately. It's not like it's going to read itself, folks.

I also have a new blog that's distracting me - http://surisburnbook.tumblr.com/. Check it out. You will cry with laughter.

Coffee and other hazards

Last Monday after spending the weekend in Washington, D.C., for work, I eagerly began a conference call with a guy in Boston when I spilled coffee on my laptop computer. I didn't freak, it WAS an important call, so I just slowly dabbed up what I could and kept going. Afterward, I called my IT person who is the nicest, most nonjudgmental IT person I've ever met and explained what I had done. "Oh. Oh, my." That's how I knew I was screwed.

Per her advice, I unplugged the battery and all the keys, dried the board and waited. In the meantime, I went to Best Buy and bought a new computer.

I needed one anyway. My little Acer laptop wasn't really appropriate for every day work. I had bought it as a personal computer a couple of years ago, but converted it to full-time business use last year when we moved and I started consulting. Now that I've gotten a permanent gig working from home, I needed to upgrade to something bigger and better. The new computer is beautiful and gorgeous -- mostly the monitor, of course. It's huge. Bjorn convinced me to spend the extra $59 for the super big HD monitor which makes a difference. At first, it was almost too bright, but now I've sort of gotten used to it and I really love it!

So to bury the lead, I now have a permanent gig, working from home, traveling occasionally. It's a totally awesome set up doing a project I really like. The only downside of working from home is getting disconnected when I'm on my own all day so I've asked to be included in staff meetings and I'm making a point to stay in touch via phone instead of e-mail. The perk is I have no commute, except to take the kids to and from school really, which gives me a lot more time for the rest of my life. It's also incredibly flexible in terms of the kids. I am super excited that Andy can actually do swim club this summer. In prior years, I was always working so he could never really go. I do miss the energy that comes with an office though so I'm going to find some interesting coffee shops where people congregate just for the social aspect of getting out once in a while. I also found out a neighbor just took a job working from home three days a week so I will have a buddy on the block to become my work water cooler.

Fortunately, I've been able to get about 4/5 of the keyboard keys back on. Typing is a mess still as putting these keys back on is like rebuilding an antique clock -- lots of small pieces that have to be painstakingly put back together.

Travel

So I was in San Diego for work last week. It's a good thing I didn't visit before we moved or I might have thought about relocating there instead. Dang, it's gorgeous, temperate and has an interesting landscape with both the ocean and the mountains. I am sure I wouldn't be able to afford anything nearly as nice anywhere nearly as cool as where I was staying, but it was a nice fantasy. Check out this view from the convention center? That's some mighty fine advertising, my friends.

The big, big move

So there's big news in Casa de Bennett, Internets -- we're moving to Texas! Bjorn got a new job down in Dallas, my hometown, and he's moving this weekend to start on Monday. I'm going to stay behind in Virginia with the kids to sell the house with the goal of being down there first of August to be ready for Andy to start kindergarten in the fall. Oh, and in the middle, we have an awesome two week trip to Australia planned. So we've got a bunch of once in a lifetime events crammed into one summer. I had no idea I was such an overacheiver.

When we got married, oh, back in 1998, we always said that after the big kids got out of school, we would move back to Texas. I had never really intended to be here that long. It was a three month internship (a three hour tour...) But then I met a great guy and the rest is history. But here it is, nearly 12 year later and we're really doing it. I am so excited about the move, excited to be near my family and watch my kids and nieces grow up together, get a huge house for what our modest house costs around here. It's a win-win except for all the family and friends we're leaving here. Fortunately, Bjorn is looking at houses so massive we could bring everyone down for a weekend not run out of places for them to stay.

We've got a neighborhood down in Dallas all picked out -- the Southlake/Carroll area near the DFW airport. I have some friends from high school that live there and love it, we can get a house twice the size of our current one and be in a good school district with a great football team (I've been making sure to watch Friday Night Lights just to keep up. Oh, who are we kidding. I was watching already.)

I have come out to my office and they have been amazing. I'll stay on through the summer and then transition to a part-time role to finish up some projects as well as go to our big meeting in the fall. It's a good solution for both of us, I think. Plus, my adored assistant director is getting promoted to my job. I'm thrilled about that part, too (although having my successor named is sort of like being a lame duck president, I've decided).

Selling the house is going to be hard, especially trying to keep it clean with two kids and a 21-year-old who ignores most of what I ask about keeping his room tidy, but hardest is going to be Bjorn going on ahead for a couple of months. I'm trying not to think about it too much, but certainly a couple of weeks at a time will be the longest we've been apart since we've been married. Sad.

Even though I've been yelling at him for his refusal to pack in general, he's a total champ for doing all of this. How lucky am I?

I pledge allegiance, to the Elmo

I am back from a four day work trip. Bjorn was gone for 36 hours of it so the big kids were in charge of the little kids. I must say, I am quite impressed with how they held up. Meg was still getting over a sinus infection and had a bad cough that made her vomit occasionally while Andy managed to contract diarrhea just for sport. The meeting itself was so busy that I didn't have too much time to worry about everyone. Fortunately, Mark and Jennifer did a great job.

We did manage to swing through this cool Muir Woods natural forest on our way to Napa. Look at me holding up that big tree! I am very cool. In part due to Facebook, I have reconnected with a ton of friends who live in the San Francisco area. Unfortunately, I only got to see Bjorn's brother and his family. For all of an hour. On my way to the airport.

Bjorn picked me up at nearly 1 a.m. last night. It was so great to be in my own bed and see the kids. In tucking Andy in, I noticed he had used a dry erase marker to create an enormous mural all over his wall under his loft bed and all over his bed. Good times. Fortunately Miss Ayesha gave me a magic eraser and it really did work. On the wood. The walls are still a mess. Nail polish worked a little and I hear rubbing alcohol works a little better.

Andy missed me altough his main interest was what I brought him. Fortunately I picked up a frog night light from Muir Woods on our way out of the city so I had something other than a shower cap and mints to give him. Meg just cared that Elmo existed. Practically every sixth word is Elmo and if Elmo is on anything or even on her mind, it drives her wild and she's all distracted. If Elmo is her his boyfriend, I am totally screwed when she turns 12 and is actually interested in boys.

Bjornism

I have to give Bjorn credit, he is definitely more of a half-glass full guy than a half-empty kind of guy. It's usually a good balance for me since I tend to be more cautious. Today is a perfect example.

Meg and Andy were beyond adorable after dinner as they were both in an empty diaper box "driving." I think it was a bus, but it could have been a boat. I'm not sure Andy was entirely clear. But they were playing together and laughing.

"Wow. Isn't that adorable? It's so great that they can play together a little now," I said.
"Yeah, it really is great. 'Andy, you are being a good big brother,'" said Bjorn.
"It was a long way to go for this, but I do love it."
"Are you kidding? This is worth everything."

I know, what a sweetheart.

I leave for a work trip for the weekend tomorrow. Meg has been sick this week starting with diarrhea Tuesday followed by the barfs Tuesday night into Wednesday. I was up with her Tuesday night and then Bjorn stayed home with her yesterday (again, what a good guy.) She was really whiny and sad off and on during the day (and refusing Tylenol) so it was so great when she woke up this morning much more like herself. It makes me appreciate the joy the kids were having together all the morning.

Oh, what's up with Michael Jackson today? I just have to add that my mom wins cool points for taking us to his Thriller concert at Texas Stadium back in like 1980. The killer? We had front row seats. Apparently Mom sent away by mail for the tickets from the back of a Rolling Stone magazine. Totally cool.

This and that

It's been an interesting week with the holiday, inaugural and all, so I'll just share a few gems of the week.

Meg
1) Meg is pointing. AT EVERYTHING. It's adorable. Except when she insists on pointing her finger into my mouth or eye.
2) She loves climbing the stairs and getting around my gates. She always pulls the one down off the stairs in the living room so I have an eagle eye out for that. Then this morning, she tore down my makeshift gate in the basement while I was doing something important, like Facebook. I turned around and she was half way up the stairs. Yikes!
3) We are working on some sleep readjustment, with modest success (fingers crossed, knock wood, knock wood again). I have been tinkering with her bedtime, pushing it to 7:30 in the hopes that it gets us to at least 6:00 a.m. I took her to the doctor on Tuesday to confirm no ear infection before I started work. Fingers crossed things continue to improve. Mama is tired!
4) She can stand. On her own! Not for a long period of time, but I watched her do it twice today. Walking, here she comes!
5) Oh, and to totally bury the lead, Meg turns one, on Monday. I can hardly believe it. I had to be at the hospital where I delivered last week for work and it was sort of surreal thinking I was just there a year ago in that very parking lot. I have pictures of the entrance and everything.

Andy
1) He is infatuated with Diego and loves to sing the theme song. I like Diego better than Dora, but the show is still pretty stupid. There was an episode featuring chinchilla mountain and it had some small mountain with all these little rat looking things all over the top like sprinkles. Odd.
2) I have been trying to work on positive stuff about our days. Here is a classic:
"Andy, my favorite part of the day was tonight when you and Meg were playing tit-ut (peek-a-boo) together. I loved listening to you two laughing. What was your favorite part of the day?"
"...Juice. I liked getting juice."
"...Sigh."
3) Today we went over to the creek, which was still partially frozen despite it being almost 55 today. We threw rocks at the ice. We loved it!
4) He is suddenly into bagels and insists on having them for practically every meal.

Me
1) I went to my OB's office today. It was so odd being there. Having gone practically once a week for nearly a year, it felt like going back to high school after you graduate. The facilities were more or less the same, but it all felt different. I was also very glad to not be pregnant in that waiting room.
2) With all the sleep problems, I have inexplicably misplaced my Health Sleep Habits book that I have practically dog-eared and memorized. I have been looking for it everywhere (and even cleaning some in the process. Grrr.)
3) I have to go out of town next weekend for work. It's always hard for me to leave, but I know Bjorn is exceptionally capable and always handles everything great. I will also get a chance to look up Armando. Although seeing him twice in one month after not seeing him in more than four years may be too much.

In-cation

Bjorn starts a new job on Monday so he is taking this week off before he starts. After working long days in Boston for a week, I am taking a couple of days off as well. We initially planned to get away for a few days, but the stars just didn't align quite right to get it done. I'm not quite sure exactly what we're doing, but I know we won't be working and we will be together. I'm really looking forward to it. I'm still tired and I've been back a week now. It's not a vacation necessarily (or an in-cation as Andy calls it), but it will do.

I leave you with some darling pictures. Andy is adorable, usually, although he's going through a terrible phase of screaming when he's really tired/unhappy. Last Sunday, he was so tired, but didn't want to take a nap. He was quite ornery so I finally put him in his room where he proceeded to scream, "I'M NOT TIRED" for a solid 15 minutes before falling asleep for three hours. I don't believe in spanking except in times of danger (i.e. spanking for running in the street), but in times like that, I do briefly rethink things.

Meg is figuring out how to pull up and is very excited about it. Now when I sit in front of her on the floor, all she wants to do is reach for my hands to pull her up. She's not sure what to do once she's standing except look around, all proud of herself.

The swing of things

Well, it took about 30 minutes to be back into the swing of things. After lots of hugs, it was back to the regular feeding, bathing, playing sleeping schedule. Bjorn even said that it would not take as long as I liked to be back to normal. He was right. And that's good and bad. The good part was feeling like I hadn't missed too much. The bad part was I felt exhausted from the week and didn't really get a chance to recover before I was back at work. It's all good though.

Both kids have colds right now. Meg has a pretty good cough and runny nose, but generally she seems to feel okay. Andy has a milder cough and runny nose that he likes to wipe on his shirt no matter what I say.

Meg is really moving around these days. I put her on the floor and within seconds she's somewhere else. She's not crawling per se, but she pushes herself backwards and pushes and rolls herself from side to side. My days of letting her play on the floor quietly while I work on the computer are dwindling, I can tell.

It's all very exciting and yet it's all happening so fast. Since this is my last baby, I want to savor it (well, the good parts anyway), but I love that every day she gets closer to really interacting with us. And I just melt when she beams at Andy and he pauses long enough to do a dance for her. On the other hand, I look forward to the days when they can truly play together (well, until they fight and demand intervention). There are also so many fun things to do with older kids, like zoos, hikes, parks, ponds, slides that a 20 pound baby just doesn't get and that I can't enjoy or participate in really while lugging her around.

Above is a picture of the Red Sox/Indians game I went to, as obviously taken with my cell phone camera. The fun part was the Red Sox clinched the playoffs with their win so it was an even more exciting game than usual to attend. Good thing it was exciting because I was so tired I nearly fell asleep in the 8th inning.

The conquering hero returns

Phew. It was a long week and I'm back. It feels great to be home. I went with Bjorn to pick Andy up from school who was thrilled to see me and kept saying he "miss-ed" me while I was gone. He also appreciated the gifts, although most special are the free chocolates from the Westin turn-down service, the green pen that lights up and the "special soap" that makes bubble bath, again from the hotel. I should enjoy this inexpensive gift giving. Certainly there will come a time when that's not enough and he'll instead demand a pony when I return from a trip. When I went to get Meg, it took her a few seconds to take in who I was. That was kind of cute to see her process my face and then smile big.

As expected, Bjorn did fantastic while I was gone. The house looks great (it helps that the maids came yesterday) and the kids are well fed and happy. Unfortunately, both seem to have slight colds today, but it has been nearly three weeks since our last illnesses so it was bound to happen.

The trip itself was long, but good. Our media coverage (my job) was fantastic and that makes up for a lot. I also managed to squeeze in a visit with an old college friend and a trip to Fenway Park in between working 13 hour days. It was a long hard week, both work wise and emotionally but I'm glad I went and I'm sure glad I'm home.

Travel

I don't travel much for work. Probably two or three times a year, I have to go away for a weekend. Then once a year, we have a big meeting and I have to go away for a week. And during that week, I turn into one of those women that I totally made fun of before I had a kid. One of those people that can't enjoy the time away, instead frets about the whole thing and arrives at the last minute and leaves as early as I can.

But it's stupid for me to do that. Bjorn is an exceptional dad and has the whole thing under control while I'm gone. We had daycare set up and he has backup in the form of his brother, mother and daughter as well as some neighbors on call to help out if necessary.

So this year, I am going to try to be different. I am going to try to have fun while I'm away. Sure, it's work, but at the end of a long day (and I mean long since they usually start at 6 a.m. and end after 5 p.m), there are parties to go to. There are cool people to see for drinks. There is also a nice hotel room that is clean and has the good premium cable TV stations. There is food that I don't have to cook or pay for available. The added bonus is I'm not pregnant this year like last. So my plan for Boston, I'm going to (try) look at this a little differently. Fingers crossed.

Holy storms, Batman

It's been a wacky week in Washington (a lot of alliteration already). The weather gods gave us three days of thunderstorms, including some of Wednesday that produced tornadoes and tennis-ball-sized hail. Crazy. Our house was fine, but our neighbor across the street wasn't quite so lucky. There were also reports of a tornado touching down not far from my office where, sadly, one person died when a tree fell onto a car.

At Andy's school they even got all the kids into the hallway until the storm passed. Hearing about that certainly brought back memories of growing up in Texas and lining up in the hallways of the elementary school with our heads between our knees during a tornado warning.


I'd love to say the weather is the reason for the lack of posts recently, but truthfully, this working and taking care of kids thing has been kind of kicking my ass lately. We're slowly getting into a groove. The kids are doing fine at their respective places and I'm enjoying (mostly) being out of the house and doing something other than changing diapers. But at the end of the day, once everyone is snug in their beds, I'm finding I'm exhausted and ready for bed. When did I get so lame that being able to go to bed at 9:30 p.m., with the goal of sleeping until 3 a.m. is the highlight of my day?

P.S. New pictures posted to the right on Flickr.
P.P.S. I have spent the past several weeks slowly taking down a wallpaper border in Mark's room. God, do I hate wallpaper and that Dif crap that you spray to take it off. I swear I've spent the last five years taking down wallpaper in various room. When it comes to buy our next house, I'm going to demand one without wallpaper.

Ugh

So the first day back at work was today. I was a nervous nelly all weekend (not that I like to obsess or anything) only to wake up at 5 a.m. to both kids awake and wanting to play. I fed Meg and let her talk herself back to sleep in her crib and let Andy "read" with his light on so I could sort of sleep from 6:15 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. All that combined made me a little emotional. Andy was great at the drop off. He was a little shy, but went into his room without crying. Meg did well, too, although she did give me a little frown as if to say, "Why are you doing this?" Thanks, kid.

I jumped right into work, which was good to keep me from obsessing some more except for everyone asking me how I was doing. I know people mean well, but it made it an effort not to cry. I checked in around noon and Meg had slept and was drinking a bottle and Andy was in new clothes, having had a poopy accident that morning. I left work around 3:00 p.m., delighted that it took me only 15 minutes to get to their school. Andy was just up from not taking a nap and having a snack. He whined that he didn't want to leave, that he wanted to play. Bugger. Meg was also peacefully asleep in her crib. Her teachers reported that she was a great baby and very happy with no crying. Oh, and that she was really cute, too.

Once home, Andy went upstairs to rest and promptly fell asleep giving me some time with Meg. She's just cuter, more alert and interactive every day. It's sure hard to leave them every day, but I'll admit I liked the break and talking with adults. I may think differently when things get super busy in a few weeks, but today was a decent day.

In other news, it rained 7 inches at Dulles Airport yesterday and the area is just one big wet, sloppy kiss. This is on top of four inches of rain we got last week. Lots of folks lost power due to tree roots loosening and falling onto power lines and there is a ton of flooding that caused many schools to close. Wacky.

Dry run

Since I'm going back to work on Monday, I took the kids to their new daycare/school yesterday. I went in the morning after the morning drop-off rush and stayed a little over an hour. First Andy and I met Meg's teachers in the baby room. He and I were nervous, she was oblivious and everyone was very nice. After we spent some time introducing Meg around, seeing her crib and talking with her teachers, we left her for a bit to go see his new classroom. He's starting in the two-year-old room for now. He's already three, of course, but we know two other kids in that class already and we thought it would be an easier transition that way. Plus, he's not 100 percent potty trained yet and thought this class might be less pressure until he's ready.

He was pretty clingy as we went into the room. He brightened up once they started singing some songs. It was then time for a snack and they were having cupcakes in honor of one child's last day. Once Andy got a brown cupcake, he was feeling pretty good about the place. After talking to his teachers for a while, I left him to eat his cupcake and go talk to Meg's teachers one on one. He was nervous, but I promised to be back in a few minutes. After I got to know Meg's teachers, who seemed very nice and to really love babies, and got everything ready for Monday, I came back to collect Andy. By then, he was jumping and playing on the mats with the other kids and wasn't ready to go. I think that bodes well.

Monday is going to be tough, but I think I'm ready. I hope.

Last day

Today was Andy's last day at his old school. It hit me when I woke up this morning, that the transition I put in place is all leading up to one thing -- going back to work. I'm ready on one level, terrified on another. Meg is becoming more adorable every day (especially when she sleeps through the night). When I go in most mornings, she looks up at me, smiles and kicks her legs. It's so precious and in some ways so simple. No negotiating about clothes or food, just a simple smile of welcome. Granted, she can't hug me and say I love you, but she also can't declare that she's not my friend yet. Meg and I have come a lot way together in the last three months (well, nine months and three months). It's sort of hard to believe we're here already.

On another front, I've been reading up on strategies for outsmarting Andy's annoying behavior of whining, crying, arguing and temper tantrum throwing. The book by Thomas Phelan Magic 1-2-3 was recommended and I'm going to give his strategies a shot. The basic premise is that while these kids can talk, they are not adults and you therefore can't reason with them on behavior. Instead, if they act up, give them a count of three to act right and then it's time for time out. No discussion and no arguing. The other part that rang true is keeping my emotions in check so that I'm not having a temper tantrum back at him. I'll keep you posted as to whether it works.

Meanwhile, I pulled out the high chair and put it in the kitchen so Meg can watch what's going on. She seemed to like it, especially Andy smiling at her, until I took the picture. The face captured here really cracks me up. I have taken a lot of cute pictures lately that I'm going to get up to Flickr soon.

Moments of success

So we sent Andy to school yesterday in just his underwear, no diaper. After screaming at Bjorn the entire way to school, he went the whole day without going in his pants. I am as stunned as you are. Granted, he didn't poop at school and that has been the barrier, but he did go dry all day and got lots of stickers and praise from his teachers, who encouraged us to do it again today. It's a start. Funny, I don't mind changing Meg's baby diapers so much, after all they're small and not quite human like yet, but somehow cleaning off poop off a real person is pretty icky. Go figure.

Speaking of Meg, she is a full blown infant now. With a huge crush on my ceiling fan. She lies under the fan and smiles and laughs at it, practically craning her head to get around me or Bjorn. It's just adorable. She's sleeping decently now, often just getting up once in the night. However, she wakes up and wants to play, rather than just eat and go back to sleep. It would be more annoying if she wasn't so darn adorable right now.

I have about a month left before I go back to work and I think I may be just about ready. We have the daycare lined up, I feel good about where the kids are going and the thought of spending the day talking to adults doesn't seem so bad right now. I may feel totally different when the time comes.

I'm also tinkering with Flickr trying to get more pictures posted. Bear with me, I have no idea what I'm doing.

On the mend

Amazing how a course of antibiotics can do a body good. After Andy got his first course Saturday afternoon, by Sunday morning his eyes were goop free and even his nose had started to clear up. He was still a little ornery, but generally his symptoms were much improved. What a relief. I'm still washing my hands every 15 minutes to make sure I don't catch anything else, either from him or life.

Going into the marathon that is work for me for the next week, I know that working 16 hour days is tough enough without getting sick. And of course, being 6 months pregnant is going to make me tired enough as it is. I just can't wait for it to be November 1 and this busy season is over for me for another year.

The Patient

Andy is still sick today. He did sleep better last night, as did I since Bjorn got up with him twice while I slept through the whole thing. Poor guy still has fever, runny nose, goopy eyes and loose stools, but generally he's in pretty good spirits. Bjorn stayed home with him most of the day until I got home about 3 p.m. so Bjorn could head to the office. Fortunately, he has a few retail clients that are open until 9 p.m. so we both ended up having a mostly full workday despite Andy illness.

Meanwhile, if you're familiar with the Thomas the Tank Engine toys and shows, you will likely get a kick out of this. More proof that to me that wine and children do mix.

Boss of the year

My job isn't perfect, but I'm reminded how good it is when I hear wacky stories from this place I used to work. I got a note from a former coworker letting me know that three people of a 12-person company had put in their two weeks' notice to protest the firing of another employee. Turns out, said fired employee was looking for another job. She had written up her resume and had left it in her desk drawer. The thing is it was written to seem as though she'd been at her current job longer than she really had. The CEO found her resume, presumed she must have lied about her other employment history. Though she was good at what she did doing a job that is hard that one wants to do, especially for the measly pay, the paranoid CEO convinced his second in command to let her go.

The most remarkable part of this story is how the CEO got her resume in the first place. He got it by going through her desk drawers. Seriously. What kind of paranoia makes you go through someone's desk drawer? That's even worse than Michael Scott. I've heard of companies that monitor e-mail and Web usage. I can ever understand monitoring long-distance phone calls. But what white collar office CEO has the time and energy to rifle through the desks of $12 an hour employees looking for incriminating information? Get a life, man! The guy is totally nuts.

That job is what I imagine an abusive relationship is like. We all knew it was bad, we all knew deep down it wasn't going to change, but for some strange reason, we all felt trapped. Having lived through my experiences there, when people at my current job complain about this or that, I'm glad I have the perspective to know the difference between annoying general work crap and a truly hostile work environment. Course, if I was still working there when Andy came along, you can bet I would have left by now. Leaving him is only okay because I'm going to a job I generally like, with people I usually get along with, doing work that is interesting. Otherwise, it just wouldn't be worth it.