So my son is an official Marine now. His graduation was last Friday morning, and I could not be any prouder of him. He speaks with more confidence, he talks much more than he did before, and I can see that boot camp had a profound effect on the way he carries himself. He still has that sly smile, and he probably was focused more on his girlfriend, than he was his family members, but he's an 18-year old Marine now, and he can do what he damn well pleases within reason. Of course as his dad I had to warn him against premature pregnancy, getting into unnecessary trouble in Hampton,Virginia during his 10-day break, and staying in shape, but I suspect he knew all those things before I said anything.His next step will be to ship to Camp LeJeune in North Carolina next Monday, where he will be for 29 days. I will definitely be visiting him.

My next step in life began on Monday when I started my new job as Project Manager. I got a significant raise, more responsibility, and I will be challenged to take everything I've learned professionally up to this point, and apply it. I'm nervous, i'm excited and my predecessor at this job will only be training me for three more days before I am on my own. It isn't exactly an ideal situation, but what can I do right? New jobs and opportunities don't always present themselves tied up in a neat little bow. I'm not just making idle chatter here in my blog, I am actually trying to pump myself up via the written word. I don't know if it is working.

One more thing, I REALLY want to write for this website. The Pros? It seems to now be under good leadership, and I am quite sure they will get great exposure and even greater assignments as it gets closer to the official kickoff date. The Con? Even if I force the issue and get selected, I don't think they could sufficiently compensate me as well as my current job does. Then the question becomes do I take a leap of faith and go all in on a lesser salary in hopes that the high-profile job will propel to me to higher heights? Or do I stay in the financially safe pocket and make sure my family is taken care of? I have to be offered the job for this to be a legit scenario, but I think about it often.

Don't forget to watch this Michael Jackson documentary on Friday night. It is going to be good I promise.