It’s been almost a year since I took my new job. It wasn’t a had decision to take the position, the company was strong, in the software consulting industry, and I was out of work due to my previous company shutting down.

I interviewed poorly due to the slow death of my previous company, and I somehow didn’t really grasp what they were looking for. Also if I have to admit it my confidence in my own ability to work hard was shot. Maybe it shouldn’t have been. I know now I was wrong but when your in that place it’s hard to remember what your capable of.

I had six weeks where I was home before starting the job. My family went to Florida for one of thoes weeks and I stayed around the house and attended a conference that week. During the other four weeks I did some web work for a friend, did a ton of yard work, interviewed at a few companies, and went Kayaking for the first time in 10 years. On the sixth and last week I went to Mexico with my wife, kids and inlaws.

Then on July 23, 2013 I went to work. That morning I attended the usual company orientation sessions and finished around 2:00 PM. I went up stairs to the 9th flor where I would have my desk and met my boss and department head. After hearing the initial obligitory “Hi Kevin, were excited your here with us.” I got “So do you have a passport?” when I answered yes, they asked how my wife would feel if I left that evening. I’m pretty sure it was only half joking but they did give me another week at the office to get oriented before I started my intense travel schedule for the remainder of the year.

I knew I’d be traveling before I took the job and had discussed it with my wife and family but the travel was a bit more intense for the first project I took on then I expected. My wife and family adjusted as did I but in all honesty I’ve been having an identity crisis since taking this job which is at least part of the reason for the slowdown in my posting over the last year. How can I be a DADvocate and be away traveling so much? How do you allocate your time when you are away from your family versus when your home? What is healthy and what is how do you get there when your on the road? I’m going to start examining those questions here because I took the job to be a DADvocate and my family is still my number one priority.

So if you’d like to learn more about my journy over the past year and how I adjust to my dual life of dad at home and dad on the road subscribe to the blog by clicking the Rss feed or the newsletter. Thanks.

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