New year and new project

January 2nd was Michelle's birthday so the three of us headed off to Disneyland.  A lot of childish fun was had by all!  We arrived relatively early so got most of the rides done before the sky opened and we were forced into lil Mickey Mouse ponchos.  I haven't been to Disneyland in 20yrs, it's still a crazed odd place but easy laughs abound and it was a fun way to spend the day.  Afterwards we headed off to Korean BBQ, recommended by one of my work pals.  Awesome!  We got the "all you could eat" and happily cooked our  own meat over a little BBQ inserted into the table.  Typically it was one of those places you might drive by if you didn't think about it.  All up a nice end to the day.
Michelle had her first lecture at UCLA the following day so while Marcia packed up and headed back to Santa Cruz I wandered around the campus and sat in while Michelle set expectations for the term.  Cripes, looking at the reading list I'm glad I'm not taking that course, she's a hard task master!
Pauline and Bernice flew in from Heathrow and we spent a pleasant 15 hours or so entertaining one another, including a lovely walk along the pier in the morning followed by a yummy outdoor breakfast (it was bloody cold in LA most of the time.....and rained alot too).  Michelle dropped the three of us at the airport, me to fly back to SFO and P&B to fly out to Las Vegas.  LAX was worse than it's usual chaos, but persistence won through and we figured it all out in time to get through security and catch our flights.  A vintage US moment when an American turns to you and says "....I'm so glad I found you in the que or we would have had no idea where to go...".  No doubt that four years navigating the system here does make life easier when confronted with LAX chaos.
Wednesday I started my new project at NetApp in Sunnyvale (which is a little short of Milpitas, where Cisco is).  Early days, but I feel okay about it.  I have to say getting onto the IT system took all of an hour (you might recall it taking me several weeks to finally get on at Cisco)!  I feel much more confident about how Accenture operates (I am the Impact Assessment Lead......another new little feather in my cap).   I've been thinking about the longer term vision I might have professionally.  I am formulating a plan....well some goals.  Mostly I really need to get my next promotion, become a senior manager and get back to what I am really good at, managing resources and a little more complexity.  That said, not being arrogant about it, I'm learning some valuable skills along the way and definitely don't under estimate how much I have to learn about the firm itself.  But you know me......gotta have a grand mission or really don't see much point in getting out of bed.
More adventures this weekend, I am currently sitting at home waiting for Bernice and Pauline to arrive!  They are staying in San Fran for four days so I have adventures planned for them (and me! and Irene! and Marcia!).  More later.