It is about time for me to brag about my family a bit.

One of the great things about being ones own boss and working from a home office is that it is possible to keep ones priorities straight and stay involved with family activities. Ironically, with my priorities, the more eventful my personal life becomes and the more development to be done, the less I am able to post about it here. Nevertheless, there is a lot of news, so I start with my family.

My younger son, William, recently auditioned for Sunsets with Shakespeare, a local theatre company, for their upcoming stage production of the classic, A Christmas Story. Despite trying out on a whim, and having the desire but no acting experience beyond school plays, he apparently nailed the audition. William was offered (and accepted) the lead child role, Ralphie. We are very proud of him. The most common response of congratulations: “You’ll shoot your eye out, kid!”

My older son, James, has been participating in Quiz Bowl, and last night he (and the rest of his team) participated in a taping of QuizBusters, a local tournament/television program. This was the first match for the East Lansing Trojans this season, and the first time that James started on the team of four. They are the defending Grand Champions from last year, and James was the only new player. Their competition was the Hastings Saxons (ironically, his mother’s high school). The show will not air until January 28, 2007, so skip the next paragraph if you do not want a spoiler.

[SPOILER]
James definitely performed well, having the best overall record on the “pop quiz” segments. East Lansing won the game over Hastings easily, not only qualifying for the tournament, but doing so as the top seed (of 64 schools).
[/SPOILER]

I cannot forgot my lovely wife, Sherry, who is the Scoutmaster for Boy Scout Troop 2, which recently (on Halloween) celebrated its 85th anniversary. Troop 2 is the oldest Boy Scout troop in the area, almost as old as scouting in the United States, and is actually older than the Chief Okemos Council, to which it belongs. Sherry received her Wood Badge, the highest training an adult leader (and any woman in Boy Scouts) can earn. Earlier this year, she was honored with the District Award of Merit for “outstanding service to youth of this community through idealism and citizenship.”

Me? I work hard in order to provide opportunities for my family, support them in their endeavors as much as possible, and feel a great deal of pride for such accomplishments. I certainly could have had much more money taking a different tack, but I seriously doubt that I could have been any richer.