I joined Ameriquest -- the big mortgage company. I spend my time coordinating our division’s portfolio of work, our projects and our operations. I do this while trying to keep everyone happy. I have unique insights into how to do what I do. I learn from my experiences, find explanations that tie the pieces together and then I write. You can read some of my notes on my web site at http://www.robertperrine.biz.
That site, however, also puts me in the middle. The trick is to share what I learn with my employer, my coworkers and my community without generating controversy. Emails arrive telling me to remove things, emails tell me to add things. Emails tell me I said too much, or not enough and on they go. Project managers have strong opinions.
Maybe should I write with a quill pen in a journal. Instead I spend much of my time with project managers. One Tuesday a month I go to the local Project Managers Institute dinner meeting and one Tuesday a month I host a breakfast meeting for project managers. Many Saturdays I am at a local college coordinating or teaching. If you truly want to be in the middle, try coordinating anything for a group of project managers.
The one place I am not a project manager is at church. Sundays the choir usually sings at 8:30 and 10:00. For a while I was taking a friend to the 11:30 service and once a month I help with the 7:00pm service. When time permits, I join the book club on Wednesday’s and choir rehearsal on Thursdays. I sit in the middle in choir. Sometimes I sing tenor. Sometimes I sing baritone. I am so happy to be back in choir that I gladly sing whatever part I am assigned. I love Irvine Presbyterian Church and I try to keep it in the middle of my life.
That church was my shelter when last year felt like an endless winter. This year feels more like spring. Spring has a lot of storms but it is full of hope. And now this church provides sonshine to my spring. I have written an article for the newsletter and taught a few lessons. I am on a couple committees and I have friends here. Also when a friend of a friend needed time to replan his life, I brought him here and he was welcomed by all.
Being able to help is a sign of how much better this year is. While I spent too little time with family I have hope that this will change. For now I work my days at Ameriquest then I spend hours every night writing. No bicyling or running. Writing is my recreation. It is also my insurance policy. Ninety percent of my friends were laid off from SiteLite. Ten percent of my friends were recently laid off from Ameriquest. I survive by being as current as possible in an industry that changes constantly. That price is high. An interviewer asked which project I wished I had been able to run and I answered - “A vacation”. I have gone too many years without time to do something fun.
I think my Christmas plans express my current view on life. I will celebrate the joy that is Christmas even though I will not be with my family. I will put up Christmas decorations though I might not get to it until the night before Christmas. I will celebrate Christmas both with fond memories and as a reminder of new beginnings. There will be time for church - ushering at a couple services and singing at a couple. And quiet time. Christmas is the event that rightfully marks the change of seasons and I will use that time to prepare for what comes next.
Thank you for being a friend and thank you for taking the time to read these thoughts. The world is different because you are there. I hope you have a very Merry Christmas 2005.
Robert Perrine