THE MEGA POST...

Summer of 2009 in a single shot... from start to finish, okay not finish. We are actually on vacation in Orlando right now and I want to do some daily posts from the trip, but felt bad about not doing anything from the rest of the summer. So, here you go, the Edison's summer in a few photo albums, hope you enjoy:

June 2009:

1) We began the summer like last year, with a week at the cottage. Well Robin and Bailey were there for just about a week, I only got a long weekend.



July 2009:

1) 4th of July in EGR with all the Edison family. A park, a little parade, a little boat ride and some fireworks.



2) We took a week long trip to Destin, FL with the Bailey and Buda family. Both Mom and Dad Bailey and Aunt Lonnie and Uncle Tom celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary in 2009 and to celebrate we spent a great week on the ocean. Its a long slide show, but totally worth it.

Lil'Grams is up an running

My very good friend from undergrad, Ranvir Gujral, has spent the better part of the past two years working on a company with his partner Greg. They have officially launched their first product, a web based application for parents to store, record and share all the memories of their kids early life. Its a great site and great application. He has worked really hard. Check it out and if you are in need/want of a place to post, save and share pics and videos of your little ones sign up.

www.lilgrams.com

... and on the otherside of the fence we have...

Don Blankenship is the CEO of Massey Energy (a U.S. coal mining company) and an out-spoken opponent of Cap and Trade. Apparently, in his Op Ed for American Thinker, he is challenging climate change as a superstition by creating his own superstition. Hope you aren't looking for facts or an alternative approach to global growth while addressing our environmental challenges. But on the flip side he is passionate and loves America, just not the America I hope for.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/07/in_the_name_of_global_warming.html

To help you understand this type of debate, try reading this.

Good Op-ed in the Post

John Doerr (Kleiner Perkins) and Jeff Immelt (GE) talk about what we need in the U.S. to stay competitive on the clean energy revolution. I thought it was well written and to the point.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/02/AR2009080201563.html

Its been awhile...

Sadly (or lazily) its been almost a year since my last post. The Edison's have had a bunch of changes since that post:

- Robin has taken the Program Coordinator role at Dawn Farm's Huron Street facility. She runs the residential treatment program for a 17 client facility. She has two full time therapists and a group of resident aids that all work together as a great team providing a great service to the Ann Arbor area. About 3 weeks ago Robin officially went to a 32-hour a week schedule and is getting geared up to spend some more time with her little guy - as soon as she stops working 40 hours a week :-)!

- Bailey has been, among other things, doing two half days at Ann Arbor Childhood Development Center. A pre-preschool program getting toddlers and pre-elementary kids ready for the riggers of school :-) He has friends, likes reading and doing art projects. When not in school he is with his Nana (Robin's mom) and they are always doing fun things - the zoo is a big hit. He is looking forward to a summer filled with visits from Ci-ci and Mia; hanging with his buddy Chase; and getting quality time with grandparents, aunts, aunties, uncles - hopefully sleeping enough for his parents to stay rested.

- As for me, I finally went back to work. I started at DTE Energy about a week after the last blog, in a MBA rotational program. From July 2009 through about Feb/March of 2010, I am spending ~6 months in three different groups within DTE. I am midway through my second rotation now. The first was with the DTE Coal Services group and I worked on a potential acquisition of a coal mining operation. The deal did not go through but it was a great experience (and a lot of hours - thanks to Robin and Bailey for their patience). Right now I am working with DTE Carbon, its a start-up group within DTE focused on developing a business based on the trading of carbon offset projects. We look to invest in project that reduce or avoid the emissions of greenhouse gases. Its very much in line with why I went back to grad school so I am really enjoying this rotation. Besides work, I am enjoying evenings with Robin and Bailey, I have started running, biking and swimming and am looking forward to a couple triathlons this summer. I knocked out the Dexter-Ann Arbor half marathon last weekend - so I am feeling ready for some more.

We have a bunch of fun stuff planned for this summer. I will do my best in being a better poster.

Happy early b-day to Robin (turning 31 tomorrow)!

Diane Rehm is my Oprah

I have to admit that when she has authors on it makes me want to buy their books. Twice in the past month and a half I bought a book within minutes of listening to the Diane Rehm's Show. The first was Cokie Roberts' Ladies of Liberty the second James P. Carse's A Religious Case Against Belief. Both quite interesting (at least as much as I have read).

End of Vacation

Well we just could not be more lucky. We had two beautiful, perfect weeks at the cottage (as you have seen). No more pics to post but I will just say that Saturday was another long, sunny, hot day on the beach and we just kept hoping it would never end. Sadly, it did and on Sunday we packed up, cleaned the cottage so my parents could move in and headed home.

Robin headed back to work for a short four day week and I had another few days of leisure. And by leisure I mean doing things around the condo that have not been done in 12 months and hanging with Bailey.

We stopped and saw Patty and Cira (or Kee-Kee)on Friday before they headed for Birchwood. We hadn't seen them in a bit so it was really nice. Patty looks great for being about 30 days from her due date. Cira, of course, is just about the most precious little lady out there.

We spent the 4th with Robin's parents and took Bailey to the annual Lake Orion fair. It was fun but Bailey is not much for rides yet and of course I had to over pay and under perform at the carnival basketball and pitching games. I did win Bailey a blow-up Superman bat and a pink ball (I think they gave me pink to send me a message). We got up this morning and rode into LO for breakfast. Bailey got a little impatient but it was a perfect morning for a ride. A note to all my friends who were so antsy to move out of Michigan following graduation: if you didn't spend a summer here you missed it, this state is beautiful.

I hope everyone had a nice 4th and has enjoyed the daily vacation entries. I will do my best to keep up with the rest of the summer and try to put up more pics from events over the past few months.