Up in the Air??? Due Date?

Before you continue in this blog, please take the time to watch this trailer.  I know many of my loyal followers (i.e. Mom and Dad) sometimes do not watch the videos when prompted.  I sometimes feel like my life is a mix between two movies, Up in the Air and Due Date.  Two different movies, two have very direct parallels to my life.

In Up in the Air, (I believe I have blogged about this before)George Clooney is like the "Angel of Death" for the workforce.  He travels from city to city because he can properly fire people for a particular company.  It isn't a pleasant job, a job he has to be detached from because if not it will drag him down with it.  No one wants to be the barer of bad news.  That is very similar to my job.  If I show up at a chapter, that is not good news. I am there because someone (or group) did something very bad.  Generally speaking, I am the "no fun guy" because I educate the chapters about all the things done bad, and all the rules and regulations.  I suppose I have the ability (like Clooney) to deliver difficult messages in a way that the chapter can embrace the idea and adapt the right way to do things.  Doesn't always work, sometimes the message goes in one ear and out the other, but it is what it is.  As a result of all of George's travel he knows cities simply by their airport code, hotels, and has become elite status in almost every reward program.  This too is very much the same as my life. Travelling used to be exciting and seeing new cities.  I now find it just as easy to stay as close to the airport as possible in many of my destinations.  Please don't confuse anything I am saying with complaining.  I am very thankful to have a job and generally feel happy with the work I do.  Having said that, road warriors are best served by single, fatherless men (or women).  The underlying aspect of all this travel is that I leave my girls at home and miss them deeply when I am gone.  Thank God for Skype.

Due Date- is another movie that closely follows my life.  You never actually know what Robert Downey Jr. does for a job but he seems successful, has a "good hair line and strong jaw."  Things I'd like to think relate to me.  He is madly in love with his wife (again relatable) and can't wait to get him for the birth of their child (again...relatable).  Because of a comedy of errors he is placed on the no fly list and the movie becomes a modern day version of Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.  RD Jr. tried every way in the world to get across country to make it home in time for the scheduled inducement of his wife.  As I sit here in the airport at PHL, I would give anything to be able to click my heels and be home. I know that once I get back to Nashville, I have a three hour drive on top of that.  Today is a big day at work; I will get some news from a U about a situation that occurred back in Dec.  While I am thankful to finally get some word, the entire situation has caused more stress than I ever desired to have.  Regardless, the light at the end of the tunnel is that I know sometime today I will be home to the screams of three girls and a great hug from their Momma.  And to top it all off, with any luck, I will make it home for the birth of Hadley which was a great concern of mine leading up to this trip.  Just a few more hours.....