In this race, family took first place

Finally, the weather has turned, and it’s a return to backyard BBQs – two to date with more planned. The grass has greened a lot, but we are still waiting for the trees to blossom. Alas, with the heavy spring snowfalls of the past three weeks, the buds looked burnt, so I am not sure what we will see. Perhaps nothing at all! Ouch -- and we look forward every year to the snowberries that look so cool even as they festoon our driveway with the remains of their small white flowers.

We were making plans for  our 2013 track events well in advance – the idea was to mark our calendars and plan other activities around them, so that when we get the chance to drive fast and meet with our friends and business colleagues, we can do so without affecting other plans and obligations. It worked well in the past few years,  and  we were able to carve out time to play.

Not so much this year … …. In the fall of 2012, our daughter invited us to lunch. This is not something we had experienced before -- an invitation to lunch during the work week. Not really! Well, as we suspected, there was a reason for this sudden urge to see her “’rents”:

So, we found out that her family of four (the two of them and two of their cats) is soon to become a family of five!

I admit, we talked about this being great news, and we started making plans on calling her little boy Enzo and taking him for donuts (in his little driver suit and helmet, not your usual donuts, mind you).

When we found out it was a girl, we still did not lose faith, as our daughter was determined there will be no pink color anything in the nursery – our granddaughter will be raised to become a smart and independent woman who will not be a girly-girl! OK, maybe there are donuts in the future, after all.

Our daughter’s neighbor and good friend was deeply disappointed with the “no pink” rule, so when the new parents arrived home from the hospital, they were greeted with a very pink greeting sign:

After a few days of seeing Baby Ella and getting the sense of what it really means to be grandparents, it dawned on me that our carefully made plans for the year might need altering.

Next weekend our calendar shows a driving event at Willow Springs, our favorite track in Southern California. The Pyalla Command Center (our motor home) stands on the driveway, getting ready for the trip. Participation is all part of our ongoing marketing campaign, as so many current and former HP engineers continue to show up for these events each month – if you remain a part of HP, are an engineer and like to fly planes, then there’s every chance you will also share our enthusiasm for track weekends!

The Corvette shines, all tires pumped, all fluids changed, new brake pads installed - the car is ready! Richard is making his shopping list, even as he continues to  prep the motor home. So far, that sounds familiar. Well, except I am not quite ready to jump into the motor home and miss out on Ella growing up! I just can’t imagine not seeing my girls for a whole week!

 I think it all started with me picking up this little bundle and looking at her face that is so much like my daughter’s….

And so it looks that Richard will do the trip without me.  Monday is back to work, and I just do not want to give up my next weekend and be away from Ella!

That’s the third event this year I will miss because of the changes to our family. Last week, while Ella was born, I missed ACRM Mid-Year meeting in Baltimore – I really appreciated that ACRM management gave me the freedom to skip this meeting, despite my role as their Chief Meeting Officer. The ACRM Staff stepped in, and I am sure all went well, but even so, this just goes to prove that family won! And it will win next weekend, no matter how fast Guman will drive (Guman is Grandfather in Sydney Aboriginal dialect -- with so many grandfathers, one will be Grandpa, one will be Dziadek ,Grandfather in Polish, and Richad will be Guman). I remain Babcia (Grandmother in Polish), and I enjoy my new role!