Greg Hartnett

My wife and I have been together since 1994. For those of you mathematically challenged, that’s 12 years. If you have ever been in a long term relationship, you’ll know it takes a lot of work. Compromises, biting your tongue, providing support, listening when you don’t feel like it - all the little things that go into making a relationship last. It’s not easy.

On my drive home last week from SES San Jose, I was reflecting on how good life can be when you make good choices. People seem lucky or fortunate - usually they are not. They just make good choices. Choosing Lily as my wife was probably the best choice I ever made.

So as I am thinking about all this, the perfect song comes on the radio. A song that I always enjoyed, but never fully appreciated. If you have a love that has stood the test of time, perhaps it will ring true to you as well.  Still the One, by Orleans:

We’ve been together since way back when
Sometimes I never want to see you again
But I want you to know, after all these years
You’re still the one I want whisperin’ in my ear

You’re still the one I want to talk to in bed
Still the one that turns my head
We’re still having fun, and you’re still the one

I looked at your face every day
But I never saw it ’til I went away
When winter came, I just wanted to go
Deep in the desert, I longed for the snow

You’re still the one that makes me laugh
Still the one that’s my better half
We’re still having fun, and you’re still the one

You’re still the one that makes me strong
Still the one I want to take along
We’re still having fun, and you’re still the one

Changing, our love is going gold
Even though we grow old, it grows new

You’re still the one that I love to touch
Still the one and I can’t get enough
We’re still having fun, and you’re still the one

You’re still the one who can scratch my itch
Still the one and I wouldn’t switch
We’re still having fun, and you’re still the one

You are still the one that makes me shout
Still the one that I dream about
We’re still having fun, and you’re still the one.

My wife, Lily, has wanted to get back to work for awhile. As a mother of two young children, she has become adept at multitasking, crisis management, negotiating, time management, budgeting, planning, and the thousand other tasks that come with successfully running a family of four.

Fortunately, we are in a position that the decision is more of a lifestyle choice than a financial necessity (though the money definitely helps). As such, she has the leisure to apply her skill set to something that she enjoys doing. Additionally, she wants to be able to do something that provides her with the flexibility that she’d like. And, of course, she’d like to be the boss.

After putting our heads together, and with the advice of some friends (thanks Roger), she has decided to start her own online venture. We are in the process of getting the legal paperwork together (LLC stuff, EIN, bank account), and smoothing out the rough edges. Next up, some domain name purchases, site(s) set-up, and initial business model launch. Pretty exciting for her. While I look forward to helping her find her way around internet marketing, I anticipate that I will learn a thing or two from her as well.

I’m sure that you’ll see links here in the future, provided that her content doesn’t suck

Best of luck Lil, though I am sure you will do splendidly.

For inspiration see You, Inc.

After months of looking, and a handful of trips between coasts, we have finally chosen a house. It was a pretty exhausting ordeal, moreso for my wife and inlaws than me. My wife and my inlaws did a ton of the footwork - exploring numerous communities in the greater Sacramento area. We finally decided on beautiful Roseville CA. The schools are good (we can actually send them to public school), the location is awesome (a bit over an hour to Tahoe, and 15 minutes to Folsom Lake), and the community is great.

We anticipate closing on the deal, and getting the keys within a couple weeks. For the time being, we have our hands full with choosing new floors, counter tops, paint, etc… As the pictures show, the house is in great shape. With some minor modifications, we will be good to go. Only the first 16 pics in the set are of the new house - the remainder are other houses we looked at during the hunt.

Anticipated move date is Monday July 10. We’ll fly out, and hopefully find our cars and stuff waiting for us in front of the house. Instead of going with the traditional moving van, we have decided to use PODS. I can’t stand the idea of dealing with scummy movers - just talking to them on the phone trying to get a quote gives me the willies.

The house is large enough for me to have my own office, so the plan is that I will be working from home for the indefinite future. Fortunately, there is ample commercial space within a few minutes of my house, so if I can’t work out of home, I can easily pick up an office closely.

For the next couple of months, we will be pretty fixated on the move. We have a fair share of stuff to box up, an SUV to sell, and two vehicles to ship. All in less than two months. Big fun…

There I said it. Get over it.

I love my wife dearly - 365 days a year (well maybe 340 or so). I appreciate her, and I try to show my appreciation as much as I can. I work on seeing things from her point of view, and do my best in trying to be sensitive to her feelings. I even occasionally enjoy being romantic - doing little things to remind her of why she first fell in love with me.

However, this “holiday” really chaps my ass. Every year, I wind up letting down my wife with a half-baked gift, or idea. I resent the cloud of disappointment that hangs around all day.  I just can’t get into it. I hate feeling forced to prove my love on this day, more than any other. What a pain in the ass.

For somebody that boo-hoos about the evils of Christmas, I must admit that I truly enjoyed the Christmas weekend. While I am no fan of the commercialism that absorbs American culture, it sure was fun to see my kids on Christmas morning.

We went ice skating in Syosset on Saturday morning (instead of a much-dreaded trip to Manhattan) and I spent the rest of the day at home with the kids while Lily did some last minute shopping. Before bed, we did the milk and cookies thing for Santa, and Téa read all of us The Night Before Christmas.

Luckily, the kids slept until about 7:30 Sunday morning, and we started with the gifts at about eight. After finishing up at about 9:30, I spent the remainder of the morning assembling various toys, and installing the required batteries. We headed over to Jenn’s at 1:00 and hung out with the family and friends all day. It was a great day, one of the best Christmas-es I have had in a long time.

Hope you had a great holiday too

See my Christmas pics

As with so many things in life, maintaining a relationship has so much to do with timing. Being able to discuss things with your spouse is so important, but discussing those things at the wrong time can prove to be a recipe for disaster. I had one of those moments this afternoon.

With fresh snow in Vermont this weekend, and limited time slots available within the next few months, I tried to persuade my wife of the merits of a quick boys trip. As the Christmas holiday rapidly approaches, I knew that my proposition was tricky at best, with a potential for me eating shit. Lily gets pretty stressed around birthdays and holidays. A two-fold problem, really. God bless my wife, she does her best to make each event the greatest it can be. Shooting for the stars on each birthday, Christmas, and every other milestone is a pretty big feat. Enter my nonchalant demeanor, and her burden intensifies.

So when I called to feel her out, and immediately heard the stress in her voice, I knew I may be in for a rocky road. With the clock ticking, I didn’t have the leisure of waiting for a more opportune time. I decided to strike - and as expected, it didn’t go over well. With Killington 300 miles away, and a good deal of Christmas shopping to be done, the timing couldn’t be worse. Add the stress associated with siblings in a non-sharing mood, and the snaps coming from the Mrs. were well anticipated.

In the end, we came to an agreement, and I convinced my fellow boarders to adjust their schedules a bit. Makes for a late night drive, but another part of relationships is compromise, right? Hopefully the conditions are ripe, and the snow is soft. Hopefully my legs hold for more than a few runs

This weekend winds up a hectic month of celebrations for me and the Mrs. Each year, we celebrate both of our birthdays and our anniversary over the course of a month. It makes for an expensive and somewhat exhausting few weekends.

Tomorrow, I score big. I am pretty sure that the Mrs. is going to enjoy the gifts I got her, and I’ve got a couple of activities/surprises planned.

If I weren’t such a sport, I could see how some people may begin to dread having to celebrate any occasion. Between birthdays, anniversaries, mother’s day, father’s day, christmas, hanukah, easter, valentine’s day, halloween, thanksgiving, and the other hallmark events, who has the time or the effort to get excited about each one?

I think the only occasions that should be recognized are birthdays and anniversaries. The rest is for the Jones’s. For years I have been threatening to stop exchanging gifts at christmas - maybe this year I pull the proverbial trigger.

Now playing:

Little Red Rooster from the album “Dick’s Picks Volume 13 (Nassau Coliseum - May 6, 1981) (Disc 1)” by Grateful Dead