A word for my sponsor (wife)

Queen of the demesneAs we move into the last half of the last day of the year here on the eastern seaboard of the United States, I’d like to take a moment to thank my sponsor in all things, my wife Kim (pictured here wearing her royal crown). Sure, she has already been nominated this week as the meanest mom ever (I believe there is a club forming for this, and something about hot pink biker jackets a la Grease), but I’d like to give her a further shout out of thanks for sponsoring me this year.

To start with, there was the job change this year. After years of griping about working for the DoD, and having no luck finding my ideal job in the regular market (after all, I wasn’t  unemployed, I had a steady, safe job, so my hunt was for something ideal, not just something to pay the bills), I applied to two dream companies, just as a lark.

Surprisingly, ThinkGeek (one of the two) responded in the positive, despite my salary requirements. Kim has always been my biggest supporter (and the reason I made the leap into the technology arena in the first place), and after some gnashing of numbers agreed that this would work if I wanted it. And boy, did I want it. My hours have shifted dramatically – I wake up well after sunrise now, and I’m home much later than ever would have been necessary at my old gig, making her a semi-single mom at times, but through it all she has weathered it with grace and style, and occasionally, a peck on the cheek if she thinks I’m being particularly silly.

Then there’s this crazy notion I have of being a writer. Even between her own small business, Blue Lady Studios, and the kids, and dealing with me (I’m very high maintenance), she still encourages me to pursue my dreams. Maybe nothing will come of them (its good to have grounded thoughts), and even if something does, its doubtful I would ever be able to retire and live a life of writing like some lucky dogs I know of, but I enjoy it and its fun and that’s what counts. And my wife, like a patron of old, sees to it that I have what I need to pursue it.

So to my sponsor, my wife, thank you, for making 2009 such an awesome year. And, just to be safe, an advanced thank you for 2010 as I push myself to make it to a publisher’s desk.