Beaver Creek

We went to Beaver Creek this weekend with the Hevers (Phoebe was Mason's kindergarten teacher, Tim her husband and their kids Parker 10 and Payton 7).

I hope with my new job that I won't be traveling as much as before.  I really don't enjoy flying, packing/unpacking, airports, etc.  However, hotel points will be one thing I will miss.  I had enough points with Starwood to get us each a one-bedroom suite for 2 nights at the Sheraton Mountain Vista in Beaver Creek.  I offered to get the rooms, while Tim, who works as a senior buyer for Vail Resorts, got us the lift tickets discounts.  But instead he got us free tickets, so we had to fight to pay for meals in the typical Chinese style (even thought Tim and Bill are white, they have learned well).

Unfortunately Parker had broken his wrist playing lacrosse, so he couldn't snowboard.  The first steep slope had Audrey scared, and Phoebe had to take her in between her skis.  Audrey and I took a little break after that and stayed on the magic carpet by Bachelor Gulch, which she did about 20 times.

The boys ski well together, although Payton is faster than Mason, but that gives Mason motivation to keep up. They had a lot of fun.

We all had lunch at the Ritz at Bachelor Gulch, where I had a company event last Summer.  But in the Winter, that Ritz is one of the most expensive hotels around, commanding more than $1,500 a night for the cheapest rooms.  The hot chocolate was $6, so you can imagine that lunch was as much as a very nice dinner.  We enjoyed the fire, the food and the rest we needed before going back out.

After a full day of skiing, we enjoyed the hottub and the kids even went into the heated pool back at the hotel.

We had a wonderful time, and Payton drove home with us on Sunday, so he could play a little longer.  

Traffic on I-70 is getting more and more unbearable on the weekends.  A few weekends ago, it took some people 6-8 hours to drive back to Denver due to traffic and accidents.  As a result, people leave earlier and earlier on Sundays to avoid the traffic coming back.  We left at 10:30 am after brunch and still encounter traffic and tools us 3 hours to make it back.  I mostly drive, as I get car sick and Bill can be on the computer or read.  

We hope to ski a couple of more times before the season is over.

 

Datalogix

This is a follow up from my earlier blog on  my job transition.  I'm happy and excited to report I will be starting a new role at A company called Datalogix on March 3rd.  

I had begun my talks with Datalogix last Summer, as I knew a software engineer from FICO who had gone there.  I also knew they were one of the fastest growing companies in Colorado, in the area of digital marketing analytics, working with companies like Twitter and Facebook, ad companies, CPGs and merchants.

I really wanted to switch from financial services and working with banks to another industry.  Datalogix was interested in my background in product management, data and predictive analytics, but didn't have a role defined.  After I got word in December of the changes in my position, I got back in touch, talked to many more people and got an offer last week as a Director of Digital Audience Products.

I had another offer from Transunion Healthcare, located in the Denver Tech Center (45 minutes to 1 hour commute from our house each way).  I really liked the team and even met the executive team in Chicago, but at the end of the day, I couldn't imagine doing the commute and couldn't pass up the Datalogix opportunity.   The Datalogix offices are 6 miles from our house, in the same park as the old FICO offices.  And the kids' school is half way in between.  Monetary the offers were equally good and both a good bump up from my previous job.  I am thankful and know I'm blessed to have options.  

I look forward to going into an office again and working with a collaborative team.  

Getting Audrey reading

We have been trying to get Audrey reading for a couple of months now.  We have her started on the easy sight word books that Mason had, but she is not that interested.  But I found some princess sight word books on Scholastics that seems to have more of her attention.  The stickers help also.  

Mason started to read about Audrey's age and loves reading now.  Early in the school year, I got the full Magic Treehouse series, and he goes through a book every 3-4 days.  He loves the various topics that relates to real life events and adventures of Jack and Annie.  We hope Audrey will enjoy them as well in a couple of years.

Will or Qulin

Mason's class had a new student for 3 weeks, Will or Qulin from Beijing. He spoke no English and his parents thought  the best way for him and his 5th grader sister to spend their Winter break would be to come to the US and go to school with American kids.  

I asked my parents to write Will's parents a letter in Chinese welcoming them and asking if they would like the kids to have a play date.  I was curious to meet them too, so we invited them for dinner.

Will's father's oldest sister has been in the US for many years and teaches neuroscience at CU Boulder, reason why they were here in Colorado.

My first question was how come you had 2 kids, referring to the only recently lifted 1 child policy.  It turns out for a few tens of thousands of dollars a second child was never an issue.

My parents were thinking about cooking, but their aunt mentioned their desire to experience everything American, so I offered to cook spaghetti and meatballs.  Bill said that if they want to experience American food, we should serve hamburgers, but I ignored the McDonalds suggestion.  They really seemed to enjoy the meal and our time together.  Will's sister and Audrey bonded instantly too.  We hope they will visit again some day again for a longer period.

Weekly spelling

Mason's weekly spelling list is getting harder.  We were surprised to see these words.

Sledding

We got at least 8 inches of snow last week from one storm, and another 2-3 inches 2 days later.  The same storm delivered 2-3 feet of snow to the ski resorts, but we were unfortunately unable to go.  Instead, sledding was a fun alternative close to home.  Here are a few videos of the kids sledding and pictures of them making snow angels.