They made me an offer I couldn't refuse

Well, the offer was not just to me, Melissa was part of the deal as well. [And the one that made the deal possible ;-) ] I'll try to keep the corny Godfather references to a minimum.

First, I too must apologize for our extended gap in blog postings. But let's be reasonable, eventually we'd have to go to work and stop traveling! Despite our efforts to do so, we can't just travel the country on holiday the whole time. May and June were the busiest months for me on the Australia Post project. If you read Melissa's last posting, you may have thought that I 'took over' the entire project. Good thing my work collegues are not reading this blog. Actually, I've take on a role with more responsibility - a role typically reserved for someone a bit more senior - managing the day-to-day activities of the various project teams. I'm taking over for my friend Scott who is returning to Ottawa with his family. No change in title and no change in salary :-( [Isn't that always the case.] For Melissa, the Australian fiscal year ended June 30 so she was busy traveling throughout Australia and New Zealand to close deals and get the CEB name out there. At times, I really was not sure what city she was in. [If you ask her, she may say the same!] Anyway enough about work and more about the title of this posting.

The highlight of our May 2008 was not Cinco de Mayo - not celebrated in Australia - or the Red Sox 5-game and 7-game win streaks. It was the christening of our nephew and godson Robert John [or RJ]. The christening itself was only about 30 mins; the real highlight was the chance to meet this little guys for first time.

The trip was a whirlwind adventure. We left Melbourne Thursday morning at 11AM and arrived in Philadelphia at 11PM - still Thursday. It's crazy, it's like traveling in time. When you land in LA/San Fran, you actually land earlier than when you left Australia. Crazy! We left Monday evening and arrived back home in Melbourne on Wednesday morning. In between the flights, a long weekend full of family and fun times.

Upon arrival Thursday night, Melissa and I wasted no time flexing our new beer muscles. Australian beer is much stronger than US beer, so we had no problem putting down a case with Bob - who was not working on Friday. We stayed up late, or went to bed early, depending on what time zone you are following. We quickly learned that Jeanna had RJ on a schedule at that the arrival of Sean and Melissa was going to disrupt that schedule. Thanks to Jeanna for being flexible and letting us have fun while we visited.

Friday afternoon we headed to Ocean City to have a bbq with Denise and the rest to celebrate her birthday. Unfortunately, the weather was not cooperating so we moved the cooking indoors but still had a great time. Jetlag finally caught upto Melissa and I and we were in bed early Friday night forgoing a night out in Somers Point. [Losers!] We spent Saturday at Melissa's parent's house, and the day was punctuated by great food. Italian subs, stuffed shells, pizza - we made sure to get a taste of all the good food we are missing in Melbourne.

Sunday was all about RJ. The christening ceremony was nice. The party afterwards was even better. Jeanna, Bob, and RJ hosted a great afternoon for family and friends. It was great to catch up with everyone we missed over the holidays and let's face it, it was great to play with RJ.

As godparents, Melissa and I pledge to help guide RJ spiritually and emotionally. In addition, we pledge to make sure RJ understands the important things in life - the University of Maryland over the University of Delware, the Red Sox over the Yankees, and there is only one NBA team, the Celtics. I'm afraid he will grow up to be an Eagles fan which isn't as great as being a Patriots fan but a good alternative. We can work on this as he grows!

I couldn't resist adding this photo to the blog. Notice how good RJ is behaving in all the other pictures...