It’s crazy to believe we’re already two months into the school year. Clara and Mariana are doing awesome at their schools and are getting ready to participate in their annual fund-raiser: Laps for Learning. On Thursday, Oct 13, they will be running laps around their schools and are looking for family and friends to sponsor them. Could you spare a few dollars?
100% of ALL proceeds earned will stay within our local school system, and this is their ONLY large-scale fundraiser for the year.The event takes place on Thursday, Oct 13, but you have until October 15 to give!
Use the links below, or you can reach out to me at jeromey [at] balderrama.org if you want to arrange another way to donate.
Today’s my 41st birthday, what better way to mark the occasion than with a drum cover of one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite bands? Sure, I did this drum cover 8 years ago, but I figured that since it’s my birthday, I’ll get a pass for doing it again…
Today marks a significant date in the story of my life, as it closes one of the best and most momentous chapters, with a bookend that has been the darkest and most challenging period in my life.
Today my divorce has been finalized.
This wasn’t something I ever imagined, and frankly was the last thing I wanted. However, I painfully have learned that while two people choose to get married, it only takes one person to want a divorce. These last few months have been a struggle, filled with grief, I have nothing but compassion and tenderness for those who have endured a similar experience.
Now begins my next chapter, one of adjustment, growth, and perseverance. My daughters and I are ok. Some of our days are still hard, filled with resurfacing stages of grief, triggered by the most unassuming – those days are difficult. Lately, however, the number and consistency of good days are increasing. I’ve been putting effort where I can: my physical and mental health, as well as loving my children relentlessly, and learning to give myself grace and love.
I’m healing, and am eternally grateful to all the family and friends that have journeyed with me during this difficult time. As my next chapter begins, I’m blessed to have you amidst its pages.
Lots of feelings today, as it’s my last with DXC/Hewlett-Packard after 23 years with the company. I was a 16y/o intern when I started, my after-school job was to update a division’s jobs listing website using MS FrontPage. Fast-forward two decades, 3 company splits (Agilent, HP Inc, Hewlett Packard Enterprise), 3 major mergers (Compaq, EDS, CSC), and 7 CEOs, it’s been quite a ride! Here are my first two computers I used when I arrived at the company.
I am grateful for all of the great friends I met along the way. I appreciate their kindness, patience, support, and generosity. I got the opportunity to work with many incredible people, learn valuable lessons, build awesome tools, and move technological mountains. I’m always going to look back fondly on my time here, and because of many of you, those memories are joyful ones.
My next adventure starts in a week, but first some time to play with my kids while they’re on Spring Break. Despite having no income, right now I feel very rich, showered with so many blessings!
One year ago this week, the world changed. Looking back over the last year, it’s astonishing to realize just how different things have been and how we had no idea just how long things were going to be this way.
I’m now thinking of March 10 and 11, in the same way, I think of September 10, 2021 – a contrasting barometer for just how much life changed in a matter of days. Hearing the news that the WHO declared a Pandemic didn’t really resonate with me right away. My friend Matt and I met up for dinner that night and went to a minor league hockey game.
I started to feel a little bit of the tension as our phones were lighting up with the news about Tom Hanks, the Utah Jazz game being canceled right before tip-off, then the President addressing the nation that night. I experienced all that news second-hand during a sparsely-attended hockey game. As we were walking back to our cars after the game, someone proclaimed that it’s probably going to be the last game for a while – but I never realized that would be the last time I’d be at a live event or eating dinner indoors for over a year.
Two days later, we got an email halfway through the day (on Friday the 13th, no less) that the kids were going to be home for the next two weeks, followed by spring break. At the time, it seemed like it was going to be daunting having the kids home while we were working. We shifted around our basement to make it an indoor play area. Being stuck inside (because the weather was also cold), hours seemed like days. The two weeks went and we were trying to do remote schooling for Clara through independent assignments. Everyone was trying their best, but life was definitely disrupted.
Life Today
As we look back and reflect on the last year, there’s so much that has changed. We haven’t traveled further than one hour away from home. We haven’t seen the dining room of a restaurant, or the inside of a coffee shop. It’s a big deal when all four of our nuclear family go to the store or run errands. There are many friends that we haven’t seen in person. We have a niece and nephew that we haven’t met yet.
Watching our community respond to this virus has been a mixed bag. It’s been inspiring to watch our health care workers, educators, and the countless number of unsung heroes turn the cogs of our society display their resiliency and determination. However, it’s sad to witness some who I’ve really respected fall prey to cynicism, distrust, and suspicion. People who espouse themselves as fiercely protective of life being unwilling to perform an act of charity to their community by wearing a mask. They shout that people are living in fear while masking their own denial that we are living out history, with the fact that our lives are disrupted by unseen forces. I suppose it’s easier berating a straw man rather than coming to terms that there really isn’t a single person or group that’s responsible for this.
Yet, there is reason to be hopeful. We have thankfully avoided the virus and the concerns that go along with getting others sick. Bethany and I have both received our second doses of vaccine and are looking forward to unlocking many activities that we previously haven’t been able to do. We’ve been thankful that our girls have been able to go to in-person school and daycare throughout this time. They’ve definitely had to make adjustments – especially Clara – but it’s amazing how resilient the kids have been. Optimism is in the air and is becoming contagious, hopefully much more than this awful virus.
