board stuff

I'm home.  For a few days, and that's it.  A weekend in Chicago, doing board things, as boards do:

Meetings!  Lots of discussion, lots of forward progress, some tough topics.  The distraction of a pro-Palestine rally on Michigan Avenue below on Saturday. 

Lots of time spent in a board room.

A communal meal where we could unwind, debrief, and get to know each other a bit better. 

This was the first in-person meeting where five of our six (six!) new board members were together with us (the sixth person attended all of the meetings virtually from California).  So it was good to have that space to sit down and NOT have an agenda.

Bowling! 

Something new for us.  It's been a busy and even stressful first quarter for the board, and we decided that we would combine the second dinner evening with a fun activity to help build board cohesion.  One member had to fly home early, two others did not attend for very understandable personal reasons, and the rest of us went to the bowling alley.  Only six of us bowled, but all of us had a good time.  I broke 100 in two of three games, and - fittingly - our president bowled the highest score of us all.  And then we headed back to our hotel for a nightcap.

After the meetings were done yesterday, a handful of us headed to O'Hare together. 

Sara, Steven, and I were all on United, so we had leisure time in one of the lounges, sipping a drink, and letting conversation roam all over in relation to the weekend activities.

A fulfilling weekend, and work that while sometimes challenging feels rewarding because of the people I get to work with.  It's off to Tampa next, early Wednesday morning.  Let me get that laundry started before I launch into my workday at home.