Near the end of last week, I was putting the finishing touches on a presentation that my boss's boss would give on Tuesday of this week. When I emailed it to him, his reply confused me, since it suggested that I was actually the one who would give the presentation. A short conversation I had with him later on that day (when I ran into him in the hall) confirmed that I was indeed on the hook for this one. Said turn of events was somewhat disconcerting. The presentation was to be given to a group headed by a pretty important person, (she runs the $2 billion business unit I work for). I knew the material, but that wasn't nearly enough to insure that I wouldn't make a fool of myself in front of these folks. I spent the weekend worrying about it (but not enough to put in a lot of work), and devoted Monday to writing out almost every word I would say and memorizing it. Incidentally, my boss was taken aback when he found out that I had been given the task, perhaps thinking I had been needlessly thrown to the wolves too soon. He was really supportive, though, and gave me some useful advice.

In the end, the presentation went much better than I could've hoped for. It was intimidating to stand there in front of 10 people (most of whom I didn't know, and all of whom are at least 15 years older than me) and go through my slides. At the same time, it was a great adrenaline rush to have prepared well enough to know the material, and answer questions adequately. The mood wasn't aggressive at all, but I could see how the wheels might fall off if something were to go wrong. The most surprising thing was how much people had to say. I was talking less than half the time, and the lively discussion definitely helped things go better. In the end, I was glad it was over, but it's the kind of experience I need if I'm going to make progress.

Organizationally, things are still up in the air. I will know more in a couple of weeks, but chances are that I will become part of a new group that's being formed with pieces from both businesses that are being combined. That would mean a new boss, and mostly new co-workers. I'd prefer to stay with my current boss for various reasons, but I've talked to him about it, and I think it will work out ok either way.

The day of the presentation, we signed a new lease for a house 5 minutes north of where we live right now. It's a great home, and will be better than where we live right now for about the same money. Mari did a great job of finding it. That's all for now.