milestone

When Daniel came home from MICA for the summer we pointed out that in order for him to go back he needed to get a job. We laid out a dollar figure that he had to come up with by the end of the summer "somehow". It was a sobering day for him reflecting on how he was going to raise our said dollar figure having never had a real job before. A little stressful, a little scary. I am sure at the time it seemed impossible.

But then again when he does something it is never small.

Let's just say the planets aligned for our little family to tackle the situation. There were a number of factors to consider, one of the big ones is that we only have one car. If Daniel was to get a job he would either have to ride the bus (and the job would have to be near public transportation) or we would have to get a second car(which we really can't afford with the cost of tuition which is why he needs a job in the first place).

About this time Bryan was experiencing a real crunch at the office, and they were about to troll for design contractors.

Enter Daniel.

At nineteen he has got some pretty good design chops. Having lived under our roof, combined with enough technology to dink around with over the years, plus multiple family projects that have sort of honed skills by osmosis, one electronic media course at mica and add to that a real talent, and bingo.

So for a portion of the summer Daniel is working as a hired designer at the firm that Bryan works at. What a godsend this was. Not only was the transportation issue eliminated (cus he goes to work with his dad) but he is making a really good dollar because of his skill. Although he has freelanced, this is technically his first "real" job. All those years in front of the computer tinkering with programs like Bryce and Photoshop are starting to payoff. And he is totally rising to the occasion of a challenging deadline driven atmosphere.

While the guys were at work, his first paycheck arrived in the mail. We went out for a bite to eat that evening after work at our favorite little wine shop, and while we were waiting for our food I pulled the envelope out of my purse...

"We have something to celebrate"...

And so this day marks the day that Daniel got his first paycheck.

So proud of you son!