Around the Wilson Home

Over the years, I have written many technical planning and investment-related articles. Although the topics are dear to me, these take time to put together and not everyone is interested in the details (“we hired you to worry about the details for us, right?”). To prove to you that I do have a life outside of work, I’m sharing some of the latest happenings with my family and me.

My wonderful wife, Maria, is a school teacher, so she has the summer off along with the kids. Maria plans to relax by reading some good books, spending time with girlfriends, and hanging out at the movies. The reality is that she’ll spend a good portion of her break clearing out and redecorating her classroom and planning ahead for the upcoming school year.

Andrew, 19, is spending his summer working and sleeping. He’s been working the closing shift at a local fast food restaurant and often gets home after 3 am. He’s enjoying the work and his co-workers and he’s learning a lot about real life. (Maria and I believe that “working retail” is an important step in getting ready for the world.) He’s moved his way up through the company ranks and is now one of the employee trainers. His hours are so late that he frequently spends most of his days sleeping – not the best for his free time, although it’s great for his bank account. Andrew is looking forward to his Junior year at Cal State Fullerton as he works towards his teaching credentials.

Maria and Andrew just got back from an adventure driving across the U.S. The original goal was to see as many baseball games (in different stadiums) as they could over 11 days. They managed to fit in four different games - Denver, Kansas City, Arlington, and Phoenix. Along the way, they also toured four different Presidential Libraries, the Four Corners National Monument, saw the sunrise over the Grand Canyon, and visited with family. They drove over 4,000 miles and probably made the same number of memories.

ROAD TRIP

Rachel, 16, has had a busy summer too. She is working two jobs: interning with a local physical therapist and working as a courtesy clerk at a grocery store. Rachel continues to play high-level club soccer. She played at a “showcase” tournament earlier in the summer; over 50 college coaches attended the games, as they were scouting for future players. Her new team just formed and she’s excited for the season to begin! She somehow manages to fit in time with her friends and boyfriend among all this.

Me? I’m working…

Actually, I spent a good amount of time watching almost every game of the World Cup. This partially interrupted the pickup soccer games I play several times a week. I’ve been a part of this group of soccer guys for almost 20 years and we play at the same quickness and skill levels as we did when we first met – in our minds. I’ve been working my way through my reading pile when it gets quiet in the evenings; I’ve been reading mostly non-fiction books across several categories: investing, business, motivation, and personal growth.

As a family, we continue to attend the best escape rooms in Southern California. (Read this if you are not familiar.) The four of us make a great team and we have had great success solving puzzles and escaping with time to spare. I’m happy to share a list of our favorites rooms if you are looking for something different to do with your group. We’ll likely get through a couple more rooms before the end of the summer if I can find time when Maria and the kids are free.

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