That sounds pretty sweet, lisah. Yay!

So I talked with a few different folks at work today about career planning, potential paths within the company, and how best to ask for a mid-year raise. I got positive responses from each person, offers to help, a few good leads, and encouragement with returning to school. A couple of people I trust most were asking why I wasn't pursuing an MBA. As I'm looking around more, I'm finding MBA programs with a specialization in Project Management, so that crosses both of my interests. I'll keep looking around. I'm meeting with my boss on Monday. I'm trying to have a more formed idea of what I want to aim for in place before then.

Thanks for letting me bounce ideas off of y'all. I value your opinions a bunch. The cost thing is something I'm working on - work should cover about $9k which will help a bunch.

Help me make a decision, folks! Do I want to go to Crypticon this weekend? [link]

PRO: Horror convention with interesting panels! I have a place to stay if I do go!

CON: A last-minute ticket is $80+, and it's the weekend before I go to PDX to emcee an event.

Ooh, those panels sound hella fun. I say yes!

That's some official business ownership there! But do you still have thongs with the logo on them?

At first I thought "thongs" might be a typo for "things" but then I realized where I was....

msbelle: Rosemary Sutcliff's historical novels are exciting, written for kids about that age. Mostly set in Roman Britain, but not all. Also Sherman Alexie's Absolutely True Diary, which has illustrations but isn't a graphic novel.

Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden is a super-exciting novel about a bunch of kids in the Australian outback who come home from a camping trip to find out the country has been invaded and their families interned. It has sex and violence in it, but they're well-handled, psychologically believable, and it's just a great read. The sort of thing I would have adored around that age. (Possibly a little too old for Mac, I'm not sure. But I was reading Dunnett at 14, so I'm not one to know.)

Leguin's Annals of the Western Shore trilogy is YA: very well written, considers issues of oppression and colonialism.

At first I thought "thongs" might be a typo for "things" but then I realized where I was....

I might have had some thongs made with the logo for the company that I was a partner in before my current company.

Alex Rider series -- teen age boy that get recruited by the MI6 - good adventure. the first ones are for younger readers, and the books start skewing older

congrats,ND

Autocorrect did try to change thongs to things.