Month: April 2026

Friday to Sunday, in recognition of the days leading up to and of Easter itself, I kept my laptop on my office desk and my office door closed. It is not something I allow myself to do often, taking multiple days away from the computer like that, but it was so refreshing.

I also filled in the time with some activities, both new and old. On Friday morning, I went for a longer hike along a lakefront loop for just short of six miles and then had a southern style brunch in one of the small towns that form exurbs of the Triangle. I’d done this loop before and while I wasn’t thrilled that I had to pay a park entrance fee this time it was still a nice walk under the trees, especially once I was on the extended loop where there weren’t any other people. Friday evening brought a church service and then a few hours with my small group hosted by a couple of the group members at their house, during which time I received a lesson in what constitutes “girl dinner.”

Saturday, I ventured to Cary to try a Laotian restaurant for lunch. It was good but not good enough to displace my regular Thai restaurant, especially given the travel time involved. It does have a great location, though, as I went on a quick stroll through the Downtown Cary Park afterwards. Then I met a friend for a beer in the afternoon to catch up as we’ve had discordant schedules the past few months. The weather was great too.

Sunday morning started before dawn as I attended my first sunrise Easter service. I followed that with volunteering with the first graders in the next service. They’re always a high energy bunch but we have fun. Most of them were coming off of spring break, so they were even more active than normal. Nobody got too dirty working on the craft and everyone was smiling throughout, so it was a success. I followed this with what was for me a spur-of-the-moment brunch, as I was invited during conversation on the lawn after the service. This meant I got to meet a few more children and play indoor basketball and work on puzzles with them into the early afternoon. It all combined to make for a restorative few days and plant a few seeds of questions in my mind.

From a weather perspective, this was certainly true this year. The temperatures have crept into the low 80s and skies have been clear and blue. It’s very much pollen season, though we did get one good soaking to clear the worst of it late last week. It has been wonderful walking weather and I’ve made more use of the neighborhood trails than was possible earlier in the year. It helps that the days are getting longer too.

The adage has also proven true from a work perspective. We’re finally clearing some of the backlog that we’ve carried through the first quarter of the year. This is also a vacation week, albeit not for me, so that has naturally resulted in fewer meetings and emails. This is a week more of managing the closing process for transactions as opposed to drafting and negotiating documents, a calmer time in the overall deal cycle, and several transactions have all tracked through their timelines at roughly the same clip.

Mind you, there is another wave of transactions coming, but this time is allowing me to improve our client workflows. With every iteration, we get a little bit better. It does feel like a treadmill sometimes, trying to improve things, but that’s still better than the alternative.