Hi again folks, I've just got a little bit of time to keep you in the loop with recent goings on in my world.

I've been on holiday for the past week or so and have been spending some time with the family. Having been away from home for nearly a month in the first three of this year has put a strain on things and it has been good to be able to turn off and do family things. Unusually for me I have also reduced greatly the amount of attention i have been giving to my emails, leaving the world to get on with things so to speak.

As well as giving me time with the family, including the opportunity to dress up as a pirate for my daughters 4th birthday party, I have also been able to spend a bit of time going over the things that i need to know for my 70-505 resit which is coming around oh so quickly next Thursday.

I managed to find some time to take in one of the live meeting sessions put on especially for us career factor folk, namely the session run by Heather Ackermann (@HeatherAckermann) of Train Signal on Resume best practises. This was a great session and I encourage everyone to take the time to watch Heather critique our resumes, I can guarantee that you will find something relevant and useful to improve your own. Thanks Heather.

Yesterday, I was able to participate in another great twitter chat session, a big hello to all of you who joined in, it was good to talk to you all.

Best news of the week, we got notification through at 30 minutes past midnight today that our daughter has been offered a place at her first choice school, this is a big weight off our shoulders as both Katie and I have been worrying a lot about this since we applied way back in September last year.

Those of you who have been following me on twitter will have seen me mention my call up to my golf club's handicap league team for a match next Thursday, it could be quite interesting as my frame of mind will be entirely dependent on how the exam goes in the morning. Here's hoping for a day filled with success.

Finally the time off has given me a chance to make plans for my trip to TechEd in Atlanta. Unlike most (all?) of the other Career Factor participants, I have been fortunate to attend these before, in fact Atlanta will be my 5th in the US so I know what I am in for. First thing to make sure of is plenty of sleep in the week before the trip as the combination of jet lag and long days "networking" can leave you light on the shut eye. 

That’s all for now, be sure to keep following all the #CareerFactor participants and check back to the site regularly for updates.

Thanks for reading,

/SiD