time to celebrate!

Donovan went to talk with another Filemaker guy in the Portland area this afternoon. Matt, the guy he met today, has presented at the annual developer's conference and Don really respects his work. Presenters are known for being at the top of the field and well seasoned, not just any old joe schmo. It was all really surprising because this morning we were at Kaiser picking up Ritalin for Donovan and Matt called and asked if he wanted to meet him for lunch at 12:30pm. I was a little jealous because they got to have lunch at a nice hotel in downtown Portland. But I do have to remember that there is a bigger picture, and that it is good to have a husband who is internally motivated to do work that just so happens to be in a lucrative field. Maybe someday I'll eat at a downtown hotel for lunch too. Lol.

Donovan had talked to another developer (Kent) in the area last week who has his own business and wanted to hire him as a contractor to help with some of his projects. We were excited at Kent's offer but realized there were a lot of issues with that situation, for example who knows if he would get enough or any hours on the clock in the future if the work slowed down. But we were so happy at the same time because that meant that Don could stay in his field of choice and we could at least keep afloat for a while financially.

I was excited to get Donovan's call a few minutes ago saying that Matt was really impressed with Donovan's work. I'm not surprised because Donovan is an intense researcher and learner and spent about 7 months using every spare moment he had to devote to preparing his demo file to show to potential employers. It feels so rewarding to see other people look at it and be really impressed. I feel so proud when I see him with a smile all over his face and he realizes that people are competing for his time and excited that he is in the Portland area. I know that he is an awesome worker and devotes himself to what he does and is has great communication skills, but when others say that to him I think it is so different than hearing it from me and so rewarding for him.

So, Donovan said that Matt and Kent talked together and they want to set up a way to "share" Donovan. By share they mean setting up a pay system through one person's business (like Kent's for example, his business is called 3rd Rock) and then having all three companies collaboratively give him projects to work on and share his clock hours between the businesses. It's really exciting because Donovan will get to work with people he has admired for the last year, and get to know how different businesses work. Of course, we are still trying to figure out how we will get benefits (as he will be a contractor still and I am be self-employed), but that is such a small worry for me right now compared to how excited I am for Donovan.

Isn't he so great?! I'm so glad other people are getting to see his work finally. Don said that Matt was really impressed with his work just as Kent was and said "this is big league stuff." How great!