Although it feels like I just went to sleep, my mind is awake again with all I must do today, tomorrow, this week. My wife and four kids are still asleep and I’m relieved they are getting the rest they need, for I know their days are full of adjustments and growth as well. My day starts around 5:30am. I get up while it is quiet and read another case study to prepare for class. At 6:15, I wake the family for prayer and scriptures. We take care of our daily necessities and are out the door by 7:45. I hug and kiss them goodbye, get on a train and make my way to MIP.

Classes begin each day at 9. Today, we are in the middle of an international economics course, which runs until lunch and continues until 4pm. Lunch normally runs an hour, which today includes a Skype call with a professor to discuss the development of a project I’m working on with two others as a consultant for a global Italian company. I bring my lunch, which is usually leftovers from dinner the night before, and eat it quickly before the next class begins.

Following the afternoon session of international economics, a half hour break affords me time to take care of a couple of phone calls before a scheduled business seminar begins. Tonight’s seminar is put on by Sirti, a leading technology infrastructure company here in Italy, scheduled to wrap up at 6:30pm.

I catch the train back to an empty home, as my kids have been to school and back and are now at church, participating in a weekly activity with friends their age. Dinner is a sandwich my wife made and left for me in the fridge. After eating and changing into a suit and tie, I head out the door again, this time to participate in a local leadership church meeting that begins at 9pm.

Following the routine monthly planning meeting, I catch the metro and a bus back home. It’s close to midnight now and I find my kids in bed, sound asleep. I quietly and gently kiss each one goodnight, with an occasional stir and hug in return. I climb in to bed and chalk up another productive day. Let’s see what tomorrow brings!