Back from vacation

I took my family to see Mount Ranier last week, and boy was it nice! The grandparents were in town, so my 3 little kids wore them out climbing up and down all the hiking trails.

There was no Internet (or even cell phone coverage) where we went, so when I got back I had over 600 unread emails in my inbox! I've been pouring through them all day and finally pared it down to a mere 119 important ones. I'll catch up, I'll catch up, I'll catch up...

The big things on my to-do list this week:

• Post some new job descriptions for the expansion we're doing on natural language. We're also getting ready to announce something for a new international initiative, with the first hire to be based in Europe. I did something similar in my past life at Microsoft TV, so I'm looking forward to getting this started in the speech & natural language group too.
• Performance reviews: the PM team here has about 25 people and they all get formal, written reviews each year about this time. One optional part of the Microsoft compensation package includes an annual bonus that is delivered in the mid-September paycheck, so I have to ensure my team all gets their reviews by then.
• Longhorn--I mean, Windows Vista--marketing plans: I want to do a lot more to spread the word about what we're thinking of for Windows, and there are many new plans to prepare for that.

Hey, after getting all that done I'll be ready for another vacation!