My grandma Lamping never smelled too good.  Seriously!  For those of you who never had the opportunity to meet my grandma you probably are thinking that I’m the worst grandson ever, but I know she’s shaking her head, smiling and saying “Michael,”  in the voice that I remember so well.  That was actually one of my favorite long running jokes with her.  I can’t remember how or why, but she couldn’t smell very well, hence the joke.

This past Saturday Becky and I ran past a field that was being bulldozed and the smell of fresh topsoil filled my nose.  I LOVE that smell!  It is amongst my favorite smells in the entire world.  Mix that with the smell of chainsaw cutting through pine and you have one of my favorite smell combination ever.  (the favorite being fresh lava mixed with ocean air)

Over the past week I’ve had several smells that I’ve come across that have really caught my attention or brought back memories.  In some cases the smells brought back memories of other smells that I can remember without actually smelling them.  That’s when I realized just how much I appreciate one of my least appreciated senses.  Today I’m thankful for the following smells and the memories they bring:

• Stained wood – while I’m a little tired of the smell at the moment it makes me think of being home as a kid.  It seemed like my mom and dad were always in the middle of staining something.
• Grandparents’ Houses – this one probably sounds a little weird, but it is well intended.  I’m not sure if it was candles, smelly things, or what, but each of their houses had a distinct smell and I can picture it (or smell it) perfectly in memory.  At the Lampings it was a whole house smell and in the Kreilings it was a smell near their dresser.  I’ve tried writing and rewriting the last couple of sentences in a way that didn’t make it sound stinky or weird, but I’m struggling as it wasn’t either, it was a very pleasant smell in both cases.
• Cleaning Guns – I can’t imagine that I smelled this very often in my life, but the smell of the oil used stills is cataloged in my head and brings back happy memories.  Weird how the memory works, isn’t it?
• Rain and Fall – Both of these smells bring me happiness every time I breathe them in.
• Lava and Ocean Air – Ahh…  Pure bliss…  I still swear that the smell of lava is truly unique and unlike any other smell I’ve encountered.
• Fresh Lumber – Another reminder of being home as a kid.  It brings back lingering memories of being home and doing wood work.

While there are many times in which I wish I didn’t smell too good either (usually when I am with my boys in a car or other enclosed spaces), I’m very happy to have a working sniffer.  It may be the least appreciated sense that I have, but when I take time to think about it there is much happiness and many memories brought on by it.  For that I am thankful.

Thanks!!!

Over the past week or so it seems I’ve been the last man standing in the Kreiling house.  Not gonna lie, it’s pretty peaceful.  The chill time gives me a chance to relax, take in the day, and listen to some great music.

Over the past few nights there’ve been a few songs that seem to keep making it back into the rotation.

• Hurt by Johnny Cash – https://youtu.be/vt1Pwfnh5pc
• Jesus Was an Only Son by Bruce Springsteen – https://youtu.be/Qelew5_k90E
• Hallelujah by Jeff Buckley – https://youtu.be/y8AWFf7EAc4

Just some good time to sit back, close my eyes and chill.

How can I not appreciate moments like this?

Thanks!!!

Today has been a pretty awesome day so far.  The day has gone so well that I was struggling to find a way to include all that I am thankful for, but I think I found it…

It started off with an early morning drive up to Eau Claire through some impossibly huge snowflakes.  On a whim I turned right instead of going straight and took the path less traveled.  It paid off in spades for me.

Just a short distance south of Whitehall I saw a sight that caused me to jam on the brakes, turn around, and find a place to park the car.  Watching for traffic I quickly went into the road and was able to snap a pic of what captured my attention…  I swear, there are no edits or special effects done to capture this picture.

The flowers were a memorial to someone and they immediately brought to mind my friend Larry and his family, who are suffering through a horrific tragedy.  As I thought about Larry I couldn’t help but remember times I’ve spent with him in different Chamber events and whatnot.  He is always quick to smile, take his time to consider things before speaking, and always reminds me of a younger version of one of my grandpas.  He always went out of his way to help me feel comfortable in room and I always smiled when seeing him in a meeting I went into.  In thinking about Larry I smiled and realized that in a week or so I need to take him out for coffee and re-connect.

While driving I got a phone call from Nicole, one of my team members in Rice Lake.  She is spunky, motivated and has a super high and positive energy that just exudes from her voice first thing in the morning.  When talking with her I could just hear the pride and passion she has for what she does, and as always, the phone call ended with a big smile on my face.  Later in the day she called again and joked about how I must hate getting calls from her, but in actuality I really appreciate them.  Her enthusiasm always helps get me more fired up.

While in the Eau Claire office I had my first peer coaching call with Jason from Nashville.  Talk about someone with high energy and drive – wow!!!  Our 40 minute call was incredibly helpful and I was left in awe of how efficiently and effectively he handled the call.  We were able to set the stage of where we both want to develop to within the next year, discuss our areas for improvement, discuss how to help hold each other accountable, and learn a lot about our long term goals and our families.  It was an incredibly uplifting call that had me psyched!

Shortly after the call Katie from our Eau Claire office came in to the office I was in and was just beaming with happiness and pride.  She explained that they had several new clients starting and how much she was loving a slight twist on her position.  Her smile was contagious and I left the conversation feeling very positive, optimistic, and proud.

Over lunch I was able to spend time with Lee and Carolyn, the managers of Eau Claire and Menomonie and Beth, my regional developer.  The conversation focused on our goals for 2017, some of the personal goals and dreams we had and what was needed to get on track to reach them.  It was upbeat, optimistic, positive, and yet grounded in knowing that we have a lot of hard work to get there.  Carolyn and Lee both made me smile and feel a sense of pride in seeing how much they’ve grown over the past year or so and how ready they are to do great things in 2017 and beyond.

To close up the work day (in the office at least) I spent some one on one time with Beth.  I am incredibly thankful and appreciative to have someone who has a great balance of pushing, asking tough questions, all while motivating, and supporting me.  She’s always in a good mood and her positive energy always leaves me feeling re-charged and ready to take on the world.  Spending time with her always puts more color in my day.

As I headed home I hopped on the phone with Becky for a while and joked around with her.  Regardless of how trivial the conversation I am always happy to talk with her as I start to head home from a day of work.  It is a reminder of why I push as hard as I do – for us to be able to do more together.

My dad and I caught up on what we hadn’t talked about over the past week and covered topics like work, retirement, snow plowing, and parental karma (almost last night’s topic, it’s a long, but funny story for another day).  While we didn’t solve any of the world’s problems, we enjoyed each other’s company.

While the boys and Becky are all at log rolling I know that they will be amongst the last ones to bring color to my day when they get home.  While they aren’t quite as happy to see me when they get home as the dogs are, giving them big hugs when they get home always bring me joy and help me feel at home.  I already know the answers to the questions I’ll ask them (How did log rolling go? – Good.  What was new at school today? – Nothing) I’ll still be happy to ask them and press them for better answers before tucking them in to bed at night.

Today was an awesome day and it was made more awesome by the people I interacted with.  I started with taking a different way on a whim and ended up finding the photo that put this all together.  Especially during winter and the holidays I have the choice to see the world as I would like to.  I can choose to see the bland white, the dreary gray, the dark black…  or I can choose to see the color.  I can focus on those things that bring the beauty and happiness in spite of, and sometimes because of the appreciation of, the whites, grays, and blacks.  Thank you to everyone who helps to bring color to my life!

Thanks!!!

For the past 17 years I’ve had the exact same plans for the first Saturday night of December.  That is the date of our annual Express Christmas Party and tonight’s was another great one!

Between Express Jeopardy, gift exchanges, Christmas tree contests (a pic of Winona’s is above, shown prior to the ornaments being added), and just spending time with our teams and their spouses it was a wonderful time.  Judging by the smiles and all the laughing I’m guessing everyone else did too!

Thanks again to everyone who set it up, for everyone who was there, and for all of our team members.

Thanks!!!

Ahh…  Bathroom re-modeling…  One of those things that even after a few times I remember taking significantly less time to do than it really does.  Eight days after starting the remodel we’re back to having a fully functional bathroom upstairs.  There’s still some work to do (stain trim, trim out the bathroom, do a little bit of caulking, and clean off the inch and a half of dust) but we’re back to having a working bathroom on our main floor, and it is wonderful!

As I stood back and admired my work I smiled and thought about how nice it would be to not have to walk all the way downstairs to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.  When I realized what I was thinking I realized how lucky and fortunate I am to have this minor of a problem in life.  Some people don’t have anything, and here I am feeling better about having a second bathroom working again…  I am very thankful for the fact that I have the occasional first world problem to remind how fortunate I am.

Thanks!!!

“When you really want something, all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it.”  Paulo Coelho

Isn’t it funny how life works sometimes?  It seems as if when I take some time to think about what I really want in life things start to change a little.  There are these little nudges all around me that seem to either help push me towards my goals or remind me of the dream and start the process of getting it to bubble back up to the forefront of my thought process.  When I haven’t spent time thinking about my dreams, goals, and ideas these little nudges fade away.  If I’ve spent time thinking about them, writing them out, and talking about them with other people they come back in full force and help keep me motivated.

Today was one of the days where the little nudges were everywhere…  I just needed to stop and listen to them occasionally.

• There’s a possible opportunity to go on a dream vacation sooner than expected, and possibly not have to pay a dime for it!  It will probably be tough as hell to do, but the opportunity may be there.
• A couple of days ago there was a cool article on Facebook about a couple traveling to all the National Parks in a year.  Then today Becky opens up the envelope from our insurance agent and there’s a calendar of National Parks inside!  A great reminder for me of all the places Becky and I need to get to (18 down, 41 to go!).
• A potentially difficult situation appeared at work and I almost handled it the same way I normally would.  Before I took action I happened to read an email from my Leadership Academy cohort and it reminded me of a professional goal I was working on.  I paused, thought about how the Mike who was living into his goal would react, sought out advice from a great coach, and made a much better decision.
• And several other little experiences and reminders throughout the day…

I’m not going to lie, maybe it’s just me tricking my brain out into seeing things and patterns that aren’t there, but I’m happy, focused, and working towards my dreams.  Instead of thinking about it too much I’m just going to roll with it…  Kind of like at yoga tonight when there were a couple of points when I got into an awesome state of flow for a second or two, then realized that I was in flow, thought about how cool that it was, and then I was out of it and thinking too hard.  I’ve got to relax and go with it and not overthink it.

Thanks!!!