Over the past couple of weeks I’ve had the opportunity to re-connect with a couple of old friends over lunch.  It’s been awesome!

Between catching up on business, trips, family, and other aspects of life it has been a lot of fun.  What a great reminder for me to remember to take time to step out of the chaos for a little while and re-connect.

Thanks again for lunch Corey & Rod!

Thanks!!!

There was so much to be thankful for that I had my blog mentally written and re-written several times.  From an awesome compliment to celebrating success with a team to spending development time with an incredible team member to enjoying time with my team it was fantastic!  As I wrap up the night there was one thing that tied together some of the things I am most grateful for today…  my band saw!

Earlier today the first puzzle box I’ve ever finished was delivered as a gift to a friend and their response was AWESOME!!!  It was so cool to see that something I created using my band saw over several hours brought happiness.

This evening was a whirlwind of activity as it was our Cub Scout den meeting at our house tonight.  As opposed to doing it to at the school like normal we met at the house so we could help the boys cut their pinewood derby cars.  It was a pretty cool opportunity to have parents working with kids, teaching them some basics of physics, letting them use power tools, and learn how much fun it is to create something.  While there was a lot of energy packed into our sun room it was all worthwhile to know that the boys had an experience outside of the norm…  and they were never on a screen once 🙂  Without my bandsaw this opportunity wouldn’t have happened today.

As I tucked Gavin into bed I asked him what his favorite part of the meeting.  His first response was learning to use the band saw and being able to use it to cut all by himself.  Dominic had earlier hugged me and thanked me for letting him use the band saw and for showing him how to operate the new band saw.  They both enjoyed it and I have a hunch that they’ll be jumping in on more projects with me in the near future.  How cool of a moment is that?  I still remember working with my dad on my first pinewood derby car a few decades ago and was reminded of that moment.  Thanks band saw for some serious smiles!

While it is just a thing to me it is something much greater.  It’s a tool to create happiness, for me and for others.  It’s a learning opportunity, both in woodworking skills and in life skills (especially growth mindset and patience!).  It’s a way to create moments and memories.  Sure, it’s just a hunk of metal, but to me it is so much more and I was reminded of that tonight…  and for that I am grateful!

Thanks!!!

Yes, we are a family of geeks and nerds…  Our dog is named Skywalker Luna Kreiling (after Star Wars & Harry Potter).  We’re a bunch of math and science nerds and proud of it!

Today I was thankful for becky’s reciprocal appreciation for nerd humor.  The fact that I can sent her the following comics and she enjoys them makes me smile and helps me understand that I’m with the right type of girl!

It’s nice to know I’m spending my life with someone who enjoys nerd humor as much as I do!

Thanks!!!

Tonight was the All City Orchestra Concert at the La Crosse Center and we had fun!

It was clear right from the start that Dominic was pretty jazzed (see what I did there? 😄).  That kid has a passion for playing cello.  I’m sure it doesn’t hurt that one of his best friends also plays cello and sits right next to him.

While Gavin played a paper game with his buddy Lance, Becky and I sat back and took in the concert.  The kids all did great, and when the high school orchestra played the first few notes of the Star Trek theme song I got a serious case of the nerd chills on the back of my neck…  it was pretty cool!

That said, by far and away the best part of the night was seeing the smile on Dominic’s face after the show, it was easy to tell he had an excellent time!  

Thanks!!!

So I’m pretty sure that everyone knows that I totally out-punted my coverage and ended up married to a wife way better than I deserve…

Today she once again showed why she is deserving of the 2017 Wife of the Year Award!  It marks the 15th straight year she has won this award, pretty sure that’s got to be a record.

 

While helping me figure out the appropriate gift for a friend she came up with a BRILLIANT idea that sparked a pretty awesome gift.  No more details on that, it’s still a surprise…

Next, when I explained that I was going to have to miss one of my best friends’ 40th birthday party due to a trip we had planned (our 15th anniversary long weekend) she immediately suggested moving the date of our trip if we could!  How awesome is that?  As luck would have it we were able to move our reservations and change the weekend that my dad was watching the boys (thanks Dad!).  Now I’m able to do both, I very thankful for her throwing the idea out there.  I am pretty sure I owe her BIG time!!!

While there’s always about 30+ things per day I could blog about being thankful for Becky about (like motivating me to run everyday, being Mrs. Uber, introducing me to great things like yoga and log rolling, doing so many things to keep our family living, being the best travel buddy ever, and always putting me in a good mood when I come home from work by giving me a hug and a kiss), today those two things really took the cake so I’ve decided to give her the 2017 Wife of the Year about 9 months early.  I’m incredibly fortunate and grateful to have her in my life.

Thanks!!!

Tonight’s been a tough one for Gavin.  He’s one of the most competitive people I know and he went from being beat by me at Catan (that’s right, I don’t hold back any punches because he’s younger – and he usually still wins) and then lost to Dominic at a game they were playing before bed.  Needless to say, Gavin was in a pretty rough mood and I couldn’t quite get him to chill and be happy.

After brushing his teeth he got into bed and was ready to be tucked in for the night.  That’s when a lightbulb went off in my brain.  “Hey Gavin, what are you thankful for today?”  He immediately pulled out the gratitude journal he’s been keeping most nights before bed (I think he’s on Day 27).  Realizing that he hadn’t written anything for Friday and Saturday either we started talking about all of the fun things we did this weekend.  As he was smiling and writing I explained to him that this is one of the reasons I blog every single day.  It makes me happy!  Regardless of the mood I was in before I started writing the end is always the same, I’m extremely happy.

Tonight I’m thankful for having the opportunity to show him how he can use gratitude to put a smile on his face.

Thanks!!!

Ever have one of those moments when you get frustrated about something?  Maybe something didn’t go as planned, maybe something was re-scheduled, or maybe someone didn’t act in an appropriate manner?  How do you respond in those moments?  I find that many times I just stay frustrated and go along with it, I don’t always vocalize my feelings or do something to improve the situation.  Over the past months I’ve realized this about myself and continue to work on changing my natural response.

There was a situation I recently had thrown my way that easily could have been one of those frustrating moments.  It would have been very easy for me to get frustrated and just go with it, but instead I remembered that there’s always a choice to be made…  And I made my choice.  Refusing to be frustrated I decided to take my own course of action and to be part of the solution.  Not only was I not frustrated, but it felt AWESOME to be proactive.  Throw in the fact that it helped to instigate more positives involving more people and I was pretty pumped.  The results were better than I ever would have expected.

Today I was able to have one of those moments that positively reinforce a change I’ve been working on in my attitude.  I’m very thankful I remembered that I had a choice to make, be silent or take action, and I chose the correct response.

Thanks!!!

A little while back I let my emotions get the best of me in a conversation with someone.  I said something that shouldn’t have said.  Today I gave a heartfelt apology and it was accepted.  

Offering up a true apology is humbling and difficult, but it feels good to know that the person I’ve wronged knows that I know that I’ve done them wrong and I am sorry for that.  For that I am thankful.
Thanks!!!

After dinner tonight we were all kind of chilling in the living room so I fired up the vacation pictures that Becky and I had taken from our trip to Frisco.  Once we covered those I went to a couple of more albums and we had fun looking at more old pics from vacation.  It was cool to be able to see them all on the TV via the iPhone, we were able to zoom in and have a lot of fun with them!

We had a lot of fun reminiscing, I’m glad we had the opportunity to rekindle some excellent memories as a family!

Thanks!!!

Man, oh man, do I love me a great metaphor! Not sure why, but I see the world in pictures and stories and then I quickly compare them to past experiences and stories to help me fill in the gaps in the narrative. Why did I act like this at this time, how have others acted in the past in similar situations, and what can I remember to remind me of the appropriate response in the future? So much of my life is soaking in those moments to catalog for future comparisons. Kinda strange, right? That’s just how I’m wired I guess.

Today I’m handful for one of my favorite metaphors, cleaning the lint out of the dryer filter. Several years ago I heard this at a training and it really stuck. The intent of the trainer was for us to have a picture in our mind’s eye when we need to set our preconceived ideas and notions aside and look at a situation more clearly.

Why this is striking to me today is that the past week and a half has been an exercise in cleaning the lint out of the dryer of my brain. I’ve had the opportunity for self reflection, many opportunities for learning new ideas and concepts, many new stories that have moved and motivated me, and a chance to think on all of it. Throw in a little vacation (my ideal lint removal technique – I have to be 100% present in the vacation to truly enjoy it) and my lint filter is sparkling clean!

This was very evident to me as I picked up a training that I’ve been writing for a couple of months. With the fresh and clean mind I made more progress today while traveling than I have in the months preceding this trip. The content flies out of my brain as fast as I can type and write it, it’s almost effortless as I reach a state of flow in creation. I’ll never cease to be amazed by the productivity of a clean mind… and a dryer filter with no lint!Thanks!!!