Month: September 2021

Day 1,809 – Thankful for the Journey of Writing with Dad

As the pieces come together on my writing I’m continually grateful for this journey. Losing Dad was the most difficult time of my life to date. The pain can still be raw at times. I often wish for an opportunity to have a few more minutes with him, another conversation, or another hug. The sense of loss will never leave my soul.

What’s interesting is that the more I write the more my thoughts shift from loss to gratitude for the time I had with Dad. So many wonderful moments, memories, and experiences with him. I am so fortunate to have had Dad in my life.

The more I write the more memories come back. The more I write those memories down the more memories that also rise up to the surface. And so it goes.

In many ways this journey has brought me closer to Dad. I’m seeing more clearly the impact he’s had on my life and the legacy I hope to leave my boys. As I write I’m seeing the good and the bad, what I’d love to grow into and the gaps I need to cross.

LOL – my hair, his mustache… two things we’d both like to forget 😉

All the while I know Dad is with me in this journey. I can feel him supporting and guiding me. We do this together. It isn’t my story I am writing, it is our story we’re writing. Each step is a smile, a discovery, a lesson, and a moment I’m grateful for.

Thanks!!!

Day 1,808 – Thankful for Planning Before Acting, and an Interesting Coincidence

Over the course of the day I was reminded of the importance of taking time to plan rather than taking immediate action. There were two very specific moments in which I was rewarded for pausing to think.

For example, I decide to build a loft for Gavin so he has more usable space in his bedroom. I’ve only assembled a loft once and that was in college and was an epic disaster. This time around I’m designing, creating, and assembling the entire project. To get started I looked up several different designs online and started to find both the commonalities and the interesting differences. I took the time to draw the entire thing out, complete with exact measurements. Once my blueprint was complete I then picked up materials.

After work and supper today went out to the garage and got at it. Everything went way more smoothly than expected and I got significantly more done today than planned. Thanks to thinking through all the details in advance I was able to cruise and get into a state of flow while letting my hands do the work. It was awesome!

One other note that had me smiling. There was one flaw in my design, I needed exactly fourteen construction screws that were three inches in length – screws I neglected to buy. I stood there for a moment before lightning struck. When we took down the old tree house there screws that were exactly what I was looking for. I grabbed the bucket and pulled out all the right screws. As luck would have it there were exactly fourteen screws. It felt like Dad was giving me a little nudge, a wink, and smile from up above. Pretty awesome.

Thanks!!!

Day 1,807 – Thankful for a Mindblowingly Intellectual Start to My Day 🤯

Always great soaking new ideas into the brain sponge! This morning’s drive to Eau Claire was full of some serious brain processing as I tried to keep up with the firehose of ideas pouring forth from my car.

Antifragile: Things that again from Disorder by Nassim Nicholas Taleb provided a wildly cognitive trip, and I’m only a third of the way through. All day long my thoughts keep drifting back to the concepts from the book.

More to follow on the book itself on a future day. I definitely need more time to process in order to do justice to the core of the book.

Nothing like getting my brain blown right away in the morning!

Thanks!!!

Day 1,806 – Thankful for Hiking Beaver Valley Creak State Park for the First Time

I’ve often talked about how thankful I am for living in The Driftless. This region has so many pockets of natural beauty seemingly around each corner. The bluffs, the valleys, the rivers, the woods, and the rocks – all so stunning!

This morning Becky took us on a hike into a Minnesota State Park we’d never been to – Beaver Creak Valley just outside of Caledonia. This place was truly a gem! The hiking was quiet, peaceful, and full of wonderful vistas. The specific trail we took also brought us to “Hole in the Rock,” the place we took this pic.

Our bonus day of the long weekend began in typical Kreiling fashion. This park is one we’ll certainly be back to several more times as we explore the entire area.

Thanks!!!

Day 1,805 – Thankful for a Physically Active Partner

When left to my own devices I’m not always as disciplined as I know I should and could be. The idea of going for a run, hopping on my bike, practicing yoga, or hiking are easy for me to come up with. Sometimes there are so many options that I end up wasting my time on deciding which one to do! Regardless, I’ll start off with the best of intentions and then end up either getting myself distracted or coming up with an excuse to not do the action.

Today was a perfect example of what I am thankful for. Last night Becky asked if I’d like to go for a bike ride this morning. It sounded like a perfect idea and I was in. The weather was perfect, we got a nice 20+ mile ride in, and had time for the two of us to talk. It was an awesome combination of exercise and a date! Rather than sitting around and not really doing anything we were up and moving AND having active conversation. What a great way to start the day!

If Becky weren’t physically active like she is the odds are that we wouldn’t be doing things like this together. Not only does it motivate me to stay in better shape so I can keep up, it provides us so many opportunities to spend time together without phones, screens, kids, or anything else getting in the way of our time together. She pushes me to be healthy specifically by her actions. When we go on vacation there are no worries about what we’re going to do, we both enjoy hiking and being active on vacation. It’s pretty awesome!

My morning started out in wonderful fashion thanks to getting some exercise and fresh air in right off the bat. Becky made that all possible and I’m grateful for her all the more today.

Thanks!!!

Day 1,804 – Thankful for Pizza & Movie Night

Sometimes the simplicity of family time is so easily overlooked. At times during 2020 it felt as if all we did was spend time together as a family. Over the past month or two we’ve seemingly all been everywhere except with each other and without an agenda.

Tonight was the first time in a while that we all spent time together. We scattered a bit during the day as we all had stuff going on, but then rallied to head off to church early to be greeters. This gave us time in the car, time in the entrance of church – the low side without many people, and then on the way home. The boys did dishes on and off while I made pizzas and Becky took care of other stuff around the house. We ate as a family. We chilled on the couch and watched a movie and a half. We talked, joked around, and had a rest time together.

Pizza and movie night – such a common weekend activity last year, an awesome and appreciated treat now.

Thanks!!!

Day 1,803 – Thankful for Seeing Something I Always Wanted to See

Tonight held a surprise I was hoping to see at least once, even if it were for the briefest of moments. The funny thing is that I thought the soonest it could possibly happen would be a year from now.

Becky and I were helping with the concession stand during the JV game tonight. Gavin and his buddy didn’t have practice so we brought them both along to the game. They’d both practiced with the high school team over the summer and wanted to watch their older soccer friends and future teammates play a rare Friday night game.

Once we got there the boys asked Coach if they could be ball boys during the games. The entirety of both games was spent with them running incessantly up and down the sidelines retrieving wayward balls while throwing the new one into the game. They put on quite aces miles.

While they had fun Dominic and his teammates played a tough game and did much running as well.

Something I’ve wanted to see ever since I realized it could be a possibility? Both my boys on the field at the same time. Not quite the way I envisioned, but awesome nonetheless and greatly appreciated!

Thanks!!

Day 1,802 – Thankful for Cemetery Walks During Lunch, Thinking About Mortality, and the Start of a Story

Over lunch today I did something that was habit for quite some time a couple of years ago. I changed into shorts, put on my headphones, and went for a walk to the Woodlawn Cemetery. The cemetery is almost exactly a mile and a half and I’m able to cruise there with minimal traffic.

Once I’m through the gate there is rarely anyone in earshot, let alone anywhere else in the graveyard. There’s an immediate calm in that place, a silence that shrouds it from “real life.” My senses become so much more aware and my mind is very much present and focused on only what I see and deep thoughts about mortality.

As I’ve mentioned before, it is far from a cry for help, rather it is in this sacred space in which I feel most alive. I’m surrounded by reminders of the ephemeral nature of life and how important it is for me to live fully while I’m still upright and taking in nourishment. This time reminds me not to squander the brief span of time my life fills, to focus on living into my best self.

In short, my time in the cemetery reminds me to appreciate life itself and to act accordingly. What a beautiful way to start the afternoon!

Today was also interesting as I went through a stretch of tombstones I hadn’t really spent time focusing on in the past. One in particular caught my attention and got my creative juices flowing…

In my head the backbone of a fiction started to form. Who is John C Volta? How is he presently 173 years old? If he’s passed (most likely he has) – why was the date never added to his tombstone? Interesting indeed! It’s apparent that I’ve been reading too much Stephen King lately 😉 Getting into the start of this fiction had me smiling as I walked back to the office.

The perfect was to split up a busy day in the office!

Thanks!!!

Day 1,801 – Thankful for a Normal-ish First Day of School Pic

For the third time today I can’t help but chuckle as I remember that it can be so difficult to be thankful and appreciative for something until it is gone. There are so many things in life I’ve taken for granted and have only noticed once they were removed. The appreciation is so much easier afterwards as I can start to more fully grasp the impact that was made by it.

The first day of school is one of those things. When I was cruising back through some old pictures I came across many first day of school pictures until I got to 2020. There weren’t any. I paused and asked Becky if I was looking in the right place. She reminded me that they were non-existent as they were schooling online. Crazy! How quickly I forget. Then I paused and remembered just how special these first day of school pics are.

Each year this is a day when there is almost guaranteed to be a photo of both the boys side by side. Just like the rings in the tree we can se the growth of the boys by looking back through the old first day of school pics. For instance, here’s 2015 on the left and 2021 on the right:

The way these boys have grown blows my mind! It is difficult for me to grasp just how quickly they’ve grown in such a short period of time.

What made these year even crazier was their ride to school. No bus for these boys for their first day. They loaded up into their car and Dominic drove them to school. Peace out school bus, hello freedom through personal transportation!

I’m thankful for getting back into the habit of the first day of school pics even though I’m suddenly feeling way older than I did when I woke up today 😉

Thanks!!!

Day 1,800 – Thankful for the Patience of Mentors

I think I learned one of the essential skills that makes for an excellent mentor. I’d love to tell you I figured it out through my mastery of mentoring others, but that would be a complete lie. This lesson hit home today as I realized just how patient with me my mentors have been through the years.

I can only begin to imagine how frustrating it must be for them to offer up wonderful words of wisdom over and over and over and over again – in many different formats – using so many different metaphors. And when I finally heed their advice they most likely frustrated when I slowly slip backwards and they have to start working on me again. Talk about quite the Sisiphean task!

I am so grateful that they take the time to continue growing me even when I don’t seem to make progress. The past year and a half or so has helped me pause and see all that I’ve been focusing more and more on implementing their ideas – and they’re working! Their patience has been paying off big time.

Thank you to everyone who’s helped to coach, grow, and mentor me. Thank you for being patient with me as I am sometimes stubborn and a slow learner. I will continue to improve how quickly I implement your thoughts and ideas, thank you for keeping your faith in me.

Thanks!!!