LOL – today I was going to write about a handful of different things. There was a wide variety of gratitudes throughout the day. From simple things like beautiful sunrises and walks after eating. There were slightly deeper thoughts like the joy of creating something for others. At times I started going way deep on a few other issues such as equality and doing right for others. So many different directions I could have gone.

Yet what am I out thankful for today?

A safe and healthy family. A wonderful day with those I love. Time together, time alone, time with family. What more could I ask for?

Simple, complex, surface, and deep all at the same time.

Thanks!!!

Today’s been a pretty chill Saturday at home; exactly what the doctor ordered. Nothing like the first day of a long weekend setting the tone for the rest of the weekend.

Biking to yoga and back got the blood flowing. Some physical activity to kick off the day helped set the productive tone that continued through most of the day.

Back at home I tagged in on cleaning the living room. Funny how something that seems like work can be oddly relaxing when done in with the right mindset. Spending time moving furniture and cleaning under it was oddly calming and rewarding.

After lunch we pulled out Settlers of Catan and busted out a family battle. I’m always thankful for the time we spend around the kitchen table playing games and hanging out as a family.

Up I went to the workshop I went afterwards. I had an hour or so before heading to church so I took advantage of the time. There were a couple of projects I was working on that have been gathering dust over the past couple of months so I dove back in. I was surprised at how much progress I was able to make in a short period of time. By the time I had to head down it felt like I’d had more like a few hours by myself up there.

After church we hit the grocery store and knocked out almost the last of what I wanted to accomplish for the day. When we got home I had the idea to pre-make the egg bake for breakfast / brunch tomorrow before I finally settled in to type.

Now that I’m on the couch I’m feeling a great sense of accomplishment, a deep state of relaxation, and am ready for a day of relaxing on the river tomorrow… ahhh… what a great start to the long weekend!

Thanks!!!

Tonight’s blog post is pretty simple. The past week and change has been very full and busy. All good, there’s just a lot going on in life at present. In one of our team wrap up calls this afternoon we all shared what we were most excited for this upcoming long weekend. While others shared fun activities like camping and kayaking my answer was pretty basic… chillin’.

After work was done I ran to the grocery store to pick up some hornet spray to help Dominic complete his self-set goal of eliminating the three hornets nests at our house. I helped him out, put a few things away, and then it was go time…

I grabbed this beauty that came in the mail today, plopped myself on the couch, brought the dogs up to snuggle with me, and I proceeded to chill and read.

In just a few short pages I was hooked in an awesome story focused on gratitude. I’m sure there’ll be a separate blog post about it in the future after I’ve finished reading it – just a hunch.

After a few chapters I fired up a frozen pizza. Next thing I knew I was still sitting on the couch, eating pizza right off the cardboard atop the coffee table, and still reading. Once the pizza was devoured I cleaned up, sat back on the couch, snuggled with the dogs, and started reading all over again.

Once Dominic was done fighting hornets we went out on the deck and I went right back to reading.

Kicking back on the couch, snuggling in with a great book, and tuning out the rest of the world was exactly what I needed tonight. Throw in the fact that the book is all about gratitude and it became even more perfect.

Thanks!!!

This morning I got up and moving early, jumped on my bike, and headed out for an early morning ride. Riding in the dark while the world is waking up is an excellent way to chill while getting exercise. Sure, there were a few cars, but it was so much more peaceful and quiet than normal. I am thankful for the mornings when I’m disciplined enough to get up and moving while the rest of the world sleeps.

Over lunch I took a quick ride to a quiet little place in Winona that is a little secluded. I quickly ate while I sat in the car. The windows were down, the moon roof was open, and the sun was pouring in. Without hesitation I set the timer on my watch and proceeded to take a quick nap in the sun. A twenty minute snooze later and I was feeling ready to take on the world again!

When I put today in perspective I am thankful for the pockets of solitude I was able to carve out for myself. There was a lot going on today, many moving parts, and I spent time engaging with quite a few people. In the moments with others I was able to focus (and was very thankful for the time one of my teammates called me out when I wasn’t!) it was largely due to the moments of solitude helping to keep me focused. Having space to think really helps me function at the right level.

So today I’m thankful for occasional solitude, calm, and quiet. There’s so much more I can accomplish when I remember to carve out time to be still and enjoy the quiet.

Thanks!!!

My mind has been racing in a few different directions for today’s post. True to form I’m going to go with the strategy that has helped me hatch many ideas in the past… only write the first part of the title (Day 1,436 – Thankful for…) and then process and work it all out as I type.

There are a few things I’ve really been focused on today. The power of presence in the ability to focus on the beauty of nature really captured my attention. In order to continue practicing yoga without risk of COVID we’ve been going during the week at a local park. We all space out well beyond the six feet and practice while the instructor gives directions a little more loudly than normal.

One of the things I appreciate most about yoga is the focus on the present through focusing on my breath. In doing so I find myself more “in” the present than normal. There’s typically no inner monologue going on or anything, just a focus on the sensations of my body as I move from pose to pose. Tonight there were several things in nature that caught my attention. There were two squirrels running and playing nearby. When we all turned to do a twist in their direction they froze in their tracks and just watched. It was awesome! Throughout practice some nests of flying ants seemed to erupt as the sun hit them just right. A times it looked as is thousands of them were literally pouring out of the ground like fireworks. There were so many I could hear their buzz when relaxing. Yes, bugs can be kind of gross, but there was a very cool feeling to this hatching. Both of the flying ants and the squirrels would have been totally missed had I not been focused on the present.

What if I were more present more often in all of my life? What other beauty would I find that I may otherwise pass by without noticing? Today was a great reminder of the beauty of stillness.

Something else I’m thankful for are friends who give the honest feedback I crave. In working on a project I got in touch with an old friend and asked for their feedback. While most of it was positive they did an excellent job of pointing out potential mistakes and how I could improve the product. It was pretty awesome.

At my core there is something that continues to build. In some ways it’s almost as if there’s about to be a storm. The pressure is building and I am liking where it is all going. Sometimes the best ideas need time to truly ferment and I’m going to give this one all the time it needs to be ready. As I close in on five years of blogging each day I’m starting to see patterns and cycles in my life and my response to the world. Putting these thoughts into a cohesive whole is starting to building my brain and is something I’m looking forward to putting into words. Sometimes when a storm comes it’s best to take shelter. Other times I get giddy with anticipation and sit out on the deck to admire its majesty as it rolls in. I’ll be sitting on the deck for this one.

Thanks!!!

Nothing like embarrassing the boys by getting that first picture of them before they hop on the bus to start the school year… oh wait… umm… so… Do we take pictures of them online, on the couch, driving through the school parking lot to get their materials, or of their “home office” set ups? Hmm… or maybe we’ll just go with this instead:

In all seriousness, talk about a start to the school year the boys will never forget! Gavin had his first round of online classes starting bright and early at 7:30am. Instead of sitting in a classroom he was on the couch with his iPad on the coffee table. Dominic’s first day consisted of picking up his materials via a socially distanced drive through in the school parking lot. He spent most of the day getting his room set up to be his virtual classroom, complete with standing desk!

Is this the way we’d like to have the school year start? Nope, but it’s the hand we’ve been dealt. I’m thankful for how well the schools have responded to be ready for this school year. Both of the boys have a complete class schedule that will keep them busy, focused, and learning throughout much of the day. They have set up social interactions via the virtual classrooms to help the kids connect. Never would I have thought I’d be excited to hear a smiling Gavin say, “So-and-So said we need to stop spamming the chatroom during the break so then even more of us did!” How great to hear him having fun with classmates again? He was so happy to share that some of his friends were in his class with him. I’m sure Dominic will have some similar experiences once his online classes start tomorrow.

Of course I can’t wait for the boys to be back in school IRL (in real life), but that’s not in the cards right now. I’m thankful for the alternative that the school district and teachers have put together in the meantime. I can’t begin to imagine how much their lives have had to change over these past six months! Thank you to all of the teachers who are finding ways to help keep kids learning and growing through this challenge!!!

To everyone involved in the school year starting today – thank you!!! This hasn’t been easy, we’re all learning as we go, but thank you for a very successful start to the school year; as non-traditional as it may be. In helping the kids see how you react and respond to challenges like this you’re helping them learn resilience through positive role modeling. It is different and not easy, but it will help us all grow through adversity.

Thanks!!!

Way back in the day someone shared their secret recipe to increased learning through reading. Not only did they read voraciously, they had a very specific pattern they followed to maximize the impact that reading had on their life. They would rotate from a biography or autobiography to a nonfiction to a fiction (preferably sci-fi). This rotation of books provided an interesting way to embed the concepts they learned.

Through the biography or autobiography they’d learn how someone lived. What did they do differently in the context of their life and in their time? How did the way they live impact their life?

The nonfiction was pretty straightforward. It’d help them better understand the theory behind a concept or two. The book would help them learn a skill useful to their life.

The fiction – especially sci-fi? That one always threw me for a loop. How in the world would that help? When I looked at where my reading list had been focused before this advice I found it was very focused only on nonfiction and biography. There was a direct correlation to improvement. Fiction felt like more of a diversion, TV without the screen.

Thankfully, I followed the advice and started to work back in some fiction. With a fresh perspective I’m seeing a more clear connection!

First off, fiction allows us to dream fearlessly. The only reality in it is the one in which we construct. The author has the ability to go in literally any direction they choose and are able to adjust things on the fly. How does this specific factor help in learning? It reminds me to dream big and then dream bigger. The possibility thinking in fiction easily transcends the story and can roll into real life if I remember to focus on it.

Next, the best fiction writers create very realistic characters. The best stories are the ones in which you can really believe the character and their actions as they feel so real they must be grounded in personal experiences and on real people. When we find someone reacting the way we would imagine them to react in the situation they story is so much more believable. Through this vision we are able to see how people could or should react in certain circumstances. Our brains are put into positions we haven’t been in during normal life and we start subconsciously thinking through how we would react in the same scenario. Throw in the concepts and ideas we’ve picked up on from the nonfictions and biographies and we can see how our ideal self would react if we followed the advice from the other books.

Over the past few months there’ve been a small handful of fictions that have hit me right between the eyes. Devolution and World War Z by Max Brooks and Spin and Axis by Robert Charles Wilson. When I consider what we’ve learned about human behavior through COVID, growth mindsets, grit, and diversity through real life and books there is a direct correlation between them and the characters in each of those four books. They may be fiction but I’ve found so much I can learn and implement in my personal life from them. Yes, they are totally fiction, but they’ve brought some very interesting ideas to surface!

Thanks!!!

How did today seem to fly by so quickly? Oh yeah, that’s right, it was non-stop from start to finish! Sitting here on the couch I might just pretend to blog for a while and really just take some time to sleep with my eyes open as I take in the quiet and calm.

So what am I thankful for today? Hmm… I’ve got a list, it’s been a good day.

Becky had an awesome idea to start the day – bike to yoga, do yoga, and bike home. Getting up and getting moving right away was exactly what I needed. There was a definite calm from yoga outside at the park and it felt so good to just chill while exercising. The bike ride was a great opportunity for Becky and I spend some time shooting the bull, including many stories of “way back in the day.” By the time we got back home I was feeling chill and well grounded.

One of my teammates shared the idea of grilling bacon today and they were 100% correct in how delicious it was. Dang! We might have to do that more often… the bacon didn’t last very long after it came off the grill. If my family had a super power I wound’t be surprised to find out that it was the ability to make one pound of bacon disappear. 😉

Gavin had his first soccer game of the season in Waterloo, Iowa. We were very happy with the social distancing and safety measures taken so we headed off to Iowa shortly after the bacon disappeared.

Funny how we often thing of the windy road and the scenic route as both being longer than the shortcut. Today the windy & scenic routes converged (at various times) while becoming the fastest way. It was a cool combo! I’m pretty sure I’ve never been to Waterloo before and the way we took was all new to me after we passed through Deborah. I have to admit it was neat to see some new scenery and a different city like that.

Something else I’m thankful for – though it’s kind of tongue in cheek… I’m glad my parents taught me to use my blinkers when I drive. And in the famous words of Forrest Gump, “and that’s all I have to say about that.”

Watching Gavin’s first games of the season was awesome. He has grown so much in the past year and seeing the physical change out on the field was great. His effort was up, the speed was up, and it was clear that he’s improved quite a bit since last year. I forgot just how much I enjoy watching the boys in their sporting and extra curricular events.

During one of the halftimes we went to a completely empty soccer field. Becky went for a walk and I challenged Dominic to a 1 on 1 game of soccer. This might surprise you, but he won (shocker, right?).It may have only been a few minutes long, but we had a blast – especially when I totally burned him with a couple of sick moves, one that found me misstepping and tripping on the ball. Whoops! At least I scored a goal in the last seconds to make it a respectable 1-2 loss. Spending time with him playing like that was pretty dang awesome!

I’d be remiss to leave out our trip to the drive through of Chick Fil A… ahh..

Thanks!!!

One of my favorite things in the world is how my friends and I can jump into conversation after extended periods of time an not miss a beat. Tonight we did just that!

Through the magic of Zoom we were able to hang out while practicing good social distancing across three states. No agenda, no plans, just hanging out shooting the bull about whatever topic we happened to land on.

The funny thing is that on each and every topic we were repeating modernized versions of days gone by. At one point we started talking about something that reminded us of an almost exact conversation we had over four years ago.

Somewhere a long time ago I heard someone offer a description of a friend being someone you can hang out with and not say hello or not say good bye, and jump right back into conversation when you get together the next time. That basically nails it with my friends and I. Time may impact everything, everything except the time we spend together.

Thanks!!!