Day 2,070

This morning Becky and I took off for a hike to start our busy day. What a wonderful way to kick off the day, hanging out in the woods and enjoying some quiet in nature. Throughout the hike my attention kept getting pulled towards the trees themselves and the vines which were wrapping around many of them. So much diversity to soak in as we walked.

At the end of the night I was reading a book Becky had recommended which was focused on visiting all the National Parks. Then the TV was turned on to Life Above Zero, an awesome show about people subsistence living near it in the Arctic Circle in Alaska. Bonus outside related focus at the end of the day!

The more and more I spend time outdoors and the more time I spend focused on the outdoors the more joyful my life is. To have my day bookended with nature focus like this is pretty awesome.

Thanks!!!

Day 2,069

After an awesome Last Hug Day spent with Mom we headed up to Rice Lake for Dominic’s Sectional Track meet. His 4x800m relay team qualified for Sectionals after a Top 4 finish at Regionals on Monday.

Each and every single teammate in his crew ran their butts off in an insanely intense effort. They CRUSHED it and won the race. Thanks to their fantastic running they earned a spot in the State Track Meet next weekend, extending their season by one last week.

Just to be safe they also qualified for State by taking 4th in the 4x400m relay in the last race of the night 😉

So happy and grateful for the opportunity to watch their season get extended by another meet!

Thanks!!!

Day 2,068

The picture says it all, an awesome day spent with Mom.

Thanks!!!

Day 2,067

There are some occasions in which words just aren’t sufficient. This morning I was greeted in my office with this gift and a deeply meaningful card:

Almost needless to say, I was overcome by emotion. My heart is still bursting with joy and love from this gift. Over the next few days I’ll likely dive into more detail if it’s importance, tonight I am still soaking it all in.

Thank you to my work family for a gift which has truly touched my heart and will be forever remembered.

Thanks!!!

Day 2,066

I’m currently reading book #43 in my quest to read 100 books in 2022. While I’ve added in plenty of first time reads there are a stack of old favorites I’m going back to. Case in point is the main character in my blog tonight, Atomic Habits by James Clear.

This is at least the fourth time I’ve read this book and I’m still picking up new thoughts and concepts. Some needed additional context I’ve since lived through while others were the results of building upon past lessons from the book. My mind has been thoroughly blown while simultaneously remembering both how much progress I’ve already made and seeing how much further I have to go. As an example was the little nugget above in the picture.

Nothing like re-re-re-reading the classics! Some books seem to improve with a combination of age and repetition.

Thanks!!!

Day 2,065

As my Grandma Joyce used to joke, she was pretty sure she was so busy running around from place to place that she was afraid she’d run into herself at some point. The month of May has already provided that same feeling and the month isn’t over yet!

Thank goodness Becky and I have the ability to divide and conquer. She’s currently recording Gavin’s 1600m run as I type this. While she was waiting for Gavin’s race I was recording Dominic’s 4x800m relay team. Then I’ll catch Dominic’s 400m while she waits for Gavin’s 800m. After that I’ll be on the road and possibly back in La Crosse in time for Gavin’s 4x400m relay. Nothing but track craziness tonight!

This is the last time we’ve got both boys competing at different locations at the same time during their high school and middle school careers, next year they should be on the exact same schedule. Can’t wait to be able to watch both boys at the same time next year!

That said, I’m grateful for our ability to divide and conquer during this last night of double track meets. We may not each see the events on person but we will be able to at least watch the video!

Thanks!!!

Day 2,064

Today was our last trip to Madison for Gavin’s soccer club. Over the past several years we’ve made the trip to Madison and beyond for both Dominic and Gavin. The soccer club they both have been a part of want a specific level of competition and have made Madison one of the locations we travel to often. Gavin’s team was technically in the Madison Youth Soccer League and has played zero games at home so far (we have one game remaining in the season and it will be played in La Crosse). This club has been quite the commitment, but we wanted to allow the boys the opportunity to play the sport they love. This will be Gavin’s last season as next year he’ll be participating in high school track instead.

Knowing that today was our last trip to Madison was very surreal. Next fall we’ll only have high school soccer games to attend, the overwhelming majority on weeknights and approximately half (or more) played on our home field. Next winter the boys will only have high school snowboarding, there will not be any weeknight soccer practices. Next spring will involve many track meets, almost all of which will be on weeknights and within a 30 minute drive of home. No more long weekends in Madison. No more months of weekends being booked with soccer.

I’m thankful the boys both have had the opportunity to play soccer like they have for as long as they have. That said, I’m beyond excited to have more time to do other things on the weekends as a family, to have exponentially less travel time on the weekends, and to spend more quality time with the boys.

The trips to Madison have been fun, but I’m very appreciative for the opportunity to close that door and open the next.

Thanks!!!

Day 2,063

Seems like it’s been forever since I’ve been home with no plans for an entire Saturday. It probably hasn’t been as long as it feels, but I’m thankful for it nonetheless!

An early-ish bed time last night led to being done grocery shopping by 9am. Afterwards I took advantage of the momentum and went to work on the compost pile. Thanks to a friendly neighbor we had a handful pallets to replace the old ones. Seeing as that had gone well Gavin and I bought and installed a new microwave too! We took a nice hike with Becky, went to church as a family, and ate supper together. Chill and now off to an early bed for a busy Sunday. Nonstop action, largely productive.

Having a Saturday at home to get stuff done always feels great, having a beautiful Spring day like this was even better!

Thanks!!!

Day 2,062

Algorithms are crazily accurate sometimes, aren’t they? Before I went to bed last night I got a notification from the app that monitors my sleep. The app’s algorithms pointed out the increase in my heart rate variability over the past week and recommended I take a day off to rest. Based on the activity of the last week it was seeing my lack of deep and meaningful rest as a precursor to potential health challenges. It thought I was overtraining, in reality I was overlifing. 😉. Knowing that was the case I shut off the notification and planned to get up early to run.

When the alarm went off this morning I sprung out of bed… and almost fell to the floor. For whatever reason my right achillies was killing me. It hurt so bad I almost tipped over. I sat on the bed and stretched it out for a while before getting back upon my feet. After thinking about it I realized I should maybe take it easy and rest it up a bit before I would run. That decision made I went back to sleep for an hour.

Throughout the work day I’ve been stretching out my right Achilles and it’s feeling tremendously better. Back in the day I would have just run through it and probably have done more damage – or heal because I was younger then 😉. Today I’m thankful for listening to both my body and my bed. They were both right!

Thanks!!!

Day 2,061

I really wanted to go back to sleep this morning after my alarm went off. The temptation was very strong and I could feel the gravity of laziness pulling my fingers towards the snooze button. After an epic battle of wills I got my butt out of bed instead.

My run was amazing and I got this scenic view to start my day:

Very simple, but I’m thankful for getting my butt out of bed this morning. Had I hit the snooze my day wouldn’t have been nearly as successful.

Thanks!!!