Day 2,050

What a busy weekend it has been! Yesterday I shared much of the busyness of Saturday, today was almost as busy as yesterday. Thankfully there was still plenty of time to celebrate Mother’s Day too.

This weekend was wild, but there are so many moments of it we’ll remember for years to come. Dominic’s first prom. Gavin’s first day of reffing. Becky’s “Screw You Autoimmune Disease” half marathon. There’s been a lot. Today picked right up where yesterday left off. We had a fun impromptu conversation with friends while grocery shopping. We got home and had time to hear about Dominic’s fun night at prom. After packing lunches we headed to Madison for Gavin’s soccer match and made a pitstop at Natural Bridge State Park. Catch the game, grab ice cream for supper, drive home a couple of hours, wrap up a few things at home, and head off to bed. Busy but a blast.

Throughout the day we celebrated Mother’s Day. Becky’s an awesome mom and the boys always appreciate her, but today they appreciated her a little extra. Seeing them take great care of her makes me smile, seeing her get the appreciation she deserves warms my heart. The boys know how fortunate they are to have a mom who loves and supports the so much.

Thanks!!!

Day 2,049

So many different directions I could have blogged about tonight. Gavin’s first games as a soccer referee and Dominic’s prom both really stick out. I got bonus time with both boys and Becky individually throughout the day.

What I’m most thankful for today was the sense of a mission accomplished. Three years ago Becky had to drop out of running a half marathon as she was feeling the traumatic impact of an autoimmune disease which hadn’t been diagnosed at that time. She wanted to run the half marathon today – the same race she wasn’t able to do three years ago – to prove that her disease couldn’t stop her. She crushed all 13.1 miles of it and crossing the finish line with her was nothing short of awesome. Pure awesomeness, mission accomplished!

Thanks!!!

Day 2,048

Still not sure how the heck we pulled it off, but Becky and I were able to watch our niece pitch in her HS softball game, watch our nephew take a couple of at bats and field a fly ball, and catch Dominic’s 4x400m relay. Everything just happened to work out that the two ball games were literally within 40 yards of each other. They were both done with plenty of time to head 30 minutes away to catch Dominic’s meet. Not too shabby!

So much fun watching them all do their things tonight, I’m grateful for the planets aligning so it could all work out.

Thanks!!!

Day 2,046

Hmm… Many different options and ideas for today’s blog. Not sure any of them are specifically ready to hatch, but who knows, this is sometimes where the fun happens!

First off, I’ve had many memories in mind of a past vacation out to the Pacific coast in Washington. The beach there was epic, one of my top 10 favorite beaches. The landscape was unlike anything I’d ever seen in real life (and then we saw something similar in Cathedral Cove, NZ). So beautiful, one of my happy places for sure.

Having the opportunity to spend time with a thought leader can be very enlightening on so many levels. Even if I’ve heard the story before I’m always appreciative of an opportunity to learn from Marlene Chism. She did an excellent job of sharing the concepts from her new book on a webinar for pretty sizable number of our clients today. One of the reasons I love Marlene so much is her openness and candor, there is so much to learn from her.

Digging deeper into strengths and how to best work with my teammates has been top of mind all year. As I review some interesting next steps I’m grateful for the opportunity I have to read, learn, and review past experiences to apply to the teammates of today. I’m blessed to be surrounded by some incredible people each day, I’m excited to see them continue their growth.

Throw in an awesomely peaceful morning run, the promise of a hike early tomorrow morning, a dinner outside, and an evening with moments shared with each of my family and it’s been a stellar day all around. So much to be thankful for!

Thanks!!!

Day 2,045

Sometimes the easiest and most obvious appreciation is best 🙂

My drive into Eau Claire today was very gloomy, damp, & dreary. Not exactly the type of ride that gets me all amped up and ready to take on the day. Thank goodness for COFFEE!!! Sipping away from my Yeti mug while driving through the gray helped spark some life on the road this morning.

My drive home was pretty amazing – the sun was out! Even though I was just in Jamaica a short time ago it feels like I haven’t seen the sun since. Spending the entire drive home in the sun and with the moon roof open was awesome. Nothing like the sun and the feel of it on my face on the drive to wrap up a day of work.

Coffee and sunshine on the drive home… life is good!

Thanks!!!

Day 2,044

I’ve often mentioned how interesting the timing of so many things in life are. It seems as if I almost can’t help but accidentally stumble into a right answer, sometimes even before I knew I was asking a question! Through a bit of research on a different topic I happened across a book and the code it contained with an online strength and leadership assessment. As I was digging into retention and engagement I found this little treat which really opened up a new path for me. Within a short period of time I was knees deep into a treasure trove of information which will help me out in multiple directions.

One of the reasons I have a passion for learning is the opportunity it may provide in the future. I never know when a nugget of knowledge from a past lesson may come back to help me out in a future moment. When it does I’m so pumped and grateful for it. Even if I don’t utilize a new lesson right away in the moment I know it is floating around somewhere in my gray matter ready to be grabbed when the timing is right.

Yesterday I missed Dominic’s band concert because I was in Madison for Gavin’s soccer game. Thanks to Becky I was still able to enjoy the concert on TV tonight. Dominic and I loaded it up on the living room TV and watched it together. It was pretty sweet having him right there to point out the things I should be watching for and listening to. Not only did I get to watch and hear the concert, but I also got the behind the scenes version which was awesome! I really appreciate Becky recording the concert for me to watch.

Thanks!!!

Day 2,043

It feels more appropriate to hand write today’s blog first rather than type it. Going along with the peacefulness of the woods, the sound of pen on paper and the lack of a screen felt much better. My handwriting is still slow and sloppy, but it is much more in harmony with today’s blog.

Inspired by the book I read yesterday I loaded up an excellent next read from the same vein – Forest Bathing by Dr. Qing Li. This book gets into research conducted on why we see so many benefits from spending time outdoors. Dr Li cites several studies showing the medical, mental, and emotional benefits of being outside. One point in particular I found to be very interesting was showing how the emerald ash borer has played an unexpected role in the deaths of over 1,500 people in the US. Crazy!

As I read I see over and over again the reasons I enjoy spending time outside in the woods. Each sentence fuels my desire to get outside and spend ever more time away from screens and indoor lighting. I haven’t found a way to be outside more during the work day so I know it won’t be as long as I would like… yet. 😉

This morning Becky and I had the opportunity to run the majority of our twelve mile run through the marsh. We were surrounded by so many different types of birds, all of which were talking to us almost constantly. There were frogs chattering away in the background while rabbits and red squirrels ran on the trail ahead of us. The trees were starting to bud out and we saw a couple of flowers. All throughout the bluffs loomed in the background with mist slowly rising from them. So much green, so much nonhuman life, and almost no sounds other than those created by nature. Perfect!!!

Reading about being in the woods and then being in the outdoors… What a wonderful way to spend a Sunday!

Thanks!!!

Day 2,042

With a schedule change due to weather the majority of the day was spent at home. Throw in a sore heel and I wasn’t up for too much moving around. This meant some couch time so I reached for an awesome book I’d recently ordered.

A couple of weeks ago Becky sent me a text about this book:

As soon as I read the details I knew she was right (as usual 😉). The book arrived while we were gone and I just got it on Thursday. With the bonus quiet time today I was able to read the entire book and it was more insightful than expected.

Long story short (because I need to get to sleep so I’m ready to run tomorrow) the entire book increased my passion for spending time outdoors and helped me better understand some of the reasons why. Throw in some wild facts and recent research and I was like a kid in a candy-shop.

Bring on the non-soccer weekends, I’m ready for some camping!

Thanks!!!

Day 2,041

Thanks!!!

Day 2,040

Life is a series of choices and trade offs quite frequently. The easiest route to take is the one of habit, the well worn path, the old reliable. Once in a while the right decision requires jumping out of the rut. There may not already be a path there and the travel will be more difficult, but it is the right decision.

This may sound a bit crazy, but writing this blog has, in some ways, become the rut I need to pop out of. This evening is a case in point. Gavin’s track meet went way longer than it should have (4 full hours), and though he did very well it threw off our plans of calling it a relatively early night. By the time we’d finished supper it was already a little after 9:15 and I was planning to go to bed to blog and go to bed. I had a long blog mentally written and it was going to take a while. Meanwhile, we’d just gotten to one of my all time favorite episodes of Seinfeld, both Dominic and Gavin wanted to watch one more episode, they were both in laughing and talkative moods, and it had been a week since we’d spent time together. Rather than write the long blog post I stayed up and had a very enjoyable 21 minutes of laughter with them. That previously mentally written blog will wait another day. I’m way too fielder now and need to crash.

I’m tired and I’ll likely wish I’d slept more when my alarm goes off early tomorrow morning. But I know I made the right call. The past we gave me an opportunity to get extra sleep – I chose early bed on vacation rather than late nights – and the will help me power through tomorrow.

Trade offs and decisions – I’m thankful for making the right one and for getting extra laughs with my boys.

Thanks!!!