This morning my good friend Harvey flew in from Oklahoma City to spend some time with my Winona team.  When I went to pick him up from the airport I had an idea.  Once he was in the car I asked him how many bald eagles he typically sees in Oklahoma.  When his answer was “none” I knew I was on the right track.

Instead of jumping on the interstate we went back behind the airport on Fisherman’s Road and we were able to see exactly what I was hoping we would see.  On the ice, in the air, and perched on trees were well over 30 bald eagles migrating through.  To make it even more awesome, a couple of the eagles had caught fish and pulled them up on the ice to eat.  It was perfect!

We tooled around the backroad for a few minutes and then got on our way driving up the Mississippi, making the same drive I was thankful for yesterday.  Along the way I was able to point out a couple of eagle nests and it was fun seeing his reaction to the wonderful scenery.

As I drove home from Rochester tonight I kept thinking about that little bit of time when I was essentially a tour guide today.  It brought me a ton of joy, and, as I thought more about it, it was on a couple of different levels.  There’s the joy of bringing a smile to someone else’s face, there’s the joy of seeing the sights myself, and then there was something else…  when playing the role of occasional tour guide I am looking at this thing I’ve seen so many times before through the eyes of someone else and I’m left awestruck by it.  When I’m showing someone a location, sight, or whatever it reminds me to appreciate it and see it more clearly and with more gratitude, and what an incredible gift that is!  Hmm… being an occasional tour guide…  I may have to add that to my dream book or retirement list. 🙂

Thanks!!!

There may or may not be a similar blog about this, but quite honestly, I really don’t care!  As I was driving home today I was totally awestruck by the incredible beauty of my commute home.

When I drive home from work I travel along Highway 61 in Winona down to I90 and then home.  My entire drive is smack dab in the middle of the Mississippi River valley and all but about 3-5 miles has a spectacular view of the river.

Today’s drive really hit me about 8 miles in.  Listening to a crazy eclectic playlist I caught myself totally immersed in the God created beauty all around me.  I was looking through valleys walled off by bluffs, snow covered trees, and awesome rock croppings hit just right by the slowly setting sun.  In some places the sunlight lit the top of the bluff up like a beacon!

As my eyes drifted back to the river (and yes Mom, I swear I was also watching the road!) it was beautiful in its own magical ways.  The wing dams below the surface caused the ice to melt and there were lines showing the location of the damns.  There were massive sheets of ice with several melted spots.  Along the side of some of those open waters were bald eagles.  The reflection of the light on the water was amazing.

Looking in the air was also pretty sweet.  Migrating birds flew in V’s across the sky.  In other spots the cluster of birds seemed to dance on the wind.  At one point a jet came into view, slowly descending to land.  I was at that almost perfect distance when it seemed to just slowly float to the Earth, not flying fast, but not quite stopped…  just almost hovering as if it were trying to take in the same scenery that I was.  All around me was the almost perfect mix of blue sky and clouds, just enough of both to enjoy and not interfere with the beauty of the other.

Today was an awesome day, there were many positive things, but when I really think about it, that drive was one of those surreal moments in which I was totally present in the moment, soaking up what The Big Guy Upstairs had thrown my way, and I was exactly where I was supposed to be, enjoying what was all around me, and thankful for every precious and beautiful second of it.

My commute may be a little long, but it’s well worth it every single time.  Every season brings new beauty and perspective, and I’m so thankful for it.

Thanks!!!

At one point I’d get a workout in first thing in the morning and then get a second one in over lunch.  It felt so great to get an exercise in to start the day and then another one in to keep the day running smooth. That was a long time ago but I still remember how great it felt.

Seeing as the snow continued to fall last night after shoveling I decided to get a different type of exercise in first thing in the morning. As soon as I got up I dressed warm and headed outside to shovel. The wet and heavy snow deposited at the end of the driveway by the plow provided some nice strength work while enjoying fresh air first thing in the morning. There’s something about being outside before the sun comes up that just pumps me up for the day.

After a meeting today I headed to the gym to get a short elliptical workout in before tackling more work in the afternoon. While it wasn’t quite the same as being outside it still felt wonderful to get my heart rate up. It was also pretty sweet to burn more calories so I can eat more tonight!

Today was a pretty solid day all around and I had a great energy level throughout (though now I’m feeling a little tired!). I’m thankful for the activities that helped me feel this way today!

Thanks!!!

So much for one thing today, I’m breaking my own rule and going for the daily double!

After a peaceful family dinner Becky had to run to work for a little bit. Because of the crazy amount of snow we got she asked if I’d drive her the half mile to her office. I looked for my boots and then remembered that I’d left them in the trunk of my car. No big deal, I figured I’d just head out and get them quick.

I headed outside in a pair of sneakers, a sweatshirt, gloves and a pair of shorts. When I got in the garage I thought it’d be nice to shovel the steps and a trail from the house to the garage for Becky. After throwing the first few shovel loads I realized that it wasn’t really too cold out and I just kept shoveling. It wasn’t too long before both of my boys came outside to join me (they were bundled up).

Next thing I knew we’d finish shed the entire driveway! It just felt great to get some fresh air and get the heart rate up a little bit. There was something else that made it feel even better… me doing it with shorts on was kind of my way of telling Mother Nature to… Anyways, it felt awesome and I’m grateful for the spontaneous snow shoveling in shorts today!

I’m also thankful for a hysterical email I recently received. For an upcoming team training I ordered books straight from the author. With a deadline to get the books out to my teammates I had asked her to let me know when I could expect them. What follows was her email response letting me know they were sent:

How awesome is that??? My boys were cracking up tonight over the comment about stopping for beers. All day long that line has been jumping into my head and has added many smiles to my day. That email has been an awesome reminder to be playful and have fun. I’m so thankful for this email, it’s one that I’ll save forever!

Thanks!!!

Yesterday I was cleaning my workshop.  The process of insulating it created quite the disaster area.  I had a deadline of 1pm today to have it all cleaned out, prepped and ready.

Shortly after one o’clock there was a pretty steady stream of Cub Scouts and parents coming upstairs to my workshop to work on their Pinewood Derby cars.  At one point I think we even had over a dozen of us upstairs at once!

It was pretty awesome, everyone working on their cars, making crazy new car designs, and learning how to use new tools.  There were no injuries or mishaps, but there were many smiles.

My workshop is a place I go to relax, have some quiet time, and chill.  It’s my “man cave,” the place I go when I want to chill and decompress by making something.  Usually it’s all about me having time alone, sometimes just the boys and I.  Today it was used for something totally different and rewarding in a very different way.  I’m thankful for using it in a slightly different way today, I can’t wait to do things like this more often!  At some point in the next few months I’d like to have a couple more times like this as I have some of the boys’ friends who’d like to make puzzle boxes and a couple of friends who’d like to make gaming boxes.  Who knows, days like this may even help me keep it more clean…  Ahh…  who am I kidding? 🙂

Thanks!!!

Today was the first Saturday in four weeks that I spent at home and it felt WONDERFUL!!!  While Dominic was away at Boy Scout camp Becky, Gavin, the girls, even Zeke, and I had a pretty great day.

Becky took Skywalker for a run this morning at about 6:30.  When she left Gavin and I headed out for a walk with LuLu.  We had a great time shooting the bull about DaVinci, the charitable giving of the Bill & Melinda Gates, erosion, fossilization, and many other seemingly random topics…  and I left every single moment of it.

While were on the homestretch we saw Becky and Skywalker across the field from us.  If you look REALLY close you can see a little dot that’s them.

We chilled at home for a little while and then headed out as a family to yoga and got our sweat on.  After an awesome workout we grabbed coffee and food for both lunch and supper.

While I started lunch I hopped on the phone with my mom for a quite a while and had a blast talking with her about work, life, and a lot of fun memories.  Before I knew it almost an hour had gone by and I’d almost finished our coconut flour pizza crust.

After lunch I spent time cleaning up my workshop as we have Cub Scouts coming over to cut out pinewood derby cars tomorrow.  Zeke joined me for a while and kind of enjoyed a different view of the world.

Becky helped Gavin finish cleaning his room and he then hopped outside and helped me clean up.

Around four o’clock we took the girls out for another walk and ate supper afterwards.  Now we’re just chilling on the couch watching the Lego Movie.  As I type this I can’t help but smile at how much I appreciate having a “normal boring day” at home.  This has been awesome!

One other thing that I’m thankful for today is saying good bye to “Fun Mike.”  When I got beefed up to 260+ pounds back in the day and started losing weight my little brother gave me a hard time and said that “Skinny Mike” wasn’t nearly as cool as “Fun Mike.”  This was because I had started watching my weight, pretty much quit drinking, and was busy exercising a lot.  It’s been a running joke between the two of us ever since.

This past Monday I changed up my diet and started tracking everything I ate.  This was the first week when I’ve exercised more than just a couple of times.  After less than a week I’m down over 5 pounds already and I’m ready to knock off about another 20 before the middle of June.  I’ve kicked “Fun Mike” out for a while, time to get back to the healthy shape I should be in.  Good bye “Fun Mike,” it’s been fun, but it’s time for us to split dude!

Thanks!!!

Last night I was feeling pretty exhausted and enjoyed every single one of my almost nine hours of sleep.  It was AWESOME!!!  That also meant that I wasn’t up early enough to do anything physical so while I was getting ready for work I loaded up my hiking shoes, a pair of shorts and a light jacket.

After I wrapped up my morning calls I changed my clothes quick and headed out.  It felt so great to get some fresh air and sun.  Following the road behind our office I headed along the base of the bluffs.  I was still in town, but in some ways it felt like I was out in the woods and it felt awesome.

It gave me time to relax, time to think, time to enjoy some quiet, and time to just be thankful to be alive.  By the time I got back to the office I felt totally calm and yet charged up and ready to take on the rest of the day.  Funny how something so simple as going for a walk can do wonders for my mindset.  I need to remember that and take time to do it more often.

Today I am so thankful for the walk I took over lunch, the sun that was shining bright, the cool breeze that felt awesome, the beautiful scenery, and last, but certainly not least, to be alive to enjoy the walk.

Thanks!!!

It would be pretty awesome to be right all the time, but unfortunately that’s not the case for this guy.  Today there were a couple of situations in which I was told that I was wrong.  One was an idea that I had, the other was a situation that I screwed up.

In one case the individual calling me out did it with a smile as we’re old friends who’ve been down this road before and are regularly used to calling the other out.  Ever since we’ve been comfortable telling the other when they are wrong our relationship haas grown stronger and we’re both more successful.  That was exactly what happened this time, possible mistake averted, we’re both better off because they called me out for being wrong.

The other situation was a little different, but it made me smile huge.  Weird, right?  Usually when we’re told we’re wrong we get frustrated and defensive.  In this case I actually smiled as they told me what I did wrong.  I thanked them for pointing it out and for not being afraid to tell me that I was incorrect.  They were nervous to tell me of my mistake, but the fact that they respect me and care for me enough to go out of their comfort zone to address it means the world to me.  I hope that after this they’re even more willing and open to tell me when I’m wrong again and that they become more and more comfortable bringing it up.

I’m wrong often, but I learn from those mistakes.  I hope that I’m right more often than not, but if you ever catch when I’ve screwed up please let me know, I really appreciate it!  That’s how I learn and get better.  In some cases I may have caught the fact that I was wrong, but in some cases, like today, I don’t even realize my mistake until someone points it out to me.

To everyone who’s told me that I was wrong at some point in my life – thank you!!!

Thanks!!!