There were many things that I’m thankful for today.  We had some boat time with good friends.  We got more done insulating than I expected.  Throw in a handful of other things and it was a pretty solid day.  There was one thing that really stuck out though, the joy I had while insulating the workshop with Dominic.

Gavin was cleaning his room and recovering from a sleepover and Becky took one for the team and went grocery shopping.  Dominic volunteered to help me out in the workshop and I was ecstatic that he did!  He saved a ton of time for me, being an extra set of hands.  With him grabbing materials and tools for me I was able to keep working.  There were a couple of projects he was able to do himself, no guidance from me needed, and he did an awesome job!  I’d have to imagine that it would’ve taken me at least one and a half times as long to get done what we did had I been on my own.

I’m also thankful that he helped as there were some new skills and concepts he was able to learn.  He was cutting, measuring, screwing, glueing, insulating, cleaning, and stapling.  Many of these he’s maybe seen or done a little of, but over the past couple of days he’s really gotten a lot of hands on practice.

What I’m most thankful for about his help though was an intangible that meant the world to me.  As we were working together it reminded me of the times when I helped my dad on project like this.  It was in moments like this with Dad that I learned the basics of carpentry (and retained more than I’d thought!) and started to get a passion for home improvement.  We would joke, laugh, learn, and work with each other.  He’d give me a hard time about things.  He’d encourage me when I’d done well.  He’d coach and support me when I made a mistake.  When he’d screw up I remember him laughing at himself while explaining why he’d screwed up.  We’d smile and enjoy the time together.  Sure, we’d get frustrated at each other sometimes, but the happiness is what really endures in my mind.

While Dominic and I were working together today I had so many memories come flooding back or working with my dad.  While Dominic and I created our own memories I’d smile to myself as my I’d hear my dad’s voice come out of my mouth.  When Dominic did something awesome I was so proud of him and then realized that was why my dad would sometimes smile hugely at me when I did something right.  Dominic laughed when I made a mistake and made fun of myself.  When he’d get frustrated with something I helped coach him through it, help him see how close he’d been and show him how to do next time.  We joked around, we smiled, and we had fun while working together to create something.  Yes, there were times when we both got frustrated with each other, but those memories are already fading fast.  What I’ll remember is how much we enjoyed each other’s company.

Today was another of those spots in which I find myself seeing the world as both a father and a son.  The memories I created with my son today reminded me of the memories my dad created with me and I’m so very grateful for them.  All this from Dominic wanting to help me insulate the workshop today…  How awesome is that?

Thanks for the help today dude, it was greatly appreciated!!!  I’m so glad that you enjoy doing things like this and that you like spending time with your old man doing it.  You made me so happy and proud today, something that you’ll probably understand one day when you’re working with your son in the workshop.  Grandpa Pete was there with us and smiling along with us today.  Love you Bud!!!

Thanks!!!

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times…  I can be a pretty slow learner sometimes (or often!).  Funny how sometimes I think that I’m actually getting the point, but then I have something that reminds me that while I may have started to close the gap between who I am and who I should be, it is a lifetime endeavor.

We had a substitute priest this week and he gave a pretty excellent sermon today.  It was focused on the story of Jesus telling the disciples that He was going to have to suffer and die.  Peter (my favorite disciple) steps up and says something along the lines of “nope” and wants to make sure his friend doesn’t meet that fate.  Jesus then reminds Peter that he doesn’t have God’s will in mind, rather his own, that of a friend wanting to take care of a friend.

I’ve probably heard that story over a dozen times, but it wasn’t until tonight that it actually hit me what it was all about.  I know, I can be pretty dense sometimes!  As I heard the story and the priest’s description of it all I could think of was the Thursday before Dad died, when I learned that I had to let go of the wheel (and wrote this post).  The story of Peter kept sinking in and my eyes misted up a bit.

I’m sure that I’ll need to hear this story and others like it many times over before it truly sinks in, but today I’m so thankful to have heard the same message in a slightly different way.

Thanks!!!

While there was chaos inside our house tonight for Dominic’s birthday…

I spent the majority of the night working on a project, insulating my workshop…

Becky and I decided to take on the insulation project over this long weekend and I wanted to get a jump start on it.  As per the norm, everything took a little bit longer than expected, but overall I felt pretty good about the progress.  There was something that just felt right working on a project that Dad and I started.  It was a good time to to something productive while hearing him give me a hard time in my head once in a while.

As I start to wind down for the night there’s a lot that I’m thankful for, it was a really good day.  At the end of it, knowing that I made progress and had a productive Friday night feels pretty awesome.  Special thanks to Becky for picking up Miller Lite for me, that was the icing on the cake!

Thanks!!!

My aunts and uncles have been working on getting headstones for Dad and Aunt Nadia to put near Grandma, Grandpa, and their other family.  Nick and I were happy to pitch in to help out and help make this happen.  Imagine my surprise this morning when I read the following text from my Aunt Renee:

How awesome is that???  I’m incredibly grateful for the generous gift that someone gave our family, they’re greatly appreciated!  That said, as opposed to being thankful for just that one person, let me broaden this out a bit.  The way they made this gift is also so fitting as this was one of Dad’s favorite ways to give to others – anonymously.

When you hear about something like that how can we all not be watching for ways to make someone else’s day?  Seriously, is there anything quite as inspiring as a gift being made out of the blue, seemingly without a reason, and without someone to credit for it?  There’s a magic to that helps bring us all together and inspires us to be better people.  Moments like this are when many people touched by the gift actively seek out ways to do the same for others, to help each other, to help strangers, to live better.

When someone does something like this there are so many people who are touched by it and look for ways to make a similar gift to others.  Then each of those people impact other people and it continues.  Think about it, if one person’s actions cause ten people to do something for others, and each of those people give there’s a cascading effect and now one person’s gift has had a positive impact on at least 100 people in no time.  Given a couple of more rounds of giving and thousands upon thousands of people are all touched by one person’s generosity.  How awesome is that?

At the end of the day, that’s what I am really the most thankful for today.  While I’m incredibly grateful for Anonymous’ generosity, I’m also thankful that one person’s very generous action has hopefully started an avalanche of positive experiences with my Dad’s memory at its heart.  Thinking that even though he’s gone he’s still making the world a better place fills my heart with pride and happiness.

Thanks!!!

Ever have one of those days when things aren’t quite on track the way that you’d like them to be.  Maybe things are just off a little and not lining up right.  It’s close, but it’s just off…  Know what I mean?  As I was heading home from work today I had that same feeling.  I leaned on an old friend to help me feel on track…  the car radio.

The music of choice today hit the nail on the head and got me going again.  The build up of the music, the infectious beat, and awesome lyrics helped me smile and feel right again.  It was an example of the right music at the right time, and I am very thankful for it.

The Strumbellas were the band today, and I was jamming out to their album Hope.  In particular the songs that just hit it right were Spirits and Wars.  Crazy names, but just what I needed.

As Spirits hits its stride I was jamming out in a full on car concert of one…

And I don’t want a never ending life
I just want to be alive while I’m here
And I don’t want to see another night
Lost inside a lonely life while I’m here

When the singing on the song Wars started I couldn’t help but sing along…

There’s something that just seems so right when I listen to the right music at the right time.  I sing, I smile, and I live.  There’s a bond between the song and I, that feeling that there’s someone else out there who gets me right at that moment.  Whether the lyrics, the music, or the memories that it brings up I’m immediately feeling connected…  and everything else seems to work itself out.

Thank you to The Strumbellas for hitting the nail on the head today, you provided the right music at the right time, and it is greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks!!!

This morning I had that moment in which I paused and considered going back to sleep instead of running.  I was tired and the sound of a four mile run just didn’t sound too good.  Then I thought of my friend Cheryl Moreno and my run seemed pretty easy.

At 2am tomorrow morning Cheryl is waking up to hike the Grand Canyon from rim to rim.  20+ miles of hiking with some pretty crazy elevation changes.  That is a pretty crazy hike!  And if you think that’s crazy, you should see some of the training plans she’s had to take on to get to this point!

Aside from being a huge hiking fan Cheryl is the heart of the Express Leadership Academy, a training program she helped imagine and build to help the most successful Express franchisees become even better.  Her trainings are always top notch, and she doesn’t shy from pushing us out of our comfort zones.  She’s the tough instructor that gives us the hard truth when we need it and the supportive coach that we need at other times.  The way she can bounce back and forth is impressive.  My experiences with Cheryl in Leadership Academy have had a tremendous impact on much of the successes my teams are seeing.

One of the things I appreciate most about Cheryl was the way she helped me understand Situation Leadership (SLII), an incredible concept designed to help us get and give the coaching, support, and direction needed as we take on new tasks.  Many years afterwards I still remember how she helped me truly get this concept, one that has helped me get through some of my toughest challenges.  From running a marathon the first time to driving on the wrong side of the road in Australia to helping be a better coach for my teams, her training has stuck with me for the long haul.

All that said, you know what about Cheryl really inspires me the most?  Her passion and grit.  She dreams big, busts her butt to make it a reality, and is smiling the whole way through.  She can accomplish anything.  When I see her dream something up I smile knowing that it will happen.  The things I’ve seen her take on are huge and she has to put in tons of hard work to get them accomplished, and she has the grit to do that.  Throughout the struggles, work, and set backs she smiles, stays positive, and keeps on going.

Cheryl, thank you for being an inspiration to me and many others.  Your grit and passion are truly amazing and motivate many.  Kick some butt, take some names, conquer the Canyon, and dream up the next big dream!

Thanks!!!

You’re going to have to bear with me on two very different fronts on today’s blog.  First off, as you’ll quickly see, this is kind of a tough one to write.  Secondly, as you see why it’s difficult to write you might cock your head at why I’m thankful for it today.  Trust me, you’ll see it come together at the end.

I really miss my dad today… a lot.  Of all of the days since his funeral I’m pretty sure this is the toughest one I’ve had yet.  Life is getting back to its normal pace – a departure from the non-stop busy-ness of the past few months.  Training is done, travel is done, the kids are in between events, and I had a day at home without plans.  Next week is a pretty sane week, back to normal.  As I have time to breath I’m feeling a big empty hole that Dad used to fill for me.

One of the biggest reasons for missing him today has to do with what I’ve been doing today.  We went for a hike to Perrot Park and had a great time, but it reminded me of a time when Dad hiked it with us.

After lunch I built a replacement screen for Dominic’s window and there were several times I just wanted to call Dad to ask for advice.  Three months ago I’d call him on something like this, he’d give me some hell, and then coach me through it.  I made it through the project successfully with the help of Becky & Dominic, but it wasn’t the same.

Insulating my workshop before winter is a project I’ve been going back and forth on doing myself or hiring a contractor.  Today I decided I’d give it a shot.  As I started looking at what needed to be done I immediately knew my first step…  call Dad.  That crushed me.  I felt like a little kid, completely lost.  After a bit I pulled it back together and went to a book to coach myself out of it.  Deciding to give it a shot I headed off to Menards for the first wave of materials.  While there I just wanted to call Dad up and shoot the shit with him…  but I couldn’t.  Once I got home and started working on putting up the baffle and thinking through more of the details I just kept wanting to talk with him more and more.

Projects like this were one of our times, one of our connections, one of the foundations of our relationship, and this was the first time I’d taken something like this on since he died.  It was more rough than I ever would have imagined.

As I could feel myself getting more and more sad I pulled from ideas from past blogs and the Book of Joy, and I flipped my thinking.  How amazing is it that my dad and I had so many great times together that I miss him this much?  How awesome is it that as I do these things that we’ve done together so many times I still feel this close of a connection to him?  How fortunate am I to have had him as my dad?  How cool to be able to have learned so much from him?  When I start thinking of it that way I can’t help but smile.  Yes, I miss him dearly, but I start to focus on all the incredible memories we made while working on projects like this and I feel happy.  I start thinking about the projects we worked on together, the times I called him for advice, and the smiles of satisfaction we would share after a project together.  I remember those times and my heart is filled.

So here’s the transition point.  When the dust settles on today, it was a tough day.  That said, I’m thankful for the tough days like this.  They hurt like hell, but they hurt like hell specifically because of how much I love Dad and the memories we created.  I am thankful for days like today because they remind me of just how much happiness and joy in my life has come from my dad.

Dude, I really wish you were here today.  It’s been a rough one.  That said, I know that you are here with me.  I’m so thankful for all of the time that we had, I wouldn’t trade that for anything.  Love you bud!

Thanks!!!

Birthday week is in full swing and I’m happy to be thankful for Dominic today!  For his 12th birthday he hitched a ride to the Dells to take an all day soccer referee class.  When I woke him up at 5:30 this morning he was smiling, happy, and ready for a great day.

There are so many reasons that I’m thankful for Dominic.  He’s incredibly kind and wants to make sure that everyone is included and enjoying themselves.  He’s giving of his time, always willing to help others out, and understands the joy that comes from helping others.  The kid got some pretty tremendous smarts from his mom and isn’t afraid of challenging himself to learn new things.  He dreams big and works hard to achieve them (like climbing to the top of the mountain!).  Throw in the fact that he a pretty amazing big brother.  I may be biased, but all in all, the kid is pretty awesome!!!

Super proud of you dude, thanks for being an incredible son and friend.  Your mom and I are so very proud of you and are thankful to have you in our lives!  You may not know this, but you help push me to be a better dad for you.  Thanks for being awesome!!!  Love you Bud!

Thanks!!!