Ahh…  cold beer and the boat…

Sand bar on the river…

Boys playing in the water…

Music that makes me feel summer…

Becky studying like normal…  😂

Ahh…  feels like summer…

Thanks!!!

Sometimes the movies I enjoy the most are the ones that I’ve been warned to have low expectations for.  I’m told that they’re okay, but not super, go in with low expectations.  Once in a while my friends are right on the money and the movie sucked, but more often the movie turns out to be one that I really enjoy.

Today was kind of like that.  I’ve heard so much from so many people about how awful a colonoscopy was that I was fearing for the worst.  In my brain I had pictured every single part of it being one of the worst experiences of my life.  That added some extra stress and I mentally prepped myself for one of the most awful experiences ever.  My mind was primed and ready for the worst case scenario in every step.

With that in mind, I was incredibly surprised at how smooth and simple everything went today.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m in no hurry to get back there in five years, but it wasn’t the horrific experience I was expecting.  The drink did’t make me gag (though I was using a packet of Lemonade Crystal Light made for 16+ ounces in an 8 ounce cup).  I felt full while drinking it, but not terrible.  Fasting wasn’t fun, but it reminded me that I really do eat more than I need to most of the time.  The IV sucked and I had my normal big drop in heart rate, lightheadedness, and nausea, but it all subsided quickly (and the nurses I had were AWESOME and took great care of me).  While I was out before the procedure started I was awake for the last 10 minutes.  It didn’t hurt (I was still higher than a kite) and it was interesting to see them look under the hood…  I even got to watch them remove the lone polyp, that was kind of neat!  After the procedure the anesthetic wore off super quick and I was up on both feet and moving in no time.

There’s a fine line between stressing out to the point of freaking out and expecting the worst in order to be ready for it.  In this situation I was able to stay to the good side and it paid off.  It wasn’t nearly as bad as I expected, and I’m very thankful for that!

Thanks!!!

Tonight has been interesting to say the least!  While I got a clean bill of health from my physical my doc ordered up a colonoscopy due to some family health history.  As you can imagine, I cringed and was pretty nervous about what to expect in this process.  It’s not one of those things that you typically feel comfortable talking about…  But I’m a red headed stepchild (twice over!) and there’s very little that makes me too uncomfortable! 😉

Over the past few days I’ve been very fortunate to have more than a handful of people helping me out with sharing stories, answering awkward questions, and setting my expectations.  Without all of these insights and stories I would have been flying blind into this, and it would have been much more nerve wracking.  There’ve also been more and stronger personal connections made through this.

I’m especially thankful for everyone who’s made me laugh!  Even as the goLYTELY was coursing through me there’ve been more than a couple of times that my full belly laugh came out…  causing more issues…  causing even more laughing!  This hasn’t been the most pleasant experience so far (and I hear the best is yet to come!), but it has been made much more bearable and, in some ways, pretty damn humorous!  http://youtu.be/qMmMvh1hSN4

Bonus thank you to Becky for putting up with the truly sexy beast I am tonight!  She’s taking one for the team and coming with me tomorrow.  Thanks Babe!

While I am certainly ready to get this over with, I’m thankful for the support of so many friends and family.  You guys are the best!!!

Thanks!!!

Early this morning I presented my difficult conversations training to a handful of our Express clients in Winona.  The presentation went well and afterwards I moved on with my day.

Less than an hour later I received an email back from one of the participants.  She was very complimentary of the training and also offered up a couple of very constructive ideas that will be implemented in future trainings.  Knowing that she cares enough about both me and the subject material to reach out was greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks!!!

Another year of scouting is in the books!  Tonight we closed up with a scavenger hunt in downtown La Crosse.  Somehow we ended up at The Pearl for ice cream 😄!

Thanks to all of my Scouts for another great year!

I am thankful for days like today.  The days when I struggle to find one thing to find one thing to be grateful for due to the many choices I have.  When I sum it all up, today was an excellent end of the long weekend at home.

Here’s some of the highlights from today:

• 8:15am yoga with Becky to kick things off
• Got an Early Father’s Day present – an oscillating spindle sander
• My wallet and phone were still on the cart in the Menards parking lot about 15 minutes after I forgot them there
• Cut out my first cobra bandsaw box (with minimal swearing)
• Went for a walk with the family
• Talked about our next vacation plans while on the walk
• Helped Dominic finish his workbench
• 
• Finished the last few items from my To Do list for the weekend
• Enjoyed watching The Matrix with my boys

It was about the perfect end to a long weekend at home!

Thanks!!!

It’s not often that we have a Sunday in which all of us are home, there’s no agenda, and there’s just chillin’ on tap.  Even though it was a very productive day it was totally relaxing.  The things I wanted to do I did, and it felt great.  LuLu’s smile below pretty much sums up the day!

One of the highlights was having time to work with both the boys in the workshop.  Gavin made a bench for his workbench and Dominic cut all the lumber for his workbench.  It was awesome, Dominic was measuring and cutting his own wood, no help from Dad needed – how cool is that?

And moments like that are why I’m thankful for a quiet day at home.  It was awesome to not be rushing or hustling to get stuff done because we don’t have any other time.  We were able to enjoy time as a family, and alone, doing exactly what we wanted.

Thanks!!! 

Earlier this week Becky had the great idea to have a date night this weekend.  We did and it was awesome!  Dinner at Lovechild downtown La Crosse followed up with drinks at Unwined in downtown Onalaska.  

Having time to just the two of us to relax, chill, and plan our next vacations was exactly what we needed.  We may not have had the excitement of taking the reservations of the Tripplehorns, but we had a great time regardless (if you don’t get that you really need to watch the movie Date Night).

Thanks for having a great idea Babe!  

Thanks!!!

I’ve been looking to the later part of this evening for a long time.  After a long day of work it’s finally time to chill on the couch, eat popcorn with the boys, and watch Tommy Boy!  Eventually go to bed, wake up whenever I can’t sleep anymore, and then do whatever I feel like…  no agenda…  only a loose list of things that would be nice to get done, and all of them are things in looking forward to doing.

It doesn’t get any better than that!

Thanks!!!

Ahh…  nothing like the end of the year packet of Gavin’s art projects coming home to make me smile and wince at the same time!  Each year there’s one or two things that crack me up and this year didn’t disappoint.

Any guesses what this is?

If you guessed that it was “a rocket launched at a guy who threw his beer at it to short circuit the electronics so it wouldn’t explode” you would be 100% correct!

While he may drive me absolutely bonkers sometimes I can’t help but love the kid and be thankful for his slightly twisted creativity.

Thanks!!!