With our 2018 planning in full swing I headed in to the office pretty early this morning.  The cool part was that as I was driving up the Mississippi I was able to see the beginning of the sunrise in my rearview mirror.  Working in my office I didn’t even have to turn on a light, the sun was already brightening up the sky and it felt great!  Sure, I’m not a big fan of it being dark early, but there’s something pretty sweet about having extra sun to get me up and moving earlier in the morning.

Interestingly enough, it was with those extra hours worked that a comment from my mentor, Norm, really hit me between the eyes this morning.  One of the awesome things about having Norm in my life is that he’s not afraid to call me out on things.  The way he started the coaching session this morning was by pointing out that he once in a while needs to be the canary in the coal mine for me and point out when something’s off a little bit.  Boy am I glad he did.

Something that’s been in the back of my mind for a little while was put into the forefront and it’s forced me to confront it.  Nothing crazy, terrible, drastic, or anything like that, but rather something that I’ve struggled with for a while and need to keep working on.  Once in a while it kind of sneaks up on me.  When he brought it up today I had it in the back of my mind in every conversation that I had afterwards and in many thoughts I had in moments of silence.

The sun woke me up and helped me get moving first thing in the morning, and the canary in the mine helped to remind me to slow down a little bit.  I am so thankful to have had both today!

Thanks!!!

When we were in Turks and Caicos for Nick and Jenn’s wedding pretty close to this time eight years ago we closed out our last night of vacation hanging out with the two of them.  It was one of those epic nights that I’ll never forget.  Our last night on that vacation, just hanging out and having a great time in one of the resort bars.  As the night started to wind down I gave in to the urge to sing karaoke (something that I’ve only done a handful of times).  The song, Three Little Birds by Bob Marley.

I had so much fun belting out the song with a couple of our favorite resort staffers (Ricky & Omar).  Everything was totally chill and I was present in that moment.  Nothing mattered in the world, life was pretty awesome.

To this day whenever I hear that song I think back to being in the Caribbean, enjoying the beautiful weather, sitting in the sun, and just relaxing with Becky…  Not worrying about a thing, ’cause every little thing is gonna be alright.  I’ve got a cold drink in my hand and am singin’ don’t worry about a thing, ’cause every little thing gonna be alright…

Thanks!!!

Long story short, I’m having a blast in Madison with my brothers from another mother and sister from another mister!

Thanks for including me in the family!

Thanks!!!

Yup, tonight was pretty awesome! Becky is out with some friends and I’m chillin’ with the boys, playing games and watching Harry Potter. The best part so far – besides hanging out with my boys – was supper.

Last night Dominic offered to make us supper based on what he’d learned in school that day. Becky hit the grocery store for supplies and this was the sight in the kitchen earlier tonight…

How awesome is that??? Not only did he cook, but he and Gavin did dishes too!

I always love the time with the kiddos, but spending time with them after they cooked and cleaned was even more awesome!!!

Thanks!!!

The past month and change has been pretty amazing! Every single day at about lunchtime my phone buzzes due to a specific Facebook post. It is the daily reminder of what I posted on this day in past years.

As I pull up the notification I’m now happy to see TWO blog posts… one from last year, and one from two years ago. It’s like this amazing trail of bread crumbs leading to many happy memories, many of which I would have not remembered. I read them and I smile, still thankful for what I was thankful for in the past.

Today was a great example. Last year on this date I was relaxing on the beach, hiking, and enjoying family time on vacation. Two years ago I was thankful for the kitchen table, one of my favorite of my 767 posts to date. Reading both of them brought back so many fond memories and I’m so thankful to have those reminders.

Normally I would wrap up the blog, but today was a special day for another reason. In the spirit of this post I’m going to leave a little seed to remember next year and in future years. This a little cryptic, but I want to have to pause to really think and remember what today meant, the news I received, and another reason why I’m so thankful today.

https://thankful4forty.com/2017/06/30/day-276-thankful-for-a-nurse-trees-and-a-random-trail-sign-with-deep-meaning/

For a great tree death comes as a gradual transformation. Its vitality ebbs slowly. Even when life has abandoned it entirely it remains a majestic thing. On some hilltop a dead tree may dominate the landscape for miles around. Alone among living things it retains its character and dignity after death. Plants wither; animals disintegrate. But a dead tree may be as arresting, as filled with personality, in death as it is in life. Even in its final moments, when the massive trunk lies prone and it has moldering into a ridge covered with mosses and fungi, it arrives at a fitting and noble end. It enriches and refreshes the earth. And later, as part of other green and growing things, it rises again.

Edwin Way Teale

Thanks!!!

It might not have been the most epic family game night ever, but it was a lot of fun and it was pretty much out of the blue.  When I got home from work I was initially planning on heading out to Menards to pick up the one last sheet of foam insulation I need and put it up in the garage.  As I pulled in the driveway I realized that I hadn’t spent much time with the boys over the past few days and I had a Weblos meeting to plan.  After a quick moment of hesitation I knew what I should be focused on, so I did.

The four of us fired up a handful of our family favorites – at least the ones that were relatively short and quickly playable.  Fun was had by all, everyone won a game or two, and we even invented some new words.  Dominic got confused on a play while playing Do Over and uttered a sound that immediately became a new family favorite…  “Err, but, der, but…”  It is pronounced Er’ buh der but and it was said many times as the night went on and was usually followed by the sound of laughter.

At first I gave the boys the choice of playing games or TV and I’m happy that they chose games, it turned out to be a very fun night!

Thanks!!!

After resting up and getting well over 8 hour of sleep last night I had a pretty awesome day today!  Funny how getting a great night of sleep can really help me have a more successful day.  Work was non-stop, but all good and very productive, but what I am most thankful for today is connecting and re-connecting with friends.

Over lunch I met an old friend, a teammate of mine from about 17 years ago.  She and I had bumped into each other at a presentation I gave a couple of weeks ago and set up a time to meet for lunch to re-connect.  It was a blast!  An hour and change blew by in no time as we shared what we’ve been up to in the 16+ years since we’d last talked.  While it was a long time ago it was so funny to see how much it felt like just yesterday we’d worked together.  We’ll definitely have to get together again in the future, there were too many funny kid stories to through all of them today!  As an interesting side note, after lunch I chuckled to myself as I thought about the whole situation and am pretty sure there’s an article or future blog somewhere…  If you have gone 15+ years without talking with someone, what would you talk about in your first hour?  What does that say about you and your life?  Does it mirror the things that are most important to you?  It was pretty wild!

After work we headed out to meet up with some friends to let all of our kids trick or treat together.  While the boys were all out loading up bags of candy the adults sat around the fire, ate, drank, and shot the bull.  Many laughs, jokes, memories, and smiles were shared.  I love hanging out with that crew of friends, they’re all great people that we have so much in common with and just enough differences with to keep life interesting!  Special thanks to Adam and Kelsey for hosting and cooking, it was awesome!!!

Today was another great day, so many positives to look back on and be grateful for.  At the end of it though, I’m so thankful to have time to connect with friends.  Our lives get busy and we run from one thing to the next.  In those moments when we choose to slow down and reconnect with our friends there’s a peace and calm that is so greatly appreciated.

Thanks!!!

I guess maybe you can teach an old dog new tricks!

After the past couple of weeks of go go go I’ve finally started to hit that point.  There’s been so much fun, so much has been accomplished.  That said, there’s a list of things that I want to do and it’s really tempting to hammer down tonight to get a few of them checked off the list…  but I’m not going to do that.  Instead I will be in bed and asleep well before 9pm, possibly even before 8:30.

Usually I’d buckle down, push myself harder for a little longer, start to feel my left eye tingle, and then hit the wall hard…  shattering into many pieces.  It would then take a while to get this Humpty Dumpty put back together again.

Today, I put my hand out to see how far away the wall was and I touched it.  Just lightly, not hitting it or crashing headlong into it.  Just a light touch.  Resisting the urge to double down, I’m going to chill.  If I take the night to get 8+ hours of sleep I will be refreshed and a long ways away from the wall.  I’ll be able to go hard at it a gain for the next sprint without worries about crashing.  For the long haul I know I just need to chill, and that’s just what I am going to do.

Time to chill!

Thanks!!!

Days like today just leave me smiling. They are the days that remind me of why I write this blog. When I started this a couple of years back one of the biggest reasons was because I wasn’t grateful for all of the awesomeness in my life. Today I kept looking for the awesomeness to blog about and I found so much that my brain pretty much short circuited!

Really, I’ve been watching out all day for what I am going to blog about. As I notice something I pause, smile, and immediately start writing a blog in my head. Just as I’m getting started with that, my brain leap frogs to something else and the process starts anew. Once that gets rolling I notice something else that I’m thankful for and I move on to that. While this may sound tiring, my smile grows wider and wider every single time. How fortunate am I to have so many blessings in my life???

The only downside to this is that my brain feels like a cork board with notes, memos, and pictures pinned up everywhere. A chaotic mix of seemingly random sparks of inspiration. I’ve even started doing the FBI tv show thing and run string from one pin to another hoping to find a common thread, the blog’s topic. As I take time reflect and step back my mind is overwhelmed by the massive amount of data covering the board. I can see myself sitting back in a chair, feet up on my desk, arms behind my head, shaking my head while staring at the board, smiling, and then laughing to myself as I realize the impossibility of what I want to accomplish.

Some of the memos posted on the board are:

• Great weekend with the guys creating a time we’ll never forget
• Looking forward to meeting up with one of my other best friends next weekend
• Becky being okay with me getting some guy time in
• A note from a past high school teacher that left me smiling and brought back warm memories
• Surprising Becky by cleaning the boat and getting it ready
• Making the time to work on the workshop for a little bit
• Tacos for lunch
• Going for an afternoon run with Becky
• The boys being responsible enough for them to be left home alone once in a while
• Random memories of another high school teacher who was a huge influence on me and the trajectory of my career
• Getting my planning for the next week of work
• Going to a delicious meal with Becky’s coworkers, hosted by an amazing cook!
• Spending time with people I don’t often spend time with and finding many similarities and having excellent conversation
• Vacations – Becky and I both enjoying them, focusing on them, and living our life around them
• And many, many others…

While I tried to write about each of these individually, I started to miss the big picture. There wasn’t one of them to be thankful for, it is the overloading of so many things to be thankful for that needed to be the main point tonight.

So that helped with the blog, but I was stumped on what picture to use… do I choose on of the things I’m thankful for, a pic from today, one online that fits the theme??? Interestingly enough, I changed the wallpaper on my phone today and when I looked at my phone to start typing, it just felt right to use it. Enjoy!

Thanks!!!

You know, there are just those days once in a while when a sleep over with your best buddies just sounds awesome. Today is one of those days!

Thanks for a great night of being big dorks Rick & James!!!

Thanks!!!