There are some smells and sounds that trigger happy memories. As I spent time working on insulating my workshop today there was one smell that was constant, and I’m thankful for that smell… the smell of construction.

The smell of freshly cut wood reminds me of spending time with my dad on one of many different projects. I thought of him often as I worked today, and every time I walked back into the garage from the house that smell hit me and I thought of Dad.

It’s rough working on this project, the first big one since he passed away. He’s not a phone call away like before. He’s not answering carpentry questions for me. He’s not there to send pictures to and to brag to when I do something better than expected. He’s not here helping as he normally would. That said, as I smelled that new construction scent I knew he was there with me. And for that I’m thankful.

Thanks!!!

It all started this morning when I walked into Kwik Trip and heard an awesome ‘80’s tune. Colin Hay belted our “Who Can It Be Now?” as I grabbed a soda. Before I knew it I was singing it in my head while shopping. And the rest, as they say, is history.

After work it was just Gavin and I, Becky was taking Dominic up north to hunt with his grandpa this weekend. We decided on an old school dad feel kinda meal… Bacon ranch grilled cheese sandwiches. Dee-lish!!!

While driving to the grocery store we talked about “old school” video games including Donkey Kong. I shared my memories of watching Dad play Donkey Kong at Skyline way back when we were kids. I loved watching him play and I used to love playing that game. It was awesome to hear about Gavin’s interest in it.

As I cooked supper Gavin played with a couple of games. I blasted several Men At Work songs before diving into my ‘80’s Pandora station. Chilling and listening to the songs of 30 years ago felt pretty damn awesome.

To keep the old school feeling going we fired up Godzilla while eating supper… and not the new one. Now we’re chilling on the couch and enjoying the movie.

It feels pretty awesome to kick it old school with my best-eat buddy on a dreary night like this.

Thanks!!!

Quick disclaimer, the picture attached is not from this morning.  It is meant to help describe what I saw this morning.  As the title of today’s blog reads there was no good spot to pull over for a picture today.  

As I walked out of the house to my car this morning the sunrise really caught my attention.  The outlines of the many layers of clouds were all highlighted with a very deep reddish pink, they appeared to be glowing.  I smiled, made a comment to Becky and started looking forward to my drive to work.

Stopping at the end of the street I was greeted by another incredible sight.  Looking past the airport and into the Mississippi River valley there were purplish pink clouds letting loose purplish pink rain in wide streaks across the sky.  It was amazing!  The sky seemed a watercolor painter’s canvas, all pastels and blending.

At this point I started thinking to myself that I need to find a spot to pullover so I can get a picture of the beautiful sunrise.  Mentally running through the checklist of places I’ve stopped before there wasn’t one that would have the right elevation or angle for what I wanted to get.  Another thought popped into my head and I decided to take my chances and drive, it was a ways away, but the only spot that I could think of that was on the way and that met my criteria.

Crossing the river and turning north I was welcomed to Minnesota by another scenic view.  Further up the valley was a bright pink rainbow.  It had the normal rainbow colors buried in it, but it was so vibrantly pink that it almost looked like a purely pink rainbow.  Due to the sun being just below the horizon the angle of rainbow was not normal.  The rainbow seemed to go almost straight up into the heavens, a beacon from Earth to The Big Man Upstairs.  As I observed the landscape I was eventually able to find where it came back down – another pillar of pink rainbow that seemed to go completely vertical.  The other part of the rainbow that was so awesome was that the lighting east of it was a soft purple and pink, but the light to the west was a stark contrast, blindingly pink.  The rainbow the line of delineation between one beautiful and muted purplish pink sky and a dazzling pink one.  Wishing I could take a picture I just smiled and realized that there was no way for me to do it justice in a picture.

Driving further up river and turning onto 61 the sky took on that eerily beautiful golden hue that I only see a couple of times a year at either dusk or dawn when the conditions are just right.  The colors of the leaves became more vibrant, everything else shifted color slightly, and it played tricks on my eyes.  It was gorgeous, seeing the world through a cloud of gold.

By now I’m getting closer to the spot I wanted to stop and I’m realizing that there are a few problems with my choice.  The sun is coming up higher and the colors are dampening.  The clouds are rolling in, the rain is starting to fall, and the colors are being muted by gray.  The angle is a little different than I’d remembered and there’s not a good way to capture the entire sky like I thought.

Instead of getting disappointed, I’m smiling.  In my head I’m hearing the line from The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, “If I like a moment, for me, personally, I don’t like to have the distraction of the camera.  I just want to stay in it.”   I’m realizing that I’ve been burning this series of beautiful views of the sunrise into my memory for the long haul, I’ve deep down known that I might not be able to capture it in a picture, but I know I can hold it forever in my brain.  There’s also a thought in my head helping me realize that maybe The Big Dude Above wants me to remember this lesson – there’s a time and a place for a picture, but there’s also a time to be in the moment.  So many thoughts, but not one of them is focused on disappointment, just gratitude for having experience this series of moments.

What an awesome start to the day?  Beautiful sunrise and views, life lessons, and gratitude.

Thanks!!!

Another day of crazy busy. Up by 5am, running with Becky and the girls. Off to work, get many tasks knocked of the list, handle a couple of curveballs. Head home, kiss Becky, eat supper, Becky heads out to pick up Gavin, a few minutes later I head out to drop Dominic off at church…

The script then read something along the lines of “chill in the car, get some work done, bring Dominic home, sell popcorn on the way, and crash at home.” I guess I’ve never been great at following scripts, I prefer improv… and that’s exactly what I did. Of course I’ll be back on track soon, but I took a 30 minute detour and I’m very thankful for that.

As I was driving Dominic to church Becky told me to check out the moon, it looked huge! The color was also pretty awesome and I got an idea. I dropped Dominic off at hutch and then hit the gas and headed out towards Granddad’s Bluff. My plan was to drive out and get a sweet pic of the moon.

As luck would have it, I struggled to get the right angle and the brightness never quite panned out… I smiled to myself and was just happy for the chase to see something awesome, to pause the chaos for one fleeting moment, to enjoy nature.

When I whipped a U turn the deep red of the western horizon really caught my eye. I hightailed it to the top of Granddad’s Bluff just in time to get a few sweet shots that made me smile.

As I was walking from the parking lot to the observation area I paused to enjoy the cool fall weather (1st date with Becky weather). The breeze felt amazing, the smell of fall hung in the air. I was in the moment, my senses loving every second of it, enjoying the non-hurried feeing. It was exactly what I needed today.

And now back to reality… sitting in the car, getting work (& this blog) done. Soon Dominic will come out and I’ll start heading home, selling popcorn for Scouts along the way. Shortly after getting home I’ll crash. Right back on script… but there’ll be one difference… I’ll be laying in bed smiling at the memory of pausing the chaos for a moment to enjoy nature today.

Thanks!!!

Super proud of, and thankful for, my Winona team today!  In every business there’s usually one goal, maybe two, that really tell the story of your team’s success.  In our case one of those two measurements is the number of local businesses we have our people placed at.  The more businesses we have people placed at the more different opportunities we have to offer, the more opportunities to offer the better the odds of getting them in the right career.

Winona started out the year averaging 45 clients each week (clients is the term for the businesses we have our people {associates} placed)…  This past week we hit our highest total almost ever (with the exception of a special project a handful of years ago).  We have our associates working at 64 clients just in Winona!!!  Up until last week we couldn’t quite break past 61, but this week we jumped huge!  Over the past four weeks we’ve averaged over 60 clients per week, we’ve increased by 33% since the beginning of the year – how awesome is that???

My team has been busting their butts over the past 9+ months and I’m so thankful that they’re seeing the incredibly awesome fruits of their labor.  I’m beside myself with pride and gratitude for this team, they continue to blow past what we thought was possible and reset bigger goals.  Congrats on crushing it!!!

Thanks!!!

Just when I think that I’ve got the perfect idea or two for the blog something happens and I change it up.  Today was that kind of day.  There were things that came up completely out of the blue, making progress on projects, and a philosophical idea that I was going to focus my gratitude on, but as the day kept going I knew there was really only one direction to take my blog today.

Exactly 18 years ago today I was able to sweet talk a beautiful blonde into giving me her phone number and agree to a date the next weekend.  You can read about the actual event on blogs from last year and the year before (click here and here).

I still remember riding to my parent’s home from the wedding and telling my mom and dad that I’d met the woman I was going to marry.  It was already a done deal in my mind, zero question.  There haven’t been many, if any, moments when I’ve been so sure of anything.

Here we are 18 years later, that memory is officially an adult!  My mind is blown thinking that here we are, our relationship growing from newborn to adulthood, and I’m happier and more in love than I was at the beginning.  Sure, life is complex and it’s not all perfect, but there’s a joy in continuing to find ways to stay happy, in love, and having fun the whole time.

18 years later my life is even more complete than I’d imagined it would be on that early October night.  For that I am grateful!

Thanks!!!

Days like today are amongst the toughest to decide what to blog about.  The reason being that there were so many moments that I’m thankful for.  Amongst those moments today was having Becky make homemade tomato soup when it was perfect soup weather, a trip to Menards with Dominic, knocking out our last long training run for our marathon, cleaning up a chaotic mess of stuff on my dresser top (I’m a piler, not a filer), and getting more done in the workshop than I expected.  I’m thankful for all of those moments and many more today.

As I think of where my thoughts have been today there are two articles I’ve read recently that had brain going all day long.  The one that really kept resonating was an article about Leonardo da Vinci by one of my favorite authors, biographer Walter Isaacson for the Wall Street Journal.

It was so intriguing to learn that he wasn’t necessarily the smartest guy around, as evidenced by the fact he often made mistakes in calculations.  While not the smartest, there were a few things that he did exceedingly well that helped him to be the genius as we all see him as.  It is in considering those key qualities my brain kept thinking about what I am missing, not seeing, or not taking action on.

In the article the skills or qualities that really made Leonardo special were:

• His passionate, playful and occasionally obsessive curiosity
• His curiosity was aided by the sharpness of his eye, which focused on things that the rest of us barely notice.
• Just as he blurred the boundaries between art and science, he blurred the line between reality and fantasy.

My brain has continued to ponder these qualities today, thinking about the clouds differently, how to do some construction a little differently, considering an idea I’ve had in my head simmering for a while, and cleaning things up in my bedroom so I have more clarity for my brain to think.  All from one article, and I’m thankful for that!

Thanks!!!

This one really doesn’t need to be a very long post, especially if you’ve experienced Oktoberfest in La Crosse…

While there’ve been some years when I’ve been most thankful for the beer… lots of beer… so much that I wasn’t thankful for it the next day… 🤢… today I’m thankful for the Oktoberfest food.

I’ve been jonesing for brats and a beautiful gyro all week, and now I’m halfway done… soon the gyro will make the evening complete!

Thanks!!!

Today has been one heck of a great day.  Seriously, I’ve smiled and laughed, I’ve had time in thought, and I’ve been moved to tears.  To quote the great speech by Jim Valvano:

“To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. Number three is you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think and you cry, that’s a full day. That’s a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you’re going to have something special.”

It has been a full day, one that I am incredibly thankful to have had and to have shared with so many friends.  Days like this are reminders to me of how blessed my life is, and how thankful for all that The Big Man Upstairs has provided.

There was time with my family as I got ready to head out of town.  We joked around, enjoyed each other’s company, and had got our hugs and “I love you’s” in.

The ride in to the office and up to Minneapolis were bonding time with my team, a chance to set aside the concept of “work” and just shoot the bull for a while.  We all got to know and appreciate each other a little better.

Upon getting to Sales Summit it was a steady stream of handshakes and hugs with Express friends.  Sharing of smiles, laughter, and stories.  Some work related, some not.  It always has the feel of going to the family reunion that you’ve been longing to attend, the one with the crazy relatives that get you in a way that is unique and special.

Having conversations in between speakers and classes led to incredible moments that I’m so grateful for.  From one former team member who’s back with the Express family I learned of how she got into mud runs after a conversation she and I had many years ago.  That warmed my heart and I fought hard to not let the awesome leak out of my eyes.

Our keynote speaker was lights out and helped us all remember just how blessed we are to have what we have and to find ways to make the world a better place for everyone.  A story of love, civil war, refugees, and a simple idea that’s had an incredible impact.  What an inspiration for all of us to look at the world a little differently.  As the day has gone on I’ve continued to think on that – how could I change the world?  What am I not seeing that’s right in front of my eyes that I should be doing to help others more?  Great food for thought…

My teams have been busting their asses over the past year to help us grow.  They’ve been focused, determined.  Each of them has shown over and over again how they live to our values of Grit, Growth Mindset, and Do Right.  From this hard work they were able to experience an extra special taste of success – winning awards with their peers.  We won several awards and there were smiles all around.  I am so proud of all that they’ve accomplished, for all that they’ve grown, and for all of the future successes that they will continue to have.  Being able to be a small part of their success is one of the absolute most rewarding feelings I’ve experienced in my professional career.  I love them all and am so grateful for each of them.

As I wrap up the day and prep for bed (I’ve got an 8am presentation and will get one more practice run in at 6:30am) I reflect on today with misty eyes.  I’ve laughed, I’ve thought, and I’ve had my emotions moved to tears.  It’s been one heck of a day.  Thank you to each and every single person who made this day memorable.

Thanks!!!

Today has been pretty awesome.  In addition to hanging out with Nick for a little bit, getting a nice little nap in, and spending time with good friends at the Oktoberfest Torchlight Parade there was something else that kept me smiling all day long.

Starting from last night through this moment I’ve received many birthday wishes from so many friends and family.  Between cards, in person wishes and hugs, texts, emails, and Facebook  it’s been a steady stream of love for this guy.

Thank you all so much for the birthday wishes, it was an awesome one, specifically because of all of my family friends.  Thanks to everyone for making it an awesome birthday!

Thanks!!!