Grateful for Daily Learning

Greetings!
Tonight I'm grateful for being able to learn new things every single day.  What I learn isn't always miraculous and big.  Sometimes it is just a new way to make MacKenzie smile.  Sometimes it is something new that MacKenzie learned (learning about learning: whew!).  Sometimes it is insight into how another person thinks.  Sometimes it is learning about leadership by watching other leaders.  Sometimes it is a new training technique that might make me a better runner. Whether it is about parenting or working or running, it makes me better.  It can be hard and even painful, but I'm so happy to be able to do it.
Today I learned a few things:

(1)  I learned that there is a school for auctioneers.  I saw two very talented auctioneers today.  They were a mother and daughter team.  It was really fun to watch them work.  They connected with the audience and were incredibly engaging.  I had no idea you could go to school to learn that skill.  Really interesting.  Here's a photo of Jill Doherty & Erin Nolan the auctioneers:

(2)  I learned that MacKenzie knows the words hair and arm.  She isn't articulating them well, but she can definitely identify what they are.
(3)  I learned that a man named Daryl Osler is working on developing a form of extremely fast transportation via evacuated tubes.  If it works, you could literally get from  DC to Beijing in two hours.   Think of all the travel we could do!

(4)  I learned that there is a 7-11 slightly closer to our office than the one I've been going to when I need a fountain diet coke fix.

Good learning today.  Until tomorrow...

Grateful for No Spam Turkey

Greetings!
Today I am grateful that I have never had to eat a spam turkey.  I think even if I ate meat, I would not be a fan of spam.  We watched the latest episode of "Shameless" tonight and Fiona wanted to be sure the family had a Thanksgiving dinner despite the fact that they didn't have any money for a turkey.  So, she literally shaped several spam chunks to look like a turkey.  Ultimately, Jimmy/Steve did buy the family a turkey, so the Gallaghers didn't eat the spam turkey either.  I'm very glad I haven't experienced this culinary delight.

Grateful for Tomorrow

Today, I am in lockstep with little orphan Annie.  I'm grateful for tomorrow.  

Today was one of those days.  I must have said, "that could've gone better" ten times.  Despite that, I'm grateful.  I'm grateful that I made it through.  I'm grateful for the optimism and persistence that moves some folks.  I'm grateful for sarcastic and ironic humor that can make me laugh.  I'm grateful for my friends that reach out and check in just to say "hey."  I'm grateful that I'm sipping a glass of wine.  I'm grateful that there are shining moments on wearing days that keep me going.  I'm grateful that days like today make the great days that much greater.  I'm grateful for cheesy musicals with really good messages that stick with you for a lifetime.  The sun will come up...

Grateful for Surviving the Clowns

Greetings on a rainy Sunday on Long Island. 

Today I'm grateful for surviving the clowns.  We took MacKenzie's to her first circus at the Nassau Colliseum.  It was very fun and somehow vastly different than my memory of the circus.  If you go early, you can visit with the animals and performers.  Our girl loves elephants and we were able to get pretty close to them.  We also got very close to the performers.  This included the clowns. 

I have had a hate/hate relationship with clowns for most of my life.  I've had vivid recurring nightmares about clowns since I was little.  It started way before I read "It" or wrote a paper at U of M on John Wayne Gacy.  Although, neither of those helped.  Not a big fan. 

I have to say that the clowns today were pretty impressive and much less frightening. I was particularly impressed with how they made a point of not only bending down to get to MacKenzie on her level, but actually sat right down on the ground and invited her to approach them.  It was a very welcoming and non-invasive approach.  They were also much funkier and hipper clowns than I have ever seen.  See wasn't drawn to them exactly, but she didn't run away either.

It was a good reminder to me about not passing down my fears to my daughter.  It would be easy for me to tell her immediately about how scary I think clowns are.  But, she deserves to have her own experience.  Who knows, she might just love them and that would be really great for her.  She'll have plenty of fears in her life, although I hope fewer than me. 

Today, we survived the clowns.  Hopefully my dreams will be clown-free tonight as well.
Until tomorrow...

Grateful for my Saturday with MIS

Greetings on a Saturday in New York.
Today I'm grateful for this day with my daughter.  It wasn't anything complex or crazy.  Just a really nice spring day.  We did our swimming lessons and went under the water again.  We went to the park and played and walked and threw more than our fair share of dirt.  We walked along the bleachers like we were on a tight rope.  We explored the inside of the dug out.  We went to the grocery store and giggled racing down the aisles in the cart to make sure we stayed entertained.  We listened to Ira Glass during lunch time while we enjoyed our grilled cheese (MIS) and bagel with cheese (Mommy).  We went back to the park after lunch and hugged a little boy who introduced himself to us.  We practiced Dave's invitation to play under tables and dream (see photo below).  We went to the wine store and said hello to all the friendly wine folks.  We read some books.  We ate dinner:  a burrito, some raisins and a kiwi along with some pieces of rice cake.  We did our 20 minutes of iPad time and giggled along with the Princess & the Frog.  We took a bath and brushed our teeth.
I'm grateful for my daughter and this day.
Until tomorrow...

Grateful for Ashley Judd

Greetings on a Friday evening.  Looking forward a quiet weekend with MacKenzie.
I'm catching up with my DVR this evening.  I'm grateful for Ashley Judd.  We're enjoying her new show, "Missing."  I'm a super huge fan and I can hardly believe she is on television.

She's a fantastic actress.  In my opinion her two best movies are "Kiss the Girls" and "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood."  Both are favorite books of mine made into movies.  Both have fantastic casts.  After "Kiss the Girls" she went on a run of movies with Morgan Freeman.  He's also a favorite.  I also loved her in "Double Jeopardy" and "Where the Heart Is."       

The one movie that I can hardly believe that she made was "Bug."  If you haven't seen it, you haven't missed anything.  It was awful.  

One other really cool movie she was in was "Simon Birch."  This movie was based on one of my all time favorite novels by John Irving, "A Prayer for Owen Meany."  The movie is good, but as with most great books, the movie doesn't quite compare.  

I'm grateful for Ashley Judd and all the cool movies she's made.  I'm liking Missing.  Hopefully it has a good run.  Until tomorrow...

Grateful for Fellow Runners

I failed a bit on my commitment to gratefulness this week.  We had the credit union GAC and I didn't carve out the time that I should have.  However, today, I'm back at it and I'm grateful for fellow runners.
One of the great parts of attending the GAC is reconnecting with credit union colleagues from across the country.  One of the brightest stars of our industry, Jeff Russell, is also a runner and he was kind enough to commit to running with me yesterday morning.
I haven't had a lot of people to run with in my life.  I had a dear friend in college who was a very compatible running partner.  My former boss, John Normandeau, took up running and we were able to run several races together.  Beyond that, running has mostly been a solo sport for me.  So, it was really fantastic to have someone to run with yesterday morning.  Having someone to chat with really makes the miles tick by faster and it's just more fun.  It was one of the highlights of my week.
Thanks Jeff!  Happy running.